Peter James Mann
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a relatively new addition to our collection of Nintendo Switch games. It came out on Halloween, 2019 here in North America, which in Q1 of 2021 feels like nine years ago. My daughter and I are in a loose competition to see who can beat it first and I am winning. I am man, hear me roar!…Okay I’m not winning by that much and I die a lot, but it’s a survival horror game, isn’t that kind of the point?
And yes, I still consider this Survival Horror, it just happens to be made for kids. But anyone with a passing knowledge of the first two Resident Evil games all the way back on Playstation Numero Uno will recognize the similarities. Particularly, with the control scheme. That seemed to be the biggest hurdle for both of us.
It’s something that I can fall back into once I get the hang of it. It feels less like I’m controlling a game character and more like an RC car (which, admittedly I am also quite bad at). But my kid has mostly used touch screens or motion controls her entire life. She really only got into using the controller the more time she spent with the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. It’s a great controller, but to go from Super Mario Odyssey to this is a drastic change. It’s more 2.5D than 3D.
That frustration with the controls does create tension within the game, but not the type that I think was intended for. Once you get used to it, many challenges can be run through well before you’re threatened. For example, on floor 11 there is a staircase with walls slamming shut behind you. If you know how to maneuver through the space effectively (complete with switching camera angles), you can get upstairs no problem. But if not, well, you get smashed between two walls and Luigi knows what marinara feels like.
Combat can also feel unruly at times and awkward. If you’re a fan of old school horror games, it probably doesn’t feel that way, but to us it certainly does. And it can make a player feel, well, defeated. There were moments when she and I played that were genuinely frustrating. And after defeating a boss, it didn’t feel satisfying, it just felt like it was over.
Each boss gives you a button for a new floor to access using the elevator, but after those fights, sometimes a rat eats it or a ghostly cat takes it. You’re chasing them across the floor, sometimes over two and three floors, to get back to the elevator to get to yet another floor. It feels like filler, which makes it more frustrating. It was exactly what I didn’t like about those early iterations of Resident Evil.
That’s not to say there aren’t adorable, cute, funny moments that did make us smirk or giggle. There is a charm about Luigi, Gooigi, Professor E. Gadd, and the cast of characters you’re saving in the hotel. And there are great puzzles that can really make you think. The graphics are really well done and could fit right in with Super Mario Odyssey or Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
The use of Gooigi is great too. It feels like it’s worth it to go back to other floors once you have him and other abilities, giving it a Metroidvania flavor. A majority of the pickups are just more coins or some collectable stones that don’t offer much reward other than a “You did it!” pop-up message. It would have been nice to use these retreads of floors to get Luigi more equipment or abilities to make us want to go further into the hotel and find those extra portraits or whatever.
And the game is still pretty short, clocking in around 10-12 hours for a first playthrough. I wouldn’t be surprised if most finished in the single digits. While it was nice to visit, I’m not sure if I’ll be checking back into The Last Resort anytime soon. I’m glad I played it, it was a great addition to the genre, but it’s also a genre that’s not particularly for me.
See you soon.
