A Brief Moment of Meaning in Luigi's Mansion

Patreon - / malmroseprojects
This video is the second in an ongoing series of videos discussing how brief moments in games communicate meaning, usually through gameplay or environmental design/storytelling.
This video in particular discusses Luigi's Mansion and two rooms in the third area of the game: the Astral Hall and the Observatory. These rooms provide an interesting contrast to one another in such a manner that they produce a sort of soft "existential horror" effect. This effect is what is primarily discussed in this video.

[@antflam7473]

I always found it disturbing when I was younger that you could find dead human ghost and capture them besides the basic cartoony ghost

[@GuamoKun]

awesome video! The Astral Hall’s checkered pattern also reminds me of Masonic halls which invoke themes of occult knowledge and duality and all that jazz. Twin Peaks did a similar thing

[@DillonMinasian]

love this as a video series idea. i look for to your next upload xoxo

[@ShamCube]

You get it. You get why I love this game’s atmosphere.

[@kegar9899]

So glad I subscribed!! These videos are really well written!!!

[@gabisabrina8257]

Omg I would loooove to see the longer Luigi’s Mansion analysis. This is great stuff

[@TimepieceMaster]

In the Japanese version of Luigi's Mansion, the Astral Hall and the Observatory are named 回想の部屋 (Room of Retrospection) and 幻想の部屋 (Room of Fantasy) respectively, so I think the intention for the Observatory was more for it to be in the realm of absurdity/surrealism rather than some objective and scientific statement on the cold nature of reality. I do think your interpretation of the Astral Hall does match pretty well though, as it certainly can invite the player to reflect on the nature of occultism as it's practiced in real life compared with the fantasy that is the world of Mario with its more cartoony ghosts.
With that said, I did still really enjoy this video and your perspective on these two rooms. They have always stuck out to me as being particularly filled with meaning.

[@MalmroseProjects]

I agree that the observatory was meant to be absurd/surreal, that's p obvious given the fact that Luigi destroys the moon, which we can later see intact outside the mansion. it's an illusion, but my point is that it's an illusion that touches on an eerie truth about how, from a scientific perspective, it's easy to cast doubt on any existential purpose that people use to make sense of their lives. And this contrasts heavily with how the occult touches on our anxieties of those aspects of our reality that are beyond our comprehension or ability to observe using natural methods. The fact that this contrast happens back to back, to me, creates a theme about how anywhere you look, you're bound to find implications that are discomforting from an existential perspective.

[@SayisSaying]

I’m so excited to see what game you talk about next in this series!

[@Oxfordcolour]

please make a longer video on this game i loved this video

[@Marina-kb9hi]

another banger 💚
I never gave the spirituality-science dichotomy in horror much thought, but it's true it is very often present! that's so interesting

[@emilysloan5900]

I think your channel is awesome :) very good video essay content. Always happy to see one of your videos on my feed.

[@anid2731]

I played this when I was maybe 6 and I was scared shitless

[@funnysillyclown]

I would absolutely love a longer video going in depth on the horror of Luigi’s mansion if you’re ever interested in making it. It’s so creepy in ways that its successors aren’t I feel (not to fault 2 and 3, I love them both).

[@MalmroseProjects]

yea, i wanna make a video about it! it might be a while though just because i got other stuff in the works that's gonna end up taking priority

[@funnysillyclown]

@@MalmroseProjects Hey it’s your channel, make the videos you want first! I’d be happy to wait however long it takes. :)

[@lilith6072]

another absolute banger!! 🩷

[@AzureFan1]

I've never played this game, but the idea of making the hallway scary for you to progress into a new room is an interesting idea.
On another note, I'm sure you've seen "the shivering truth", but are you going to make a video (or video series) on it? I'd love to hear your ideas. I've seen your X:RA video a few times now. I love it.
Hope all is well,
Maverick

[@henryzhang256]

cool

[@jaymenjanssens720]

hypehype horray

[@NotDiamond224]

Are you mentally okay?

[@MalmroseProjects]

yes, but that's a strange question to ask someone you don't know