When the unique Little Nightmares was launched in 2017, it received reward for its contemporary tackle puzzle platforming horror. Its sequel upped the scare issue even additional, incomes important acclaim whereas deepening the collection’ mythos. With a brand new developer on the helm of its threequel, the query on everybody’s minds is whether or not the franchise’s third outing sticks the touchdown.
The reply is, ‘Yeah, kind of…’ however with some main caveats. Little Nightmares III is basically a tender reboot for the collection with an all-new storyline and lead protagonists, but it faithfully adheres to the well-trodden gameplay system and degree design of Tarsier Studios’ earlier entries, leading to an expertise that leans maybe an excessive amount of into reiteration moderately than reinvention.
Whereas competently executed below the auspices of Supermassive Video games, the third instalment did not spike my cortisol or wrack my nerves the best way Little Nightmares II did. The collection’ trial-and-error gameplay is current, together with its oppressive atmospheres and macabre set items, but it surely all felt extra brisk, gentler, and fewer pulse-pounding than its celebrated predecessors.
Boasting multiplayer for the primary time within the collection’ historical past, the implementation of this fandom-requested characteristic plainly misses the mark. Whereas the sport is constructed round variations on intelligent co-dependent puzzles that require two gamers to unravel, co-op is locked behind on-line multiplayer to protect “environment and immersion”, based on the developer.
Whereas I can perceive the intent behind not wanting Little Nightmares to play like a celebration sport, this feels to me like a case of the builders overthinking issues. After I started my overview, I had a buddy over who had crushed the primary two video games and was keen to leap in, and the truth that I couldn’t simply hand them a Pleasure-Con felt antithetical to the sport’s multiplayer hype.
It’s a welcome addition {that a} Pal’s Go will probably be accessible at launch, permitting you to play with a buddy who doesn’t personal the sport, that means just one copy must be bought. Nonetheless, each gamers will want their very own consoles. Whereas cross-generation play between Nintendo Change and Nintendo Change 2 is supported, cross-platform play stays unavailable.
On account of these limitations (solely a single Change code was accessible to us in the course of the overview interval), I accomplished my overview playthrough in single-player mode, aided by an AI companion, which left issues feeling rather a lot like Little Nightmares II, which paired its single-player mode with a bot, however much more streamlined as a result of on this entry, your CPU accomplice basically solves half the puzzles for you, given its two-player cooperative design.
You management considered one of two new leads: Low, a bow-and-arrow-wielding boy donning a plague physician masks, and Alone, a woman with pigtails and an aviator helmet geared up with a wrench used for melee fight and puzzling. However what’s actually puzzling, although, is the absence of any type of character swap mechanic tailor-made particularly for single-player mode.
Whereas your AI-managed companion is usually competent, there have been one or two situations the place it stood idle or did not carry out key actions, creating soft-lock conditions that required checkpoint reloads. These moments broke immersion and highlighted how the puzzles, clearly designed round teamwork, lose a few of their meant satisfaction when performed solo.
Puzzles contain synchronising an motion with the wrench along with timed arrow photographs to control the atmosphere, acquire keys, and traverse obstacles, providing a brand new wrinkle on in any other case commonplace fare for the collection. Fight conditions occurred rather a lot much less continuously than I used to be anticipating, however equally required a bow and wrench pairing to complete off enemies.
Very similar to It Takes Two or Break up Fiction, you’ll be able to replay chapters, or your entire sport, as both of the 2 protagonists, experiencing how every character’s distinctive toolset alters puzzle-solving and exploration. As in earlier Little Nightmares entries, collectible gadgets return, cleverly hidden all through every degree to reward curiosity and thorough exploration.
What Little Nightmares III actually will get proper, although, is its environment, with tension-building and evocative sound design in addition to fantastically crafted biomes that deliver the collection to beforehand unseen locales, from a haunting arid desertscape with churning mills and updrafts that may be ridden with umbrellas to an deserted institute on a sub-tropical island teeming with deadly flora.
You’ll navigate crumbling fairground constructions at a surrealist nightmare carnival, evade grotesque adversaries in intentionally sluggish, nail-biting stealth sequences, and be chased down by monstrous creatures impressed by anxieties surrounding authority and adolescent vulnerability. In different phrases, it nonetheless seems to be and feels like prior Little Nightmares video games.
That mentioned, this entry feels distinctly extra ‘by the numbers’ than its predecessors, enjoying comfortably inside established boundaries punctuated by a couple of modest improvements to gameplay mechanics. Its storytelling unfolds in the same vein however concludes in a approach that felt like the extra chapters of paid DLC — deliberate for launch in 2026 — are wanted to completely grasp.
I accomplished my playthrough in round 4 to 5 hours, which makes it so long as previous titles, regardless of having solely 4 chapters, as in comparison with 5 in each prior entries. Efficiency on Change 2 left a lot to be desired, basically feeling like a base Change construct focusing on 30fps with tender, grainy visuals and micro-stutters aplenty when the motion ramped up.
The tip-game boss, particularly, moved in a distracting, nearly stop-motion style throughout sure sequences. Although the sport’s efficiency falters — at the least at launch — it undoubtedly stays playable regardless of being a far cry from a ‘next-gen’ third-party expertise. Gamers who’re delicate to efficiency points ought to take into account grabbing this one on one other platform.
I encountered a irritating challenge within the last chapter the place a key merchandise required for development repeatedly despawned earlier than it lastly appeared in its correct location, permitting me to proceed. Though the general gameplay expertise was in any other case clean, this incident means that a couple of lingering bugs and optimisation points should be lurking below the hood.
Conclusion
Little Nightmares III faithfully preserves the oppressive temper, intelligent environmental puzzles, and visceral unease related to the collection, however looks like an echo of what got here earlier than. Whereas its darkish attract stays potent, the baffling absence of native co-op undercuts the sport’s most bold characteristic. Although its multiplayer idea shines in concept, the absence of a character-swap characteristic to counterpoint single-player mode looks like one other missed alternative.
