Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (known in the West as Dark Moon) is a re-release of the work that won the hearts of fans of this incredible universe, the first one released in 2013, but now recreated on June 27, 2024. The reimagining features advances mainly in technical issues, such as the audiovisual feedback of the game. Just as in 2013, some limits given by the console were criticized, on the Switch, we need to evaluate how this performance has been improved by Nintendo, the publisher of this work.

The first game of Mario's shy brother may not have been as successful, but this sequel is, therefore, any thanks are not enough for Nintendo to have decided to continue investing in Luigi (who is also my favorite). Furthermore, the plot is everything that is usually not expected from a Bros universe game, although simple, the game is complete with touches of terror that give Luigi goosebumps, while still maintaining the childishness that allows everyone to play (even with scares and silly moments of tension), whether a child or an adult reliving the nostalgia of childhood.  

So, with all the success for Nintendo 3DS, why not improve it on my new console? Perfectly, this thought was what preceded the release of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon HD, with graphics, sound quality, and smoother and more streamlined movement for players.

What matters

If you already know the game and came just to find out what the changes were, here is the place. This remaster, in the end, is well done, with gameplay very similar to the original, let's say, some details like the map to be explored will change (there will be a greater division), but the main objectives are still maintained, you will still use your Poltergust 5000 to capture the ghosts and the flashlight to paralyze them, rest assured, but you will only have a very interesting novelty (used to pass through small places) of the transformation of our mustachioed plumber.

Regarding graphics and sound, being a better console, playing at a refresh rate of 60 frames/second already helps a lot, it is a much smoother experience, also featuring a stylish and very charming visual, with improved textures. In addition, there was a change in the soundtrack, maintaining the excellence of its predecessor.
 

Ghost hunting: a mission

If you have not played this excellent creation by Nintendo yet, pay attention! In the plot, Professor E. Gadd needs you again! Totally crazy, the professor calls you for another mess, relying entirely on Luigi to recover the pieces of the Dark Moon that were stolen, an important item for the progress of his research, as it keeps the entities calm and friendly. Even reluctant (clearly by his comical facial expressions), Luigi is almost forced to carry out the missions to rescue the Dark Moon.

Initially, the game leads us to unlock, mission by mission, mechanisms that will allow us to progress in the game, like the Poltergust 5000, a very powerful vacuum cleaner that will not only be responsible for capturing ghosts, but also for finding treasures and unlocking new passages while solving very interesting puzzles, which, unfortunately, can be frustrating, either because they are seen as easy or because of the many times we pass through the same places to discover everything (this happens due to the division of the mansion proposed in this re-release).

Furthermore, it is possible to evolve our equipment, here, I even found it very clever the allocation to the coins we find, because in many games these treasures are not very well directed and end up being useless, without any incentive to collect them. In this case, the developers were smart to use them to improve our equipment! Tip: it's not just the vacuum, but there are other equipment that I will leave for you to discover by playing.

Faithfulness to the classic

Despite being a simple but different plot, with a campaign duration of about 15 hours, this remaster remains quite faithful to the story of the game released in 2013. Nintendo manages to find distinct ways to explore the 3 basic mechanisms (and other additional ones briefly) in many different ways, with puzzles at all times. Keeping short dialogues (unfortunately translated only into Portuguese from Portugal) that do not bore and quickly explain the task to be performed, suitable for both an experienced audience and a childlike one.

As mentioned, it is not only about capturing ghosts and then delivering them to the professor to study, in fact, it is very interesting that the difference between the entities is not only about their forms, which can vary between painters, ghosts with glasses, rough and nervous ghosts among others (each type will make our lives more difficult and make us rethink our fighting style), but also about their weight. That's right, at the end of each mission, the weight of each being you captured is revealed, using its own unit of measurement. I mean, maybe this is not a feature that will change a player's opinion, but it is in these small details that Nintendo has gained many fans over time and has established itself in the market.
 

Returning, the player is constantly challenged to think and rethink about their next steps to advance, and this detail is also evaluated. In this context, each stage can be completed in 3 different quality levels, with 1, 2, or 3 stars, in which the evaluation weights are: the time it takes to complete the mission, the amount of treasures, the lost energy, and the captured ghosts. From these, there may be doubt about the energy, which is nothing more than the character's life, if it runs out, we will be forced to restart the mission.

In addition, besides this clearly fun single-player campaign, the game offers a multiplayer system, in which players will be Luigis of different colors. I find this logistics of wanting to be the main hero of the game very cool, but it would be fun to have the option to choose other representatives of this universe so rich in interesting characters.

We thank the Nintendo PR team for making Luigi's Mansion 2 HD available and enabling the creation of this content.

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is only available for Nintendo Switch.