Luigi’s Mansion 3 for the Nintendo Switch is exactly that: the third entry into the bizarre Nintendo series where brother Luigi is left to scour haunted locations in search of missing friends. It’s a game where you use a vacuum cleaner (The Poltergust 3000, mind you) to suck up ghosts, sort of like a far less confident Ghostbuster.
You might want to hold off on firing that real estate agent, though. This time around, Luigi may be in need of a better travel agent instead.
We spent some time with the game in a Nintendo backroom on the E3 show floor. The demo started off with a pretty cinematic experience – for a Mario game, anyway. Luigi, asleep on a bus, is joined by Toad, Peach, Mario, et. al. en route to some type of getaway trip. That’s when Polterpup, the ghost dog from Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, whisks back into Luigi’s life. Not-so-long story short, the gang arrive at a hotel, everybody goes missing, and thus begins Luigi's ascent up through a cartoonishly tall hotel, floor by floor.

That’s the story. But here’s what actually matters: this game has a sterling art direction that absolutely screams charm... probably even louder than Luigi. Developed by Next Level Games, developers of the previous 3DS entry and the Punch-Out!! revival on the Nintendo Wii, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is also probably not what you’re expecting if you played the other two games in the series.
Were you expecting a slightly updated, HD approximation of the other two games? In a certain light, sure, that’s what we’ve got here. But we’ve just seen this game through the light of Luigi’s new and improved flashlight, and now realize there is so much more to this game than just HD visuals.
New Abilities

Luigi retains his old arsenal from the previous games. That is, he sucks things in, blows things away, and flashes stuff with a light. But now, Luigi can hop in the air by pressing the L and R buttons at the same time, and it seems like jumping will really come in handy. Even better is the new ability to swing ghosts hard against the ground (or into breakable objects) while you’re attempting to suck up and capture them, almost like a combo system.
Soon we were combo-ing ghosts all over the place with a satisfying suck and slam
Both are welcome additions, and although it took us a few minutes to get our bearings, soon we were combo-ing ghosts all over the place with a satisfying suck and slam, one-two punch. It feels nice and robust and makes your vacuum feel so much more powerful at all times as a result. Also new is the ability to conjure up a plunger that shoots out from your vacuum like a dart, sticking to whatever it lands on. Walk up to it and start sucking it up, and you’ve got a brand new way for Luigi to yank stuff off of objects. It’s a touch difficult to aim but satisfying as heck when you start pulling things with it.
The last new ability we saw is so important it’s blown up onto the 30-foot promotional banners for the game: say hello to “Gooiigi”, a green, mucus-like clone of Luigi that can be summoned by pressing down the right joystick. It’s basically just a second character model you can call out on command, except you’re able to walk through certain obstacles regular Luigi can’t, but while being extremely hindered by other things Luigi has no problem with (namely, doors and water).
Put another way, it’s a new way to create puzzles that put two of you in different places on the screen, but with alternate pros and cons. Clever!
The Levels

We were told that broadly speaking, each level was a floor of the hotel, and each floor is set to be unique with its own ghost boss guarding each exit. All we could tell from what we played was that each door led to another little set-piece that plays out like an action-oriented puzzle. Sometimes we had to interact with the location as if it were an escape room that we had to try and solve, while other times we rolled up our sleeves and started bonking ghosts around the floor until none were left.
There are tiny, animated details just about everywhere you can perceive on the screen
If you take any one thing away from this preview, let it be this: the ghosts may be dead, but this game is alive. There are tiny, animated details just about everywhere you can perceive on the screen, as well as plenty of nooks and crannies where optional secrets could be had by the hand full. For those of you who were into seeking high scores, we suspect that aspect of the series is absolutely back in full force. We can’t even imagine being able to suck up all the coins and money that was available to us, though we're sure many of you will be spending a ton of time trying.
And even with all that goodness, the boss battles may have been the best of all; we played a jousting match with a medieval ghost who can be defeated with well-timed flashlight flashes and even better-timed plunger suctions. We won’t go into any more detail retelling how the encounter goes down, but we will say that the vibes from boss battles in this game are absolutely upped from the previous two. It was incredibly fun, and we can hardly wait to see how the other bosses will work.
Takeaway

We came into the demo thinking Luigi’s Mansion 3 would be a great recommendation for fans of the series. We're now thinking this game is much closer to being a flagship holiday title for Nintendo in the same vein as any of their proudest works.
You do not need to have played the first two titles to appreciate how fluid and entertaining this game is. In fact, while it’s not reinventing the wheel, there might be as big of a jump in scope between the second and third game as there was between the short first game and its robust 3DS sequel. There is an entire multiplayer component we didn’t get to play, tons of new abilities, and just a massive level of polish that was obvious even just inside this demo.
We bet Luigi won’t be able to sleep after this adventure. We suggest you also don’t sleep on this game. Luigi’s Mansion 3 is slated to release later this year.
Comments 76
I loved the first game but couldn't really get into the second on 3DS for whatever reason. I was unsure on what to think of Luigi's Mansion 3 from the first trailer but I'm really liking the look of it now.
Look extremely boring!
This looks fantastic. One gripe is that DAISY, Luigi's girlfriend, is nowhere to be seen in this game. The plot fits so perfectly with it too. Peach could have invited all of her friends to the mansion...
Also would have been a great co-op partner.
Gooigi is my God now. Praise him from whom all blessings flow.
@memoryman3
Gooigi over Daisy. I don't approve. While I don't mind Gooigi, it's sad Daisy receives no love.
Absolutely gorgeous game. Brimming with personality
Very much looking forward to it, cannot wait!
This is absolutely my most anticipated game of the year. Been waiting for this ever since I was blown away by Dark Moon.
Question, though: does it stick to Dark Moon's mission structure? Or is it more free roaming like the first game?
Will we be able to save any time in this game like in the first one or will we be stuck having to beat a “level” before able to save like in Dark Moon?
That's great, now if only we get a demo at the eShop so we could try it for ourself.
@skrax Wow, an opinion, that obviously makes you right!
@Desa I have a feeling that it might be due to Gooigi being easier to develop since he has the same wireframe and skeleton as Luigi does, but this doesn't seem like a low budget game at all, and the Switch is more than capable.
Plus it would be a nice dynamic, Daisy's boisterous personality is a good contrast.
@Desa They could have made.....Gooisy! ?
It was confirmed that LM3 is returning to the exploration-based gameplay of LM1 rather than the mission-based gameplay of LM2, which is all that matters to me.
Graphics and lighting look like a solid improvement over what was shown in the September 2018 Direct, which is also good news.
@Wavey84 me too, but they did have that police looking ghost. Hopefully there are more like him
@Desa got me thinking how cool it’s be to see Daisy running around in some sporty jump suit kind of out-ghost busting Luigi. Kind of what Ada was to Leon in Resi 2
Looks like they have some good puzzles in mind as well, honestly I love Dark Moon and part of the reason was the focus on puzzle solving.
Good to hear. Definitely picking it up. The only other Switch title I might get this year is Link, but if it’s the same length as the original, I’m not paying $60 just on principle.
@westman98
I am glad it returning to the first gameplay because the mission base gameplay was a tough pill to swallow. This game can't come soon enough. Of course I need a switch now. Nintendo is selling me on switch now.
It looks great - I watched it yesterday on the Treehouse and it looks wonderful, and as the article says, full of life. It's definitively looking as a big improvement over Dark Moon!
I'm very much looking forwards to it.
@WOLF13 I'd like nintendolife to do a poll on how many people on here have actually played links awakening. I haven't and I'm 40.
This rivals MK8D and Mario Odyssey as the best looking game on Switch so far. It's stunning to look at.
@mikegamer I simply stated what I thought, I suppose it offended you that I had an opinion. I forgot you kids today believe everybody should think exactly like you.
@ricklongo Good question indeed. I'd like to know that as well.
@sixrings I played it within the last two years for first time. It was fun to play, but I’m in no rush to play a remake if everything is the same. It’s not a long game and I’d fly through it if puzzles and boss strategies are the same.
The game looks incredibly spoopy - I like the idea that each floor will have its own theme; allows for creativity.
@Don This. Dark Moon was great except for two MAJOR design flaws. 1-The save system & 2-Replaying for gem hunt was BEYOND tedious as certain gems required environmental actions that only happened on specific levels.
It wasn't searching for needles in haystacks. It was searching for needles that may or may not be present in the haystack but hey you have to go through the entire haystack to find out.
Fix these imminently fixable items and you have a near flawless exploration game.
@Pandaman I know it's too early to say for a hands on and I don't know if you got to try this feature out, but how easy was it to save? So far a lot of the titles that had been dedicatedly developed for Switch (esp. for Nintendo) had easy ways to quickly save inbetween. I want to make sure that even here the "play anywhere" mantra can be even applied with small and short commutes...
@WOLF13 this is why I don't play old games. Somehow or another because I tried playstation before 64 I never played mario 64. Because I bought 360 for hd long before I got a Wii I never played galaxy. I'll just wait and be hopeful for remasters than pulling out my old system and firing up a retro game.
To be fair resident evil 2 is newer and has been remade. Wind waker was newer and been remade. Lots of games these days are remade and sell at full or close to full price. So I can't be mad at nintendo. They see the trend and they are just capitalizing on it
@sixrings it’s definitely an industry trend. I’d rather spend time on new experiences. Sure, there are special games I’d replay. But there are too many now.
@Wavey84 Apparently there are going to be ghosts like the portrait ones in the first game (you can see one of them in the Treehouse footage), so there you go!
I want the level of polosh toooooo!
@WOLF13 I think this game being remade is fair. Anyone under 20 has likely never played it. Gameboy is a long time ago. Four portable generations ago.
A satisfying suck and slam
Looks so great. Love the first one on Gamecube. This 3rd one looks promissing
@Wavey84 Yup, pretty much my sentiments. Dark moon was disappointing because while the ghosts had decent jokes at times and some puzzles were fine, a lot of the game was boring. Also interesting boss fights? 2 of them were mook rushes and the ice slide one was infuriatingly slow.
I hope those more detailed ghosts are more like portrait ghosts, but they still feel generic too some degree. Most of the ghosts in the original Luigi's Mansion had a unique gimmick to reveal them; such as with Neville and Lydia, the first two ghosts in the game. That, their unique rooms that fits the inside of a mansion well, unique artstyle, and interesting bio helped make them memorable. The mansion also was creepy in it's own right without the comical ghosts. But since the director of LM1 is working on Mario Kart, I suppose we won't see him direct another LM any time soon.
Dark moon threw this out for areas which, while some fit a mansion,.....most were generic ish rooms in a blocky 3DS title that rarely stood out. Reminded me of a SMB 3D land/world stage; built for a specific purpose in gameplay and not much to expand the world of the game. At least 3 seems to be doing better in this regard. Though the different hotel levels systems seems like the mission structure with another paint of coat.
Lastly, while the twin stick style was interesting, it was also a pain to control. Moving the c stick while holding the flashlight with A wasn't the most comfortable. They could have fixed it such as with the multiple trigger buttons we have now, but the existing system isn't bad. Only the feel of barely holding on has been lost since it controls more smoothly.
...with a satisfying suck and slam, one-two punch...
...a brand new way for Luigi to yank stuff off...
...while other times we rolled up our sleeves and started bonking ghosts around the floor until none were left...
Are we not doing phrasing anymore?
Dark Moon was utterly fantastic, except for the bite sized mission selection they did, in my opinion. If they made this one more like the first one, but with the same, but more advanced, mechanics of Dark Moon, I would be very jappy. I am not sure if they have talked about the world structure much yet.
@JonSpangler - I only read Nintendo Life for the articles.
Looks more like the second game than the first, and that puts me off. Never finished the 3DS instalment, so probably won’t be buying this until I at least beat that one.
Yes looks amazing, that gorgeous signature detail that Nintendo deliver in spades. Day one for sure.
@Wavey84 I understand what you mean, as I've also run into those problems playing the game. Luckily, I had friends to do the Scarescraper with and that made my experience so much better!
@skrax Derr herr herr okay
@sixrings absolutely. I’m not knocking it. But for me, I just played it.
This will be a pre-order at the earliest opportunity.
I'm so happy Next Level Games has been able to make something with actual potential after getting loaded down with Federation Force. That was such a disservice to such a good team. This will be the only game I buy day 1 this year.
Glad it is looking to be a great game, but I prefer not too see too much game play and just experience it myself when it releases.
I’m looking forward to this game! I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t have a release date than 2019 while Animal crossing got an exact date. This and Link’s Awakening (never played original) are on my list.
I have never played any of them and this looks absolutely fantastic! I just might take the jump!
This is now on my buy list. It looks like fun and the new additions to the game make it a must buy.
@skrax Like your post?
Looks outstanding !! this is easily my most-wanted game this year bar none, cannot wait to play it !!
Well it has to be the flagship game this year. An upscaled 3ds game and Link's Awakening aren't exactly big games.
@napabar Mine is the only one that is true, unlike you fanboys who would buy anything including any character from the mario universe. You are the same people who buy any old game being released on the eshop, even if it's a 1 pixel game from gameboy or even atari's early years. You lose it and go all out hype mode when you see a game from the 80's being thrown out for 40 bucks without a single improvement and preorder several copies. You know, you low standard people who refuse to get with the times.
@skrax Well, that rant had nothing to do with Luigi's Mansion 3. You seem tense. Maybe you should get out of the basement...go try to get laid.
@skrax
As is your trolling comment,a little more insight into why you find it boring would help,rather than your obvious bate comment.
@skrax,
Getting with the times would mean buying generic fps after fps titles I would assume,I would rather stay with Nintendo's entertainment myself.
It looks like it's going to run at a crappy and choppy 30 fps, which sucks bigtime! I wish it ran at 720p or 600p or 540p or whatever is necessary to get it running smoothly at 60 fps! I'm starting to realise that this E3 could've been a total bust in my view if they had just gone ahead and dropped all their games to 30 fps. Why not cut Mario Maker 2 down to 30? And if they'd announce that Link's Awakening is going to run at 30fps then I think we'd have a clean sweep with every Nintendo game that's on the way running like garbage. I know Mario Maker will run at 60 like the previous two games. It seems like Link's Awakening will run at 60. But Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Astral Chain, Marvel whatever 4 player, and others look terrible at 30fps. I think this might be the first Fire Emblem that entirely runs at 30 fps. It's so frustrating that when Nintendo releases their most powerful game device Fire Emblem breaks with it's tradition of smooth presentation! Just release the GameCube and Wii games on Switch so we can play FE at 60fps dammit! Hopefully all these games will at least have the option of playing with smooth graphics via a "performance mode" in the options...
Super hype! I don’t even need to see more. Bring it on
the best graphics of all games released on Switch so far
I was super impressed by what I saw with LM3. It's easily the best looking Switch game I've seen so far. It also looks like it's packed with content. It looks like it will be every bit as good as BoTW and SMO. I didn't expect this or Astral Chain to be as great as they're turning out to be. Excellent E3 for Nintendo. I'm way excited.
I wasnt too into it at first. The slam move looks pretty fun, but I didn't like that they weren't leaning more into the haunted theme. By the end of the video though, the beautiful environments really won me over.
Why do I get the feeling this should be a Halloween release? Regardless, I'm sold on it.
The ability to slam ghosts around sounds like the Ghostbusters game on PS3/Xbox 360, and it was indeed very satisfying in that game. Hopefully the game doesn't run on a mission based structure like Dark Moon and is more open like the original.
@BenAV I didn't like the second game because it felt too mission-based compared to the first game where progression was more about you just exploring the big mansion.
Loved both games so far and this looks fantastic, I’ve no doubt it will be with Next Level Games at the helm. They deserve some good tidings after the Federation Force fiasco.
I love what I've seen of this game in the Nintendo Treehouse segments. It's definitely a step up from the other two games! I'll be picking this one up for sure.
That said, the other two games are worth a try if anyone is interested. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was what sucked me into the series. The original was ported to the 3DS, so I was able to enjoy it for the first time as well.
I'm all in on luigi mansion 3.
Loved the series since the GC - always loved how luigi hums the theme tune and his shaky voice "m m m mario!?"
classic.
@skrax Not every game will appeal to each gamer. What makes the game boring for you? What would you like to see changed to make it more appealing?
Pre-ordered this after the Nintendo E3 presentation. Looking forward to it!
LM1 was good
DM was great
This looks Phenomenal!
@Wavey84 I largely agree with you although the original game is also 30fps apart from the door opening animations but yeah the ghosts looked so much better in the original game. The first game is still one I play today and recently beat yet again but the second I never even finished due to the boring ghost designs and being split up into too many separate missions. Now this seems to have some forced co-op to go along with the dull ghosts and this is one of the games I was looking forward to the most but now I'm not so sure
I just can’t wait for this one. I really love Luigi’s Mansion, played both of them and loved them. This just looks amazing, the atmosphere appears to be outstanding if you ask me.
I loved Dark Moon, I really did. It was my favorite 3DS game to be honest. I never felt the ghost were boring (the baby was fun) and I loved the different stages. But overall I did like de GC version the most, because it was something new. LM 3 looks like everthing I hoped for….. Insta buy, most anticipated game in 2019.
@Muddy_4_Ever
The lack of checkpoints is what stopped me from playing the game. I was 20 minutes into a mission, got killed only to find out I had to start all over again from the beginning. I ended up quitting the game in frustration.
@Don The signposting wasn't always so strong either. I generally don't mind that (games like Luigi's Mansion are great fun to wander about) HOWEVER going down the wrong halls for 15 minutes only to discover that the place you needed to be was on the other side of the mansion was tedious. Throw in the fact that there is no quicksave option and it meant a portable game was demanding 30-45 minute play session (much longer if you failed halfway through).
SUPER simple fixes... a quicksave option and defined checkpoints. I'd like to think that they've solved that for LM3 because it's an otherwise brilliant game.
@memoryman3 Maybe Peach doesn't want another princess around?
Nice preview!
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