Little Nightmares 3 is set to shake up the series’ spooky formula by adding a second player to the mix.
Having gone hands-on with the horror game for more than two hours at a recent event organized by publisher Bandai Namco, I can confirm that this upcoming sequel feels like a proper evolution of Tarsier Studio’s popular pint-size horror duology, despite a change of developers.
While Tarsier is hard at work on the new IP Reanimal, the franchise is now helmed by Until Dawn creators Supermassive Games, and it’s clear that the team has made efforts to preserve what fans love while still pushing the envelope by introducing new features.
Inching forward
With its many brutal set pieces, Little Nightmares has always been about spectacle, so the ability to share the experience with a second player is a natural addition.
“I think with Little Nightmares 2, we already started to go in that direction by having an AI companion for you,” explains producer Coralie Feniello. “We were running surveys to players and the most requested feature was co-op, so we really wanted to bring that to Little Nightmares 3.”
She explains that this is one of the reasons why Supermassive was “the right fit” for the property, having often experimented with multiplayer horror in its The Dark Pictures Anthology games.
Still, developing another studio’s IP is always going to present its own unique challenges. “I've been working on Little Nightmares since Little Nightmares 2, and people at Bandai Namco have been working on it since the beginning,” she continues.
“It was really important for us to have lots of discussions with Supermassive Games to make sure that we collaborate in the best way. I think it's been working very well, and we've been talking a lot together in order to pinpoint what the license is."
In order to get it right, the team “had to have a very detailed look at everything in Little Nightmares 1 and 2.” Feniello highlights the game’s distinct animation style as one aspect of part of the series’ identity that was particularly hard to nail. “The animation almost has a stop motion feeling,” she begins.
“At one point, we were doing animations and saw that they were very quick. They had to turn that down to fit with the style. That's the same for everything, we had to project ourselves and to be able to understand the vision. I think they've done a great job at bringing it to the standards of Little Nightmares 1 and 2. It was definitely a challenge.”
The power of two
The core of Little Nightmares 3’s co-op mechanics stem from the design of its two tiny protagonists: Low and Alone. Both have unique abilities that allow them to interact with the environment in different ways. Low is armed with a makeshift bow, used to hit buttons or pop distant balloons, while Alone wields a heavy wrench that can smash through fragile barriers.
“You do need to have the special ability of each of them sometimes, and some of the time it's more a matter of who is where,” begins Feniello. “It’s asymmetrical gameplay, where one player is doing something and the other one is doing something else - we really didn't want to just have one player doing something and the other one just running around. Every complex puzzle, it will need to be two of you.”
The game also has combat, which was previously featured in the second game. It has a new co-op slant, however, with enemies that require both players working together to beat. I faced legions of little doll-like creatures with big heads that can be shot off by Low.
The bodies continue moving, though, only defeated when the downed head is smashed by Alone. It’s a surprisingly challenging formula that requires lots of careful coordination, but is extremely satisfying when you get it right.
As enjoyable as the co-op is, there’s still a full single-player mode if you’re carving an experience more in line with the first two games, where one of the characters is controlled by an AI. “We've been doing a lot of play tests just to make sure that people enjoy both [single player and co-op] and we've been tweaking a lot,” reveals Feniello.
“The balancing of it can be quite challenging in the end, because we don’t want the AI to help too much, but we still want it to be with you and to react well. So, I think it has been a matter of iteration and making sure that the AI feels good [to play with].”
Those experiencing Little Nightmares 3 solo will also be able to see some exclusive character animations that you can’t access in multiplayer.
Laugh at loud
The only aspect of the Little Nightmares formula that seems to suffer with a second player is its trademark “charming horror”.
I was howling with laughter at various points throughout my co-op session, whether the result of deliberately leading them into the path of enemies or watching both of us splat on the floor during the handful of platforming segments. I had a fantastic time, but it wasn’t exactly the most bone-chilling experience - especially in comparison to the previous games.
“Co-op does change [the atmosphere], but it depends on who you are playing with,” says Feniello. “We've seen some players being quite scared, bringing with them their partner.”
For those used to horror gaming, she argues that the single-player mode is more likely to deliver scares: “That's also why we wanted to bring the single player here as well, so that you will be able to experience both atmospheres depending on what you want and how you want to play it.”
Will all of this make Little Nightmares 3 the next big hit in a year where co-op games like Split Fiction have achieved astronomical popularity? I’ll be watching closely when it launches for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 10.
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