Luigi's Mansion 2/Dark Moon Review

[Zera]

Greetings, folks! Today I'm here to review Luigi's mansion 2. This review will contain comparisons to the original Luigi's Mansion, and it may or may not contain spoilers. Also, for some reason it's called Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon in the US and ONLY the US. I guess we Americans are allergic to numbers or something. In any case, Dark Moon is actually a good title, because it tells you exactly what to do before you even open the game box.

Dark Moon. Put it back together. The purple, moon-shaped crystal that calms the ghosts in Evershade Valley has broken apart, and its up to YOU to fix it. Why? Because you're LUIGI, that's why! Professor E. Gadd recruits Luigi by teleporting him through his own television, and Luigi's adventure begins.

Dark Moon has excellent graphics. The original Luigi's Mansion started development as a graphical tech demo for the GameCube. Its lighting, object physics, and particle effects were impressive, and still look good today. While Dark Moon cannot reach the same graphical fidelity, it squeezes as much power as it can out of the 3DS. This is evidenced by frame rate dips, especially in large rooms and cutscenes. However, this never affects gameplay, and usually you won't even notice it. The music is also great. Like its predecessor, Dark Moon has an overarching "theme" that plays with variations throughout the entire adventure, and other themes that play in specific situations.

The core gameplay is basically the same. You explore haunted locations, find hidden secrets and money, and battle ghosts with a flashlight and vacuum. Since the 3DS only has one control stick, the controls work a bit differently then they did in the original. The new control setup is hard to describe, but it actually works really well.

Much of the variety and personality in Luigi's Mansion came from the unique portrait ghosts you had to catch, who are not in this game. In order to make up for this, many other areas are slightly improved. For starters, the combat has a bit more variety. Although there are less basic ghosts, there is more variety within them. For example, you won't always fight the same green ghost with 10HP. He might have sunglasses which must be sucked off first, or an energy shield that requires a vacuum surge to break, or a weapon with a spinning attack that must be avoided.

Luigi also has some new tricks up his sleeve. You can stun ghosts with your flashlight, or charge it for a much wider blast of light. The Dark-Light Device reveals ghosts and invisible objects. While vacuuming ghosts, continuously reducing their health fills a power gauge up to three levels. You can consume this gauge for a surge that deals additional damage depending on what level it was at. You can also perform a jumping dodge to avoid attacks, but this empties the gauge.

Defeating ghosts with higher level surges, as well as sucking up more than one at a time, yields more money. Once you have 20000g the Poltergust 5000 will be fully upgraded. Any additional money you collect goes to the Vault to do... absolutely nothing. Still, it's kinda fun to watch that pile of gold get bigger and bigger as you continue to accrue a vast fortune. They don't even do that in New Super Mario Bros 2, where you just get a numerical counter.

When I heard that Dark Moon was going to have mission-based gameplay, I was afraid that Nintendo killed the exploration, but this is not the case. Although the missions run in a linear order, you can oftentimes choose which rooms to explore and in what order. Overall, the game goes on a linear path, but no more so than the original. Also, you get one of three different rankings for every mission, depending on how well you did. In case you're wondering, the hidden formula for score is [Money + Ghosts x 120 - Time(seconds) - Health lost x 6]

While Luigi's Mansion had the entire game in one enormous mansion, Dark Moon has multiple smaller mansions, each with a unique theme. I really like this idea, and in the long run it makes for a longer game with more content. Unfortunately, it also has the side effect of decreasing the surprise factor for each individual room. For example, if I'm in the Secret Mine, which is ice and mine themed, do you think the next room is going to have lava? If it did, I would be surprised and delighted - nope, just another ice-filled excavation site. I will say, however, that the final mansion is packed with surprises, and very awesome.

Another new feature is the Scarescraper. Luigi's Mansion now has multiplayer..... an unexpected but welcome inclusion. With up to four players locally, online, or through download play, the Scarescraper offers three different modes. In Hunter you must clear all rooms of ghosts. In Rush you must find mini clocks to extend your time so you can find the exit room. In Polterpup you must use the Dark-Light to track down and capture all the polterpups. You can play on Normal, Hard, and Expert difficulties, and you can take on a 5, 10, or 25 floor Scarescraper, with an unlockable "Endless" mode that keeps getting harder until you die.

However, there are three problems with the multiplayer: 1. Difficulty does not scale to the number of players, and the strict five-minute timer can make it impossible to win alone, even on Normal mode. 2. Players cannot join a game in progress, so if all your teammates leave, you're screwed. 3. If a teammate goes AFK in Rush mode, you're screwed, because everyone must stand on switches in the exit room to escape. Despite these issues, the multiplayer can be really fun if you have a good team to play with.

Since Dark Moon is longer than its predecessor, it also has more bosses. Bosses 2, 3, and 4, however, are just...not that special. Interestingly, the first boss is not only challenging, but very puzzle-based, and some have argued that it is, in fact, the best boss in the game. So there are four great bosses...whereas the original only HAD four bosses.

Is it better than...

Super Mario 3D Land?

Yes. Way better. 3D Land is overrated.

Mario Kart 7?

Yes. Mario Kart 7 is a nice game, but it was way too predictable.

New Super Mario Bros 2?

Yes. NSMB2 took out the VS and Minigame modes of the original and replaced them with overpriced DLC and coins that do nothing.

Fire Emblem Awakening?

Yes. Streetpass is not multiplayer.

Luigi's Mansion?

I'm gonna call it a tie. Both games are unique and have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor?

No.

Conclusion: Luigi's Mansion 2/Dark Moon is an excellent game. Possibly the best 3DS game I've played so far, it is a worthwhile sequel to Luigi's Mansion. I highly recommend it, especially to fans of the original.

9/10 Awesome!

Edited September 14, 2016 by Zera

[Anacybele]

Ooh, awesome review! I agree, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is an awesome title (more creative and original than just Luigi's Mansion 2, imo) and this game is my favorite 3DS title right now along with FE: Awakening. ^^

[Zera]

Glad you liked the review. One vital thing I forgot to mention is that E. Gadd calls you very often during missions. It can kill the pacing a bit, but it's not as bad as Fi from TLoZ: Skyward Sword.