Little Nightmares suffered through a difficult development but when it launched the game was a smash hit. Offering a densely dark atmosphere and deadly world full of monstrous humanoid creatures and a story told mostly through the environment. The sequel seeks to recapture that lightning in a bottle and after experiencing the demo it seems the developers at Tarsier Studios did exactly that. Bringing back Six and newcomer Mono into a new world full of disturbing things.
The demo opens with little context, Mono is simply found sitting by a television set and moves forward. It isn't long before the player encounters the first sign that something isn't right, with a capture net full of corpses. The basic gameplay mechanics are highlighted in these first areas while also preparing the player for what's to come.
The controls remain simple, you can run, jump, and grab objects. Sometimes you'll need to interact with certain items to solve dangerous puzzles such as using a stick to trigger a bear trap. Like the previous game, violent deaths are still here.
Once you get to the first house all the previous traps and captured people make sense, this is the home of a hunter. When inside Mono encounters Six, captured and locked into a room. Six seems to have lost her powers from the first game and is untrustful of Mono. Given he used an ax to get into the room it makes sense but also those familiar with Little Nightmares know that Six isn't the best person to be around. Especially when she gets hungry.
Quickly the 2 do forge a bond and the game begins to show off some of the cooperative elements. Both Six and Mono need each other to move heavy objects, separately interact with certain things and boost each other to higher ledges. Six is mostly controlled via AI and you can call her or grip her hand to guide her manually. It's responsive and reminds me of Resident Evil 4 or Ico's cooperative system but here both Mono and Six are evenly skilled.
When reaching the attic and eventually leaving the house is where you encounter the hunter. Like the first encounter with The Janitor from the first game, this is incredibly tense and well designed. This threatening figure is skinning its captured animals but based on all the traps outside will leave humans to die in his traps. Once outside is where things go from 90 to 9000, with Six and Mono crashing out the door and running from the hunter as he attempts to gun them down.
Here Six takes control by guiding Mono into areas to block the hunter's shotgun blast and eventually evade his capture. What follows if Mono guiding Six through a dense grass field while evading the hunter's lamp. Both these situations showcase how both must rely on one another but also the dangers they will encounter. Not only providing aid in solving the puzzles provided but as emotional support.
It's more of what players love about Little Nightmares. The gloomy atmosphere, deadly monsters, and dark presentation. There are some technical issues such as the frame rate dropping and the demo froze on me once. Regardless, this demo has only made me more excited for 2021.
Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed
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| Platform(s): | Xbox One, PS4, Switch, PC |
| Publisher(s): | Bandai Namco |
| Developer(s): | Tarsier Studios |
| Genres: | Adventure |
| Themes: | Dark Fantasy |
| Release Date: | 2020 |
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