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GoNintendo Review - Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
The original Luigi's Mansion is much like Yoshi's Island. I remember the pre-release comments about both games, neither of which saw a lot of positive press. When the games finally came out, they were met with mixed reviews. Some people really loved the final product, others just didn't understand the direction that Nintendo took. Of course, that all changed years later.
Nowadays, Luigi's Mansion and Yoshi's Island are heralded as some of Nintendo's best work. They pushed boundaries and expanded ideas for the characters included. Perhaps that's why we had to wait so long to see a sequel. Nintendo wanted to wait for people to come around and see the games for what they were and what they offered, rather than what those critics supposedly wanted at the time.
Those memories have stuck with me all these years. During those years, little did I know that we would actually get a sequel. Hell, we even had a couple years of waiting for the finished product when the game was actually announced! That's a hell of a lot of waiting to get our first sequel. I don't know that any game could have lived up to that hype. Regardless of that, how did Nintendo and Next Level do with Luigi's return to a starring role position?
I found one thing abundantly clear when playing Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. This is indeed a worthy successor to Luigi's Mansion, but it has definitely been reformatted to fit into the portable style of play. The game's overall structure and design has been reworked to make it portable friendly. Even mission length and options make very well suited to something you'd pick up and play, rather than something for a sit-down session with your TV.
That's not a knock against the game at all. I mean that as a positive! Sure, it would have been nice to see this sequel give us another giant, single mansion to tackle, but that doesn't exactly play well in the portable environment. Nintendo is always careful about what experiences hit what platforms. I think that's very evident with Dark Moon. You really won't have to worry about getting too deep in and not hitting a spot that lets you save/quit to pick up later.
Just incase you don't know, these missions are tucked away inside multiple mansions. Also, these missions follow a theme throughout the mansion. You'll be presented with problems or roadblocks that need to be cleared in order to open up more parts of the mansion. You can't just run in and explore the entire mansion at once. This is where the original Luigi's Mansion and Dark Moon are exactly the same. Mansions will offer up tons of exploring, but you'll have to tackle certain elements in order to open up all the paths inside.
Quite honestly, that's one of my favorite elements of Dark Moon. I found the puzzles the game offers to be really unique and engaging. There are a ton of puzzles that need organic solutions to pass through. I has multiple moments where I was stumped on how to progress, but I loved every second of it. The game is very smart with the way it teases you, the hints it gives you and how they all come together when you stop and examine your environment.
Speaking of the environments, they are quite fantastic as well. The game starts off in more of a tutorial mansion, even those this expands into a much larger experience. Still, if you've played the original Luigi's Mansion, you should be quite familiar with the first mansion to tackle. After that, the game really opens up into some amazing designs. Even the second mansion takes things to a much bigger level. A truly fleshed-out idea that offers up multiple environments all within one setting.
As you already know, no matter what mission to tackle or what puzzle you're trying to solve, there will always be ghosts to hunt. It's kind of a main element in the series! Once again, Luigi has his Poltergust on his back, ready to suck down any ghouls that get in his way. Just as you'd expect from a sequel, Dark Moon takes Luigi's ghost-busting arsenal and adds in some new elements.
Depending on how much cash you build up, you'll be able to upgrade your Poltergust to add in even more power. Catching ghosts shows you a power level on your Poltergust, letting you hit A at full power to really give a good yank on the ghost. The more you upgrade, the higher your meter can go. While you start off your hunting with a level 1 power meter, you can really beef things up to a level 3 in order to show those ghosts who's boss.
A special flashlight gets added to your Poltergust that allows you to hunt down hidden items in the environment. Those nasty ghosts have stolen some items and brought them into the ghost world, but you can still see their essence by using your special flashlight. Sometimes you'll find hidden vases, clocks, tables, desks and more. Inside will be cash, coins and even ghosts. Other times you'll need to use this flashlight to find hidden doors that block rooms needed to complete your quest. You'll always have to be on the lookout for those hidden elements.
That's all well and good, but what about the ghosts you're fighting? They range from your standard green troublemakers to giant yellow blobs, ghost sisters that attack as a group and many more. Each ghost requires a unique approach to avoiding their attacks and sucking them down. Some ghosts will block your flashbulb with a pot over their head, or a pair of sunglasses that phases the flash out. There's certainly no shortage of ghost types to take out, each providing their own unique mini-puzzle to learn and exploit.
There's really plenty to do and see in Dark Moon, but sometimes I feel like the game offers up a little too much. I don't mind multiple missions, but there are a few that aren't that engaging. Hunting down broken gate keys stolen by ghosts is a blast, but cleaning a mansion of all its cobwebs isn't really lots of fun. There are WAY more fun missions than there are lame ones, but there are certainly times where you'll feel that the game is doing a bit of padding.
All these missions, good and bad, pave the way for ghost boss battles at the end of every mansion. These are some of the most entertaining elements of the game. They really are the culmination of everything you've learned within a mansion. You'll have a traditional ghost-fighting part, but you'll have a much more involved puzzle element as well. It's not about just sucking down a ghost, it's about figuring out how you get the chance to actually attack them. Really, boss battles are one of the highest points of the entire game.
Equally impressive are the game's controls. It's up to you whether you want to play using the gyroscope or the button controls for looking up/down in an environment. This option is on all the time, meaning you can switch between the two on the fly. I found myself using both, depending on the situation. Fighting ghosts, I'd go with the button options. When searching a ghost-free environment, I'd move the 3DS to look for hidden items on the ceiling or floor. I really thought I was going to miss the lack of a second analog stick, but those fears were put the rest within the first half-hour of the game.
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon looks great, plays great, sounds great and has a ton of charm. There are little touches sprinkled throughout that you only see in a Nintendo game. It's clear that Next Level really did their homework on this one. Things could have been tightened up/shortened a bit in the mission options, but this is really the only downside I experienced. The overall adventure is a fantastic one, filled with surprises around every corner. You'll even see more familiar faces than you realize at first!
Is this the Luigi's Mansion sequel you've been waiting for? I really think it is. Some might prefer the huge mansion feel over the mission structure between multiple mansions, but that's the nature of a handheld beast. The decisions made here were very smart. This is a shining example of a studio that completely understands what handheld experiences should be. A top-notch experience in design and execution almost the entire way through.
Nowadays, Luigi's Mansion and Yoshi's Island are heralded as some of Nintendo's best work. They pushed boundaries and expanded ideas for the characters included. Perhaps that's why we had to wait so long to see a sequel. Nintendo wanted to wait for people to come around and see the games for what they were and what they offered, rather than what those critics supposedly wanted at the time.
Those memories have stuck with me all these years. During those years, little did I know that we would actually get a sequel. Hell, we even had a couple years of waiting for the finished product when the game was actually announced! That's a hell of a lot of waiting to get our first sequel. I don't know that any game could have lived up to that hype. Regardless of that, how did Nintendo and Next Level do with Luigi's return to a starring role position?
I found one thing abundantly clear when playing Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. This is indeed a worthy successor to Luigi's Mansion, but it has definitely been reformatted to fit into the portable style of play. The game's overall structure and design has been reworked to make it portable friendly. Even mission length and options make very well suited to something you'd pick up and play, rather than something for a sit-down session with your TV.
That's not a knock against the game at all. I mean that as a positive! Sure, it would have been nice to see this sequel give us another giant, single mansion to tackle, but that doesn't exactly play well in the portable environment. Nintendo is always careful about what experiences hit what platforms. I think that's very evident with Dark Moon. You really won't have to worry about getting too deep in and not hitting a spot that lets you save/quit to pick up later.
Just incase you don't know, these missions are tucked away inside multiple mansions. Also, these missions follow a theme throughout the mansion. You'll be presented with problems or roadblocks that need to be cleared in order to open up more parts of the mansion. You can't just run in and explore the entire mansion at once. This is where the original Luigi's Mansion and Dark Moon are exactly the same. Mansions will offer up tons of exploring, but you'll have to tackle certain elements in order to open up all the paths inside.
Quite honestly, that's one of my favorite elements of Dark Moon. I found the puzzles the game offers to be really unique and engaging. There are a ton of puzzles that need organic solutions to pass through. I has multiple moments where I was stumped on how to progress, but I loved every second of it. The game is very smart with the way it teases you, the hints it gives you and how they all come together when you stop and examine your environment.
Speaking of the environments, they are quite fantastic as well. The game starts off in more of a tutorial mansion, even those this expands into a much larger experience. Still, if you've played the original Luigi's Mansion, you should be quite familiar with the first mansion to tackle. After that, the game really opens up into some amazing designs. Even the second mansion takes things to a much bigger level. A truly fleshed-out idea that offers up multiple environments all within one setting.
As you already know, no matter what mission to tackle or what puzzle you're trying to solve, there will always be ghosts to hunt. It's kind of a main element in the series! Once again, Luigi has his Poltergust on his back, ready to suck down any ghouls that get in his way. Just as you'd expect from a sequel, Dark Moon takes Luigi's ghost-busting arsenal and adds in some new elements.
Depending on how much cash you build up, you'll be able to upgrade your Poltergust to add in even more power. Catching ghosts shows you a power level on your Poltergust, letting you hit A at full power to really give a good yank on the ghost. The more you upgrade, the higher your meter can go. While you start off your hunting with a level 1 power meter, you can really beef things up to a level 3 in order to show those ghosts who's boss.
A special flashlight gets added to your Poltergust that allows you to hunt down hidden items in the environment. Those nasty ghosts have stolen some items and brought them into the ghost world, but you can still see their essence by using your special flashlight. Sometimes you'll find hidden vases, clocks, tables, desks and more. Inside will be cash, coins and even ghosts. Other times you'll need to use this flashlight to find hidden doors that block rooms needed to complete your quest. You'll always have to be on the lookout for those hidden elements.
That's all well and good, but what about the ghosts you're fighting? They range from your standard green troublemakers to giant yellow blobs, ghost sisters that attack as a group and many more. Each ghost requires a unique approach to avoiding their attacks and sucking them down. Some ghosts will block your flashbulb with a pot over their head, or a pair of sunglasses that phases the flash out. There's certainly no shortage of ghost types to take out, each providing their own unique mini-puzzle to learn and exploit.
There's really plenty to do and see in Dark Moon, but sometimes I feel like the game offers up a little too much. I don't mind multiple missions, but there are a few that aren't that engaging. Hunting down broken gate keys stolen by ghosts is a blast, but cleaning a mansion of all its cobwebs isn't really lots of fun. There are WAY more fun missions than there are lame ones, but there are certainly times where you'll feel that the game is doing a bit of padding.
All these missions, good and bad, pave the way for ghost boss battles at the end of every mansion. These are some of the most entertaining elements of the game. They really are the culmination of everything you've learned within a mansion. You'll have a traditional ghost-fighting part, but you'll have a much more involved puzzle element as well. It's not about just sucking down a ghost, it's about figuring out how you get the chance to actually attack them. Really, boss battles are one of the highest points of the entire game.
Equally impressive are the game's controls. It's up to you whether you want to play using the gyroscope or the button controls for looking up/down in an environment. This option is on all the time, meaning you can switch between the two on the fly. I found myself using both, depending on the situation. Fighting ghosts, I'd go with the button options. When searching a ghost-free environment, I'd move the 3DS to look for hidden items on the ceiling or floor. I really thought I was going to miss the lack of a second analog stick, but those fears were put the rest within the first half-hour of the game.
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon looks great, plays great, sounds great and has a ton of charm. There are little touches sprinkled throughout that you only see in a Nintendo game. It's clear that Next Level really did their homework on this one. Things could have been tightened up/shortened a bit in the mission options, but this is really the only downside I experienced. The overall adventure is a fantastic one, filled with surprises around every corner. You'll even see more familiar faces than you realize at first!
Is this the Luigi's Mansion sequel you've been waiting for? I really think it is. Some might prefer the huge mansion feel over the mission structure between multiple mansions, but that's the nature of a handheld beast. The decisions made here were very smart. This is a shining example of a studio that completely understands what handheld experiences should be. A top-notch experience in design and execution almost the entire way through.