Little Nightmares 3

Summer is over, leaves are falling from the trees, and as the temperature drops and the light dims, the month of horror, which is apparently October, creeps up on us. For many, this brings a touch of sadness, but for others, it's a wonderful time of year. No one is calling to ask you to come to the beach, there is no sun reflecting off your OLED screen. In other words, it's the perfect time to curl up and play some video games, and Little Nightmares 3 may be the perfect match for this All Hallows' month.

The Little Nightmares series made a big splash with its cosy eeriness. It's a dark series with a heavy, oppressive atmosphere, but with a visual style reminiscent of a child-friendly animated film. This contrast was a recipe for success, but after two games, the continuation of the series has moved on from Tarsier Studios to Supermassive Games, and the question is whether this will be noticeable. Supermassive Games is well acquainted with the horror genre, but Little Nightmares is a markedly different style from what they have done so far with titles such as Until Dawn and The Quarry. The quick answer is that Little Nightmares is similar to itself, and the only place where you might notice the new developer is in how few chances are taken.

Little Nightmares has never been explicit in its narrative style, and the same applies in this third chapter. There is no dialogue, and the only word uttered is "hey". There is also no further intro sequence or context presented to you by the game. Instead, you are left with the control of two cute children who must travel through a threatening world. As the game progresses, you can piece together the parts and form your own interpretation, but what actually happened in this mysterious world remains obscure. And that's how it should be, but still, the story seems a little too simple and at the same time too opaque. I don't want to give anything away, which makes it a little difficult to talk about, but the children's relationship and story are basically simple and familiar, whereas it's a little difficult to find the more specific meaning of some of the levels and environments.

Despite the fact that the main characters are not complex character portraits, they are still good and effective. The cute appearance of the children in contrast to the unpleasant world arouses an enormous urge to protect and care for them, which is one of the key appeals of the entire Little Nightmares universe, and that effect is present here as it was in the previous games.

Visually, the game also feels familiar, and it's actually beautiful. If you have played the previous games, the third instalment will feel like a natural continuation graphically. The game takes place over four chapters, but where the levels in the previous games often flowed naturally into each other, here the children travel between worlds through magical mirrors. Supermassive Games has taken advantage of this to create some diverse levels.

The first chapter is more light-filled and less dark than the rest of the game. It has an almost fairy-tale atmosphere, like an archaeological excavation. Perhaps that is why it does not seem as scary as one might hope, which is a little disappointing. Fortunately, the gloomy mood intensifies in the following chapters. I don't want to reveal too much of what's in store, but a hideous amusement park that turns all the joys of childhood upside down is a highlight, and the final chapter is the most effective both in terms of creepiness and in manifesting the traumas the children go through on a metaphorical level. A giant arm slithers through the corridors of a large house as if it were a giant snake. It's effective, and the metaphor, while perhaps exaggerated, is understandable without being ridiculous. It's as if the developers have used 2-3 levels to build up momentum and then take an effective but too quick final sprint, and that energy is missing, especially in the first two chapters.

The monster design is also effective, but again, there are too few of them. They often appear as absurd and creepy versions of adults where you never quite know if they are living dolls or half-dead humans, but it rarely comes as a shock when you encounter them. Apart from a few effective sequences, you miss the feeling of an omnipresent threat that is essential to creating unease. If you are not afraid of what is hiding behind the door, you just walk from room-to-room without concern, and in Little Nightmares 3, you sometimes get bored as you just wade down empty corridors, into an air vent and out into a new empty corridor. As mentioned, there are clearly effective sequences that are beautifully and uncomfortably designed and animated, but there are too few of them.

The most important new feature from Supermassive Games that sets this game apart from the previous ones in the series is the addition of co-op. Little Nightmares 3 is co-op all the way through. It's not mandatory; you can play with an AI partner, but there's no doubt that it's intended to be a game you play together. Whether or not this is appealing depends largely on whether you find co-op games appealing in general, but I would not recommend it as a single-player experience. When playing together, you need to talk to your partner and explore together. If you play with an AI partner, it strongly hints at solutions to puzzles, if it doesn't actually solve them for you. Fortunately, the game includes a friend pass so you can invite a friend to play with you, even if they don't own the game. However, this is only on the same platform, as no crossplay, and no local co-op is available, only online.

The gameplay consists mostly of platforming and solving puzzles to advance to the next area. The game is in 3D, but most of the time you move as if in a 2D side-scroller. It's actually effective enough, as was the case in the previous games, but it does cause some problems. The biggest one is distance judgement. You miss countless jumps, walk off the edge of a board you have to balance on, or run straight into a doorframe, not because you are bad, but because it can be difficult to judge where the character is in the depth of the image. This problem is only exacerbated by the presence of two players, as you can easily block or bump into each other. However, the platforming feels good. There is weight to the jumps, and you have to grab edges and pull yourself up. These are some acrobatic children, but they still feel like children.

Each player has a weapon and a tool. One has a wrench that they can also use to hit with, and the other has a bow. For the most part, they are only used to solve puzzles, but there are a few combat sequences that require communication and cooperation. For example, there is a situation where one has to shoot the head off a doll, after which the other can smash it with the wrench, but it never goes beyond that and becomes an action game. The main focus is still on puzzles. Unfortunately, most of them are not really difficult and do not require much cooperation. It's a shame, and also strange that there isn't more focus on this, now that they have chosen to make the game co-op. It's as if there is a bit of nervousness about going all in on the premise, and each scenario is played safe so that you can also play it alone. I think it would have been more effective to make the game mandatory co-op rather than standing with one foot in each camp. All in all, the gameplay is reliable, but something extra is missing, and too much of the time is spent doing nothing but moving through one air vent after another.

Supermassive Games has maintained the style and atmosphere that the series is known for, and they should be commended for that, but they have also played it safe. Apart from the addition of co-op, there is nothing significantly new in Little Nightmares 3. This may sound reassuring to fans of the series, and if you are one of them, you can safely dive in. But there is a lack of evolution. There is a lack of development in the universe, not because they have to reveal a whole lot, but because it should be expanded more, especially considering that Bandai Namco wants to turn it into a multimedia IP with both podcasts and comics. The gameplay is mechanically sound - except for the problem with distance judgement - but too much of the game is spent doing nothing, and since you also lack the sense of a looming threat, it ends up feeling empty at times rather than scary. Basically though, the atmosphere and style are spot on, so if you're looking for a horror game to enjoy during the designated horror month of autumn, feel free to call a friend and settle in with Little Nightmares 3.