Little Nightmares 3 review – Good ideas, middling execution

by

Little Nightmares 3 has a fantastic atmosphere. It’s unsettling and dark, with a strange, twisted visual style that’s reminiscent of Tim Burton – both creepy and oddly charming. If a game could succeed on atmosphere alone, this would be a perfect 10/10. However, a good game needs more than just a great feel, and unfortunately, Little Nightmares 3 has quite a few flaws.

Little Nightmares 3 can be played either by yourself with an AI companion, or online with another player. I opted for online co-op because I enjoy playing with friends, but looking back, I think playing with the AI might have been better. It wasn’t that my co-op partner wasn’t good, just that the AI would likely have made the experience smoother by always knowing the correct solutions and path forward in such a challenging game.

Little Nightmares 3 tells the story of Low, a boy, and Alone, a girl, as they travel through strange and frightening worlds. These locations are varied and intriguing – including a carnival, a busy office, and the unsettling home of an old man and his creepy creature – but the environments become more similar as the game progresses.

The story is open to many different interpretations, which can be great – similar to how Silent Hill f worked really well. However, this approach only succeeds if players are motivated to figure out the meaning themselves. While I formed my own ideas about the story’s meaning while playing, they didn’t stay with me for long after I finished the game.

The story is generally interesting, though it’s told through symbolism and dreamlike sequences, making it both complex and strangely empty. Ultimately, it doesn’t feel particularly important what’s happening. Two children wander through a series of disturbing landscapes, occasionally stepping through mirrors, with brief glimpses of what might be reality. That’s essentially the whole premise. It’s an enjoyable experience, and fans will likely have long discussions about it, but the plot is mostly just a way to showcase the unsettling world.

The game’s core mechanics are decent, but frequent glitches and awkwardness prevent it from being truly enjoyable. When playing as Alone, you need to use a wrench to attack both objects and enemies, but the aiming feels imprecise and can lead to getting damaged. Playing as Low is more streamlined, thanks to a bow that automatically targets enemies, but there aren’t many opportunities to actually use either character’s unique abilities in interesting ways.

The game’s clunkiness becomes most obvious when two players need to coordinate actions. Simple tasks, like opening doors or helping each other reach higher areas, often require precise positioning. Otherwise, the animations don’t trigger, or they glitch, forcing players to repeatedly try again. While some issues might have been caused by a slightly unstable internet connection, much of it seems to be built into the game itself. For example, the button to hold a ladder would sometimes stop responding, and even climbing ledges could require frustratingly exact positioning.

While small animation and positioning glitches aren’t major problems individually, they can be the reason you fail and get caught by enemies, leading to frustrating restarts. The game’s checkpoint system in Little Nightmares 3 adds to this frustration. Checkpoints are close enough that you don’t lose much progress, but still require a slow trek back to the action, often repeating sections with tedious animations and loading screens.

The game is often overly difficult, and one section is especially frustrating. Around the middle of the game, you’re forced to wait for a creature to finish eating so you can slowly move to the next hiding place. Then, you have to repeat this waiting process before continuing. A single mistake – like moving too quickly or at the wrong time – will force you to start the entire section over.

Chase sequences, while a good idea in concept – having you and a teammate escape an enemy and make quick decisions – are often frustratingly strict. Thankfully, most restart at the beginning of the chase. However, even a small mistake – bumping into each other, a misstep on uneven ground, or a poor route choice – can send you right back to the start. There’s no room for error; you either execute it perfectly, or you have to begin the chase all over again.

The most enjoyable aspect of this game is definitely solving its environmental puzzles, even though the movement and general mechanics can be a bit clunky. I especially liked the challenge of figuring out how to progress – whether it was finding hidden keys without being seen, or figuring out the best way to communicate and use everyone’s skills when the game split up the characters.

The game includes some brilliantly designed puzzle elements, such as an umbrella for gliding or an item that alters the environment around you. These mechanics could become core parts of how you move and solve puzzles, but they’re often introduced for just a few rooms and then aren’t used again. Occasionally, you’ll need to interact with the world in unique ways – shooting objects or making noise to create distractions – allowing your partner to progress or giving you a chance to sneak past. While these ideas are clever, they appear infrequently throughout the game.

Little Nightmares 3 has some promising concepts, but unfortunately, they aren’t fully realized. The game struggles with inconsistency – it doesn’t always build on its strengths and often overdoes its weaknesses. With more development time, refinement, and a focused vision, it could have been excellent, but currently, it feels rough around the edges, unfinished, and can be quite frustrating to play.

Read More

2025-10-08 16:48