Review — Little Nightmares III. A haunting adventure through a world of…

A haunting adventure through a world of twisted childhood fears.

Little Nightmares has always been about small, vulnerable characters exploring large, creepy worlds filled with monstrous beings. For the third entry, Supermassive Games took over the development, having had prior experience on the Little Nightmares franchise for developing the enhanced PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the previous game.

Little Nightmares III was initially announced for a 2024-release and then delayed until October 2025. A developer taking over and a release window that shifts, are enough signs to be at least a bit skeptical about the end result. Let’s find out whether the game lives up to its predecessors.

Story

Little Nightmares III introduces two characters, named Low and Alone. They awaken in a strange world called the Nowhere, made up of weird, unsettling lands. The story opens with Low waking from a dream of a mirror and then being joined by Alone. Together they try to find a way out of the nightmarish place in which they somehow ended up. Along the way they travel through places like the Necropolis, a desert city inhabited by monstrous beings, the Candy Factory, an industrial nightmare, and the Carnevale, a dark and haunting carnival world. The narrative keeps much of its mystery: it doesn’t hand everything to you on a silver platter, but it uses atmosphere, setting and imagery to tell most of the story; Clues about Low’s past or Alone’s role are hinted at rather than explained fully. Much like the previous games, the story retains themes of childhood fear, loneliness, and being tiny in a world of big horrors. While it doesn’t dramatically rewrite what the series is about, it does offer a fresh set of characters and locations.

Mixed gameplay

In terms of how you play, Little Nightmares III keeps the core style of its predecessors: a mix of platforming, puzzle-solving, and exploring side-scrolling 2.5D spaces. One of the game’s new features is co-op: you can play with someone online, or you can play solo and have your partner be controlled by AI. At the start of the game you can choose which character to play as, which is an important decision as the two characters have different tools: Low uses a bow and arrow, Alone uses a wrench. Those tools affect puzzles and how you can interact with the environment. This means you can experience a second playthrough with another character a bit differently.

Despite these additions, much of the gameplay feels very similar to what came before: boxes to move, hiding behind crates, avoiding monsters using stealth, pulling switches, and climbing obstacles. Unfortunately, local co-op is not available.

Little Nightmare’s atmosphere

On the visual side, Little Nightmares III carries forward the series’ signature identity: stylized characters, dark and surreal worlds, oversized threats, and a rich mood.

Many of the environments are visually striking; the desert-city Necropolis, the giant mechanical Candy Factory, the twisted carnival: they all use lighting, scale and design to build unease. While the technical polish appears improved, offering better lighting and more intricate textures, my Xbox Series X had difficulty keeping up with the frame rate.

I also feel the game’s visual style maybe remains a bit too faithful to the earlier games rather than bringing a fresh new art direction. Nevertheless, the atmosphere remains the game’s strength: being small, being hunted, feeling the oppressive scale of the world; all of these remain well executed.

How it stands out and where it falls short

When you compare Little Nightmares III to the first two games, it stands out in a few ways: co-op mode, dual-character tools, and fresh environments. But in many ways it remains very similar: same overall feel, same style of stealth, puzzle and platforming, with a very similar narrative tone.

I feel the new features aren’t pushed far enough to make the experience genuinely new. The co-op, for instance, is online only and the AI partner in solo mode sometimes doesn’t add much challenge or surprise. Some puzzles feel predictable and some areas feel less rich in exploration than in previous games. The game’s length feels on the short side as well, and its content isn’t as deep. If you’re a veteran of the series, you’ll definitely recognize the franchise’s identity you came to love, but you may also come across the elements you hoped would change and didn’t.

Conclusion

Little Nightmares III is a competent, well-crafted game that remains true to the series’ identity. It offers fresh characters, a couple of new twists and solid visuals. But at the same time it doesn’t redefine the formula in a big way, and frame drops were very apparent during my whole playthrough.

If you expected something completely new, you might feel under-whelmed because the game feels a lot of “more of the same”. It is a solid entry, but it doesn’t massively reinvent its gameplay. In conclusion: big nightmares, little innovation.

3.5 / 5

Reviewed on Xbox Series X.
Download code provided by publisher / PR agency.