The Little Nightmares franchise has been a bit of a surprise hit, moving over 20 million units to date, so it’s not surprising that publisher Bandai Namco has opted to continue on with a third entry even though series creators Tarsier Studios has decided to move on. Little Nightmares III instead comes to us from the horror specialists at Supermassive Games, who have made a clear effort to recreate the look and feel of previous entries in the series.
Is Little Nightmares III a successful continuation of the franchise? Or is it time to wake from this recurring dream? Rub that sleep from your eyes and read on to find out...
While the Little Nightmares series has always taken a wordless enigmatic approach to storytelling, the first two games offered more character development and hinted-at lore than you might expect. Supermassive at least partially resets the universe in Little Nightmares III, introducing two new mysterious protagonists, "Low" and "Alone," and some changes to the series' narrative structure that turns the "Little Nightmares" title into more of a literal statement. Overall, our new protagonists are likable enough, but some of the sense of intrigue and mystery that surrounded the first two Little Nightmares games is missing here.
In terms of gameplay, Supermassive doesn’t stray far from Tarsier’s blueprint. Little Nightmares III is a 2.5D platformer, with players having a relatively limited moveset, including the ability to jump, grab onto ledges and items, run, and crouch to sneak and fit through tight spaces. New to this game, each playable character now has a specific tool they carry with them at all times — Low has a bow that they can use to shoot things from afar, and Alone wields a wrench they can use to smash stuff and turn some cranks.
For the most part, Supermassive have very accurately replicated the feel of past Little Nightmares games, for better and worse. Character movement is very deliberate, which isn't a bad thing in a horror game, but platforming in particular can feel very inconsistent and "canned." There are times when the game's fixed camera angles and perspectives make it very difficult to properly judge jumps, with certain trouble spots causing me to die dozens of times (and I’ve been playing difficult platformers since the '80s). Thankfully, Supermassive has addressed Little Nightmares II's excruciatingly bad combat. It's still not great here, but both Low and Alone having their own dedicated weapons greatly reduces frustration.
Speaking of our dual protagonists, the other big thing Supermassive has added to Little Nightmares III is online co-op. Little Nightmares II took a The-Last-of-Us-like approach, with players relying on an AI-controlled partner to get past some obstacles, and you can still play that way in Little Nightmares III, but you can also now team up with an actual human. Due to the new co-op focus, Supermassive have included some puzzles and challenges that require some slightly more involved teamwork. Nothing too crazy — this isn't a Hazelight game — but you will need some coordination when playing with another person, which can be fun.
Unfortunately, these moments aren’t as satisfying when playing solo. Players pick Low or Alone at the beginning of a singleplayer run, and there’s no ability to switch back and forth between them. During some of the more complex team tasks, you simply do your side of the challenge and the AI will automatically do their side. Strictly speaking, this works, but it almost feels like cheating as your AI partner flawlessly completes their half of a puzzle. When your AI companion isn’t being overly competent, they’re often the opposite, getting lost behind or failing to zero in and do a simple thing you need to proceed. The AI always came around in the end for me, but not before some moments of irritation and wasted time.
Supermassive could also have done more to make co-op accessible to more people. Little Nightmares III can only be played online with folks on your friends list; there is no couch co-op, and your ability to communicate with your partner is very limited. That said, Little Nightmares III does include a Hazelight-style Friend Pass, allowing you to play with an online pal even if they don't own a copy of the game, so kudos for that.
Beyond the addition of co-op, Little Nightmares III feels very much like its predecessors, with its various sequences and set pieces sometimes feeling almost copy-pasted. Platform over rickety structures, crawl through various vents and tunnels, find skittery hiding nomes, tote around batteries to power devices, observe and sneak by various shambling monstrosities, run from those monstrosities in tense chase scenes, etc. If you’ve played past Little Nightmares games, you’ve done all this before. Little Nightmares III only summons up a couple of genuinely original sequences, which are saved for the game's final chapter. This finale hints at what Little Nightmares III could have been, but for most of the game's runtime, the game is merely fine. Arguably more fun and refined than the often-frustrating Little Nightmares II, but rarely surprising.
The game is also rarely all that scary. Earlier Little Nightmares titles were far from perfect, but they had a special something. The leathery Muppet-ey freaks that populated Tarsier's Little Nightmares games were uniquely off-putting, and while Supermassive tries their best to dream up their own atrocities, their creations don't quite measure up with many treading too close to generic creepy doll territory. Visually, Little Nightmares III also lacks some of the ambiance of the first two games, and even on PS5, it doesn't run quite as well as I'd like.
Don’t get me wrong, despite the relatively negative tone of this review, Little Nightmares III does have its moments and can be fun with another human player. The game just doesn’t stand out in any particular way and with a relatively brief 4-hour runtime, this will likely be one of those dreams that fades from your mind not long after you wake up.
This review was based on a PS5 copy of Little Nightmares III provided by publisher Bandai Namco.
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