Game review: Little Nightmares III (PS5)

I've played a lot of horror games in my life, such as Until Dawn, Silent Hill f, and several Resident Evil games. While I enjoyed a lot of these games, I wasn't usually scared when I was playing them. 

The one game that truly horrified me was the first Little Nightmares in 2017. It wasn't because of its gore or violence; I was mostly disgusted by its ugly character design. No other game has disturbed me ever since. 

Unfortunately (or luckily), I did not play Little Nightmares II because I did not get a review copy for it. I did, however, get a chance to play Little Nightmares III, which is out now for modern gaming platforms. Is this third game as disturbing as the first?

Before you begin playing the game, you are given a choice to play as two different characters. The first character is called 'Alone', and she is a girl wearing a green jumpsuit. The only weapon that she can wield is a wrench, which she stores on her back. 

The other character you can play as is a young boy with a raven mask called 'Low'. He is armed with a bow and arrow, and this will come in handy during their journey. 

You can play the game solo, with the AI controlling the other character. Alternatively, you can play the game online with two human players controlling the characters instead. 

The first major flaw that this game has is that there is no couch/offline co-op mode whatsoever! I wanted to play this game with my brother, but all I was presented with was an ad for PlayStation Plus. Do not buy this game if you have family or friends around and want to play this game with them. 

While Little Nightmares III does not have any dialogue, you can somewhat tell what the story is about by the actions of the main characters. For some reason in this disturbing universe, Low and Alone are as small as rats. As for everyone else, they are huge giants who are out to kill our heroes. 

I won't spoil all of the enemies you face in the game, but I will talk about the first two villains. In the first level, Low and Alone have to face off against a giant mechanical baby. As for the second level, they have to escape an ugly spider-lady!

Much like the first Little Nightmares, the character design is grotesque, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Not to mention, all the levels take place in the dark, and every stage is disturbing to look at. Don't expect to see any levels based on a sunny beach in this game. 

In terms of gameplay and game mechanics, Little Nightmares III is easy to learn. Even though this game is 3D, it essentially has 2D gaming mechanics because most of the time, you are travelling from left to right. You don't need to backtrack or explore too much because most of the levels in this game are very linear. 

As for the characters, they don't have many moves you have to learn either. You press X to jump, Circle to equip their weapon, R2 to grab objects and ledges, R3 to equip an umbrella to float, L1 to crouch, and Triangle to call your AI partner if playing solo. 

Most of the objectives are simple because you either need to escape the giant enemies or use stealth to make sure you're not being seen. Sometimes, you may see a locked door and need to find a key or lightbulb to progress any further inside a level. 

There are some combat sequences, although they happen too few and far between. When they do happen, Low uses his bow and arrow to decapitate enemies, while Alone uses her wrench to crush their heads. Low can also use his bow and arrow to shoot ropes down, while the wrench can be used to break down walls. 

Little Nightmares III has simplistic gameplay, but sadly, the whole experience might be too short for some gamers. Most people should be able to finish this game in around five or six hours because there are only four levels. Thankfully, the game does have a cheaper price costing $74.99 NZD in New Zealand. 

The other thing I hated about this game is how inconsistent your AI partner can be. Sometimes they can be helpful, but other times they can be utterly useless. I remember I wanted my partner to help me carry a lightbulb, but they did nothing!

While Little Nightmares III has some fun platforming gameplay, the game is short, the AI sucks, and the lack of couch/offline co-op gameplay is very disappointing. I only recommend you check this game out if it's part of a huge sale. 

Verdict: 6.5/10