History YMMV / LuigisMansionDarkMoon

%%* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz5gUls4mkX8K_maB6fR-YJqqaCPtx44E Oh, yes. Definitely.]]

** As pointed out by LetsPlay/{{Chuggaaconroy}}, the boss fight against the Shrewd Possessor in the Secret Mine is this. Some people enjoy the boss fight because of [[UnexpectedGameplayChange its uniqueness]] and the scale of the fight. Others find it to be frustrating and overly difficult.

** The Boos (besides King Boo, of course) are rather adorable as well, with their [[PunnyName pun-tastic names]] and signature high-pitched cackles. There's that little *squeak* they make when you vaccum them up as well.
* CriticalDissonance: Critics lauded ''Dark Moon'' much more than the first game, citing its inventiveness, graphics, length, and gameplay to be superior to its predecessor. Fans however believe that while the game is great in its own right, consider this to be the OddballInTheSeries and find it weaker than the first.

* SalvagedGameMechanic:
** One of the first game's most major flaws was its [[ItsShortSoItSucks short length]]. Thankfully ''Dark Moon'' was quick to fix this.
** The Speedy Spirits in the first game were criticized for being easy to miss due to being hidden in random areas, being hard to catch and becoming PermanentlyMissableContent if a player failed to vacuum them up, which severely hurts their rank. The Gold Greenies in this game aren't nearly as difficult to catch, and the overhaul of the cash system makes them less important than in the first game.

* SophomoreSlump: While fans still argue that it's a great game in its own right, this game is generally agreed to be the weakest game in the Luigi's Mansion trilogy due to its mission-based structure, lack of portrait ghosts and its [[BrokenBase divisive]] "wacky" art style.

** The Ghostly Sisters in level B-3 ''Graveyard Shift''. They circle around Luigi until he flashes one of them to use the Poltergust. When he does so, the other two will instantly rush Luigi in an attack that's hard to dodge when you're stuck vacuuming, and will continue to follow Luigi and attempt rushes the entire time he's using the Poltergust. Adding on to that, the sisters hit like trucks, bonus health only spawns sporadically, and the fight is relatively far in the level, resulting in a lot of lost progress should you die. The game also doesn't instruct the player on how to defeat the sisters, instead opting for trial and error.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz5gUls4mkX8K_maB6fR-YJqqaCPtx44E Oh, yes. Definitely.]]

* CompleteMonster: See [[YMMV/LuigisMansionSeries here]].
* ContestedSequel: How this game stacks up to the [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion original]] is hotly debated. Many people feel it’s inferior due to the mission based structure stifling exploration and losing some of the charm, atmosphere, and memorability of the first game. Others don’t mind and [[EvenBetterSequel see it as a better game due to it being much longer and more refined mechanically along with pointing out that the original was quite linear as well]]. There are even some who found the original to be SoOkayItsAverage, while considering Dark Moon to be a SurprisinglyImprovedSequel.

* HilariousInHindsight: The Scarescraper has players controlling multiple different-colored Luigis. One of them is orange, which carries an uncanny resemblance to [[{{Webvideo/Vinesauce}} Sponge]].

* GoddamnedBoss: The Terrible Teleporters in the Scarescraper. A DualBoss based off the Sneakers, their gimmick is spawning little funnels. These funnels will teleport you to another room, forcing you to walk all the way back each time. You'll only lose a few seconds generally, but it's still annoying.

* ScrappyMechanic: The occasional balancing sequences which require you to use the finicky gyroscope to keep Luigi from falling off the beam or rope he's walking on. Made worse in the first mission of the Secret Mine, where gusts of wind will force you to adjust your balance quickly.

** B-6. The mission’s lead up to the boss is an extremely long staircase leading up to the boss. The problem is that there are three rows of stairs and only one isn’t trapped. If you pick the wrong one, you slide down to the very bottom ([[OverlyLongGag which takes an extremely long time if you’re close to the top]]) and have to catch a Greenie. This part isn’t hard but it can drag if you get unlucky. The correct staircase is shown via the candles being unlit but they relight when you reach them so if your memory isn’t good, you’re in for a long climb. It’s no exaggeration that this single section can take a significantly longer time than the boss itself (which, mercifully, is [[BreatherBoss one of the easiest in the game]])

** B-6. Those stairs are the absolute worst and you know it.

* AuthorsSavingThrow
** For E. Gadd, since in the original game he states he was turning ghosts into portraits for his art collection, which makes him come off as a DesignatedHero since not only is there not any moral reason for it, but many of the ghosts he went after weren't even violent unless provoked. In this game, most of the ghosts are friendly until the Dark Moon is shattered, and after it's reassembled and the ghosts go back to normal, he releases all of them.
** One of the first game's most major flaws was its [[ItsShortSoItSucks short length]]. Thankfully ''Dark Moon'' was quick to fix this.
** The Speedy Spirits in the first game were criticized for being easy to miss due to being hidden in random areas, being hard to catch and becoming PermanentlyMissableContent if a player failed to vacuum them up, which severely hurts their rank. The Gold Greenies in this game aren't nearly as difficult to catch, and the overhaul of the cash system makes them less important than in the first game.

* IdiotPlot: The whole plot of the game is caused due to E. Gadd selling the King Boo painting at a garage sale. True, the Professor was led to assume that King Boo would need to be sent back through the Portraitficationizer, like Mario was, to be restored (little did E. Gadd know that Spirit Balls were kind of a thing King Boo could use), but being so careless with something so dangerous is still pretty bone-headed of him.

* ContestedSequel: How this game stacks up to the [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion original]] is hotly debated. Many people feel it’s inferior due to the mission based structure stifling exploration and losing some of the charm, atmosphere, and memorability of the first game. Others don’t mind and [[EvenBetterSequel see it as a better game due to it being much longer and more refined mechanically along with pointing out that the original was quite linear as well]].

** The [[GiantSpider Spider boss]][=/=]Grouchy Possessor from the first mansion due to being a brutal WakeUpCallBoss. It is a PuzzleBoss that requires you to move a wad of sticky web through an obstacle course to a fire source and if you get hit, you have to start over. It is also quite easy to miss the fire sources you are given for the second and third hits. Doubles at BestBossEver for some.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Many people became more critical of the game after VideoGame/LuigisMansion3 came out and did much of what this game did better while bringing back elements from the first game such as freedom of exploration and portrait ghosts, which made it more difficult to appreciate the ideas this game introduced.

* WhatAnIdiot: E. Gadd. While he's clearly not there mentally throughout the game, the fact that he sold the King Boo painting at a garage sale really shows it. True, the Professor was led to assume that King Boo would need to be sent back through the Portraitficationizer, like Mario was, to be restored (little did E. Gadd know that Spirit Balls were kind of a thing King Boo could use), but being so careless with something so dangerous is still pretty bone-headed of him.

* ContestedSequel: The game gets this, with some preferring it to the original thanks to its improvements in length and variety, and some others preferring the first game even when stating this one is a mechanically better game due to its atmosphere.

* EvenBetterSequel: The first game is fairly beloved, if often criticized for its short length. By contrast, the sequel has enjoyed almost universal praise.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In one of the missions for the third Mansion, Dr. Gadd tells Luigi to stop trembling in fear whenever he uses the teleporter, saying that they've "done this a dozen times" and there's nothing to worry about. [[spoiler:Of course, he's proven wrong at the end when King Boo is able to sabotage it.]]

* CompleteMonster (includes ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3''): [[BigBad King Boo]] sheds any of his [[WellIntentionedExtremist redeeming qualities]] from the first game and becomes an unfettered monster. After his first defeat by Luigi, King Boo is [[ItsPersonal consumed by his lust for revenge]], [[SanitySlippage devolving]] into an uncaring sociopath who would willingly kill everyone and destroy everything just for a chance to get back at his rival. In ''Dark Moon'', King Boo shatters the Dark Moon, enslaving the minds of the once-docile ghosts of Evershade Valley to his control. Unleashing them on the valley, King Boo abducts Mario himself and several Toads and [[AndIMustScream imprisons them within paintings]]. Uncaring about his minions, and in a stark contrast to his [[AFatherToHisMen characterization in the first game]], [[BadBoss King Boo]] performs experiments on his ghosts against their will to amplify their destructive potential, and calmly allows his own Boos to be caught and sealed by Luigi. After Luigi gets close to restoring the Dark Moon, King Boo starts to lose it, and tears open a portal to the ghosts' homeworld with the intent to [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum destroy the universe]] as an act of spite. Once he's foiled, King Boo warps Luigi to his own dimension, announcing his intent to trap Luigi and all his friends in paintings as he conquers the world and "paints the town red". In ''3'', he is set free by [[LoonyFan Hellen Gravely]], and together they gather Luigi and his friends in the Last Resort hotel in another attempt to trap them in paintings. When Hellen and her staff are all captured, King Boo dismisses them as worthless failures and eventually tries to absorb the entire hotel, including all the captured ghosts and his own Boos, into a group painting [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill just to capture Luigi]].

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: You can lock yourself out of Treacherous Mansion if you play around with ghosts, teleporters, and objects in the Nautical Exhibit. But you have to be really, really trying to pull this one off.

* UnwinnableByInsanity: You can lock yourself out of Treacherous Mansion if you play around with ghosts, teleporters, and objects in the Nautical Exhibit. But you have to be really, really trying to pull this one off.

* CompleteMonster (includes ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3''): [[VileVillainSaccharineShow King Boo]] sheds any of his [[WellIntentionedExtremist redeeming qualities]] from the first game and becomes an unfettered monster. After his first defeat by Luigi, King Boo is [[ItsPersonal consumed by his lust for revenge]], [[SanitySlippage devolving]] into an uncaring sociopath who would willingly kill everyone and destroy everything just for a chance to get back at his rival. In ''Dark Moon'', King Boo shatters the Dark Moon, enslaving the minds of the once-docile ghosts of Evershade Valley to his control. Unleashing them on the valley, King Boo abducts Mario himself and several Toads and [[AndIMustScream imprisons them within paintings]]. Uncaring about his minions, and in a stark contrast to his [[AFatherToHisMen characterization in the first game]], [[BadBoss King Boo]] performs experiments on his ghosts against their will to amplify their destructive potential, and calmly allows his own Boos to be caught and sealed by Luigi. After Luigi gets close to restoring the Dark Moon, King Boo starts to lose it, and tears open a portal to the ghosts' homeworld with the intent to [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum destroy the universe]] as an act of spite. Once he's foiled, King Boo warps Luigi to his own dimension, announcing his intent to trap Luigi and all his friends in paintings as he conquers the world and "paints the town red". In ''3'', he is set free by [[LoonyFan Hellen Gravely]], and together they gather Luigi and his friends in the Last Resort hotel in another attempt to trap them in paintings. When Hellen and her staff are all captured, King Boo dismisses them as worthless failures and eventually tries to absorb the entire hotel, including all the captured ghosts and his own Boos, into a group painting [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill just to capture Luigi]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In one of the missions for the third Mansion Dr. Gadd tells Luigi to stop trembling in fear whenever he uses the teleporter, saying that they've "done this a dozen times" and there's nothing to worry about. [[spoiler:Of course, he's proven wrong at the end when King Boo is able to sabotage it.]]

** The little orbs that float around creating illusions. They have a tendency to scatter when they're revealed, will move around if they're not vacuumed up quick enough, and can hurt you if they pass through you. And if even one goes back into hiding, you have to do the whole process of revealing the hidden object and vacuuming them all up again.

** Despite being more critically well-received than its predecessor, fans of the series are split on two of the game's major elements: the mission-based gameplay and the game being taken place in 5 different mansions rather than a single location. Many fans who came into the series this installment think the mission-based structure is fun, or at least excusable given that the game is on a handheld and made with portable play in mind, and that the various mansions offer a great deal of variety. Meanwhile, most fans who started with the first game feel that the mission structure stifles exploration to an unacceptable degree.