Developer: Supermassive Games
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
Tested on: PC
Little Nightmares III – Review
Our last encounter with the Little Nightmares franchise was back in 2021 for the second installment in the series. We absolutely adored the grim universe of the franchise, and we were quite eager to get our hands on the third game. Sadly, due to our ever-growing backlog, we had to push this one back slightly because we felt this game deserved a playthrough with a buddy, thanks to its new co-op feature. While we were more than happy to have more Little Nightmares content, we felt this one was a step back from the quality of the first two games.
Story
Even though the previous Little Nightmares games also came with very little story value, we found that Little Nightmares III lacks its narrative qualities even more. Some snippets clearly refer to events that the main characters went through, but these are not fleshed out properly, and we felt the lack of an actual introduction didn’t do the experience much good. If you’re looking for a deep and engaging storyline here, you’ll probably end up a bit disappointed. The atmosphere, however, is still amazing.
Graphics
Even though this third installment was developed by Supermassive Games instead of Tarsier Studios, the iconic Little Nightmares style and atmosphere have remained intact. You’ll be treated to yet another depressingly dark adventure in a desolate and nearly abandoned part of The Nowhere, the series’ world. All monster designs are once again extremely creepy and designed with care, making it rather interesting to see what lurks around every corner. We did have to turn the brightness up in certain segments though, as we struggled to see certain parts of the game if we didn’t. The world itself was also nicely designed, but we noticed that this third game had a lot of empty rooms with nothing to do. This felt like a bit of a missed opportunity, both from a design and gameplay perspective.
Sound
For the most part, Little Nightmares III’s sound design is minimalistic. There is a lot of environmental noise, rather than an actual soundtrack, which helps to set the overall mood. The noises make everything feel haunted, which is a nice touch. The sound effects are decent, and the different actions have realistic-sounding effects. There is no voice acting present in the game.
Gameplay
Little Nightmares III is a dark puzzle adventure game in which you’ll often have to find solutions to environmental puzzles in order to progress. There are also stealth and combat segments, even though these don’t really make up most of the experience. There is a bigger focus on co-op in this third installment, but you can still play the game on your own. When playing solo, you won’t be able to swap between characters, so you’ll have to choose between Low or Alone to play through the game. Low has a bow and arrow, with which he can hit foes and shoot targets or ropes, while Alone has a wrench with which she can bash stuff and use it for switches and dials. Everything feels very straightforward from start to finish, and the game doesn’t really throw you that many curveballs when it comes to solving puzzles.
We found Little Nightmares III fairly in sync with the previous titles, albeit shorter and clunkier. The controls felt off a lot of the time. Jumping off ladders felt imprecise, and so did a lot of the platforming segments. We often didn’t die due to the difficulty level but simply because we felt like we weren’t in control of our character. Foresight was sometimes also a concern here, as if we were positioned wrong during certain segments, we would not be able to prevent our untimely demise. The next time we would then trigger the same event, we would already have to position ourselves, knowing what would happen next. As mentioned before, the game is also fairly short. If you know what you’re doing, and you’re not struggling too much with the controls, we reckon most players will blast through the experience in roughly three hours. While not a common occurrence, we did sometimes encounter a bug where our AI partner would not properly follow us, making us run back several rooms to get them.
Conclusion
Little Nightmares III is not necessarily a bad sequel; it just felt a bit disappointing. The game still hits the right notes in terms of atmosphere and puzzling elements, but it just feels a bit underwhelming after the impressive experiences of parts one and two. Even so, the multiplayer element did spice things up a little, and we do hope it remains in future Little Nightmares titles. If you’re a fan of the first games, you’ll probably still enjoy what is on offer here, but we’d recommend waiting for a sale before plunging into The Nowhere with a buddy.
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