Luigi's Mansion 3

Luigi's first haunted adventure was on the GameCube back in 2001, and since then, the series has had only one sequel to the Nintendo 3DS. The Japanese company has decided to relaunch the series on Switch. The third episode would have originally appeared on the Wii U, but was finally released later this year. The number three should not frighten anyone, it is easy to get in the game without knowing the previous episodes.

A Night In A Haunted House...

The story is adorably cute: Luigi and his friends are invited by a mysterious stranger to a huge hotel. By the time the player enters, it will be clear that something is really wrong here, but our naive players are happy to occupy their rooms. However, during the night our heroes are trapped by King Boo- he could be familiar from previous episodes or even from Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Only Luigi can escape, so he has the task of exploring the place to save his friends.

So, unlike the previous episodes, this game takes place in one huge building, but the gameplay gives you much more freedom than ever before. The multi-leveled hotel is almost completely accessible from the basement and the car park to the roof. The only restriction is that the floors, function as levels of the game, will open up in as we progress through the story, but you can then freely move between them.

Because Luigi's Mansion is a side-view action adventure game, it's definitely good to get some freedom in it. Discovering the hotel is fun, each floor has a different theme, so we're not going to walk around in the same rooms. There will be a mall, a concert hall, a studio or even an entire Egyptian floor - so the creators have really put in everything to make the place varied.

Who you gonna call?....Luigi!

Thanks to the game's physical engine, rooms can literally be destroyed (except some landmarks), with our hero's vacuum cleaner. With the suction and blow functions, we can destroy and search every shelf and corner to get as much coin and paper money as possible. Unfortunately, one of the big problems of the game is that the money can hardly be spent on meaningful things. Most of the stuff you can buy will only ease our adventures, which are not too challenging anyway.

In addition to the discovery, we will sometimes have to solve puzzles with the help of Gooigi. He is the clone of Luigi, created from a sticky material, and he can do everything what our hero can. We have to avoid wet surfaces with him, but in return he can pass through tight spaces and use the sewer system. Playing alone you can switch between Luigi and Gooigi, but one of our friends can join the game at any time. The puzzles over the age of 10 will no be a huge problem.

No proton pack only vacuum cleaner...

Although the combat system is very entertaining, there will be no challenge here. Our transparent opponents must first be blinded by the vacuum cleaner's flash, and after grabbing them with the suction function, we must make them exhausted as we saw in the Ghostbusters movies. Some opponents wear armor, in this case sunglasses, so you first need to remove it using a toilet pump. The biggest thrill comes from boss fights, where you can get into some really good battles. For example, the spirit of a chef in the kitchen first needs to be tossed with huge hams to paralyze and then we can really attack him, but the water gun security guard was fun too.

The game also has multiplayer. This is the horde-mode of Luigi's Mansion, with our friends we have to deal with the difficult tasks from floor to floor. The gameplay, despite its simplicity, is fun and surprisingly addictive. I can only recommend it if you're tired of the lonely ghost hunting.

"Scary", spectacular and fun...

One of the great strength of the game is the fantastic atmosphere, thanks to the developers' great ideas, the "terrific" locations, and the great graphics. I think Luigi's Mansion 3 is one of the most spectacular and technically best-assembled Switch game. First there's the physical engine (what i mentioned before), which makes it a joy to make mess in the rooms - without this, collecting coins wouldn't be as fun. Another thing the developers have used such spectacular reflections and shadows to achieve the spooky mood we've seen so far only on stronger consoles. In addition, unlike many other spectacular Switch titles, Luigi's adventure looks good on bigger TV screens too.

While it is undeniable that many game elements and imaginative locations have been put into the game, the lack of challenge can sometimes be very monotone. You might be a little tired of vacuuming ghosts and landmarks, maybe a few more types of opponents, or some segment that goes beyond the basic mechanics would make it more interesting. However Switch owners should definitely list Luigi's Mansion 3 on the list of games to buy. Along with the lightweight, imaginative, and spectacular single player segment, they've put together a surprisingly fun online mode, so it can be a great great fun on rainy fall evenings.