So, a quick few words about Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, as it recently released, i got it, but there’s no planned review for it this year (i’m waiting for the port-remake-whatever is gonna be of the first Luigi’s Mansion), so let’s just do a quick impressions-style article/hands on, since i’m basically halfway through it already and i did plan the original 3DS release when it came out.
The short version of it is that i wouldn’t stampede to get a copy if you already played it on 3DS, not that is gonna get cheaper to get in time.
I just wanna stress out this is mostly a release for people that played Luigi’s Mansion 3 and wanna play all the series on Switch, for those that haven’t already played Luigi’s Mansion 2 before and maybe have only a Switch as their modern Nintendo console.
The longer version is actually the shorter one, as in, this is called “Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD”, not “Luigi’s Mansion 2: Remastered”, and i can’t deny it is that, a HD version that updates the graphics to more modern standards and it’s available on a widespread Nintendo console.. because it IS the same exact game.
it’s just a HD version, a spruced up port from 3DS, which is fine, but makes me a bit worried regarding the fact they also announced an upcoming Switch version of the original Luigi’s Mansion, and that would realistically require a lot more than a HD treatment, if they plan to also add the weird and actually kinda bad extras and changes made for the 3DS port (yep, there was a 3DS port of Luigi’s Mansion), which included co-op by adding Gooigi from LM 3.
If it felt super familiar is because it was, even with the right analog stick available for controlling the vacuum more naturally, the controls are also identical, it has the multiplayer mode too, just missing the 3D features for obvious reasons, but it’s the same content, for better and worse.
And while i’m quite enjoying this replay on Switch, i still think Luigi’s Mansion 2 is a good game and a surprisingly nice follow up to the original.
Sure, it’s a jump backwards after devouring the excellent Luigi’s Mansion 3, not the fault of the game itself, it’s just LM 3 was actually able to take everything the previous title did and do even better in a noticeable way, going back to LM 2 … actually is taking a step back in quality.
Still a good game, but the main lamentation is that you really can tell it was originally designed for a handheld, and especially after LM 3 is weird playing these shorter missions where you’re kinda kept at a leash in terms of where you can explore and what triggers a mini-cutscene that will end the mission right there. Holdovers of it being a 3DS title as the scoring/medals system for each mission in every area/mansion/place.
I do still find the power-up system in place is good enough to encourage you exploring and vacuuming as much money, bills and coins as you can, where as in the original it was all just determining the finale and mansion score, here instead being cumulated to unlock some basic but useful upgrades to your ghostbusting tools.
So far the content is identical, which is fine but is also a missed opportunity to trim down, remove or redesign some of the worse parts, like the area 2 boss level.
The boss itself it’s actually fairly easy, what is awful and really should have been given a trim is the section leaving up to the boss battle itself, as it’s mostly an incredibly long ascent through 20/25 sets of stairs where you have to guess for every “floor” which of the three stairs is the real one, otherwise you’re sent back to the very bottom of the place, having to fight some ghosts to even retry your pick/guess.
There are rocks, mounds of sand, plants on each “floor” between the sets of stairs, but don’t try to suss out any pattern, they lead you to believe there’s a pattern (or more) when actually there is none, it’s just a utterly frustrating, insanely time consuming. guessing game, that’s will likely go on for 30 minutes, as even if you guessed the right ramp for a “floor” (and doing so “locks” the right torch for you to follow), there are still more than a dozen, with every one offering a big chance of failing, having to fight some ghost and stammer back to where you were in order to try again.
Only way it could have been worse is if the game didn’t mark the already correctly guessed ramps and making you fight some ghost even if you didn’t trigger one of the fakes.
For curiosity, after beating the boss and hence the level, i looked up a guide to see what the hell i was supposed to do, if there even was a different approach to it, and what you do know?
Apparently the trick is actually glancing at a distance to see which of the three flames for set is off… problem is this can only be seen at a specific distance, which of course is made almost impossible due to specific camera angle, AND the correct torch actually reset itself on fire like the others two in that row, to proper obscure and confuse you.
I rest my case, just utter bullshit my brain refused to remember from years ago, smart move, because it IS utter bullshit. That comes out of nowhere in a game that doesn’t actually pull shit like this on the regular, quite the opposite.
So while it’s an isolated case, it kinda sours the deal if you’ve already experencied Luigi’s Mansion 2 before, as the content so far seems to be identical to the 3DS original release, down to stuff that could have been improved in some way or cut out for a better overall experience, maybe there’s some new content in the post-game, but i highly doubt so.
Hope it was of some help or some entertaiment, doing the stairs bit sure as hell wasn’t.
See you later for the conclusion of both Summer Of EDF and The Shark Six!
Wise Cafe (International) 