Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Atmospheric Worlds
Repetitive Design
Limited Innovation
Little Nightmares III delivers atmospheric horror platforming with co-op play, eerie environments, and familiar puzzle-stealth gameplay, standing true to the series’ visual tone while adding online multiplayer and new tools for the protagonists. Its short runtime, repetitive design, and lack of innovation beyond co-op temper the experience, resulting in a mixed reception overall.
Supermassive's decision to play it safe means too many familiar frustrations, but impressive artistry – and a mid-game uptick – makes for a grimly compelling adventure all the same.
Little Nightmares 3 adds a welcome online cooperative mode and some freshly bizarre environments, but the series' formula is becoming a little staid.
Little Nightmares 3 features little innovation, few scares, and limited appeal if you’ve already played the previous two games, unless you’re dead keen to experience the series’ signature brand of stop-start stealth with a friend in tow.
Supermassive never quite hits the mark of what made Little Nightmares so distinct and terrifying. Over a disappointingly short runtime, I feel no desire to return for any collectibles, and not one moment has stuck with me. Instead, I’m only left wondering what could have been done better.
There were times in the final two chapters where I had to briefly put the controller down to give myself a break from the tension.
Little Nightmares III delivers on the original conceit of the series with a horror-filled adventure that feels like trying to escape a nightmare you desperately want to wake up from. Outside of a few noticeable, if underbaked, additions Supermassive has introduced, I’d welcome more variation to the game’s formula. However, even if Little Nightmares III offers more of the same, it’s hard not to smile whenever Low and Alone’s adventure sends chills down my spine.
New developer Supermassive Games takes Little Nightmares in a familiar direction, though co-op does mix things up in a welcome way for the series.
Little Nightmares III faithfully preserves the oppressive mood, clever environmental puzzles, and visceral unease associated with the series, but feels like an echo of what came before. While its dark allure remains potent, the baffling absence of local co-op undercuts the game's most ambitious feature. Though its multiplayer concept shines in theory, the absence of a character-swap feature to enrich single-player mode feels like another missed opportunity.
