Luigi’s Mansion 3 is Two Floors Short of Perfection

luigi has always been a hustler he can't help it always in the shadow of mario and the rest of the mushroom kingdom crew but the luigi's mansion games have always given the younger brother a chance to shine luigi's latest is very nearly the game that could unseat mario in terms of pure delight because luigi's mansion 3 comes damn close to being the most charming playable cartoon that nintendo has ever made hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the completionist where we don't just beat the games we complete them and our patrons have been helping me decide which games i complete so if you head over to patreon.com to completionist today and sign up for the mini producer tier you too can nominate games for me to tackle here on the show most recently they rallied behind me to play bloodstained ritual of the night so you can expect me to complete that game very very soon again that's patreon.com the completionist join us today now it's late summer usually the perfect time to relax right luigi's mansion 3 is like the exact opposite of the last few games that i've been playing here on the show i'm looking forward to a game where i don't have to grapple with complicated moral decisions or carry the weight of the world on my shoulders so let's power up our vacuums to suck up the dead and hopefully earn tens of thousands of dollars as i complete luigi's mansion 3. here comes the new challenger danger [Music] alright so no matter how much i trash talk luigi i'll always love the luigi's mansion series these games do something different than every other nintendo game out there and have carved out a niche for themselves luigi's mansion 3 is easily the strongest because it's the first one that really expands the series horizons these games aren't platforming games racing games or even party games the series is a blend of third person puzzle collect-a-thon exploration with a heavy dose of genuinely funny humor unlike his brother luigi doesn't jump so he explores his world with the aid of a vacuum a dark light and a plunger he's like csi mushroom kingdom unit and this is the first luigi's mansion game that really builds on that idea the plot is like many nintendo games before it luigi and fam are summoned to a mysterious beautiful hotel in the middle of nowhere with the promise of a free vacation it seems too good to be true and wouldn't you know it it is not long after setting foot in the last resort mario peach and three toads are sucked into paintings with luigi left to pick up the pieces it's a complicated revenge plot orchestrated by king boo king of the booze and the sycophant hotel owner helen gravely it's up to luigi to find and rescue the gang including everyone's favorite mad scientist e gat as luigi clears floor after floor of this tower of terror now this is kind of interesting this game actually outsold both the lynx awakening remake and even super mario maker 2. both of those games released the same year as this one does that mean that players have been starved for more luigi content or is it just that this game's weird brand of spectral science and goofy ghosts is just that good it's a combination of both luigi is still pulling from his same old bag of tricks using the poltergust to suck up money ghosts and anything else not tied down but he's also exploring like he's never done before in this franchise instead of just one big mansion with several different rooms or multiple mansions like in darkmoon the haunted hotel in luigi's mansion 3 has 17 floors worth of completely different locations each area has several collectibles beyond cash money with six unique gems to find on most every floor and hidden booze to suck up too the sheer variety on display in luigi's mansion 3 moved the series forward in a logical yet exciting way instead of just variations of a spooky hotel this game's multiple floors are like little pocket dimensions of ghost themed spookery this also might be the nintendo game that goes hardest on in-game achievements nintendo has implemented these in other luigi's mansion games and now even paper mario is getting in on the action but the achievements in luigi's mansion 3 are no joke they're divided into four different categories collection battle hotel and scare scraper the most difficult and complicated achievements involve the newly added scare scraper an online component catching rare ghosts to fill up egad's gallery is only possible by exploring this mode luigi's mansion 3 is inviting charming funny and moves the series forward so it was a genuine shock to learn this cartoony game would be one of the more frustrating nintendo completion experiences i've had lately i get that hustling is a lifestyle luigi but damn luigi damn growing up as the younger brother can be difficult trust me i know from experience but nintendo has found that the best way to distinguish luigi's games from his brothers is to do something totally original luigi's mansion 3 is just as charming as any mario game because it feels like a playable cartoon it is scientifically impossible to not be charmed by this game it's true i looked it up every little detail is delightful in the extreme the opening sets the tone masterfully and that feeling of luigi as the reluctant hero only continues the further players go into the hotel the best animation is relatable in some way even with crazy physics or impossible situations there is something to latch on to luigi's mansion 3 is more like looney tunes than bojack horseman it doesn't use animation to tell a serious story with comedic moments instead the game goes full blown slapstick and leans into comedy more than any straight up mario game nintendo and developer next level games made an amazing effort to make as much of the environment as interactive as possible there is enormous joy and a weird amount of satisfaction to be found in unrolling a roll of toilet paper or smashing a watermelon to find cold hard cash inside there's cartoon logic all throughout this game the universe of the week's mansion which i guess is just the general mario universe posits a world where not only do ghosts exists they are rich as hell what are they spending money on is it like egyptian pharaoh rules where the money that you're buried with carries over into the afterlife there is an egyptian themed floor in this game so i guess that kind of tracks but the point is these ghosts are living it up no pun intended but are also content with just work in this hotel the rules of how ghosts exist in luigi's mansion are wonderfully ambiguous they've always been ghostbusters inspired and this stuck out to me more this time around the ghosts face in and out of corporeal form whenever they want they can punch and hurt luigi but also move through furniture and walls some of them have clothes and others are apparently naked clearly the outfits are for more powerful ghosts and maintenance staff despite the staggering variety from caveman to king none of the ghosts feel out of place i love this hotel feels lived in no pun intended though helen gravely has all the ghosts worked up trying to capture luigi and friends it really seems like the ghosts have their own stuff going on one of my favorite floors is essentially a movie studio with several different sets the director ghost morty is just there doing his best trying to make a great film i'd love to go further down that road what does a ghost world movie premiere look like does luigi get a plus one luigi even has an animal sidekick which is like cartoons 101 poulter pup i carry over from luigi's mansion darkmoon but the pup doesn't really have a whole lot to do with the story but he is incredibly adorable and helpful at certain points he's a scrappy little ghost doggy who is happy to sniff around and occasionally point out secrets but the best thing polter pup does is track down poultry kitty who is the worst it's a hallmark of slapstick animation for the hero to have the rug pulled out from underneath them right when they think they have everything figured out to progress to new floors in this hotel luigi must find elevator buttons usually being held by the powerful boss ghosts these bosses are incredible and have more personality than almost all of the bosses in mario odyssey yes i said that and i love mario odyssey instead of just slurping up ghosts in protracted bottles each boss is a little mini puzzle that luigi must solve once the boss is defeated they tend to cough up a new elevator button that luigi must then take back to the elevator but every now and then helen gravely's intensely smug cat ultra kitty will hide in the elevator and steal the fresh button right off the door holder kitty will then saunter past luigi's slack jawed face and hide somewhere that's when polter pop and luigi's dark light shine brightest helping to corral the ghostly cat and get those elevator buttons back now in some ways the visits from the kitty feel like padding because it just forces luigi to backtrack through floors that have already been solved but just to be clear if i could punt polter kitty into the sun i absolutely would so if polter kitty and polter pup are like the meowth and pikachu of luigi's mansion 3 what does that make professor egad and guigi egad is like doc brown meets gus gus a crazy old coot who quite frankly has always given me sinister but weird vibes yet he's grown on me as the series has progressed to the point where i don't even mind that he just hides in his lab the entire game i guess he's my guy in the chair he even gives luigi a new piece of tech to communicate the virtual boo you know in case players wanted to make more deep cut references to nintendo handhelds and then there's gooey g this weird goo clone is one of the best parts of this game both on how it adds to the gameplay and to the humor some of the most cartoony and comedic bits are based around guiji's reactions or lack thereof it's just a blank slate of green jello who is perfectly deadpanned luigi's exasperation and stuttery fear are perfectly balanced by guiji's stoicism someone talk to the director and get guiji an agent already damn that dude is hilarious it's amazing how for most of the main story the game is just tossing out new concepts and ideas left and right almost every floor has something that makes it unique and memorable it's almost magic school bus vibes where the gang is going someplace new and doing something interesting for just a little bit of time before jumping off to the next thing it's one of this game's great strengths though at times it also left me feeling like there were some ideas that could have been even more expanded i was caught between loving that the game knew exactly when to leave an idea behind and do something new and wishing they would go even deeper with some concepts please please please let me use the super vacuum more how was this only in the game three times and not even implemented into a boss battle so each floor feels so handcrafted and unique but i was methodical in exploring each one i was compelled to plumb the world for secrets which made finding the gems and most exploration based achievements a snap even floors that are basically just boss rooms like the natural history museum are packed with collectibles to find and subtle clever knots there's always something hidden away and combing each floor for gems and pests always feels rewarding even spiders which for the record i hate are charming in this game because of how they're animated you know i suppose i'd feel different about spiders in real life if when i switched them they would explode into clouds of money once luigi straps on the poltergust he has basically every tool he'll ever need for the rest of the game practically every puzzle can be solved with tools luigi has from the very beginning now this feels super empowering since i as a player knew that nothing was really going to be out of my reach luigi is one of the most expressive characters ever and the way the game naturally leads players to secret areas feels completely in character and wonderful every floor feels self-contained like an episode of a classic cartoon the premise or concept of each floor is clearly laid out most floors have a unique gimmick like the desert level where i had to master moving sand moving big piles to reach tucked away treasures or sucking it all up to uncovered buried secrets or how about the boiler works where i had to carefully maneuver guiji away from puddles of water as i kept luigi floating in a big old rubber ducky as some kind of bluegrass music played in the background i genuinely couldn't wait to see what would come next which made revisiting floors to chase after poultry kitty all the more frustrating nobody wants to watch a clip show episode when there's a to be continued to be dealt with luigi's mansion 3 is so close to being an absolutely perfect game it's charming it's funny it looks amazing it plays great in handheld mode but going full completionist for this game actively drains away from my enjoyment of it the completion experience for luigi's mansion 3 is like taking a perfect story arc and stretching it out over five seasons when it could easily be done in one [Music] sometimes something is good because it's restrained i think that's why so many of the floors in this game remain memorable they don't overstay their welcome however fully completing this game forced me to repeat the same few tasks over and over for an absurd amount of time nearly liquidating all the goodwill that has been built up luigi's mansion 3 is a beautiful game but completing it feels absurd there are a few head scratching moments in the main story for example the fact that the final boss fight against king buu king of the boos suddenly has a timer on it for no discernible reason is rage inducing nothing else in this game puts luigi on a clock in this way why does this at the absolute climax of the story why do i suddenly need to stress out about getting it done in four minutes or less i think it's genuinely a stupid decision but it isn't a deal breaker i also had a few annoying moments with egad 2 before i realized i could just turn off his hints i like solving puzzles by myself doc leave me alone especially when i'm fighting a possessed t-rex skeleton now to be fair i did spend an unreasonable amount of time doing the opposite of what he asked me to do especially in the early game hasn't egad ever heard of stopping to smell the roses or stopping to vacuum them at the very least the inclusion of hidden booze in luigi's dimension 3 felt completely arbitrary but at this point they are a part of the series but unless i missed something i genuinely didn't feel like the game even bothered to give me an explanation for why luigi had to go and collect them or why they were even there in the first place it just felt like egad was telling me hey you've done this twice before let's do it a third time though i did enjoy that i had to use the rumble feature to feel for where they were hiding even earning all three ending screens by beating the story three times wasn't a deal breaker my first playthrough was pretty thorough and i pretty easily earned an a-rate second and third playthroughs were each easier than the last because i just rocketed through them collecting less and simply enjoying the story i would have liked it better if i could have seen all three alternate ranking screens just by earning the a rank but at this point after playing the other luigi's mansion games i should have expected this so those were ultimately minor annoyances not too terrible at this point right what is a deal breaker is the insane requirements of filling up egad's ghost gallery now i don't hate skyscraper as a concept but tying into the achievements and completing e-gad's gallery is so maddening through the course of the game luigi captures a lot of ghosts little itty bitty mini goobs creepy purple slinkers incredibly annoying big red hammers the boss ghosts encountered in single player all feel special and fun to capture but scrolling through the capture gallery you can't help but notice a row of rare ghosts how do i find these rare ghosts surely they're hidden away in the most remote corners of the hotel to be uncovered by dedicated completionists like myself wrong wrong wrong these ghosts can only be encountered in the multiplayer mode scare scraper this gauntlet of challenges which can be 5 10 or 20 floors connects players with other luigi's across the globe to climb different floors of this building but it isn't always catching ghosts players must fulfill different tasks like defeating the murder of crows sucking up a specific amount of money or escorting toads safely throughout but scare scraper is really all about finding those rare ghosts and checking achievements off the list including defeating the big boss at the top of the skyscraper bulasis 20 times luckily i could join in on matches that were closer to the 20th floor but still that's a lot of times to conquer a boss for just an achievement at first scarce creeper sounds like it'd be easy and enjoyable since it's pretty much just the core gameplay stretched out a little more let me assure you it's hard it's annoying and there's no guarantees no matter how hard you hustle that you'll hit what you want to hit by completing challenges in skyscraper players move up one floor every five floors players have a chance to capture a rare ghost the ghosts that appear are random but if you're playing with other people it's possible that you might not even get to capture the ghost that does appear because if someone else captures that ghost it counts for their capture and not yours so even though i encountered ghosts that i needed if someone else got to them before i did i'd have to clear another five floors just for the chance to see if that ghost is the one i wanted it got to the point where i would try and get a little cheeky by trying to join matches that were in the middle of their climb just to try and skip a floor or two which meant that i was in the lobby joining screen way more than i want it to be okay so this fantastic gorgeous game that rewards curiosity and smart thinking decides to shove it back in your face in favor of rng it's crushing finding these rare ghosts like speed goobs or lethal slinkers was so incredibly draining it got to the point where i only needed one more ghost the electric oozer and after hours of scarce creeper play there he was and i missed my chance despite my best attempts one of my online teammates got to it before i did no pun intended that sucked now repeat that five times because that's what happened instead of exploring beautiful handcrafted dioramas bursting with nintendo polished charm i was repeating the same menial tasks in the hopes that i would find the ghost that i needed i eventually did but it was so so painful to get there there are hundreds of ghosts to capture throughout luigi's mansion 3. mostly though i dealt with goops the lowest easiest to capture blue ghosts they don't have a lot going on and are clearly lowest in the totem pole in the hotel why am i talking about these ghosts because completing this game made me feel like a goob rewards for finding all six gems on every floor are a simple cosmetic upgrade for your plunger it gets blinged out which is hilarious because as much of a baller as luigi is i never thought he'd cover it with crystals finding all the hidden booze nets luigi a special flashlight that shines a boo on a surface which is pretty cute as far as completing the achievement list goes including finding every single rare ghost there is just another cosmetic reward luigi's poltergust turned into the poltergust type g which turns the thing gold again i love seeing luigi all blinged out i just wish there was a new game plus or something to go along with it so i can have a reason to see this new blinging skin now look i love this game rewards me for seeking out secrets i don't love that many of the achievements are tied to an online mode that isn't all as fun or original as the rest of the game and relies heavily on rng in such an extreme way when i completed luigi's mansion 3 there were 8 deaths which made me wonder does luigi turn into a ghost in this universe becoming what he's always fought against three playthroughs to get all three endings and ranks 53 achievements which i wish were more single player based instead of bringing online into the whole frame 75 hours played once i factored in having to grind in scare scraper even with three full playthroughs and all the collectibles i still spent more time in scare scraper than anywhere else in the game and one electric user who will taunt me no more you were my white whale but rng be damned i won in the end look i loved playing the wii u's mansion 3. it has all the nintendo magic throughout the entire game and really pushes the limits of what this series can do i can't wait to see where luigi goes next but the achievements list is just brutal it would be one thing if it was just about time investment but the random nature of all of the online stuff really ramps up that frustration for me but still it's an absolute legend of the game so with that in my guys i give this game my completionist rating of finish it finish it [Music] you

Channel: The Completionist

Views: 368,364

Rating: 4.9488111 out of 5

Keywords: luigi's mansion 3, luigi's mansion 3 review, luigi's mansion 3 gameplay, luigis mansion 3, luigi's mansion, luigi, mario, nintendo, nintendo switch, switch, mario maker 2, mario games, mario odyssey, review, game review, game reviews, caddicarus, completionist, king boo, gooigi, luigi's mansion review, luigi's mansion gameplay, luigi's mansion 3 trailer, mario and luigi, super mario maker, mario kart tour, paper mario, origami king, smash bros, smash ultimate, nintendo 3DS, 3DS

Id: vB7IYuAkOZc

Length: 20min 34sec (1234 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 22 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/l3xic0n]

Never really been a fan of multi-player luigis mansion. Them tying completion to it is rough too. Only thing about the main game I didn't absolutely love was the king boo fight. Not a huge fan of randomness in boss fights and it felt very random.

[u/Beatlejwol]

What, uh, what's that shirt tho? :D