Little Nightmares 3 review – too many familiar frustrations, but still a compelling ride

There’s a moment around Little Nightmares 3’s midpoint when, following a tepid first half so safe it often feels like a tribute act, new series developer Supermassive finally seems to hit its stride. Slowly the hum of a mysterious subterranean void gives way to rain-lashed walkways as our diminutive protagonists brave the exterior of some vast, heaving machine. Then the reveal of the grand Carnevale, its sprawl of big top tents and twinkling lights, its parade of grotesque fairground thrill seekers, all perfectly framed. Little Nightmares 3’s often slavish adherence to the past means it’s burdened with far too much frustrating legacy faff, but even so, it’s hard not to get lost in the spectacle of it all.

Little Nightmares 3 review

• Developer: Supermassive Games
• Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Platform: Played on PC
• Availability: Out 10th October on PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2, and PC

Original developer Tarsier waved goodbye to its delightfully macabre horror series with 2021’s Little Nightmares 2, passing the torch to Until Dawn studio Supermassive Games. That changing of the guard might have seemed like the ideal opportunity to reassess a series already stuck in some bad habits, but, for better or worse, Supermassive sticks mostly to the script, resolutely delivering more of the same. Which, to a degree, is fine. Eight years on, there’s still nothing else quite like Little Nightmares; it might have a touch of Tim Burton in its DNA and owe a debt to developer Playdead’s acclaimed oeuvre, but its unique ambience – a mix of claustrophobic menace and grim wonder that feels like it tumbled straight out of a child’s feverish mind – is still very much its own.

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And Supermassive captures that essence keenly as new protagonists Low and Alone brave a series of vividly imagined new regions of The Nowhere, in a story largely distinct from the dovetailing narratives of previous games. The duo themselves are a wonderful addition to Little Nightmares’ pantheon of fragile moppets; the spindly limbed Low, with his bow and arrow, exudes a nervous determination while Alone, with her trusty wrench, is a more stolidly confident companion. Their tender bond is conveyed near wordlessly through some gorgeously observed animation detail, such as the way Alone always offers a hand after entering an air vent to help Low through. And the bleak worlds they encounter are meticulously realised too, strikingly built around contrasts of light and shadow.