Preceding any testing of the newly released name, Little Nightmares III was soon followed by a demo version dropped by Bandai Namco in conjunction with Supermassive. Now that the players have started caving into the Necropolis, things seem to be going haywire for some. An official tweet quickly emerged bearing the phrase: “You’re one step closer now, little ones. But no closer to escape,” setting the atmosphere. But from then on, things degenerated into chaos in the comment section, where users reported confusion and technical glitches across platforms.
Bandai Namco US also had to clarify the timings to users from the Americas: it drops at 9 PM Pacific or midnight Eastern Time. Okay, fine-so the first reports started rolling in about the demo not being released all over the world simultaneously. Some Switch players were getting “not compatible” errors, some others on the PlayStation Store could not even spot it, and Xbox users searched with no luck whatsoever. One user who goes by the name @BeardEatsMyFace even said, “no Xbox yet been looking can’t find plz for the kiddos,” and honestly, mood.
Then, PS Plus shenanigans?? Jonas (@JoniWeb99) was wondering if it was a PS Plus exclusive, which surely would be a weird choice for a demo, right? Then, we had Guido B. (@BruckerGuido) asking in German, “Demo nur für PS Plus stand da bei Playstation, ist das in Ordnung? Schränkt das nicht den Kundenkreis ein?” meaning, “Demo only for PS Plus it said on PlayStation, is that okay? Doesn’t that limit the customer base?” And he’s right. That would be one weird decision to make for accessibility.
Then we have the problems with performance: Chalk-One (@chalkfist) reported on PS5 Pro that Beauty mode had frame pacing issues and stuttered at 30 fps, while Performance mode was smooth. Then the Switch has its own share of bugs, apparently: according to @shiro_ovis, an audio bug causes the wind noise in the Necropolis to become loud and obnoxious. Lambypoo (@Zachypoouwu) however, laid down the real nightmare: a two-person invisible pull latch carried over through checkpoints, like, yeah, that’s the kind of bug you just don’t want to see in a puzzle codex.
Then again, hype is real. Kameron (@Kamiscool_) yelled, “I REALLY LIKED IT, CANT WAIT FOR THE FULL RELEASE!!!!!” with fire emojis. Natalie (@nataliedeakin) was downloading while also assisting others, so that’s kind of sweet. Technically, it’s out on all platforms, but it’s the uneven rollout that’s drawing nerves. Like @ImWatchingYouSi was wondering why it wasn’t on PS5 yet, then forgot: “Wait, what was I saying? Oh right, platform confusion.”
Meanwhile, the other players were wondering when it’d get out on Steam and GeForce Now. @hmgamesnsoftwa1 asked, “When demo will be available on Steam?” while @thedbdqueen was curious about GeForce Now support. A little off-sync here is typical for multi-platform drops but it’s definitely a downer for eager enthusiasts.
Pre-orders were already live through that tweet link, and the full game looks set to become another spooky atmospheric entry into the series. But this demo rollout just shows that even after promising all platforms, things can go wrong. These are some bigwater releases with Bandai Namco, yet the community is left to bring themselves through real-time troubleshooting.
And ultimately a little trial beforehand for one of the most eagerly anticipated sequels is a good thing. The Necropolis setting looks frighteningly beautiful, and the co-op elements are a nice spin. One can only hope the developers take note of the bug reports and the feedback on performance before the full launch. For now, if you can get the demo downloaded, plunge into the darkness-maybe bring a flashlight for the glitches.
Bright glory is choking destiny, but that was messy. The usual choking launch chaos, nothing new but a mention goes a long way. A ton of excitement from players, accompanied by a whole lot of frustration and equally much support and help administered by the community. Now, just imagine what the full game could bring later this year.
