The Little Nightmares series is among the most unique gaming franchises running today, featuring gameplay that masterfully combines platforming and puzzle-solving with a creepy atmosphere that makes each adventure incredibly tense. After the second entry in the series, however, it looked like the franchise would be changing forever. Original developer Tarsier Studios left the franchise behind (and is now working on REANIMAL with THQ Nordic) after getting acquired by Embracer, passing the torch to Supermassive Games, a studio well-versed in horror games, for the development of Little Nightmares III.
During this year's Gamescom, I had the chance to try out the game, controlling a new character, Alone, and collaborating with another called Low controlled by another player, to escape the creepy Candy Factory and the old lady who seemed intent on eating the two. Right from the beginning of the demo, there was no doubt that I was playing a Little Nightmares game. Everything was in the right place: the characters, the atmosphere, the tone, and the gameplay. This was not a guarantee at all, given the development studio switch, so Bandai Namco, who owns the IP, definitely made the right choice, picking Supermassive Games to develop the game.
Though very familiar, the Little Nightmares III experience does have some important differences over its predecessors. For starters, both Alone and Low can use weapons, a wrench, and bows and arrows to defeat enemies and complete certain puzzles, such as activating contraptions, hitting unreachable switches, and so on. The biggest change, however, is the introduction of co-op mechanics, which should impact the experience quite a bit.
"Should" is the right word to use at this point, as the Little Nightmares III Candy Factory demo did an excellent job showcasing how the game effortlessly feels like part of the series but did a much poorer job highlighting how co-op impacts the experience. The few puzzles that required two players to collaborate, such as opening heavy grates or moving stuff around to reach new areas, didn't look particularly inspired and might have easily been single-player puzzles, too, with some tweaks. If anything, the co-op mechanics were more of a hindrance, as during a stealth sequence set in an office where Alone and Low had to sneak past the aforementioned old lady to make an example, it was easier to mess up and have to restart the sequence from the beginning. Hopefully, future showings will do a much better job.
For the rest, as mentioned, it was business as usual in the short time I had with Little Nightmares III. I jumped on platforms. I completed some simple puzzles with the help of items found lying around. I avoided danger by hiding or frantically running away. All of this should please fans of the series quite a bit. Despite the departure of Tarsier Studios, there's no denying the series is in some very capable hands who fully understand what makes the series so peculiar.
Little Nightmares III is scheduled for a 2025 release (following a delay) on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
