When “Little Nightmares II” launched in 2021, we praised its eerie atmosphere and clever puzzles. Now, two years after the release of the last main entry, fans of the first two major games have something new to get excited about.
Bandai Namco has announced that “Until Dawn” developer Supermassive Games has developed a new entry in the “Little Nightmares” universe. Plus, we’ve got our first look at “Little Nightmares III.”
“Little Nightmares III” introduces players to the story of Lou and Alone, two children trapped in “The Spiral”, a series of spooky locations, and must work together to escape danger lurking in shadowy shapes. need to work in “Little Nightmares III” can also be played in single-player mode with a CPU-controlled partner, but you can also play with a friend in online co-op.
The gameplay takes place in the demo Necropolis, a desolate desert creature-land with limited visibility. According to producer Coralie Faniello, it has been described as “a city with eternal energy and a city of certain death”.
The lack of music and the eerie sounds present it as a void of hope and a vibrant life. When Lou and Hope reach a tall structure on a long staircase, they enter what appears to be a tomb of sorts. Each character has a different weapon with a specific use;
Alone has a wrench, while Lou has a bow. These weapons can be used in a variety of ways to open up new routes.
Featuring cooperative play as the core gameplay, Lo and Alone have to work together to solve various puzzles. In one instance, Alon has to turn a mechanism to raise a bridge while Lou runs across and shoots arrows at the bridge’s counterweights to lock the bridge’s heavy standards in place with his bow.
Both characters can call out to each other and gesture towards each other, eliminating the need for voice chat in such cooperative play.
As the two move on, they meet a crow who has a key. Lo shoots the key out of the crow’s mouth with his bow, and they then proceed to the next part of the necropolis. As they move in, a giant arm extends across a room.
It appears to be a statue at first, but then comes to life and is revealed to be attached to a giant creature. The name of this creature is “Monster Baby”, one of the inhabitants of “Little Nightmares III”. The two characters go through various tense scenarios while avoiding the monster baby.
The gameplay demo then moves to the murky catacombs of the “Necropolis”, a desolate Rann biome. Monster Baby is still attacking in walls and grappling through walls. Lo and Alone head out to the city again, solving the riddles of the giant scarabs and rising to the atmosphere in the body’s realm in the sand.
The two continue to try to avoid the monster baby in the upper reaches of the city, but at the end of the demo, it looks like their efforts are doomed to failure, as the gameplay cuts to a giant hand poised to grab them.
We also heard about “The Sounds of Nightmare\s,” a six-part podcast series exploring the “Little Nightmares universe,” with the first two episodes coming soon. “Little Nightmares 3” will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC in 2024.