Of course, those who want to play earlier can pick up the Premium Edition for $49.99. It features five days of advanced access, Immortal Pillars, Gods Pack: Freyr and Legacy Deity Portraits Pack. Access to a second unannounced expansion is also included.

The PS5 version will include all previously released updates and features cross-platform play. Even better, all versions will have update parity, ensuring they receive the latest patches simultaneously.

As for Immortal Pillars, it includes 12 new playable gods, including Fuxi, Nüwa, Gonggong, and Zhurong, with different powers and mythological units like Yazi, Zhuque, and Taou. There’s also a new campaign based on Chinese mythology, spanning nine levels and seven new maps. Check out the trailer below to see it in action.

As per Nintendo, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, which launched for the Switch at the end of June, has sold 1.57 million units worldwide as of September 30. Previously, it was announced that the remaster had sold 1.19 million units as of the end of the previous quarter (which ended on June 30), which means it sold under 400,000 units over the course of the subsequent three-month period.

In our review of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “Luigi’s sophomore solo adventure is still an absolute blast, and even though this is a fairly conservative remaster, it makes for a welcome return to the haunts of Evershade Valley.” Read the full review through here.

Alongside Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, Nintendo has also provided updated sales figures for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and the Switch’s current ten best-selling first-party titles. Additionally, the console has sold 146.04 million units worldwide, the company has announced.

The top 10 also feature a couple of new releases. For starters, there’s the Nintendo Switch port of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, which sold over 14,000 units on debut, slotting in at No. 2 in the charts. Then there’s Bliss Brain’s remastered life sim, Princess Maker 2 Regeneration, which comes in at No. 10 in the charts with only over 3,600 units sold.

Interestingly, every single game in the top 10 is a Switch title- though this hasn’t exactly been an uncommon occurrence in the Japanese charts in recent years.

On the hardware side of things, the Nintendo Switch was once again the best-selling console in Japan last week, having sold an additional 53,000-plus units. The PS5 follows behind in second place by a healthy margin, having sold over 29,000 units over the course of the week.

Software sales (followed by lifetime sales):

1. [NSW] Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD – 16,425 (138,678)
2. [NSW] Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Deluxe Edition – 14,322 (New)
3. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 8,291 (5,900,715)
4. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 7,948 (7,834,703)
5. [NSW] Minecraft – 5,645 (3,565,290)
6. [NSW] Super Mario Bros. Wonder – 4,314 (1,886,211)
7. [NSW] Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – 4,258 (202,362)
8. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 4,161 (5,540,928)
9. [NSW] Splatoon 3 – 3,700 (4,329,481)
10. [NSW] Princess Maker 2 Regeneration – 3,685 (New)

Hardware sales (followed by last week’s sales):

• Nintendo Switch – 53,505 (52,725)
• PS5 – 29,313 (29,724)
• Xbox Series X/S – 760 (1,999)

Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority of the top 10 is dominated by Nintendo Switch titles, with first-party Nintendo games continuing to exhibit long legs, including the likes of Animal Crossing: New Horizons at No. 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at No. 3, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door at No. 6, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at No. 7, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder at No. 8.

Meanwhile, on the hardware front, the Switch is once again the best selling console for the week, having sold over 52,000 units over the course of the tracking period. Trailing by quite some distance in second place is the PS5, which sold over 29,000 units in Japan last week.

You can check out the full Japanese hardware and physical software sales charts for the week ending July 7 below.

Software sales (followed by lifetime sales):

1. [NSW] Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD – 33,828 (122,253)
2. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 10,965 (7,826,755)
3. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 8,112 (5,892,324)
4. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu World: Chikyuu wa Kibou de Mawatteru! – 6,155 (1,082,636)
5. [NSW] Minecraft – 5,637 (3,559,645)
6. [NSW] Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – 4,962 (198,104)
7. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 4,147 (5,536,767)
8. [NSW] Super Mario Bros. Wonder – 4,124 (1,881,896)
9. [NSW] Dragon Saikyou Ou Zukan: Battle Colosseum – 4,042 (New)
10. [PS5] Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Edition – 3,881 (34,886)

Hardware sales (followed by last week’s sales):

• Nintendo Switch – 52,725 (46,265)
• PS5 – 29,724 (27,505)
• Xbox Series X/S – 1,999 (1,592)

Specifically, the game sold over 88,000 physical units, which is the second lowest start for a Luigi’s Mansion game in Japan, with the lowest being the original game’s 2017 3DS remake (which sold under 30,000 physical units upon release). It is, however, a solid start for what’s a fairly unambitious remaster at the tail end of a console’s lifecycle, so there’s that.

Interestingly enough, excitement surrounding the series amidst the HD remaster’s release has also seen 2019’s Luigi’s Mansion 3 jumping up in the charts as well, re-entering the top 10 at No. 7 with over 4,000 units sold.

On the hardware side of things, the Switch was, predictably enough, the best-selling console of the week in Japan, moving over 46,000 units. It was followed in second place by PS5, which trails by a healthy margin with over 27,000 units sold over the course of the week.

You can check out the full hardware and physical software sales charts for the week ending June 30 below.

Software sales (followed by lifetime sales):

1. [NSW] Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD – 88,425 (New)
2. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 8,977 (7,815,790)
3. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 7,473 (5,884,212)
4. [PS5] Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Edition – 6,993 (31,005)
5. [NSW] Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – 6,457 (193,142)
6. [NSW] Minecraft – 5,037 (3,554,008)
7. [NSW] Luigi’s Mansion 3 – 4,438 (994,862)
8. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu World: Chikyuu wa Kibou de Mawatteru! – 4,367 (1,076,481)
9. [NSW] Super Mario Bros. Wonder – 3,807 (1,877,772)
10. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 3,679 (5,532,620)

Hardware sales:

• Nintendo Switch – 46,265
• PS5 – 27,505
• Xbox Series X/S – 1,592

What I found most surprising going back to Luigi’s Mansion 2 over a decade on from when I first played it was just how full of personality it was, and how much attention to detail it boasted. That has, of course, become a hallmark of this franchise by this point, but with Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon having been a 3DS game, I had convinced myself that it did not have the same kind of absurd detail and charm in its environments, animations, and more that Luigi’s Mansion 3 did. And while that is technically true, it does have a lot more of that going on than I remembered.

"Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is bursting to the seams with little flourishes and more, making each room an absolute joy to explore."

From watching Luigi react to the things around him with hilarious animations and voice lines to marveling at just how many different objects there are in each room, how different they all look, how many of them you can interact with, and how differently so many of them behave when you do- Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is bursting to the seams with all of these little flourishes and more, making each room an absolute joy to explore. And of course, beyond those visual flourishes, there’s plenty else going on that makes exploration and digging deep into each environment an absolute joy.

Take, for instance, the fact that Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD gives you a handful of different ways to interact with your surroundings. You start off with just the ability to use your Strobulb, which is a flashlight that can stun ghosts, and Luigi’s trusty Poltergust, his iconic ghost-sucking vacuum cleaner, and over time, begin to acquire more abilities- like a dark light that is capable of revealing doors and objects in the environment that have been hidden away by pesky ghosts. Your arsenal of tools is ultimately a compact one, but each one lets you do different things, and figuring out which tool you’re required to use to deal with whatever puzzle you’re faced with is always a fun time.

Your tools are only one half of the puzzle though, because just as important to the bulk of Luigi’s Mansion 2’s enjoyment is how things in your surroundings react to what you’re doing. Using your vacuum cleaner on a ceiling fan might cause it to spin really fast, revealing a secret compartment above you, while flashing Luigi’s Strobulb on a wall safe can open it up and spit out bucketloads of money, which is used to level up and gain new abilities. Tugging on a rope with your Poltergust could cause a trapdoor to open up, which in turn could lead you to a previously inaccessible room, while using your dark bulb on a painting could cause a hidden gem to pop out.

Every single room in each of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD’s many haunted mansions is absolutely stuffed to the brim with tiny little details and flourishes, begging to be poked and podded so it can gleefully burst open like a pinata, revealing its delightful and charming host of varied animations, secrets, collectibles, and what have you. It’s a wonder that the game is able to keep coming up with new ideas on this front across the length of its experience, because there really is a never-ending string of delightful secrets to find, puzzles to solve, and collectibles to hunt down, among other things.

"It’s a wonder that the game is able to keep coming up with new ideas, because there really is a never-ending string of delightful secrets to find, puzzles to solve, and collectibles to hunt down, among other things."

Combat is almost just as enjoyable. Once again, a large part of the fun is down to how much variety the game boasts- chiefly in the enemies you face. Many of these will, of course, be familiar to series fans, but there’s a host of different ghosts that you’ll be coming across throughout the game. Each comes with unique attributes and strengths, so you have to meaningfully change up your strategy based on which ghosts you’re faced with. Some like to hide in different objects in the environments, so you have to find them first before you can defeat them. Some might be wearing shades, which means you can’t stun them with your Strobulb before you’ve removed their shades with your vacuum. Some might be big brutes who don’t much care for hiding, and on account of their larger health pool, prefer to just take swings at you.

Dealing with each ghost requires you to do different things, and from what they look like to how they animate to the things that you have to do to defeat them, there’s always an incredible amount of variety on offer, making every encounter feel fun- something that, as you might imagine, is especially true for the boss fights at the end of each mansion. Unlike the original 3DS title, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD also introduces the twin-stick controls that Luigi’s Mansion 3 was built around, which means movement and combat are both significantly more intuitive. Aiming your Poltergust or flashlight around while you’re using it can still be a bit finnicky, especially when the game requires some degree of precision (which can happen from time to time), but by and large movement and combat are much improved in this remaster.

One area where Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD may frustrate some players is how it’s structured. This is a mission-based game, which means you’re heading out into whatever mansion you’re currently on for missions from Profession E. Gadd’s lab and instantly coming back as soon as you’ve completed your objective. You sequentially move through missions, get to the boss fight at the end of the mansion, and then move on to the next mansion, your ultimate goal being to restore the Dark Moon and restore peace to Evershade Valley and its enraged ghostly denizens.

For my part, I enjoyed the game’s structure, because I feel it ultimately strikes a good balance between letting me take things at my own pace and do plenty of optional exploration and collectible hunting, while still being an experience with forward-momentum that is based around sequential, bite-sized (or semi-bite sized, depending on how you’re playing) missions. But if you’re looking for something that is more seamless and free-flowing, in vein of Luigi’s Mansion 3, the structure here may leave you frustrated. Meanwhile, outside of its substantial campaign – which can easily take you upwards of 20 hours, depending on how extensively you’re engaging with its optional content – Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD also brings back the co-op tower-based multiplayer mode ScareScraper, and though it’s fun to play, it’s bafflingly missing local co-op, so the only way to play it is with multiple Switches and copies of the game.

"If you’re looking for something that is more seamless and free-flowing, in vein of Luigi’s Mansion 3, the structure here may leave you frustrated."

As a remaster, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a solid effort- at least as far as its visuals are concerned. Developer Tantalus Media – who also worked on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and Skyward Sword HD – has done a solid job of touching up the visuals of what was originally a 3DS title, with character models, environments, animations, and what have you sporting an impressive level of detail, sheen, and polish. Is it anywhere close to the level of Luigi’s Mansion 3? Well, no- but given the fact that Luigi’s Mansion 3 is flat-out one of the best-looking games on the Switch, maybe that’s too high a bar for a remaster of a decade-plus old 3DS title to reach.

At the same time, it’s worth pointing out that Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD’s launch price – $60 – might seem a bit steep to some, given the fact that outside of its quality-of-life improvements, tweaked controls, and upgraded visuals, there’s not much else here on offer- no new content, no additional mode, not even any new art of music to check out in a gallery. While I do fully recommend Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD to anyone who has never played the original game before, or even to anyone who has played it but still has a hankering to go back to it, not everyone may want to pay full-price for it.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch.

As shared on Twitter by GamesIndustry’s Christopher Dring, as per Gfk’s weekly charts for physical sales in the UK, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD was the highest selling game in the UK last week, debuting in first place.

As per Dring, it did not see “a huge launch”, but is likely to enjoy sustained sales over a prolonged period, as Luigi’s Mansion titles often do. Interestingly, the HD remaster has also become the second fastest selling Switch game of the year in the UK so far, second only to the remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, which is developed by Tantalus Media of Skyward Sword HD fame, is available on the Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for our review of the game.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is No.1 in the UK charts. It’s the 2nd fastest selling Switch game this year behind Paper Mario. It’s not a huge launch, but Luigi’s Mansion games often have a long tail. So we shall see how it does over time (physical only. Nintendo doesn’t share digital)

— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) July 1, 2024

As reported by VGC, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD was developed by Tantalus Media. The Australian studio is known for its work on porta and remasters, and has worked on multiple of them with Nintendo in particular in the past, including The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD for the Wii U and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for the Nintendo Switch.

That, of course, means Next Level Games – the studio that originally developed Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS – isn’t responsible for its Switch remaster, which begs the question what it is that it is currently working on. Perhaps the studio has Luigi’s Mansion 4 in the pipeline? One can always hope.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD launches for the Nintendo Switch on June 27.

Along many of the same gameplay tenets as previous titles, Age of Empires 4 features eight civilizations like the Holy Roman Empire, the Mongols and even new entries like the Delhi Sultanate. This is on top of four campaigns and multiplayer. It also doesn’t hurt that there’s a Min Spec mode that allows older and less powerful machines to play the game, further expanding its out-reach.

Age of Empires 4 is also available on PC via the Microsoft Store and on Xbox Game Pass for PC. Time will tell if it receives extensive post-launch support like Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition did so stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD was developed by Australian studio Tantalus Media. If their name sounds familiar to you, that’s because they were also responsible for the Wii U’s The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. Nintendo has certainly spread around duties for bringing back older Zelda games among various studios. The likes of Ocarina of Time 3D, Majora’s Mask 3D, and Link’s Awakening for the Switch, for instance, were developed by Grezzo, while The Wind Waker HD was developed internally by Nintendo itself.

Skyward Sword HD features performance and visual improvements, along with several other additions, such as autosaving, free camera control, improved tutorials, more responsive motion controls, and various other quality of life upgrades.

The game is out for the Switch tomorrow, on July 16.