Game Review: Little Nightmares III

Little Nightmares III despite being the third official installment in the puzzle/horror franchise started by Tarsier Studios was not in fact made by the developer.  Supermassive Games who are well-known in the industry for their own original interactive horror games took up the reigns after Tarsier was bought out by Embracer Group and the rights to the Little Nightmares franchise stayed with the publisher Bandai Namco. While Tarsier proceeded to do their next original project titled Reanimal (Expect a review for that in the future), Supermassive Games took up development on the third installment based on their experience handling the next-generation remaster for Little Nightmares II. Little Nightmares III was released on October 10th 2025 across Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.  Upon release the game received a mixed reception from both critics and the general audience, only aggregating a 71 in total on OpenCritic.  On the sales front I couldn’t really find anything concrete sadly, though I do often find the lack of early sales news isn’t a good sign all things considered.

The story of Little Nightmares III follows two central characters titled Low and Alone.  Low is a child with the ability to travel to a collection of different lands called The Nowhere though the mirrors he comes across. Alone is his friend and together they travel across these mysterious lands and come face to face with many deadly perils and creatures from their worst nightmares. Desperate to escape their perilous situation, Low and Alone must find more mirrors to hopefully find a place of refuge from the nightmares that stalk them continuously. 

The storytelling in this game is similar to the prior Little Nightmares in the sense that there’s no dialogue or written text and the narrative is projected primarily through the environment and small cutscenes.  While the game definitely deploys a plot thread for players to pick up on, I don’t feel it’s nearly as interesting or compelling as the prior games.  The overall mystery behind the plot is plainly spelled out from the offset but the game frames it like it’s a big reveal as you progress through it. I also take issue with how segmented the plot feels in comparison to the prior games.  You genuinely felt like you were progressing through areas while you pieced together the overall plot in Little Nightmares I and II, that subtle and rewarding approach is lost in Little Nightmares III.  The way each core level is sectioned off with no unifying element makes exploring these environments and facing their dangers less interesting in my honest opinion. I’m also not sure that I like how little the game ties into the plot threads of the prior games either.  I liked Little Nightmares II because of how it was able to tell a brand-new narrative while still being able to tie it back to Six’s character from the original game.  Little Nightmares III doesn’t offer nearly as much to link it to the prior games which only serves to make the narrative experience feel even more isolated.

Gameplay wise, the game is designed around it’s two central characters.  You can choose to play Little Nightmares III either solo or co-operatively with a friend. I played the game through with my partner so a lot of my thoughts on the gameplay are based on the co-operative element.  Supermassive did at least make an effort to realize the Little Nightmares formula as a two-player experience with this entry.  I like how both Low and Alone each have their own unique functions.  Lo has a bow and arrow which he can use to shoot enemies and obstacles from afar.  Alone carries a giant wrench on her back which she can use to smash enemies and break through walls. There’s a multitude of sections throughout the game which apply the players unique abilities to overcome puzzles and enemy encounters which does go a good way to help each player feel integral to the progression of the level.  A lot of the puzzles are designed around the co-operative function too; with the way you may have to hold switches down as one player while the other player goes to through a door or grabs an item.  It’s nice to see Supermassive at least realized the co-operative nature of the games considering that was marketed as its main selling-point.

In terms of level design, there’s a lot of positives to note on that front too, but I would be remiss if I didn’t also highlight some consistent issues that stemmed throughout my time playing.  Each level in Little Nightmares III feels distinct in the way they look and work.  They have a core design and the developers clearly went out on giving the environmental design and function a distinct flavour for each level you transitioned too.  The puzzles littered throughout the levels though range from clever to tediously simple.  There’s no consistent quality to the puzzle selection in the game and that is an issue in itself.  I also take umbrage with the enemy encounters in the game.  Like with the prior games, you’ll have to face off against a range of creepy creatures during your time in Little Nightmares III and for the most part they are implemented into the environment in an imaginative way.  When the game chooses to pit you against these enemies in direct confrontations however, their overall design shows to be weaker than their presentation.  I can’t count how many times the game would screw you over against these creatures for the smallest of errors. There’s no room for mistakes in this game and the game immediately punishes you and forces you and the other player to reset constantly.  I get there has to be difficulty to overcome but it didn’t feel this obstructive towards the natural progression of the game previously.  These are sadly just not well-designed encounters and that was a constant problem in the game from start to finish.

On the presentation side I can’t really take anything away from this game.  It definitely has the look and feel of a Little Nightmares game. The environmental design alongside the character models feels bleak and desolate and the way the environment scales above you goes a long way to make it feel oppressive just like in the prior games.  On the audio front, there’s a nice use of dynamic range to also help the scale of the environment be felt.  While Tobias Lilja doesn’t return to score Little Nightmares III, Hugo Long does a commendable job injecting his own brand of music into the franchise which does a great job in feeling authentic to the DNA of the franchise.

Little Nightmares III may look like a Little Nightmares video game, but if you look beneath the surface of this game you’ll realize there’s a lot of heart and soul missing from the foundation. I don’t believe Supermassive didn’t care when it came to making this game, as there does feel like a genuine sense of effort to try and provide their own spin on the franchise but I just can’t pretend it’s not a weaker representation in comparison to its predecessors.  Little Nightmares III lacks that unity between gameplay and story that made progressing through the prior games so thrilling.  It may walk like a Little Nightmares game and it may talk like a Little Nightmares game, but deep down it will always be missing the core quality that makes it a true Little Nightmares game.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐