Little Nightmares 3 Review - Third Time Is Not So Charming
Without original developers, Tarsier Studios, Supermassive Games have taken the helm of the very dark and very weird world of Little Nightmares. This time, you do not have to brave the darkness by yourself, with two protagonists that each have their own methods of interacting with the world as you attempt to survive your journey through four distinct worlds, each very creepy in its own way. More often than not, though, you will find yourself hindered more by the (lack of) artificial intelligence of your companion character and the world’s camera than by the challenges the game presents.
Having never played the two previous games, I wasn’t sure what to expect when firing up Little Nightmares for the first time. While not really a horror game enthusiast, I had played through Supermassive’s breakout hit Until Dawn and a little bit of The Quarry, so I was curious about the experience Little Nightmares III would bring. What I didn’t expect was that I would be left to interpret the narrative as though I was watching a children’s school performance that consisted solely of mimes. You are presented with the two characters that you can choose from, but provided with nothing that provides context for who they are or why they are experiencing these nightmare worlds. It is very much pick your character, get a bare bones tutorial and then “off ya go, you little scamp.”
I could live with this if there was information gained through the journey or even hidden in the world to discover, but thus far, the information I have found about the game and the world it exists in came from third-party information sources. Part of me wonders if the loss of original developers Tarsier Studios resulted in this lack of story and context, or if it is a component of the Little Nightmares franchise in general. Either way, this kind of storytelling is not for me and actively prevented me from engaging with the game the same way I did in Until Dawn, another game in the horror genre from Supermassive Games.
I could also probably overlook this type of narrative structure if the moment-to-moment gameplay made up for it. Unfortunately, between the fixed camera angle and controls that feel sluggish to use, players will often spend more time trying to make the characters do what they need them to do than time spent trying to figure out the answer to a particular puzzle. The most egregious instances of this are the combat challenges that are thankfully few and far between. My first introduction to combat saw me waylaid by bugs that would either kill me by attacking or falling on me after I shot them with an arrow, or they would do the same to my companion character. One hit is all it takes to have to reset and start the room again. In what is both a blessing and a curse, whenever your character does fall, they respawn in the prior room and make another attempt. It’s great because you will die a lot. The combat controls are so touchy, and finding the right spot to attack from comes down to a lot of luck and a hefty dose of frustration. Admittedly, after my eighth successive attempt and being taken down by those damned bugs, I had to put the controller down and call it a night.
A big part of what makes the experience frustrating is the behaviour of the AI. companion. Deviating from the previous entries, Little Nightmares III has been designed to be played entirely cooperatively. Now, for ‘reasons’, the co-op is limited to online play only. In my house, I could have conscripted one of my kids to help me journey through this dark world, not so much the people on my Playstation friends list. Thus, I was forced to rely on the A.I. to help me survive Little Nightmares 3.
Unlike ‘A Way Out’ and ‘It Takes Two’, two games that are designed around the two-player co-op experience, if you are playing Little Nightmares III solo, the alternate character will be controlled by the AI. In my playthrough, the character ‘Alone’, who utilises their wrench to aid in puzzle solving/smashing obstacles, was controlled by the AI. Sometimes it was great. Alone would make her way over to a point ready to boost me up to a higher point. Other times, I would be wandering around the entire room, spamming the button to call Alone in the hope I managed to find the right area they needed to interact with. There were times when Alone would only half destroy an obstacle, leaving me scratching my head at what else may need to be done. Other times, I was faced with an AI that had no regard for its one life, slowly trotting along as the roof collapsed in on top of it.
In my view, and I realise this is very much a personal opinion, if you plan on restricting the players to co-op or AI only, you need to ensure the programming of the AI is on point and engages with the game and companion character in the way it should. The very reason you cannot play ‘A Way Out’ or ‘It Takes Two’ solo is that these games were designed to be tackled by two people.
The one thing I do want to commend the developers on is the atmosphere they were able to create. While not every boss came across as intended, the bosses of the second and third levels did genuinely create moments where I was holding my breath or hoping my character was moving fast enough. The disturbing visages of the insect-like security lady and the carnival performer fit very well with what I think was the intended aesthetic of the game. It’s not outright horror, but a creepiness and revulsion felt by the player as they attempt to escape these repugnant characters. Combine this with some very well-done background audio, which, while occasionally relying on well-trodden horror tropes, really helps to draw in and unsettle the player, especially when playing with a headset or earbuds in.
While fans of the series may be able to absorb a lot more of the narrative than a newcomer, they will still have to contend with clumsy controls and a slightly half-baked AI that adds an extra layer of challenge. I think franchise fans will be able to enjoy it for what it is, but players new to the franchise may be left confused and put off by the lack of narrative, control issues, and forced online co-op.
Little Nightmares 3 was reviewed on PS5 with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
