Luigi’s Mansion 3 (They’re Here...)

The Boos and Gems are one of those things I say I'll go back to but probably won't, I think I'd enjoy trying to figure out all the puzzles for them so never say never.

The puzzles for the Gems were mostly worth doing for the sake of doing them, granted. I wouldn't say the same about the Boos, and technically I think you get a bigger reward for getting them all.

JayMoyles wrote:

Yeah, I hated B2. I was getting so frustrated at the controls - I couldn't get my head round them and that just made it worse. It was fine when there was no immediate threat and I could inevitably blunder my way to where I need to go, but the bit with the instant death enemies and then the boss were both just miserable experiences. I knew I had to beat it in one sitting or I'd never end up going back to the game.

I just beat the boss. Whoever programmed those controls and designed those enemies deserves a scheme bootin' - well put, that was a miserable experience indeed. 

All this is tell me is that Star Fox U's control scheme must have been really really bad for me not to like it.

SF zero's controls were great and LM3's B2 didn't bother me a whole lot either.

I had to look up which floor was Floor 7 because it got a lot of slagging from you guys, but I didn't think it was that bad - and I quite liked the boss (because I immediately clicked what I was supposed to do!). I'm on Floor 8 now but have been distracted by XC2 and periodic SSBU. That's what I found with LM2 as well, though - it was fun, but never quite sunk its claws into me for some reason. I'll probably sporadically do a few floors at a time until it's finito.

I feel like I slagged off Floor 7 too much now! It wasn't bad. Still preferred B2 though. I did find it more gripping than LM2, but - yep, it's worse than both of those games.

Jas is Mr. Elastihands.

I'm a few hours into this and its just charming. Wonderful animation, so much to find and beautiful lighting and details. The weird mix of awkward controls but easy gameplay isnt the nicest feeling, but I dont mind it enough to miss out on seeing more of this bonkers hotel.

So far, my second favourite game set in a hotel.

Lads. The

Spoiler:

Level was bloody excellent. This game is really coming into its own in the second act; smarter puzzles, crazier ideas. Top tier.

Okay.
So that was followed by . . .

Spoiler:

This game isnt perfect by any stretch of the imagination but the ammount of Nintendo charm and genius in the puzzles, set pieces, animations and physics is pretty special.

I seem to be the only person who liked B2 more than 9F! I would agree that the game doesn't really go anywhere from 8F - that's the pinnacle IMO. It's still really good though.

I think you're summing up my thoughts on the game pretty solidly, Buska. The game is oozing with charm thanks to its overall presentation, but there's definitely some awkward game design choices in there. I've already bemoaned the controls elsewhere too, but it's still a fun time!

For everyone but Buska (later game spoilers):

Just gone back to this and played a couple of floors, namely 9F and B2. I have to admit I'm in the "everyone but Balladeer" camp on this - B2 wasn't bad but it was more of a pain in the arse than any of the other levels I can remember, and not in an especially good way. Though from the chat here, I braced myself for something much worse! I think it suffered from having following the Unnatural History Museum because that was cooool.

On to the tombs now!

JayMoyles wrote:

For everyone but Buska (later game spoilers):

I'd already finished the game when you posted this and. . . yeah. It honestly felt like deliberately taking the piss at that point!

I think by that bit I was in the mindset of "hurry up and get this finished with now". Sort of drained a good bit of my goodwill for the game, which was a shame.

JayMoyles wrote:

I think by that bit I was in the mindset of "hurry up and get this finished with now". Sort of drained a good bit of my goodwill for the game, which was a shame.

Same! I think I said this elsewhere, but it is a bit of a First World Problems-y complaint. If I was a kid, stuck at home with one game to keep me going, I'd be so happy. It's only the fact that I'm a man whose almost 30, with limited free time and lots of games (not the target audience) that makes me think the game would be a better work with a few levels chopped out.

Aye - it's partly why I'm not considering buying a next-gen machine any time soon. I think I've been guilty of focusing too much of getting to the next game and getting through my backlog as opposed to enjoying all the great games I've got to play. I think issues about pacing and such might not be as big of an issue if I can get my mindset round to focusing more on the games themselves rather than the act of beating them.

I mean, none of that is going to happen as I'm now deeply ingrained into an MMO, but still...

JayMoyles wrote:

MMO

FFS, WTF.

JayMoyles wrote:

Aye - it's partly why I'm not considering buying a next-gen machine any time soon. I think I've been guilty of focusing too much of getting to the next game and getting through my backlog as opposed to enjoying all the great games I've got to play. I think issues about pacing and such might not be as big of an issue if I can get my mindset round to focusing more on the games themselves rather than the act of beating them.

I mean, none of that is going to happen as I'm now deeply ingrained into an MMO, but still...

Another reason why I'm leaning towards Xbox Series X as I can play my backlog on it, and any new games coming this year like your Cyberpunk or Valhalla will just get upgraded on the XSX that it feels like upgrading my graphics card or something.

Aye, I was thinking along those lines too before I thought "well, why not just play those old games on my current, perfectly fine machine"?

Anyway, totally off-topic. How's the game being treating you, Rum?

Be wise to move the chat elsewhere as what you're saying Jay is what could be the reason I get a PS5 instead as I can still play Halo Infinite etc on my One X (Hey I could still play Zelda on my Cube & WiiU) but the PS5 will have games that I can't play on the old machine eg HZD2, Silent Hill, GT7.

It's such a odd one that the anti-consumer approach could make one more enticing.

JayMoyles wrote:

Anyway, totally off-topic. How's the game being treating you, Rum?

I finished it! You can see my thoughts in the 'last game you finished' thread but essentially my thoughts aligned with pretty much everyone else - great game, but only 8/10 great, mainly because of issues with pacing and controls.

Balladeer wrote:

Word of warning: there's not much reward for either.  I gave up on the Boos when I saw what you got. (in more ways than one)

I wish I had read this earlier. I'm right at the end of Luigi's Mansion 3 and having died a couple of times to the final boss, I opted to go back and mop up the gems and Boos. I collected every gem and every Boo and all I got was a diamond-coated plunger and a new light, which is REALLY disappointing. It doesn't even affect the stats of my shots - it's purely cosmetic. I'd have loved to see the Super Suction Shot, invincibility or being able to play as one of the enemies - something other than a different colour plunger.

That aside, my only other gripes with this game are that it might be a little long (as some have suggested) and that Gadd can be a bit annoying when you're not doing exactly what he wants. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed Luigi's Mansion 3. It's got so much character and the world feels satisfyingly responsive. They really nailed the physics. I can't be the only person that hoovered up the snooker balls, coconuts and in the desert level, every grain of sand. It reminded me of Super Mario Sunshine where I would just kick the pineapples around for hours on end (maybe not hours). Every new area just got sucked to pieces - the right-trigger could have been sellotaped down for 99% of the game. Part of that is down to how destructible the levels are, and that Super Suction shot was hugely satisfying. There are so many little touches that made me smile, whether it was Luigi snapping his fingers in the disco (whilst in a boss fight!) or solving a puzzle as Gooigi and Luigi limply puts his thumb up whilst "unconscious". The boss battles are all enjoyable - I had no issue with B2 but maybe that's because the mere idea of battling an enemy in a dinghy was so ridiculous (and I did it the first time) that it just reminded me of an old Mario Party mini-game. The only bits I had issues with were the rooms with timer instadeath - the one with the roof falling down whilst lasers fly about, and also the one with spiked walls closing in. I died numerous times in them. I think that was because for the whole game I casually plodded through with my hoover, in no rush, that when a moment of peril was thrown in, I panicked.

It has so much character and satisfying visual (and sound) design that it's easy to overlook its few irritating bits. I just wish the post-game was a bit more interesting, as once I've beaten King Boo I doubt I'll return.

9/10

Did anyone ever play the multiplayer for this? It must be decent given they went to the effort to make DLC for it. Although they missed a trick not making the Nintendo Land minigame for it.