Hands on with Little Nightmares III - Preview
When the first entry in the Little Nightmares series released, it gave me Limbo vibes and as they both offer similar colour schemes and playstyles, it was easy to make the connection. But then the sequel came along and changed the game, and now we are getting a third entry, just without the studio that developed the series. Thanks to Bandai Namco, I was able to put sometime into the game, in order to see if the series could keep entertaining me, whilst giving the spooky vibes it has become known for.
While the game was designed for two players to play cooperatively, you can play solo, which is what I had to do in the build I was provided. When you do that, you can select of the two characters you want to play as, Low or Alone. Each character has their own special item that lets them assist in the solving of puzzles, Low for example uses a bow and arrow, in my time with the game I went with Alone. The item that Alone gets to use is a wrench, which may not seem like a big deal, but it can break open walls, twists levers and even attack. In my time with the game, it was fun to see puzzles that were clearly designed around the duel mechanics, and while playing solo I was not given any control over the other character, the game didn’t get in my way of having fun.
The world itself also required some smarts to get around, something the series has been known for, but here with the co-op, it takes things to a new level. There was one puzzle where I had to crank a platform up and with it up, Low was able to jump across the gap, but the moment I let go of the crank, the platform fell back down. As I was just moving too fast, I didn’t see that a frayed part of the rope that brought the platform up was exposed when it was at its highest point, so after cranking it again, Low was able to shoot it and I could cross. There were a few more puzzles like that, some were very simple and others a little more challenging, but I can see there being a lot to enjoy with a friend when you solve one.
Something else that was new to the series was the ability to fly, or at least Toy Story fly, aka falling in style. A little way into the build, both characters picked up what I can only assume were dead flowers, it was never explained, but they look like it. This allowed them to ride updrafts, taking you to new heights, it also allowed them to make bigger jumps. While there wasn’t a lot of use in this early part of the game, I can see it being a big addition later on, maybe escaping from a particularly nasty being.
Speaking of, that is a good segue into the large creature that chased me down during the final portion of the build. There was nothing overly noticeable about it, except for its massive hand and a need to grab everything. There wasn’t a lot that I could do here, except run and so run I did, but even this moment was blessed with some co-op puzzles, like dropping a crate in order to create somewhere to hide. Eventually I got away by causing some floor to give way, which required both characters to jump at the same time and that lead to the outside and the end of my time with the game.
As someone who adores the first two games, the mobile one not so much, I was beyond excited to learn that a third game was in development. However when it was revealed that it was not Tarsier Studios making it, I got worried, but from what I have played, it seems that there was no cause for concern, as the vibes feel right, the gameplay is on point and the addition of a second character via co-op does open up the game to more challenges. While the lack of a release date is a bummer, at least at the time of writing, I am very happy to wait for this to be done, so I can enjoy another adventure in this twisted world
Little Nightmares 3 is currently set to release sometime in 2025, for PC, PlayStation, Switch and Xbox.
