Little Nightmares III Review – Slipping Into the Shadows

Little Nightmares III on the PS5

Little Nightmares has always thrived on dread. It is the quiet kind, the type that settles in the spaces between footsteps and flickering lights, the kind that invites the player to lean closer even as the world warns them to run.

With Little Nightmares III, Supermassive Games inherits a series defined by its oppressive atmosphere and unsettling imagery, offering a journey through a new region of Nowhere known as the Spiral. On the surface, everything looks as it should. The shadows twitch, the creatures loom, and the architecture bends in ways the human eye struggles to trust.

Yet despite these striking first impressions, the game never quite escapes its own darkness, not because it is frightening, but because it feels unfinished. After completing the adventure twice, both solo and in co-op, it becomes clear that the Spiral is a world rich in imagination but thin in execution, a collection of haunting ideas that never find the momentum or emotional weight to carry the series forward.

A Spiral That Invites You In But Never Lets You Settle

Supermassive’s interpretation of Nowhere remains visually arresting in Little Nightmares III. The Spiral is a decaying, unpredictable expanse where the laws of physics and sanity feel negotiable. As Low and Alone, two new protagonists navigating this broken realm, you drift through spaces that are equal parts mesmerising and hostile.

Some locations linger in the mind long after leaving them. The Necropolis, a desert city of crumbling stone and suffocating silence, is stalked by a monstrous doll baby whose tantrums topple buildings like toys. A sickly sweet candy factory is ruled by a skittering spider woman whose silhouette alone captures the spirit of Little Nightmares at its best.

The Carnivale churns with tortured residents and gaudy lights, watched over by a ringmaster whose puppet hand appears more sentient than he is. Even the oppressive institute, home to a snake-limbed behemoth, has flashes of brilliance in its set dressing and creature movement.

These places deserved more time. They deserved breathing space. Every chapter in Little Nightmares III is dense with ideas, but each fades almost as quickly as it appears, as if the Spiral cannot hold still long enough to let its horrors fully bloom. It is a shame, because the art direction remains one of the few elements that consistently shines.

A Gorgeous Framework Undone by Rushed Pacing

The deeper issue with Little Nightmares III lies not in its imagination but in its pacing. Previous entries felt cohesive, with the Maw and Pale City acting as contiguous nightmares that evolved from room to room. The Spiral, by contrast, feels like four unrelated short stories stitched together, each fascinating in concept but disconnected in execution.

Chapters one and two end far too quickly. They introduce striking enemies, set up eerie environments, then shuttle the player onward before tension can properly settle. The repetition becomes noticeable: wait for the creature to complete its animation, creep to the next safe point, solve a simple puzzle, then sprint through a chase sequence. These loops begin to feel mechanical, draining the sense of dread that once defined the series.

Chapter three stands out as the rare moment when the game’s ideas finally breathe. Its puzzles are layered, its set pieces escalate, and its sense of place sharpens. Unfortunately, chapter four follows with a twist that arrives with little emotional grounding, then reappears again at the end without enough narrative context to make it satisfying. Instead of a chilling reveal, it leaves an aftertaste of confusion and missed potential, much like the rest of Little Nightmares III.

The series thrives when it unsettles through silence, implication and unease. This entry, however, feels like it rushes through its best ideas to reach an ending it has not earned.

Co-op That Promised More Than It Delivered

Co-op should have been the bold evolution of Little Nightmares III. It is the feature that defined the marketing, the change that promised new dynamics in puzzle-solving, traversal, and emotional tension. In practice, it never evolves beyond the basics.

Most interactions boil down to one player holding a switch, boosting the other to a platform, or using one character’s signature tool to progress. Low’s bow and Alone’s wrench are conceptually interesting, but the game rarely challenges players to think creatively with them. Instead, puzzles become linear routines, designed to be functional rather than memorable.

Co-op play also softens the emotional temperature. Little Nightmares has traditionally derived its fear from isolation. Sharing a space with another player, whether controlled by a friend or an AI partner, reduces that vulnerability. The game never compensates for this shift. It does not build tension through teamwork or communication, nor does it explore the psychological impact of relying on another person in a relentlessly hostile world.

The mode does not break the game, but it does not elevate it either. Like many of the game’s ideas, it feels like an early sketch that needed more time to grow.

A Fractured Nightmare With Fleeting Brilliance

Little Nightmares III is by no means a failure. It is visually stunning, unsettling in bursts and filled with glimpses of the series’ signature imagination. Supermassive has proven it can conjure worlds worth exploring, but the studio has yet to master the slow-burning horror and measured pacing that defined the franchise.

The Spiral is beautiful, but it is also disjointed. Its creatures are memorable, but the encounters with them are fleeting. The puzzles function, but rarely engage. Co op exists, but does not transform the experience in any meaningful way. The result is a sequel that feels inspired but incomplete, a collection of compelling nightmares that never coalesce into a cohesive dream.

Little Nightmares III may still be worth experiencing for long-time fans who crave new horrors to explore, but it lacks the lasting impact of its predecessors. It is a journey filled with striking imagery and clever moments, yet ultimately defined by its hesitation to commit to any one idea long enough to make it resonate.

Little Nightmares III is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.