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1* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: Gadd constantly calling you to critique your work is probably the only universally agreed weak point of this game. It gets annoying at times and he does it so frequently that it really slows down the pacing of the game, making him an almost unbearable chatterbox on repeat playthroughs.
2* AntiClimaxBoss:
3** The boss of Haunted Towers. [[spoiler:You solve a long staircase puzzle to be faced with a giant staircase]] that is quite a bit easier than the first boss.
4** The Tough Possessor, the boss of the Treacherous Mansion, isn't exactly a pushover, but he's easier than Big Boo and the E-5 mission, both of which come before him. Considering the [[ThatOneBoss previous]] [[ThatOneLevel missions]] that came before it, and it was [[PostFinalBoss before the Final Boss]], [[BreatherBoss maybe it's a good thing that the Tough Possessor is easier]].
5** The Brain, the final boss of the Scarescraper. Like all the other bosses, he's a KingMook with a special gimmick; in this case, Poltergeists. The Brain's gimmick is being able to charge up and release a sphere of energy to free himself from vacuums. However, Poltergeists already have the ability to attack while being sucked up, the charging can be interrupted by a power surge, and the energy sphere does no damage, giving no incentive to simply break the charge. In the end, he ends up being the second weakest of the four Poltergeist types.
6** The MiniBoss Strong Greenie and Strong Slammer in D-3. While they have a large health pool, they also cannot attack while being vacuumed and wait until their minions are defeated before attacking themselves, allowing Luigi to simply flash and vac them immediately and have close to a ZeroEffortBoss.
7* BestBossEver: The very first boss: Grouchy Possessor (aka the one who possessed the spider queen), as well as the FinalBoss King Boo. While Grouchy Possessor has the same weakness (lighting the web ball that hangs from the spider's web) that forces it out of its host, it changes the way you attack that weakness every time you damage it, while King Boo [[spoiler:alternates between fighting you for real, and forcing you to run through an obstacle-filled course with him right behind you]].
8* BrokenBase:
9** 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 taking place in five different mansions rather than a single location. Many fans who came into the series with 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, many fans who started with the first game tend to feel that the mission structure stifles exploration.
10** The boss fight against the Shrewd Possessor in the Secret Mine has player reception divided. 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 due to the awkward bomb aiming mechanics.
11* CompleteMonster: [[TheGhostKing King Boo]]. See [[YMMV/LuigisMansionSeries here]].
12* ContestedSequel: How this game stacks up to the [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion1 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.
13* CreepyCute:
14** The unpossessed spider queen is actually kinda cute. Still a little unsettling due to being a spider, but cute.
15** 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 vacuum them up as well.
16* 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' opinions are more mixed on the matter, with both games having people claim each is the overall superior one.
17* DemonicSpiders: While Gobbers are usually minor nuisances, they become this in Scarescraper's Rush Mode. There, they appear in certain rooms where whenever you try to use a predetermined door, one will show up and cause goop to appear on the door, with the only way to unlock the door being defeating it. Goobers have at least 100 HP at all times, and in Rush Mode, the time limit is so strict that you might run out of time. Even in groups, they're more likely split up in order to look for the goal, and by the time they regroup, time's up.
18* FanNickname: ''Luigi's Mansion: [[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon Dark of the Moon]]''.
19* FranchiseOriginalSin: By far the biggest complaint the game received is its mission based structure, which many people felt took away the sense of exploration and made the game more linear. This is forgetting the fact that the first game '''was also quite linear''' (barring some of Mario’s belongings, everything needed to progress was obtained in the same order, and you were generally railroaded down a single route through each area), so if anything, this game improved on that, as very few areas were locked off to the player. The first game did try to disguise its linearity, as it doesn't explicitly tell you where to go next, but that makes the game fall victim to [[GuideDangIt an entirely different problem]].
20* GeniusBonus: Many of the boo's you catch are usually puns or clever wordplay:
21** 'I'm [=ParaBoola=]! I've set my derivative to zero to be at my peak! [[GivingUpOnLogic I mean... BOO!]]'
22** Am I a ''Boo''lean? True or false?
23** 01100010 01101111 01101111[[labelnote:Give up?]]boo[[/labelnote]]
24* GoddamnedBats:
25** The Spirit Balls, which are 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.
26** The actual bats, along with spiders, mice, and beetles are perfect at harming and distracting you while you're busy sucking up the more dangerous ghosts.
27* GoddamnedBoss:
28** 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.
29** 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.
30** The boss of E-4, due to the very small size of the arena making it hard to get enough pull to sling him into the train's drill, or his split parts into the cages. If he gets stunned at the wrong place, it'll require absurd precision to get him onto the drill.
31* HilariousInHindsight:
32** The Scarescraper has players controlling multiple different-colored Luigis. One of them is orange, which carries an uncanny resemblance to [[{{Webvideo/Vinesauce}} Sponge]].
33** With her chalk white face, blue eyes, lipstick, and reddish dress, the main CreepyDoll in the Rumpus Room looks disturbingly similar to [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation Circus Baby]]. They both even have two reddish pigtails curved in almost the exact same shape. Technically, they both even have their insides removed, since [[spoiler:Luigi removes a gem from inside the doll, and Baby gets her robotic endoskeleton removed by the Scooper machine]].
34* ImprovedSecondAttempt:
35** One of the first game's most major flaws was its [[ItsShortSoItSucks short length]]. Thankfully, ''Dark Moon'' was quick to fix this, giving the player no less than five haunted buildings to explore.
36** 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.
37** The Boo capturing mechanic is generally regarded among the original game's biggest flaws, being time-consuming and often confusing. In this game, not only is the process much more straightforward, but they're no longer necessary to progress, made into completely optional collectables that only unlock bonus missions.
38* MoralEventHorizon: King Boo crosses the line [[spoiler: when he destroys the Dark Moon, knowing that he'll force every ghost in Evershade Valley under his control, then creating a portal to unleash an army of ghosts to tear apart the fabric of the universe, and finally by putting Luigi through a horrific experience before they fight and gloating that Luigi, Gadd, and all of their friends are going to suffer the fate Mario did, which he's shown to be perfectly capable of doing.]]
39* ObscurePopularity: The game's reputation as the series' black sheep might make its on-paper success come as a surprise - the game pushed more than six million copies, making it the seventh best-selling non-bundle game in the 3DS' library, and received good-to-excellent critical reception across the board.
40* OnceOriginalNowCommon: After ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'' came out, many of the mechanics from this game are directly imported into that one, making it harder to appreciate what this game did add to the series as a result, such as the refined Stro-bulb mechanics and the introduction of the Dark-Light Device to solve puzzles, all of which were refined even further in ''3''.
41* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The Polterpup's final scene in the ending can do this for some. It was enough to make him an EnsembleDarkHorse in [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion3 the sequel]].
42* ScrappyMechanic:
43** 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. The difficulty in these segments is also not helped by the fact that the game ''doesn't'' have E. Gadd call you to explain the controls, which he does for almost every other segment of the game. These sequences were notably removed in the third game, likely because of these issues.
44** Collecting gems can be a hassle since many of them are only available in specific missions, and some are locked behind minigames (which are also only available in certain missions). You are given no indication whatsoever what missions specific gems are available in, and many require backtracking to areas that were in previous missions, but are not relevant to the one the player is on currently. Worse, the minigame gems only give you one attempt to complete them, and they can be rather difficult to complete or figure out what you're even supposed to do. If you fail them, you are forced to replay the entire mission from the beginning just to get another chance, not helped by said missions being pretty long.
45* SophomoreSlump: While fans still argue that it's a great game in its own right, this game is generally tends to be overlooked due to its mission-based structure and the lack of portrait ghosts.
46* ThatOneBoss:
47** 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 as BestBossEver for some.
48** E-4's Big Boo boss if you're trying to get a 3-star rank on it, as you have to finish it within 3:20 without taking damage (or within 1:20 if you get hit exactly once). This can be an exercise in frustration as it means you have to trap a lot of Boos every time you manage to split up the Big Boo ''and'' avoid the other Boos' attacks while you're trying to aim a Boo at a cage. About the best thing you can do to ensure that you'll have an easier time is to try to catch as many Boos at once with your Darklight before you aim for the train.
49** Among the Scarescraper bosses, the Primordial Goo type bosses. Based on Creepers, they behave almost exactly the same, with the major difference that whenever a power surge is used, the Goo will fire a regular sized Creeper right at the Luigi who used it, and if he doesn't move out of the way, the Creeper will trap the Luigi, dealing a good amount of damage, and free the Goo, wasting time.
50** The Ice Monster controlled by the Shrewd Possessor in the Secret Mine. You have to master using the [[ScrappyMechanic 3DS' Gyroscope]] and overall terrible circle pad aiming to destroy pieces of the boss' armor using finicky cannonballs. If you screw up 6-7 times in a row, his armor will re-freeze so you have to do it all again. To top it off, it is possible to overheat your cannon, resulting in an [[OneHitKill instakill]]. And guess what? You have to do it all over again. That's not even getting into attempting to [[ThatOneAchievement 3 star it]].
51** The [[LevelInBossClothing Overset]] [[MarathonBoss Possessor]]. His possession choice? The arena itself, giving you no specific target most of the time. His main offense? ZergRush waves of prior enemies (including some DemonicSpiders) that even repeat if undefeated within their time limits. When he finally comes out to fight directly? His Paranormal Shield {{No Sell}}s the Poltergust, making you wait for an opening first. And those far-reaching clock hands? They can hurt you, too; brace yourself for being dragged into them over and over.
52** Another nasty group of bosses on the Scarescraper is the Beetle Whisperer/Scarab Nabber group. The KingMook to Slammers, the main gimmick of their battle is the ability to generate up to five beetles that fly around the room. These do not do that much damage, but they will stop you from vacuuming them if hit. This does not sound too bad, except that these types of ghosts have '''regenerating''' Paranormal Shields, forcing you to break the shield again every single time the stream is broken. They tend to summon Sneakers to help, which ''also'' break any capturing attempt if you don't dodge their scares at the right time. Five minutes might seem like a generous amount of time, but the shields, constant beetle swarm, and [[FlunkyBoss assistants]] will likely do a pretty good job at draining all of it.
53** But the icing on the cake of the Scarescraper bosses goes to the Terrible Teleporter group. Not only they are large Sneakers, but they come out in two and portals start appearing gradually in the room, which is the main gimmick. If you get sucked into a portal, you're into another room. Also, they are helped by Slammers. The only way to make is much easier at start is if you have the Dark-Light Goggles so that you can see them.
54* ThatOneLevel:
55** E-5. The level is simply running from room to room, catching the ghosts. However, you're on a time limit, and there are tons of ghosts. And once you beat them all, one final wave appears. This one is massive and contains dozens of ghosts who can easily gang up on you. Hope you practiced capturing multiple ghosts at once, because taking them on one at a time is an easy way to get yourself beaten up. Oh, and this is the one level in this mansion where you have to go out of your way for the Boo, meaning if you don't get it, you have to do the level all over again. There's a video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZRAAGOa5qM here]] that shows one way to do it. (He does show you how to get the Boo ''first'', which is definitely a good idea.)
56** E-4 if you're trying to get a 3-star rank on it, which in this case requires you to beat it within 3:20 without taking damage (or alternatively, within 1:20 if you get hit exactly once).
57** Rush Mode in general if you don't know how to find time pieces, or deal with the door-blocking [[StoneWall Gobbers]]. The worst part is that everyone has to reach the end room, so it only takes one person who doesn't know what they are doing (or one {{griefer}}) to end the game for the entire team.
58** B-6. The mission’s lead up to the boss is an extremely long staircase. 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]])
59* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The Three Sisters in Haunted Towers, which are notable for being the closest thing the game ever comes to the portrait ghost fights in the first game. Unfortunately, said fight is the only one of its kind in the entire game, and the other bosses and minibosses in other mansions are simply stronger versions of ghosts already seen before. In a game that is otherwise lacking in unique boss ghosts that the first and third games were loved for, it makes the Sisters seem jarringly out of place, and begs the question of why there weren't any other ghosts like them anywhere else.
60* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
61** After beating the Spider Queen/Grouchy Possessor, E. Gadd makes a big deal out of the fact that possessor-types can possess and control living beings... which is never used again, considering the following bosses are a staircase, a clock, a chunk of ice, and suits of armor.
62** In E-5: Paranormal Chaos, E-Gadd states that the mass amount of ghosts will cause a dimensional collapse, and a timer will appear if Luigi takes too long. However, if the timer runs out, Luigi simply lets out a sad sigh before the game abruptly cuts to the "Good Night!" screen. This has led to many fans being disappointed that said dimensional collapse is never actually seen, with some wishing that there had been a unique cutscene if the player ran out of time rather than simply going to the regular game over screen.

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