Little Nightmares 3’s Co-op Must Outdo a Budding Tarsier Feature

Little Nightmares may not be a huge franchise IP with decades of lore and popularity behind it, and yet its esteemed graces as a unique stamp on the horror genre are loud and clear. Tarsier’s beautifully haunting duology depicts a lot of growth and experimentation between both games; Little Nightmares was as basic as it was eerie and its runtime was perfect for what it was, for instance, while Little Nightmares 2 debuted myriad new mechanics and is much more comprehensive without sacrificing any of the original’s dread as a result.

Strangely, Little Nightmares 3 now has Tarsier’s shoes to fill with Supermassive taking over as the developer. Little Nightmares 3 ostensibly doesn’t look any different from Tarsier’s work, which is hopefully a good omen if it’s indistinguishable. Likewise, it’ll be interesting to see how the franchise’s gameplay is adapted to an installment that can be played fully in co-op. It’s currently unknown how much of the sequel’s light combat mechanics will be reprised in Little Nightmares 3, but taking and excelling with them could make the third entry shine even brighter.

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Little Nightmares 3’s Co-op Puts a Limiter On What Made the IP Dreary

Little Nightmares 3 is set to introduce a new co-op mechanic to the series, and that has the real possibility of stripping away the series’ horror.

Little Nightmares 3’s Gameplay Looks Off to a Familiar Start

Little Nightmares 3 was announced last August and its trailer ended with a release window of 2024, meaning more news is sure to arrive any day now. An 18-minute gameplay showcase for Little Nightmares 3 was shared the following October, but while these pieces of footage were centered around the beloved, large-scale puzzle platforming that Little Nightmares is known for, it was the co-op gameplay that finally gave a short glimpse at what combat will look like. Alone has a wrench which is primarily used on mechanisms for puzzle-platforming but it is also evidently employed when taking out downed beetles that Low snipes out of the air with a bow and arrow.

Little Nightmares 2 Debuted Tense Survival Horror Combat

Little Nightmares 2 didn’t have combat in a traditional sense, but it’s incredibly familiar as combat in the realm of survival or psychological horror. There are various pipes and hammers that Mono can pick up and swing at ceramic children and mannequin hands, giving players a means to defend themselves in certain circumstances even if it’s a bit unwieldy. Therefore, ‘combat’ seems like a loose term to describe what the associated mechanics provide and all the while it’s a wonderful balance—anything more involved could’ve taken a turn toward an emphasis on Action and that’d be for the worst.

Little Nightmares 3 Can Push the Envelope with Co-op Combat

Little Nightmares 3 is already proving that its implementation of ‘combat’ is excellent because the tools for combatting enemies are primarily used in puzzle platforming and, like Little Nightmares 2, resist indulging in anything oriented around Action. Combat in co-op could be progressively tense as players defend each other from enemies and it’s brilliant to have each playable character assume a unique role, such as Low having a projectile and Alone having a melee tool. The challenge for Little Nightmares 3, then, is seeing if there’s anything worthwhile it could add to defensive survival horror combat without getting carried away.

Plus, with Low and Alone seemingly carrying these tools for most of the game, it’ll be a delicate balancing act for Supermassive to not make these mechanics overly repetitive. The same gimmicks and encounters can’t be thrown at players too many times and, even if Little Nightmares 3 is as short as Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares 2, its runtime needs to be packed with meaningful gameplay that hopefully iterates enough on what came before it while Supermassive honors the roots of the IP it’s inhabiting.

Little Nightmares 3

Expected to drop in 2024, Little Nightmares 3 is being developed by Supermassive games rather than Tarsier Studios, the team behind the previous two entries. A 2.5D puzzle-platformer with horror elements, the game will include two playable characters and co-op.

Released

2024-00-00

Genre(s)

Puzzle , Platformer , Horror