LittleBigPlanet 3 stands out as a creative platformer adventure game that blends exploration, puzzle-solving, and user-generated content on the PS5. Released originally for earlier PlayStation consoles and playable through backward compatibility, it follows Sackboy and his companions on a journey through the imaginative world of Bunkum. With a focus on cooperation and invention, the game encourages tackling challenges using unique character abilities while offering tools to build custom experiences.
Gameplay
In LittleBigPlanet 3, the core experience revolves around navigating 2.5D levels filled with platforms, obstacles, and interactive elements. You control Sackboy, who can jump, grab objects, and interact with the environment to progress. The addition of new characters expands this foundation: OddSock moves swiftly and wall-jumps, Swoop flies and carries items, and Toggle shifts between a heavy form for breaking barriers and a light form for speed and fitting into tight spaces. These abilities integrate into puzzle design, requiring switches between characters to overcome hurdles like high walls or distant gaps.
Cooperation plays a key role, especially in multiplayer sessions where up to four people can join locally. The game emphasizes physics-based interactions, such as swinging from hooks or manipulating gadgets, all within vibrant, handcrafted worlds. Creation tools allow for designing levels with expanded layers, now up to 16, providing more depth for building complex structures and mechanisms.
Game Modes
The main story mode takes you through a narrative adventure across Bunkum, solving puzzles and collecting items in levels that highlight each character's strengths. This mode supports solo play or local co-op, with challenges that adapt to the number of participants.
Create mode gives access to a suite of tools for building custom levels, including drawing shapes via the controller's touch pad and adding sounds. Share mode, while impacted by server changes, lets you explore millions of community-created levels downloaded previously, though new online sharing is no longer available following the 2024 server shutdown.
Characters and Abilities
Sackboy returns as the versatile protagonist, capable of basic platforming actions like jumping and grabbing. His new allies bring distinct mechanics: OddSock excels in agility for bounding over terrain, Swoop handles aerial navigation for reaching high areas, and Toggle's size-shifting allows for strength-based tasks or nimble maneuvers. These characters work in tandem during levels, often requiring teamwork to activate switches or transport objects.
Is It Worth Playing?
LittleBigPlanet 3 holds appeal for those who enjoy inventive platformers with a creative twist, particularly if you value local multiplayer and level design. It received generally positive reviews for its visuals, create mode, and the fresh gameplay from new characters, though some noted bugs and less engaging co-op elements. With servers shut down since 2024, online features like fresh community content and multiplayer are unavailable, limiting it to offline play on PS5. If you seek a relaxed, family-friendly title with strong emphasis on creation and exploration, it remains a solid choice, especially for revisiting the story or building personal levels.
