Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)

[Lady Soniko]

I think Luigi's Mansion felt a lot more like raw experience personally, I mean the game had some in depth ways of draining a ghost's HP yet there was no real way of holding onto a ghost besides staying as close as possible and lightly pulling the analogue in the opposite direction, whilst in 2, there was a much stronger gravitational pull with the suction and the added jump dodge move, personally I really miss the music that plays when you're sucking up ghosts and how it varies in tempo and pitch as well as speed depending on how fast you drain a ghost's HP or how long you hold onto one, I really missed the music from the first too.

 

Now I think about it, in 2 you're given ample time to dispatch a golden ghost, i mean a crazy generous amount of time before they vanish. but the golden mice and crystal blue ghosts in 1 where really challenging to grab a hold of, it's literally a few seconds and they're gone for good, so if you're going for the maximum G, you'll literally have to start back from a previous save slot if you miss one.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Super Soniko

[JezMM]

Personally I adore the new suction style.  I never "got" sucking up ghosts in LM1.  You just held on and hoped for the best as they dragged you around.  If you got pulled into something never mind.

 

The new A button system is great because you can choose to either reel in a ton of HP in one go or risk holding on for longer for a bigger cash reward.  When there's a greenie winding up a punch nearby me it's always a tense moment of dedicing "this ghost only has 10 HP left but my meter isn't red, do I risk not hitting A now for more gold bars?" etc.

 

 

 

I agree the game doesn't feel as atmospheric, and the calm/silence in lit-up rooms in the original was nice though.  And I do partly agree, I don't see why this game couldn't have had a save system like the original's.  It could have still been divided into missions and objectives etc, just not sent you back to Gadd after every one.  Once the story is finished, the mission select menu would have opened up.

 

I also agree that Gadd does call you WAY too often, especially in the first few mansions, instead of letting you figure stuff out for yourself, though I guess it's not much different from the way every single key in LM1 told you exactly where it went.

 

 

Despite the above gripes though I still absoloutely adore this game so far.  Currently on the fourth mansion.

Edited April 4, 2013 by JezMM

[Danj86]

My copy finally arrived today. I'm also loving the animations of the characters. I busted a gut when Luigi did the whole cuckoo finger wag while pointing to E.Gadd as he was explaining things at the start.

 

I can see the whole E.Gadd constantly contacting you becoming annoying. Perhaps they could've let you have the option of answering it on your own time, rather then being forced to drop everything. I haven't gotten very far yet, so I can't really say much else about it.

With me also playing Virtue's Last Reward and HarmoKnights as well I downloading a side scrolling beat em up called Code of Princess, my darn 3DS keeps needing charging. Plus Fire Emblem: Awakening in a couple of weeks. ^^;

[SuperStingray]

You mean completion. ...Finding all the boos and gems is that. I mean, seriously, anyone can find all the money, boos, etc. They can look at a guide, unlike the ranking system where you have to actually prove your mettle. Taking minimal damage, finding all the treasure you can, and finishing as soon as possible.

 

I don't know, man. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is way more challenging than the original. Whether you're trying to master it or not.

Completion?  You ever try going through Luigi's Mansion trying to collect all the money?  You frequently drop money when you get hit and have to collect all the portrait ghosts in one suck in order to get all the large pearls.  If a single coin disappears before you touch it, you've basically failed.  I'm not saying Dark Moon was easy, but none of the missions give that kind of tension individually.  Well, maybe if you try to play the game straight through and restart if you don't get a Gold Medal...

[Conando]

I never bothered because, you never get anything for it. I just got my A rank Mansion and called it a game. But you act like getting hit doesn't ruin your rank in Dark Moon because, it does. Same deal, you reload your save. I just really don't see getting all the money as a measurement of skill, keeping it maybe more so but, anyone can reload their save over and over until they get lucky. I suppose you could say the same for Dark Moon, but the actual fights are much more difficult. I also say that the Scarescraper mode can be incredibly tense. Some people liken it to Dark Souls: Luigi Edition, but I wouldn't go that far. Still, Luigi Souls has a nice ring to it.

Edited April 5, 2013 by Wreck-It Ralph

[Komodin]

Well, I finally beat this game. Normally, I'd elaborate on my thoughts on this lovely game, but since pretty much everybody here has already said what I wanted to say, for the sake of brevity and the avoidance of redundancy, let me just say this: It's my current Game of the Year. Make of that what you will.

 

Seriously, though, I give it 5 Not-Even-Remotely-Mehs out of 5! I LOVE THIS GAME! 

[Salamander]

I played and finished the game while on holiday, so now seems like a good time to review it.  Context: I haven't played Luigi's Mansion, the original, so this was a more or less fresh experience for me.

 

I really liked it on a visual level.  The animation was impressive, Luigi was fantastic, and the mansions were absolutely brimming with stuff.  I do agree that there are immersion issues, though.  Not just to do with facing the same ghosts over and over again, although in that regard I find it very odd that there are just a handful of unique ghost bosses - like the mirror sisters in the second mansion.  Why are they the only totally unique enemies other than Polterpup?  Even the Possessors are all the same except with another horn each time.  That was very strange.  Similarly, I also felt it was unimpressive, noticeably so, that for the fourth and fifth Possessors they didn't reflect the colour and size changes of the boss in the cutscenes between stages.  It's like they hadn't anticipated that design element until after they'd done the cutscenes, and again, it's odd.  This game kept on getting delayed behind the scenes, right?  You'd have thought they'd have the time to fix that.

 

In addition, I suffered a couple of glitches - no Toads getting stuck in the wall, as I've heard of elsewhere, but at one point in the first mansion then all the sound effects turned off for a minute for no reason, and again in the first mansion then all the on-screen graphical cues (the A and X buttons) disappeared for a few minutes at one point.  So that was quite odd.  But it only happened once each, and it was hardly game-breaking, so I suppose it's not a big deal - just strange to see such a distinct problem come up.

 

But to return to the issue of immersion.  There were times when I thought they could have just chained all the missions together and let you Metroidvania it rather than dragging you back to E. Gadd the moment you were getting somewhere.  Then I rationalised that it was to get more out of each mansion by making you redo a bit of material each time.  But then they flagrantly underused the fourth and fifth mansions by throwing all the content at you almost immediately, requiring a filler boss mission in the fifth and only three missions in the fourth.  That really quite frustrated me.  While playing, it felt like the first mansion was huge and sprawling and took ages to complete, but then the rest gradually started to fly by.  So that was genuinely rather disappointing.  So in the final analysis I think I would've preferred to be able to handle each mansion as a single entity rather than dividing them up, although I did really appreciate having multiple mansions - I thought that was pretty impressive and they managed to be quite distinct.

 

Also, shouldn't King Boo go towards your Boo count and appear in the Boo Canister?  (Note: I edited this as I made an error about the Big Boo boss counting; all of its constituent Boos go towards the total, as they should.)  Speaking of which, I actually rather disliked having to Dark Light for Boos as that sort of sucked the enjoyment out of exploration for me.  Instead of creeping around, I was just shining the Dark Light constantly around each room I arrived in, so that broke immersion as well.  But all the Boo characters and the Boo bosses were pretty great, so that's something.

 

So overall, I do agree that this was a great game, and I wasn't underwhelmed... but there are just some things I can't help not feeling happy about.  I'm still going to go back for all the gems, though!  I guess the ones I missed are mostly behind those hidden magic doors.

Edited April 13, 2013 by FFWF

[JezMM]

I think the one annoying thing about the mission structure, more than anything else, is that there is rarely any warning when the mission will end.  USUALLY you can guess it fairly accurately if you actually accomplish the objective you were sent in to do, and then need to pick something up after a tough fight, but sometimes it comes out of nowhere.

 

Most frustrating was "A Train To Catch" in the fifth mansion.  After you get into the room and fight the ghosts, a train comes out of the tunnel.  Convinced this was the way forward, I peeked into the model train first.  Of course, doing that was actually the end of the mission, climbing on the train takes you to an extra area with a collectable inside.

 

This means that (aside from the fact I didn't get the best rank on it anyway) I now have to replay that whole mission to get said collectable because I chose to explore the less obvious thing first.

 

Really not good game design when the average player will explore every possibility they can see in one space before moving onto the next.

[Salamander]

Exactly the same incident caught me out too, and probably many others.  The train seems so obviously the "right way," not least because of the mission name, but most players will want to go the "wrong way" to make sure they experience everything, and so they'll go right for what seems like the far less obvious option.

[JezMM]

The Iwata Asks is now up, for anyone who didn't know already.
 
This bit stood out for me:
 

Brian:
We made Luigi’s Mansion 2 so that people who haven’t played its predecessor can still have a completely new game experience. But we put a little idea in the latter half that will greatly please players of the first game, and that’s what I like most.

Iwata:
What kind of idea?

Brian:
Sorry, but that’s still secret! (laughs) But I’m certain it will bring back memories for people who played Luigi’s Mansion 12 years ago.

 

Can anyone figure out what this might be referring to?  I'm trying to cast my mind back to the Secret Mine and Treacherous Mansion and can't recall anything that jumped out at me as "blatant Luigi's Mansion 1 reference".  Maybe the penultimate boss?

 

 

Oh, or maybe

 

E Gadd's offhand comment about how maybe he shouldn't have sold King Boo's portrait at a (delightfully localised, may I add!) car boot sale.

Edited April 15, 2013 by JezMM

[Cola]

The Iwata Asks is now up, for anyone who didn't know already. This bit stood out for me:  Can anyone figure out what this might be referring to?  I'm trying to cast my mind back to the Secret Mine and Treacherous Mansion and can't recall anything that jumped out at me as "blatant Luigi's Mansion 1 reference".  Maybe the penultimate boss?  Oh, or maybe 

E Gadd's offhand comment about how maybe he shouldn't have sold King Boo's portrait at a (delightfully localised, may I add!) car boot sale.

I think it's that

after you find out that king boo has captured mario, pushing on the control pad will make luigi call out "mario" instead of "hello". The voice clips are from the first game, too! (Also this is permanent)

[scourgeandfionafan123]

Best Game ever. way better than the original. Original game was way too hard to beat. The difficulty level on this game is perfect. 

 

10 ghosts/5 ghosts

[JezMM]

I think it's that

after you find out that king boo has captured mario, pushing on the control pad will make luigi call out "mario" instead of "hello". The voice clips are from the first game, too! (Also this is permanent)

 

Oh wow, I never thought to try that later on.  Awesome.

[Cola]

Oh wow, I never thought to try that later on.  Awesome.

 

I made it a habit to

push the control pad

constantly.

 

 

I just wondered if it changed, and when it did my heart melted.

[SuperStingray]

It's the little things, isn't it?

[Cola]

It certainly is. The attention to detail in this game is astounding.

[Chili Dawg]

SO I JUST BEAT THE GAME

 

AND... IT... WAS... WONDERFUL

 

I will say that the original definitely had a charm of its own that the sequel didn't quite capture... The original had a very distinctive atmosphere that wasn't really like anything else in the Mario franchise. This one did too of course, but not to the same extent as the first. 

 

THAT SAID, Dark Moon is a much better game overall. The mansions are all so cleverly designed. Exploring each one, finding new things, and seeing what the game's gonna throw at you next is just pure fun. Never once did I see the puzzles getting obnoxious in any way, there was just a perfect flow. Only bits I didn't like were the tight walking shenanigans- I'll be blunt, the gyro controls just plain sucked there and those could get more frustrating than fun, but there were only a few in the whole game so I ain't even mad. 

 

A couple of things from the first are gone or different or whatever but who gives a fuck. I never once found myself thinking "gee this would be better if it was like the first one." Sure there are no portrait ghosts, but I never actually found myself caring. The encounters with the other ghosts the game provided were loads of fun, and they put them in enough different situations that ithey never got monotonous. On that note, ghost catching is way better in Dark Moon, now you can press B to do that jump thing and the whole pressing A for those super sucks make for better, more strategic ghost fights. You've got way more control over it now, so woo to the hoo!

 

Mansion 2 is where the game really picks up, I'd say. The end of that first mission where you end up really high in the tree, that's the moment where it's just like, yup this is gonna be good. The first mansion isn't much different from what you'd expect from a new Weegee Mansion (and seeing it's been twelve years, starting off with some familiarity is more than appropriate), but from two onwards they just keep topping themselves in terms of inventiveness. Number 4 is my personal favorite, but I'm a real sucker for both of those level tropes. 3 is quite inventive as well, going into some territory I did not see coming.

 

But you know, one of the greatest things about this game is the little details in the brief cutscenes. I don't think Luigi has ever been this fun to watch. The way Weegee (and everyone else) bounces around is just lovely, never seen so much personality packed into Nintendo characters. The animation acting is just fantastic, Next Level really put on a fantastic performance, and the usual props to Charles Martinet on the voice front as well. While Luigi never has more than the shortest of one liners, his dialogue is always fun to hear like when you meet the Polterpup and he says "bad doggy!" And his regular utterance of "I do eet!" when you defeat ghost always puts a smile on my face.  

 

Now, time for spoiler territory because I wanna gush about things later in the game!

 

 

I know it really wasn't, but I desperately want to believe that the boss of Secret Mine was a homage to the scene in the SMB movie where Mario and the Brooklyn chicks slide through Koopa Tower's icy pipe things on the mattress. Again, I know it really wasn't, but well I was reminded of it, let me have my fantasies! 

 

Everything involving Polterpup. He was just so adorable, every appearance of his had me grinning like an idiot. I love how he and Weegee interacted, it was just so adorable and the ending with them was beautiful. On that note, the ending in general was great. When Mario showed up and said "Luigi! You save Mario! You number one!"... My god, that warmed my heart far more than it should have.

 

BUT BEFORE THE ENDING we had DAT FINAL LEVEL COMBINED WITH DAT FINAL MISSION COMBINED WITH DAT MISSION BEFORE DAT FINAL MISSION.

 

Like the Big Boo (Boolossus?) fight really wasn't great, but they actually did have me thinking it was the final mission at first so nice little trick on me there. And then Paranormal Chaos? That was how do you some serious tension for your last level! Didn't quite top the high point of Weegee's Mansion 1 (the power outage) but it came damn close and was a fight to remember in its own right.

 

And then King Boo? Well that was how you end a game fucking right! Sucked into the middle of some wacky land ghost vortex shit, then these bits where it turns into a Crash Bandicoot-esque chase sequence through big old floating pieces of mansion? Fuck yes, they ended this shit with a bang.

 

 

So in short, Weegee's Mansion: Dark Moon is just everything I love about Nintendo games rolled into one glorious stereoscopic 3D portable package. Easily my fav game on the 3DS, and while it may not exceed its predecessor in every single area I think overall it blows its predecessor out of the water. This game was pure fun from start to finish, if you liked the original at all or just like good fucking video games this game is absolutely fantastic.

 

(sorry guys I just loved this game so much after I beat it I had to get my gushing out somewhere).

Edited July 4, 2013 by Chili Dawg

[Conando]

Now go forth and play the shit out of ScareScraper mode.

[Jolt_TH]

Ahh this is on my list of games to get for my 3DS, I loved number 1 and have been replaying it recently. Please tell me that Luigi hums/whistles his theme during the game again!

[Doctor MK]

Ahh this is on my list of games to get for my 3DS, I loved number 1 and have been replaying it recently. Please tell me that Luigi hums/whistles his theme during the game again!

 

He certainly does!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndfHistNTXs

[Blue Blood]

I got bored of this game around mansion 3. It's good, but hasn't really drawn me in unfortunately. I found myself feeling fed up on more than just one occasion. Ah well...

Edited July 4, 2013 by Blue Blood

[Cortez]

I got bored of this game around mansion 3. It's good, but hasn't really drawn me in unfortunately. I found myself feeling fed up on more than just one occasion. Ah well...

I feel the exact same way, I'm on the Ice mansion now and I'm constantly thinking 'I really should get round to finishing that game' but just really can't be assed.

I really do love it though but it just feels such a chore to pick up and play.

[JezMM]

I feel the exact same way, I'm on the Ice mansion now and I'm constantly thinking 'I really should get round to finishing that game' but just really can't be assed.

I really do love it though but it just feels such a chore to pick up and play.

 

If it helps at all (very minor spoilers, about the game's length):

 

The Ice Mansion only has 3 missions and then a boss.  After that is the final mansion which has the standard amount of stuff.  So you might be closer to the end than you think.

 

 

 

 

 

I will say, the only thing I disliked about the finale (finale spoilers obviously):

 

Is how anti-climatically King Boo goes down.  There's no real cleverness to the final defeat of the last boss, you just do the sequence three times and on the third time it just works for some reason.  Okay.

[Cortez]

Ok, that is a lot closer than I thought. I might just power through it this weekend then.

Does this game have any replayability incentives other than finding the Boos and Gems? Because if it's not worth hanging on to I might just finish it and trade it in towards Dream Team while it still holds it value...

[Mr Useful]

Ok, that is a lot closer than I thought. I might just power through it this weekend then.

Does this game have any replayability incentives other than finding the Boos and Gems? Because if it's not worth hanging on to I might just finish it and trade it in towards Dream Team while it still holds it value...

You can always fuck around in Scarescraper. I only done mission from the first mansion but thats because I am hooked on it. It can be really fun with a nice group of people.