Luigi’s Mansion 3 Preview – With tasty new tools
The E3 is officially a trade show, a fair where publishers show their games to representatives of major retail chains and the press. You wouldn’t say that if you were walking on the trading floor, though. There you see the same scenes as in Cologne during the GamesCom: long queues of gamers at the most popular games. And where are the longest lines? Actually always at Nintendo. This was also the case this year, at an E3 where Nintendo went big with Pokémon Sword and Shield and Luigi’s Mansion 3. For the latter game, Nintendo had even recreated a real haunted castle, a dark, closed room full of blacklight with rows of stations on which the game could be played. are played. We also went ghost hunting.
With this third part, Nintendo seems to deviate little from what you are used to from the first two parts, but appearances are deceiving. The game is very similar to its two predecessors, but Nintendo has added quite a few new elements. This makes the game feel familiar, but at the same time refreshing.
When you enter the first room in the game, you notice that Nintendo has left the style completely unchanged. Nevertheless, the game looks a lot better on the Switch, connected to a good TV, than on the 3DS for which the previous edition appeared. This new version has the same razor-sharp look as Super Mario Odyssey, but with a bit more dark tones.
Not as bare as it seems
When you walk into a new room, you notice that it often looks a bit bare, as if there is little to do. Yet this third part is precisely in this area more varied than its predecessors. There is a lot to discover and even a lot to puzzle. The new tools that you have at your disposal come in very handy here.
For example, Luigi now has help from Gooigi, his slimy alter ego. You can summon Gooigi at any time, after which the real Luigi will remain in place a bit dazed and you will temporarily control Gooigi. Due to his liquid nature, Gooigi can take obstacles that Luigi cannot get past. For example, we saw some man-sized nails looming in a level, which blocked the passage. To Luigi those spikes would be deadly, but the liquid Gooigi runs through them effortlessly. To pull a lever on the other side that makes the nails disappear into the ground.
Those who know Nintendo a little know that this is the simplest version of a mechanism that returns frequently, in increasingly complex situations. For example, we saw a level in which several elevators played a role, which had to be operated alternately by Luigi and Gooigi. Gooigi has one disadvantage: it cannot stand water, because it dissolves in it. An element that of course returns in the puzzles of the game.
Co-op
Gooigi can also be controlled by a second player, meaning the game can be played in co-op. You can do this as a duo, but also in the separate game mode ScareScraper, in which you go on a ghost hunt with up to eight players. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try out that hectic option.
Where Gooigi is unarmed, Luigi again has a vacuum cleaner on his back, although it has a slightly new shape. The new attachment is called the Poltergust G-00. It’s still meant to suck up the many ghosts that haunt the Mansion. We saw the ghosts pass by in two color variants. The blue ones are standard, but there are also gold ghosts, which are a lot stronger and need more work before you can suck them up.
Even better, you can work unwilling ghosts first to break their resistance. If you are unable to suck up a ghost, you have the option to shake the ghost – if it has already partially disappeared in the Poltergust – quite a bit. You can pick up the ghost, swing it over your head and slam it to the ground behind you with a loud thump, repeating the process several times if necessary. Very nice to see, very useful to do. Especially if you use this Slam to ram a ghost against a fellow ghost, weakening your next victim. It’s a very entertaining action.
Flashlight
You can also use the Poltergust to blow ‘a punch’. This allows you to make a jump that takes you over a low obstacle. Unfortunately, the option was not included in the demo we were able to play at E3. Fortunately, we were able to use the flashlight built into the Poltergust. That lamp is not only useful in the dark, but also useful for paralyzing ghosts. After all, they are used to living in the dark, and they are frightened by such a beam of light. The flashlight is therefore a useful tool to make a ghost susceptible to an attack.
The latest addition to the Poltergust is the Plunger, an old-fashioned rubber sink unblocker. It’s attached to the Poltergust with a rope, so if you shoot the Plunger at something, you can use the rope to pull the plunger back towards you. Preferably with something attached to it, because that’s the goal: pull something from something and bring it towards you. The Plunger is the tool that will help you uncover the most secrets. Place it on a door or section of wall that looks suspicious, and chances are there’s a secret hiding behind it.
However, the Plunger is also very useful during battles, especially those with the stronger enemies. A ghost with a shield is a tough opponent. But if you manage to take his shield with the Plunger, little of his defenses will remain.
Find the combination
Our play session ended with a boss fight. In this case with the King of the Mansion. A ghost knight in armor, mounted on a horse and armed with a lance with which he can not only hurt Luigi, but also keep him at a distance. In the battle with the king on his horse, almost all of your equipment will come in handy. It’s a matter of trying to blind the king with your flashlight, taking advantage of the brief confusion that follows to take his shield away with your Plunger, then grab him with the vacuum cleaner and swing him over your head. Since the King is a boss, you will have to repeat that process several times. The thick armor of the King has not just been demolished.
Preliminary conclusion
Luigi’s Mansion 3 promises to be an excellent new version, adding a lot to the existing formula. At its core, it’s still about hunting ghosts, but you now have a lot more options than ever before. With the Slam and the Plunger, fighting becomes much more varied and therefore more fun than in the previous parts, and in addition there is much more to puzzle in this third part and there are also more secrets to discover. In short, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is the ideal successor.