After checking out the first two We Were Here games, I was worried I was getting to be a broken record. While there was absolutely an element of challenge to it for co-op play, which I appreciated as being tougher than the norm in the space, there also tended to be issues with areas being too dark, and the performance on the OG Switch in handheld mode (one likely way people could play the game together) was simply too jittery to be very enjoyable.

Thankfully, it seems that when the team behind the franchise approached this third game, they really put the pieces together to get it further along the path to working well. The first thing that is most noticeable is that the overly-dark areas where it could be a struggle to make out details at times are gone. The new game engine has a different overall look, is brighter, and on a general level seems to perform better overall as well… so it’s a win in pretty much every category in that area. It still clearly does better on the Switch 2 in terms of smoothness, but it’s nice that it is no longer an impediment.

That leaves the gameplay, which remains as brutally tough as before, but I think the team made some good decisions here to try to do a better job of easing players in, at least a little bit. Don’t mistake that for me saying the game’s puzzles are any easier, as they absolutely aren’t… with even the opening area presenting some leaps of faith and challenges to be sure. The good thing though is that you at least start out in the same space, able to see each other, and that temporarily eases up on the problem of needing to rely 100% on verbally coordinating your efforts. Don’t worry, it doesn’t take too long before you’re back in that space again, it’s just nice to get at least a little grounding together first.

As before, the best way to describe the game is as a 2-person escape room, except most of the time you won’t be in the same space working together directly as much as needing to communicate and brainstorm about everything you see… and this is a game where no detail is necessarily insignificant. Don’t be surprised if you simply end up wandering around a bit periodically, partially out of frustration, but also in order to look for anything you’ve missed, and that can be visual, but auditory clues that only happen in specific spaces also occur so you’ll really need to be thorough. While the likes of Split Fiction and other co-op puzzlers are more approachable, there is a place for one that really pushes your limits. If that’s what you and a friend are happening to look for, this will deliver it for sure.