Little Nightmares 3 Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, & PC)

Still funny that I’m choosing to play a nightmare. It’s by choice. But of course, I’m telling myself that it’s only a little nightmare. Nothing that’d make me piss my adult pants. With the third entry upon us, you can at least have a rough idea of what to expect from the two previous games. The first one was downright chilling. Tense nearly throughout with those dark shadows and dimly lit “the Maw.” And even past the credits roll, the suspense of figuring out some of the loose story threads fueled the desire to check out Little Nightmares 2. Similar to the first, but toned down a bit on the spooky and strange. It was still a masterpiece, as Tarsier Studios has perfected the craft of the aesthetic and story. But seemingly becoming more familiar with new iterations. And now, three is here. With a new studio, Supermassive. 

These guys made Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology. So, I guess it’s fair to say they would know what they’re doing in the horror scene. But Little Nightmares isn’t just any other horror series. You know it by its unique dark colors and distorted, grotesque adults haunting the child protagonists. You experience the unsettling, twisted locales and the unnerving music. The children, wobbly in their movement and running, try to escape the monsters wanting to eat them through stealth, but at times, running for their lives. And no words are ever said, only the clues in the environment you have to pay attention to to piece puzzles together, but more importantly, to fully appreciate the emotions, mystery, and suspense. 

Can Supermassive capture these defining features, while at the same time taking the franchise to the next level? Let’s find out in our Little Nightmares 3 review below.

Giant Baby

In the dream realm, anything is possible. The Maw from the first game is a floating boat that takes children captive to imprison and devour them. Little Nightmares 2 took us to a new spot: the Pale City. An actual city, gloomy all around, and harboring a school hospital, and the wilderness you have to go through to reach the Signal Tower. In all these locations, we’ve had the faintest idea of what’s lurking in the shadows. Some grotesque monster waiting to gulp us down. “Us” as in mere, innocent children who can only sneak and hide across a 2.5D world. Something about the dark, gloomy environments, the heavy atmosphere hugging you, that fuels tension and suspense throughout your journey. 

Puzzles and platforming were never Little Nightmares’ greatest strength. Because, really, the treasure lies in the suspense and mystery. And anyone with this in mind will enjoy Little Nightmares 3. This time, we’re taken to four locations: the desert city where the gigantic infant baby awaits. One look at you, Low, or your companion, Alone, and you’ll get turned to stone. So, you sneak around, taking cover, and avoiding the baby’s line of sight. And it’s all so much fun for any horror fanatic because of how twisted and grotesque the sight of your pursuer is. Even when the puzzle of escaping the baby is relatively easy, simply hiding and making a break for it when it looks away, you still enjoy Little Nightmares 3’s wonderful essence of horror.

Through the Looking Glass

And then, stepping through a glass mirror, you enter a new location. It’s a mystery you’ll figure out why you’re trapped in this weird metaverse-like dream realm, and how the mirrors connecting the different locations factors into the story. And why you must absolutely work out an escape plan from this dreadful, not-so-little nightmare. Yet, compared to the first game and even the second, the mystery isn’t as exciting to chase down. Perhaps it’s the novelty of the first game that has faded over time. Because it’s the dark shadows and the unsettling aura of Little Nightmares that fueled your curiosity and suspense. And now the same aesthetic and environmental storytelling has been replicated across the second and third games, making it feel… familiar? Strange was the world of Little Nightmares, and by the third game, fans may even call it home. 

That’s not to say that the next location, the candy factory, and the other two distinct chapters don’t have their unique atmospheres and boss challenges. And while not all of them share the same level of tension, they do feature some moments of genuine fear. When the same settings and monster designs from the previous games aren’t regurgitated, they feel fresh and new. Though those moments are few and far between, and mostly it’ll be a journey through familiar scenes for players who’ve checked out the previous game. It’s a shame because Supermassive could have easily experimented with new ideas. Nightmares are certainly a breeding ground for the strangest ideas, especially with the theme of children viewing the whimsical through a twisted, grotesque lens. Caricature horror definitely has a lot more to offer than we’ve already seen in the past two games. 

In Hiding

Again, it’s not that Supermassive doesn’t authentically and accurately capture the mood and atmosphere of Little Nightmares. Fans should have a blast navigating the dreadful darkness into the unknown. Just kids trying to find their way around terrifying monsters, through stealth, but also ready to run should the monsters give chase. There’s an imbalance in your partner in the co-op getting caught and eaten because of what feels like inaccurate timing.

Lots of deaths that don’t feel fair, when you presume running and sliding through a narrow space into the next room will save you. But alas, stopping to hide in a tucked-away crate is the solution the developer is looking for to survive. Basically, plenty of trial-and-error that veers dangerously close to frustration. But it’s always been the way of Little Nightmares, trying and failing and trying again until you figure out the solution.

Puzzle Pieces

It’s the same for the puzzles. Some are straightforward enough. You see a rope clinging to a platform higher than your reach. And it makes sense to shoot your arrow to disengage it and bring it lower. When your wrench makes sense to use to rotate a lever that unlocks a platform. Most of the time, Low’s bow and arrow and Alone’s wrench will be straightforward in the ways they should be used. And mostly, one at a time. And co-op comes in occasionally, when you need to push a crate together or hop on a platform at the same time to break through to a lower level.

Often, straightforward puzzles, when you look around you and pinpoint objects you can interact with. But I’m fighting the urge to compare Little Nightmares 3’s co-op with It Takes Two and Split Fiction. Those moments of creative and clever coordination and teamwork feel lacking here. And then I remember that Little Nightmares 3’s strength was never its co-op or its puzzles or its platforming, for that matter.

Two to Tango

But see, online co-op is the gameplay feature that Little Nightmares 3 seems to be placing its bets on. The revolutionary next step in the series that Supermassive has introduced here. And unfortunately, it just doesn’t quite live up to the expectations I had for truly cooperating and working together to complete a goal. And couch co-op is nowhere to be found. Just completely bizarre in this day and age.

In those moments when you’re scampering in the darkness, unsure of the object you’re supposed to interact with, or running when you get spotted, especially with the freedom to move away from your companion, it’d be great to have your buddy next to you to experience those moments of tension and laughter of getting caught together. 

Verdict

You’ll certainly take issue with some of Little Nightmares 3’s puzzle and platforming design choices. Yet, for fans of the series, many of the issues won’t come as a surprise. The insta kills that aren’t your fault but the game’s imprecision and inaccurate timing, heightened in co-op. The easy puzzles feel copy-pasted from previous games. I wonder if the playthrough time was any longer than five hours, if the puzzles and platforms could sustain themselves without a drop-in and out feature in co-op. 

In any case, it’s the entry you’d expect coming off the previous games. The same gloomy locations with dimly lit rooms and dark shadows, you have to cut your way through. Often stumbling about in your wobbly child legs and desperate to escape the living nightmare Supermassive has created in the different twisted locations it creates. And the grotesque caricatures and twisted adult monsters you have to escape. And one gigantic infant whose eyes will turn you to stone. Little Nightmares 3 is definitely a spooky experience. But on what level of spookiness, exactly, I’m not quite sure. It won’t make you piss your pants, that’s for sure, especially when you’ve already digested the previous games’ childhood terrors. 

There are certainly new ways to amp up the tension and suspense of childhood terrors, right? Certainly, new, clever ideas of what a child’s nightmare experienced through the eyes of an adult might look like? Little Nightmares 3 is anything but new. Grim and grimy as expected, but lacking anything you wouldn’t have seen in the previous games.