Luigi's Mansion 2 (2013)

Despite being a big fan of the Gamecube back in the day, I never got to play the original Luigi's Mansion. Being a student at the time, it was a while before I had a console of my own and I didn't go back to any of its launch titles. There were a lot of Gamecube games that were generally highly praised but criticised for their short length, which to a student on a limited budget perhaps wouldn't seem like great value for money. Ironic then that short but sweet experiences are almost exactly what I'm looking for at the moment.

While I could probably pick up the original for peanuts, whether I'd get to play it is another matter. With an ever growing pile of unplayed barely current gen games, taking time out to go back a generation is pretty difficult. I would really like to see how it played though, to get an idea of how the sequel was designed around a handheld experience. I imagine that each mansion here was split into multiple levels so that one could be completed in a quick play session, though it doesn't feel like they got the balance quite right on occasions. Some of them are pretty long and if you have to take a break suddenly your only option is to close the 3DS and hope it doesn't chew its own battery apart before you can pick it up again (though this may be a problem specific to the original 3DS).

The absence of any kind of checkpoints can also make some levels harder than they should be. I can only really think of a couple of occasions where a lapse in concentration lead to death but being set back so far gives it a certain sting. Thankfully the game's bosses are all contained within their own stages, so while they are the most challenging parts of the game you won't be set back too far (though if you somehow managed to die on the second mansion's boss I imagine you'd be furious about having to climb that set of stairs again).

Sadly I found a lot of the bosses rather uninspiring really, mansion two you just have to keep moving to avoid attacks until you can vacuum its weak point, number three is a long repetitive fight against ghosts you've fought before and the fourth is a shooting minigame that has no relevance to anything you've done before. I guess I was just disappointed that there weren't many like the first boss, which is a pitch perfect test of all the skills you have learned so far. You could put that down to there not really being any new skills after you learn to set things on fire but the non-boss levels still manage to serve up some head scratching puzzles and creative uses of your talents.

It sounds like I'm being pretty negative about the game at this point but I did genuinely enjoy it - I can't really think of any other issues that I haven't already mentioned. It can be hard to describe exactly what's so good about it in a way, from a gameplay perspective your tasks can be quite repetitive (though it helps that the core process of catching ghosts is always enjoyable). It's really a game that wouldn't be anywhere near as enjoyable without the effort that's gone into its environments and characters. Luigi in particular I was surprised at how much I warmed to his constant fear and cowering, it's somehow both charming and refreshing compared to most stoic games protagonists. You'll no doubt start to join in as he hums along to the theme tune to keep himself calm (even if it's unconciously about 3 hours after you've finished playing).

The mansions are also unique and gorgeous, with tons of atmosphere. I was surprised that it even managed to create palpable tension as you share in Luigi's apprehension to enter some areas. This is despite the fact that you'll never come across anything truly terrifying, there's more likely to be a good laugh in store, which makes you chuckle at yourself for feeling any concern about it. Diffusing the tension like this might be the kiss of death for a horror film but it felt like exactly the right way to approach a PEGI 7 rated game. You'd have to consider whether your own child would find any of it scary but it'd definitely be a good stepping stone on the way to introducing them to the Fatal Frame series ;)

There's probably still loads I could talk about too - I've not even mentioned the multiplayer, which I haven't played more than a few games of. I was relieved that after starting to play online a long time after its release, it didn't seem to be full of experts who would berate the failings of a complete noob. While it may essentially be co-op in nature, there's an element of competition that gives everyone a reason to do their best and its communication system limits you to a small selection of phrases voiced by Luigi, so you'll never be verbally abused for your mistakes.

So while I'm not exactly able to confirm it myself, it seems that this turns out to be much bigger than the original - even if you only consider the core path through the game. While obsessively hunting down all of the Boos and finding gems probably isn't for me, it's nice to come across them off the beaten path now and then. I have gone back to a few previous stages to try and clean up, accessing areas that I couldn't before and generally improve my scores but some of the extras must have fiendish hiding places. I wonder if this is another disadvantage of the multi-level setup as you're never quite sure whether you need to scour parts of the mansion that made up previous levels. Another very minor complaint though, which I think sums up the game, that it's worth playing regardless of any issues it might have.