Little Nightmares III seems like another entry in the Little Nightmares series, but if you take a closer look, you’ll find that it is simply a great pretender. This game follows the formula set by the previous two: a set of distinct areas separated into chapters, each featuring its own monster and set of puzzles. So far so good, right? If you go beyond aesthetics, though, this image quickly starts to crumble.
The aesthetics taken from its predecessors are not to be disregarded, though. Little Nightmares III matches the atmosphere of its predecessors by using the same strategies they did — namely, strong sound and environmental design. Just like in the original Little Nightmares, the areas create an unsettling ambience and evoke the feeling of a world that exists outside the context of the game’s events. The visual designs of the areas are mostly memorable, especially in the desert and carnival levels, though not every locale manages to stick out. The ones that do, though, have strong visual theming that keeps them more interesting than they would have been otherwise. The soundscape also adds to this, creating an almost desolate feel with subtle reminders that you’re never truly alone. When music does come in, it is pleasantly eerie and adds to the mood.
While the aesthetics stay strong, much of the rest of the game feels hollow. Puzzles are either too simple to be interesting or require you to fail them once (killing your character and forcing a reload) to be understood. Puzzles are less like challenges or tests and more like literal roadblocks. They prevent progression, but that’s about all they do. The puzzles had the chance to be more unique than ever thanks to the game’s addition of a second playable character, but there are many problems with the new system that prevent the puzzles from getting much out of that addition.
The first problem you’ll notice is that the game features no local co-op. If you had hoped to play with a friend, they’ll need their own console to play along (though only one copy of the game is required, as one player can use a “friend’s pass” in order to join another’s lobby without purchasing the game). Still, it doesn’t make much sense to limit the game to only online multiplayer. There are very few times when characters need to move out of view of each other to progress, making the decision seem senseless. The second problem is how single player is handled. If you play alone, the game has you pick one of the two characters to control for the entire game — you never switch, nor are you offered the choice to switch between characters. There is simply a button command to tell your partner to do their special move. This makes simple puzzles even simpler, as players are not asked to think for themselves, instead letting an Artificial Intelligence partner do half the puzzle.
The final point against the two-character setup also occurs in single player: Your AI partner is very capable of dying entirely by themselves. It’s not too common, but it can happen. When it does, you are forced to respawn and try the section again, even if the AI got themselves killed and you were perfectly safe. It doesn’t seem reasonable, especially considering players are not allowed to control their partners. All these problems coalesce into a system that is not always actively frustrating, but is always disappointing.
Another disappointing part of the gameplay is the lack of engaging confrontations with the game’s monsters. Little Nightmares has always had great enemy encounters, but this time around, they failed to live up to those of the past. Little Nightmares III’s encounters mostly ask the player to wait around until the monster leaves, without leaving much room for experimentation or stealth. Many of these interactions seem to want players to sneak by, but in reality, they only ask players to wait in a corner until the threat has left the room. These moments aren’t very dynamic and make the monsters feel less threatening. The encounters that do ask something of the player are few and far between, but they do manage to be oases of fun among the game’s desert of “encounters.”
When you aren’t waiting for monsters to leave or moving past roadblocks, you’ll be exploring the game’s world. This is mostly a pleasant experience, as the visual design of the world is far more interesting than anything else going on. The platforming in these sections can be engaging as well, and helps you remember how small you are in comparison to everything around you. It’s a combination that makes the visuals work even better, enhancing the best parts of the game. These sections aren’t always interesting — many are straightforward without much to do — but the ones that stand out are a positive experience.
Little Nightmares III is just a poor imitation of its predecessors. Its chaptered structure and level design make it clear that the game was working from the bones of the previous two without understanding what made those games fun in the first place. This is, in all likelihood, because Supermassive Games, most well-known for The Quarry and The Dark Pictures Anthology, was at the helm for Little Nightmares III, instead of Tarsier Studios, who developed the first two. Little Nightmares III looks and sounds a lot like those games, which is why their strong suits there are the strongest aspects here, too. But in practice, Little Nightmares III is nothing like them, making it feel far removed from those experiences. The change in teams is obvious here, and it is quite clear why Little Nightmares III feels a lot like an imitation of its predecessors: Because it is one.
Daily Arts Writer Hudsen Mazurek can be reached at hudsen@umich.edu.
