The eagerly awaited third installment of this popular indie horror title is, in short, disappointing
By BELLA PETERSON — arts@theaggie.org
On Oct. 3, the beloved indie horror game “Little Nightmares” made its return with a third installment. “Little Nightmares III” (“LN3”) takes place in the fictional world of Nowhere, made up of different, but equally terrifying, realms. While the first two games were set in the realms of the Maw and the Signal Tower, “LN3” takes its players through The Spiral, which links one creature-filled area to another through mirrors. With an unfamiliar environment and entirely new characters, this third installment is more distanced from its predecessors. The creators decided to take a chance on something new: but did it pay off?
An underwhelming run time
An irritating factor of the game actually comes up even before you press play, and that’s the price. Priced at $39.99 on Steam, it can be frustrating having to pay that much for a game that’s run time doesn’t exceed 10 hours, especially when other games listed for similar prices can be played for much longer.
While the “Little Nightmares” franchise isn’t known for its longevity, and shorter games can still feel worth taking out your wallet, “LN3” falls short in how effectively it uses its time. Even though the previous two installments were listed at only slightly cheaper prices, the depth of their storytelling and detail made the games feel worth it. The lengths aren’t significantly different from each other either — the difference comes with the fact that this time, they couldn’t make the most out of the short run time and fell short in fleshing out their chapters.
New characters
As for the characters, it’s hard to find a complaint. Players are able to choose between two new characters, Low and Alone. You can select one to play for the entirety of the game, and depending on whether you choose co-op or single player, the other character is played by a friend or an artificially-intelligent bot.
Low, who’s fighting to escape the Nowhere realm, is a character determined to return home. As a child, Low found comfort in a doll, which manifested as Alone when he arrived in the nightmare world. While quiet, Alone is loyal to her companion as the two travel through the game together.
The designs for Low and Alone show how much the game creators have grown from past games, with adorable but intricate visuals. Low wears a bird mask and cape while Alone’s face is obstructed by her green jumpsuit, hat and goggles, complimented by her giant wrench and offset by her orange pigtails. The designs are both offputting and endearing. The villains, on the other hand, efficiently send nothing but a chill down your spine.
Mechanics & gameplay
The game mechanics are definitely where the “LN3” proves to be weakest, with the gameplay being a direct copy of its predecessors. The game incorporates puzzles and chase sequences as the leading element, while action itself takes a backseat. Where the puzzles of “LN1” and “LN2” felt interesting and complex, created with expertise, the new challenges players face don’t even feel like puzzles at all.
For “LN3,” a puzzle can be something as simple as pushing a switch on the lever on a minecart to change the tracks. A player then finishes the puzzle by allowing the other character to push the cart the right way, filling it up so that both characters can proceed to jump on the cart and move to the next portion of the game. It’s not always easy, but, for the most part, the puzzles in this installment didn’t shine as bright as the puzzles seen in previous games.
The chase sequences in which Low and Alone try to get ahead of the game’s monsters also suffer from abnormal programming. While the sequence of necessary actions and platforming paths the characters need to take may be straightforward, it seems that the characters jump when you want them to only half of the time. There’s also little to be done about glitches that prevent you from progressing, making interacting with objects feel clunky.
Those aren’t the only issues. If you choose to play the game alone and are joined by an AI companion instead of a real person, the change in gameplay is glaringly obvious. At one point during gameplay, the AI companion was unable to keep up, getting caught by the antagonists and causing the sequence to start all over. Even if you’re completing a level or task well, the AI companion has the capability to ruin your progress. Including a co-op option in a video game game isn’t new, and definitely a strong point considering only one person has to purchase the game for two players. However, the problem arises when someone chooses to play on their own and finds they can’t effectively complete levels because of the other character’s default play quality.
An underwhelming conclusion
A handful of stories have a common, melancholic ending: one where you’re left feeling a small pit of sadness in your stomach as the credits begin to play, and you realize that’s all the closure you will be getting. It’s haunting, unresolved and adds a value to the game that stays with you even after you finish. While “LN3” aims for that pattern, they leave the player with not just a pit of sadness, but more questions that they began with. One could argue it was with the intention of making space for future installments, but a game should be able to have an open-ended conclusion without leaving the player with almost no new takeaways.
When it comes to future installments, the past developers of the first two games, Tarsier Studios, actually have plans for their own title. “Reanimal,” set to release in March of 2026, is separate from the popularity found in “Little Nightmares,” but shares similar themes: two young characters, in this case siblings, journeying through an eerie horror realm. While not entirely fair to either game studio, many fans have stated that this will be the true “LN3.”
So, what’s the consensus on “LN3”? The clear reason behind the confused feelings surrounding the game’s quality lies in the evolution of its originality. When “Little Nightmares” first released in 2017, it received an immense amount of positive reviews for how unique it felt. The environment was reminiscent of unsettling but comforting childhood oddities: “Coraline,” “James and the Giant Peach,” “Corpse Bride.” It’s hard to follow up the experience of seeing the “Little Nightmares” world for the very first time, but “LN2” was a success by choosing to keep its beloved character Six in the story.
On paper, “LN3” isn’t completely distinct from the other two. It’s possible the concept of the universe is already starting to wear out, or that fans’ expectations for the future of the series are simply too high after so long. Despite its flaws, “Little Nightmares III” isn’t entirely unplayable. While it may not be a favorite of the trilogy, its original charm, themes of childhood growth and the amount of effort put into characters like Low and Alone remains visible.
Written by: Bella Peterson — arts@theaggie.org
