Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

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JaySevenZero
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Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2) for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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Buskalilly
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Re: 567: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

Post by Buskalilly »

This one was a real surprise for me. I hadn't - and still haven't - played the original Luigi's Mansion, but picked it up because it was the latest big Nintendo release. The little 3D dioramas, the slapstick comedy and the simple puzzle solving was a delightful romp. On top of that, the co-op tower saw hours of play with my then girlfriend.

I think 3 surpassed it, and from what I've heard the original has some unique factors which this didn't capture, but if the only criticism of a game is that it can't quite match some real masterpieces, that's not bad going.
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NoMoreSpearows
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Re: 567: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

Post by NoMoreSpearows »

One room in Luigi's Mansion 2 is beaten by climbing up the correct staircase several times in a row.

In terms of gameplay, this is absolutely atrocious. It's mostly luck, it doesn't correlate much to Luigi's abilities, and every failure just intensifies things. But the gameplay isn't the point here; the point is that it's meant to be funny.

And ultimately, that's the biggest fault with Luigi's Mansion 2. It wants so badly to be a comedy game first and foremost that everything else takes a step down in quality because of it. Sure, the ghosts have little skits, but I don't remember them as fondly as the Portrait Ghosts of the original because they lack the character behind them. Sure, Luigi's antics and little asides ("I deed eet!") are charming, but it means that the game is more willing to have him go through asinine and unfun busywork since, if you're lucky, maybe he'll do something that'll provide a chuckle.

Playing Luigi's Mansion 2 is like trying to binge-watch the entirety of Mr. Bean. It has its moments, but the more you go on the more you start to see recycled jokes and tired set-ups. If you play maybe a stage a day, as per the 3DS's model, maybe you'd get more out of it, but when the original title is best experienced in one huge sitting comparisons are inevitable. As a result, it ends up, not unlike Luigi, falling flat on its face.
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Mr Ixolite
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Re: 567: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

Post by Mr Ixolite »

I played Luigis Mansion 2 after enjoying the 3DS port of the original, and found many positive changes; the game controlled a bit better, the levels were chock full of secrets, the game was more varied in its locations, and there was more of it. Perhaps too much it turned out, as when I reached the snowy mansion levels I put the game down, and wouldn't pick it up again until years later, to get it done before Luigis Mansion 3. It wasn't that the game bad per se, there was just something about it that was missing in order to drive me forward. I think the structure was a big part of it; normally I'm very pro-level based game design, but here the segmentation felt more obstructive, more like padding. The levels do change over time, but trudging across the same areas multiple times after getting booted back to home base across several loading screens still got tiresome. The game has plenty of fun gameplay moments and charm factor, but it cannot quite compete on those fronts with its sequel, which feels like it takes everything Luigis Mansion 2 had going for it and crafts a best-of-both-worlds scenario.

Still, Luigis Mansion 2 is a perfectly enjoyable experience, just not one I'm compelled to revisit. It may have the best iteration of regular ghost-combat in the series, but said combat requires my hands to engage with the hard edges of my 3DS. Maybe that's why I put it down back then.

3 word review: Segmented Spirit-Suction
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Jobobonobo
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Re: 567: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

Post by Jobobonobo »

While I did not play it at the Gamecube’s launch, when I eventually tried the original Luigi’s Mansion I was impressed by its presentation and how different it was from any of Mario’s adventures. It was nice to see Luigi established as his own developed character and the graphics really pushed the next gen vibe of the Gamecube making it the perfect launch title. Likewise with this sequel, I did not try it at release, only playing it this year. Like the original, the graphics are really rather lovely and it show off how powerful the 3DS can be in the right hands. The basic gameplay of catching ghosts, collecting loot and solving environmental puzzles is also for the most part well executed.

However, this title also has certain issues that prevent me from loving it as I do with so many other Nintendo titles. First, the ghosts with the exception of Polterpup, are incredibly generic. The variety is really small and lack the character of even the regular ghosts from the original, never mind the portrait ghosts. The mission structure was a strange way to structure the game. I suppose splitting the mansion into these bite sized adventures make sense for a handheld title but I would rather just freely explore the place at my own pace and save when needed. However, that is really a small nitpick. What actively annoyed me was the lack of checkpoints. Having to redo the same puzzles again and again because you died on a mission was beyond irritating. I had to redo the mission where you have to catch all the ghosts before the dimension crashes in on itself countless times and just kept failing over and over. I decided my only course of action was to grind for enough money to get the final upgrade for the Poltergust in previous missions. It massively helped but I still failed two or three times before I eventually got it. Loathed that mission with a fiery passion. Also as mentioned by NoMoreSpearows, that room where you have to guess the right staircase you climb or else you slide right down to the bottom was a tiresome joke that long overstayed its welcome.

In conclusion, while Luigi’s Mansion 2 can be an enjoyable enough title for the most part the segmented mission structure with random difficulty spikes thrown in alongside its rather bland cast of ghosts make this overall a bit of a let down for me. Maybe it is the fact it is on a handheld but I also feel that is not really an excuse. The 3DS can run stuff like the remasters of Xenoblade Chronicles and Dragon Quest VIII after all. Sadly this sequel falls far short of the fun original Gamecube title. I have my fingers crossed that Luigi’s Mansion 3 fixes up the problems that plague this title.

3WR: A mediocre disappointment
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Toon Scottoon
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Re: 567: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

Post by Toon Scottoon »

I find it easy to be critical of the Luigi's Mansion sequel. The graphics on the New 2DS/3DS family were rarely great, and with such large, rubber-faced character models this game looks all kinds of jaggy in places. The character variety is mostly non-existent, and some of the boss encounters, particularly the ice faced creature that you fight on the sled, are cumbersome to the point of being annoying. Yet I can easily brush aside these criticisms and say that Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon is a terrific game that expertly leverages the same kind of fun often encountered on an amusement park ride or in an escape room.

Like the first game, Dark Moon rewards players just for dropping into this hokey haunted world, and that reward, be it fake riches, or the affection of the tongue wagging polterpup, or just the chance to suck and blow your way through a new environment is nearly always worth the price of admission. And while I think the first entry in the series was a more bold expression of Nintendo's willingness to subvert player's expectations of what a console launch title with a mascot character could be, and the third entry is a more thoughtful and evolved version of this kind of cartoony virtual puzzle box, the second Luigi's Mansion has moments that are worthy of inclusion in what I think it one of Nintendo's most clever spin off series.

Three word review - Best boy Polterpup

Four word review - Back on their Booshit
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psychohype
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Re: 567: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

Post by psychohype »

To me, Luigi’s Mansion 2 will always be the perfect example of a Nintendo Selects title. Do you all remember Nintendo Selects? If a first-party Nintendo game had been out for a few years, and if it had already proven successful, there was always the possibility that it would eventually get a price drop as an official Nintendo Selects title. As a fairly late adopter of the 3DS, the Select series presented a great way for me to catch up some of the titles I might have otherwise missed—all at a reasonable price point. If it hadn’t been for the Nintendo Selects version of Dark Moon, I might have never bothered taking a crack at the Luigi’s Mansion series. Dark Moon might not be the most memorable game I’ve ever played, but it was a fun and solidly designed adventure. And that’s what made it such a great discount title.
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NoMoreSpearows
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Re: 567: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

Post by NoMoreSpearows »

NoMoreSpearows wrote: January 17th, 2023, 11:33 pm Playing Luigi's Mansion 2 is like trying to binge-watch the entirety of Mr. Bean.
https://gonintendo.com/contents/30114-l ... by-mr-bean

Hey, wait a minute!
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Re: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Luigi's Mansion 2)

Post by ratsoalbion »

Ha!
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