Little Nightmares III

A disappointing follow-up that fails to capture the magic of the first two

Having played Little Nightmares, Little Nightmares II, and even Re:Animal from Tarsier Studios, I was really eager to see if Supermassive Games could continue the high-quality standard the series is known for. Unfortunately, to say I was disappointed would be putting it mildly.

They clearly tried hard to replicate the creepy atmosphere and tension of the first two games, but the result feels soulless and often boring. Let me be clear — if you played this in complete isolation with no knowledge of the previous entries, you’d probably find it decent at a surface level. For longtime fans, however, it misses the mark significantly.

Atmosphere & Presentation

The atmosphere is still great. The team stuck closely to the signature creepy formula, and in that regard it mostly delivers — the visuals and sound design create an unsettling world that looks the part.

However, the “bosses” feel peculiar, uninspired, and over-the-top for the sake of being creepy. Many of them lack meaningful reason or buildup, coming across more as shock attempts than well-crafted encounters.

Gameplay & Frustrations

This is where the game really struggles. Playing solo with an AI-controlled partner quickly becomes extremely frustrating. The companion AI is unreliable — they’ll stand in harm’s way during boss battles no matter how much you shout at the screen. The final boss fight in particular nearly made me quit and uninstall the game, but sheer determination pushed me through.

Six months after release, these basic AI issues remain unfixed, which is unacceptable and makes large portions of the gameplay feel borderline unplayable at times.

Another major issue is the darkness. Even after adjusting brightness settings, many sections are simply too dark, forcing you to walk forward and hope for the best. This cheap frustration adds nothing to the tension and only creates annoyance.

Weapon swinging feels unnatural, and the camera perspective creates constant depth perception problems — you’ll frequently miss attacks that look like they should connect.

On the positive side, the Carnevale chapter stands out as a real highlight. The puzzles there are fun, the chase sequence is exciting, and the ending of that section feels properly tense and rewarding. Sadly, the rest of the game feels underwhelming by comparison.

Puzzles & Challenge

The puzzles are consistently simple and never really challenge you the way the first two games did. I rarely felt smart or satisfied when solving them — they mostly felt like going through the motions.

Final Dad Verdict

Little Nightmares III has strong atmosphere and visuals, but the frustrating AI companion, overly dark sections, awkward combat, and lack of meaningful challenge make it a noticeable step down from the series’ previous entries.

If you’re a big fan of the first two games, temper your expectations heavily. It’s not offensive or broken beyond repair, but it lacks the soul, precision, and cleverness that made the originals so special.

If you’re completely new to the series and just want a creepy horror-platformer, you might enjoy it more on a surface level. For everyone else, it’s a hard recommend.

Overall Dad Score: 6/10