In a recent interview with GameSpot, Kensuke Tanabe, producer of Luigi’s Mansion 3, and Yoshihito Ikebata, the game’s supervisor, discussed the popularity of Mario’s little brother and how the game’s hotel setting helped to create unique atmospheres for each level.
The interview opens with a discussion about the popularity of Luigi. In the presentation for Luigi’s Mansion 3 it was mentioned that the series has been very popular. The interviewer speculates that this may be because Luigi is more relatable than Mario, and Tanabe agrees.
“Yeah, we agree with you exactly," said Tababe. "Mario is just basically the hero, someone to look up to, an inspiration. Whereas Luigi is someone who [people can feel] closer to and I think that's a part of his charm.”
Given the excitement shown for the game at E3, it’s fair to say that Luigi has some fans. In terms of the game's specifics, Tanabe goes on to talk about the hotel setting and how it helped the game come together.
“Simply put, I just really wanted a different atmosphere. In addition to that, structurally speaking, in Luigi's Mansion, I really wanted a bunch of the rooms to be interconnected with each other," said Tanabe. "...When it's a hotel, it's very obvious, very easy to visualize. The other thing we wanted to do was to give it a different theme and atmosphere for each of the floors and that's what was facilitated by choosing this."
The demo and footage we’ve seen from E3 shows us that the game has different floors, 17 in total according to Ikebata, and each one has a different theme or atmosphere. Luigi is tasked with navigating through the hotel and squashing the ghosts, in order to rescue Mario and their friends.
When asked about creating a consistent atmosphere through the different themes, Ikebata said: “Actually, because it's a hotel, it was very easy to come up with completely different atmospheres for each floor.” He goes on to discuss the unification, saying “it's really all about the art style. So, by unifying the artistic look and feel of the entire thing, you're able to kind of maintain that same feel.”
When speaking about the possibility of expanding the game, Tanabe dismisses it, saying: “I want to experience completing the whole hotel and just feel satisfied that it's done.” He continued, “This is a pretty important point, but trying to continue to add onto things that are already completed keeps the development team working on that project. What we really want to do is focus on the next thing, it keeps us moving onto new things.”
Luigi's Mansion 3 will be released at some point this year for Nintendo Switch.