Little Nightmares 3 Review
Does Supermassive have what it takes and is Little Nightmares 3 still Little Nightmares? Developing Little Nightmares 3 was already a big challenge as the series has set a high watermark with two of the best atmospheric platformers with a near cult-like following thanks to over 20 million in sales, but the challenge has exponentially increased with a pivot to a new developer away from Tarsier Studios.
The good news is that Little Nightmares 3 is still very much Little Nightmares as the look and feel hasn’t been lost, which is reassuring for those looking for more of what they love. Unfortunately, that’s also the bad news as Little Nightmares 3 feels overly familiar.
However, there is a silver lining. Supermassive have crafted a seemingly untethered, yet equally engaging narrative with a few fresh gameplay ideas that although they don’t fully embrace, provide glimpses of greatness within Little Nightmares 3. It doesn’t move the series forward, but it’s another solid entry in the series.
LITTLE NIGHTMARES 3 REVIEW
If you weren’t aware of the change of developers, you likely wouldn’t notice any differences when playing Little Nightmares 3. Back in 2019, Tarsier Studios, developers of Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares 2 were acquired by the Embracer Group. However, Bandai Namco published the first two games and is the owner of the IP, which is why the remainder of Tarsier is making REANIMAL, many former Tarsier devs left to start their own studio Section 9 Interactive to make End of Abyss and is why supermassive, best known for Until Dawn are continuing the franchise with Little Nightmares 3.
In Little Nightmares 3, you follow the journey of Low, a young boy and his best friend Alone as they are trying to escape The Spiral and find their way out of Nowhere. The story is one of the strengths of Little Nightmares 3 as it feels like an attempt to tackle mental health, the downward spiral that you can find yourself on and how at rock bottom, you will feel isolated or Low and Alone. Over the course of your journey, Low and Alone will explore areas that feel like allegories of the root causes of mental health from an over abundance of screens to filling emptiness with cheap thrills.
Your journey to find a way out of Nowhere should take you around 5-6 hours through four chapters and four different locations. There will be an expansion pass with two new chapters titled “Secrets of The Spiral” that will expand the story. The first chapter will be available in Q2 2026 and the second chapter will be available Q4 2026.
For the first time in the series, Little Nightmares 3 is offering the potential to be played in co-op. While having co-op is a nice option, it’s only available online and on the same platform. It does include the friend pass that we are all familiar with at this point in the co-op genre, but the huge disappointment is that Little Nightmares 3 doesn’t offer local co-op, which is where co-op games thrive.
Co-op aside, just like the first two numbered entries, the experience can still be enjoyed solo. Just like Little Nightmares 2, your companion will be AI, except in Little Nightmares 3 it feels greatly improved. Companions wont get in your way nearly as much and hey don’t spoil the solutions to the puzzles with the exception of a few rare occurrences that removed the satisfaction puzzle platformers rely on.
One of the new and unique ideas for Little Nightmares 3 is a greater focus on equipment. Low and Alone both begin their journey with tools that they will carry with them for the whole experience. Low is equipped with a bow and Alone with a wrench. The bow can be used for shooting ropes or hard to reach buttons and the wrench can be used for smashing through weak walls, glass or turning mechanisms. Both of these tools can also be used for self defence at times from bosses and enemies.
Low and Alone will also find new equipment while exploring Nowhere. The first one they encounter will be the umbrella, which allows them to ride wind currents to higher places that would typically be out of reach or glide down safely from platforms that would normally be fatal. You will eventually discover a flashlight just like Little Nightmares 2, which highlights the stunning lighting effects, but actually feels like a step backwards from how it operated in the second game without the ability to freeze enemies. However, the most impressive gameplay mechanic came later in the game that provided the ability to see two different time periods at once almost like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
All of these mechanics and equipment will be used sparingly over the course of your journey escaping Nowhere, but for the most part, you will be doing things that are extremely familiar for series veterans. Climbing tall ladders, crouch walking behind scary enemies, creeping through vents, reactivating elevators, jumping at the same time, walking across thin beams, and everything else you remember from the first two games. These are still tense moments thanks to an unnerving and ominous score paired with great audio effects, they just lack the same impact the third time around.
CRITICISMS (BIG NIGHTMARES)
The biggest issue with Little Nightmares 3 is that it feels overly familiar. Little Nightmares 2 slightly expanded the visual palette and added a companion for the journey, but relied on a near similar gameplay.
Supermassive brings some excellent ideas to the franchise with Little Nightmares 3, but fails to truly embrace them and instead relies on series staples. Low and Alone both have unique tools including a wrench and a bow, but few of the puzzles required them, let alone embraced the idea of requiring them both simultaneously, which would have offered a unique challenge. The umbrella provided a level of verticality unfamiliar to the series, but it was only utilized for a small portion early on.
Easily the best part of Little Nightmares 3 was the finding the ability that gave the characters the power to see two different time periods at once, but just like the umbrella, it was under-utilized with it only a few puzzles in the final chapter. Combining the umbrella, the wrench, the bow, and the vision ability could have led to some incredible set pieces or puzzles.
Spatial awareness and depth perception continues to be an issue with some puzzles as it has been for the series, and the areas of Little Nightmares 3 that provided the most frustration were due to this as well. Playing on PS5, although the puzzles might have been familiar, there was a major missed opportunity for Dualsense integration. Pulling a nailed board off a door to gain access becomes rote, but feeling the board slowly lose resistance could have increased immersion in a genre that thrives on it.
Little Nightmares 3 wasn’t as dark and disturbing as previous entries. The series could have created a numbness to the nature of it with the first two games, but it’s likely due to the change of developers. When looking at the previous work of supermassive including Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures, the studio excels at tension and thrills as opposed to horror and this is reflected in a tone in Little Nightmares 3 that isn’t quite as unsettling as earlier entries.
IS LITTLE NIGHTMARES 3 WORTH IT?
Little Nightmares 3 is a very good game, that captures what made the series great with a darker themes, bite size puzzles and great pacing, but it’s mostly an experience you’ve had before. However, the market is starved for really good to great atmospheric platformers, and Little Nightmares 3 fills the void. The story is original and engaging, the companion ai is greatly improved, the visual palette has expanded slightly and the gameplay shows aspirations of greatness.
Little Nightmares 3 isn’t as distinct as you would want from a third entry in the series, but considering the changes behind the scenes, it doesn’t seem to miss a beat and is another must play for fans of dark platformers. Most importantly, the glimpses of originality and greatness within prove that the series is in good hands moving forward.
