Little Nightmares was a horror game that left me a little disappointed. Despite the superbly creepy graphics I soon came to be frustrated by the controls, and the story didn't feel like it went anywhere that interesting. The game's three DLC packs were a mixed bag, with only one of them, The Residence, being a better experience than the base game. I believe Little Nightmares II originally retailed with a price of £35 here in the UK. Knowing that the first game was only around four hours long, I had no intention of getting this sequel unless it was heavily discounted. Well, that time has come, and seeing it for under £9 I decided to give it a go and hope against hope that it was a better game this time around. The story elements I do speak of is my own interpretation, with no dialogue it is all up to the player to decipher.
You play as a small boy who exists in a world built for giants. Starting in a forest he begins his adventure, to seek out the reason why all his life he has had recurring dreams of a door marked with an eye symbol at the end of a long corridor. His journey takes him to the house of a giant poacher, and it is while exploring this place that he rescues a girl of similar size to him. The pair flee the shotgun toting giant and their travels eventually take them to a gigantic city of monstrous proportions, a place that the boy eventually learns the meaning of his dreams of the door.
With this sequel I finally understand the title of the game. While the first one was horror, it didn't feel like this one did atmosphere wise. This feels like being in a living nightmare, every location oozes with menace. This had more of a feel to Inside in that for the majority of the game you are journeying from left to right, each new location is a point on your onwards journey. The woods and poacher's cabin is a great introduction to the game, it is here that you learn the controls, something that the game often leaves you to discover for yourself, rather than providing any button prompts. The majority of the game takes place in the city, with rain perpetually pouring down. It is split into different areas in which there usually roams an area antagonist. Much like the first game, you encounter a variety of horrific boss enemies who patrol areas, and chase you down and kill you should they spot you. The first of these is the poacher, whose constant shotgun blasts require you to manoeuvre yourself behind cover. Later you encounter an extremely freaky looking teacher in a school, her neck is able to stretch seemingly infinitely, leading to some very crazy moments, helped by the crazed expression on her face. In the second half of the game you encounter the most scary of the boss characters, a 'Slender Man' looking thin figure who silently walks constantly towards you, appearing everywhere you turn, that was a highlight in terms of the horror.
The meat of the game has you exploring the worlds alongside an A.I companion, something that is different to the solitude of the first game. This companion gives you a boost to reach platforms you otherwise wouldn't be able to reach, catches you when you jump across gaps, and frequently helps you with where to go. I really enjoyed having a side character with me, and there was only one moment in the game where the A.I broke down and I had to restart a section. At several points this girl is kidnapped, changing up the feel of the game by having you go solo. Outside of finding fuses and keys to open doors, there are also more combat encounters this time around. In the school you are constantly finding yourself up against creepy children, whose hollow heads appear to be made out of china, the hospital is even more disturbing, with giant mannequins coming to life whenever they are in the dark, with your character needing to keep a torch light on them to freeze them in place. These combat moments were a lot of fun, I loved how the weapons you use are giant sized ones, and so you character has to drag them around using two hands. Puzzles remain fresh throughout, and get changed up in different chapters, there was one section towards the end that required you to teleport via TVs that I found to be quite clever and cool to do.
I found the gameplay far better than the first game, there were only a handful of times where I got frustrated with not knowing how to progress, and only a few times where the 3D world confused me with where my character was in it in relation to where I needed them to go. The story, as simple as it at first appears, was a step-up from before, though almost straight away I guessed the twist that this sequel was going for, way before it was revealed around halfway into the game. Like the first game there are plenty of moments where your sole objective is to outrun whichever terror happens to be chasing you. Most of these were very thrilling, and never got boring, a couple became dull by repetition of me having to try them over and over. The game wasn't super hard, but I did die many many times. I would say the final chapter was also the weakest. If this was a film it would be described as falling straight into arthouse territory. The game world, which up to that point had been logical, turns into a weird obtuse place where things didn't make much sense, leading to some story reveals that took place far too slowly for my liking.
Having low expectations I was pretty impressed with Little Nightmares II. I thought the game world was much better designed, with the large scope really creating a horrific atmosphere, despite the exaggerated art style. This felt like being inside a David Firth animation, an uncomfortable feeling that danger was constantly all around me, something that I really loved, and elevated this above the first game, making for an effective and memorable horror.
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