Little Nightmares III

I really love this game

I've got a lot of feelings about the game, but the long and the short of it is that it's just alright. It's fine, as far as the base game goes. There's a good few positives! They nailed the Little Nightmares visual style, the game has good character designs, I like a good bit of the soundtrack, and I do like the plot for what it is, especially if you've listened to The Sounds of Nightmares. I have much more criticism to give this game though, which comes from a place of love and passion. This game suffers the most when it comes to level design. A lot of rooms don't have many interactable elements, and/or are just empty walkways. The first two games, most every room has you doing something, whether that's just dragging a box to reach a handle, or as involved as the shopping cart puzzle from the second game. Since Low and Alone have tools, they don't need to interact with the world as much as the first two games. Not as much shelf climbing, balancing on rafters, or using a lot of the space provided. It doesn't feel as organic. I can excuse the last chapter of the game a little more for vibes and lore, but the game isn't as interactive overall. And I really wish they kept Chapter 1's mechanic for the whole game. This goes for enemy encounters, too. If you're spotted, you have no chance of escape whatsoever; you are guaranteed to get caught the moment an enemy is alerted. A lot of situations just call for you to sit and wait as opposed to dodging through an enemy's patrol route. Way less interactive. And those are just for the enemies that do actually go for you. There's quite a few instances in the game where enemies just don't care about you. It feels like everyone should be out to get you, but an entire genre of enemy just doesn't really care for you unless you go out of your way to bother them. The other glaring issue is the need to listen to The Sounds of Nightmares to fully grasp the plot. I think it's really cool that the podcast ties into the story, but it shouldn't be REQUIRED for the story to have the full impact. You can *sort of* get what's happening, but without the podcast, you are going to miss a good amount of plot, especially in the latter half of the game. The storytelling device they use to teach you about one of the character's is cool, but feels underutilized, since it appears in the first chapter, and then the next time at the interlude between the third and final chapter of the game. They absolutely should have added at least another one of that. As far as more minor unimportant nitpicks go, there aren't as gruesome deaths as previous games, and there's no ragdolling for deaths anymore. Cosmetics aren't earnable in-game anymore and are all separate purchases. I'm not a fan of announcing expansion passes prior to a game's launch, but REANIMAL also did that, so Tarsier isn't immune to that criticism too. $40 for the base game is a bit much, though, for both. THAT BEING SAID. This game is fun. It isn't as good as all that came before it, but there is enough there that playing with a friend is an enjoyable experience. Playing solo is just okay, but playing with a friend makes a world of difference. I am glad the game exists. There are good ideas and good bits in the game, even if a good amount of it doesn't really hit. I'd rather this game exist than not exist. It may not be as good as what came before, but at the end of the day, as far as a new studio taking over for Tarsier, they did an alright job at picking up where they left off. What remains to be seen is how well they do with Secrets of The Spiral. Give the game a shot, especially if you can play it for free through a friend.