Halloween could not come any sooner with all the ghouls and fears of people highlighted heavily during this month. You’ll see it come to life in some establishments, you’lill see parties thrown at the end of the year, and people will come in costumes. However, the true spirit of the celebration lies beyond just the costumes and the spooky music – the true source of all our fears.

Every fear starts from somewhere and is constantly repeated in your mind in many ways. BANDAI NAMCO saw this, and put together an entire series dedicated to navigating through one of those ways: nightmares. Since 2017, the Little Nightmares series sheds light on the horrors of the world, and how young protagonists have desperately tried to escape or navigate through them.

To further build the series, the next installment in Little Nightmares III supposedly goes down the rabbit hole further. New sets of characters, challenges, and ways to play are the name of the game now. Whether it’s just another riveting horror puzzle or something that explores a deeper plunge in the nightmare, that’s what we’re here for.

The same premise of terror in Nowhere

Much like the previous installments in the series, Little Nightmares III puts players in unique yet dastardly horrifying backdrops meant to instill fear. This time around, the whole game features an entirely different story from the first two games, with two new protagonists in Low and Alone to guide you through.

Gameplay mechanics didn’t stray away too far from the classics despite being handled by an entirely different team. The core of it still revolves around moving through open spaces, scaling through treacherous obstacles, and evading danger as much as possible. It still felt challenging on a lot of fronts, and I genuinely second-guessed a lot of my actions through each different stage.

What helps out immensely is that every stage is built for exploration given how wide every space is. Additionally, the game gives you just the right amount of playtime to just take in the whole environment as you progress through them, uncovering information and secrets about the nightmares you’re under. While there were areas that were pretty cramped, these mostly just served as pathways or transitions into the next part of the stages so you don’t miss out on much.

Continuously mind-bending

The hallmark of the Little Nightmares series is solving multiple puzzles to progress through every nightmare-inducing area, and Little Nightmares III has no shortage of it. Earlier on, getting through most of them was straightforward in terms of interactions and approach. As you progress through deeper and more dangerous obstacles, the game gives you some hints on what actions to take to find the answers for yourself. I’ll admit that some of them were headscratchers initially, but it really helps to just explore the environment with trial and error.

Stealth also plays an incredible role in getting through some of the stages, especially when faced with the larger than life dangers. As with the previous games, your main protagonists are children who could barely fight – as such, hiding is logical and crucial. The game doesn’t make it too difficult to find hiding spots, but maneuvering around the larger dangers can be nerve-wracking. 

I am telling you right now that you will fail multiple times trying to get through all of these puzzles, especially when you’re doing this on your own. Luckily, there is a way for you to finally play this game with someone else if you don’t prefer to take on horror games by yourself.

Truly never alone

For the first time in the series, players can engage in the whole story progression through online co-op! This is a huge step-up directly from Little Nightmares II, in which you could actually play with someone else instead of just calling on an NPC whenever needed. Also, this was by design considering that both Low and Alone specialize in particular actions that will help you navigate through the stages better.

However, there are caveats to playing the whole game through online co-op. First is basically, you’re stuck playing in co-op mode for the whole duration of the playthrough and ONLY one friend at a time. If you want to play with a different friend, you’ll need a separate save file for it. The same applies if at any point you just wanted to deal with the game on your own.

Second is you could only play as the character you chose with no chance of swapping later on. This effectively means that if you want to try your hand on both Low and Alone, you’ll need separate save files for it with your friend. Honestly, this does feel like a ton of loops to jump through, but it would make the experience memorable in more ways than one!

Is this a match made in horror?

In essence, Little Nightmares III is the kind of puzzle-solving horror game that doesn’t stray too far from its franchise’s greatest hits. It blends together elements that made the first two games truly memorable, while expanding the world even further to maximize the mechanics better. Even with a different team working on it, BANDAI NAMCO pieced together the game quite nicely while giving it, ironically, new life.

Playing this game in co-op served more as a quality of life upgrade for the franchise coming from how the first two games played out. You can get through the game on your own, but nothing beats a good co-op horror game to test friendships the right way. The only thing though is that it’s a literal ride or die situation when you partner up with someone.

Overall, the game truly shines in its faithfulness to what made it great to play: the mind-bending puzzles and equally horrific backdrops. It’s simple, straight to the point, and best enjoyed at the wee hours of the day.