Image credit: PlayStation / Sony Interactive Entertainment promotional art.
Source: PlayStation
Summary
- Name of the game: Little Nightmares II
- Launch date: February 11, 2021
- Developer: Tarsier Studios
- Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC, Stadia
- Genre: Adventure, psychological horror, platforming, puzzles
- Context: Sequel to the acclaimed Little Nightmares (2017). This installment expands the dark mythology of this universe and delves deeper into its themes of control, childhood fear and media distortion.
History and narrative
In this little adventure we are now Monkey, a boy with a paper grocery bag who wakes up out of nowhere in a forest. In this same place we meet Six, the protagonist of the previous game, but without her typical yellow outfit that characterizes her; later we realize that it is her. Now the game feels more cooperative and we must work together to get out alive from a dark world distorted by a mysterious Tower Signal, where small nightmares are now much more terrifying.
The narrative maintains the same style, which is environmental and symbolic, that is, you must pay attention to your surroundings, since there are no dialogues, which also leaves many issues to the player's interpretation. The environmental elements and scenes are more than enough to understand what is happening; it is not very complicated to understand, but I do recommend that you pay attention to every detail of each place, as they expand the context and make it more terrifying.
Spoilers:
To better talk about the story, we should talk a little about the characters. Monkey has abilities where he can interact with the Signal, with televisions and hear things that Six cannot. Monkey is a representation of someone sensitive and vulnerable whose system manipulates him. Six is very different from the first game: she is colder, selfish and sometimes she is perceived as more violent, where in this game it seemed to me a representation of child abandonment and how this was corrupted, this because of the events of the first game and how here we see another facet of that same concept.
The world and the narrative are told by zones, where the first one is the forest, then the school, the hospital and the Pale City. The famous Signal Tower is like the core of all these zones, which consumes the fears and insecurities of the children to trap them. This tower is guarded by the Thin Man, who constantly chases us during the adventure. We see him as our main enemy; however, this is one of the most iconic moments of the game and one of the best narrative twists I've seen in a video game, and that is that this man is the future version of Monkey. That is, Thin Man is Monkey as an adult, where he finds himself trapped in a time loop: he chases his younger self to prevent the inevitable unsuccessfully all the time. It's a brutal, excellent ending, one of the best ever written about video games and their development. No one expected this twist. It's a horrible cyclical tragedy and nightmare for Monkey.
Six's betrayal is another key moment of the game. I didn't expect at all that, after having saved Six from his monstrous version, he dared to betray us. It's very much up to the player's interpretation as to why she does it: it could be because she knew he was the Slender Man, out of fear, or simply out of evil. For me, she's always been evil and used Monkey all this time to survive and, at the moment of truth, the biggest stab between child characters I've ever seen.
We know that in the end it is clear that this game is a chronological prequel to the first game. This game gives a message about childhood loss, betrayal, trauma and, most importantly, the control of society. Perhaps the story is not that impressive, but narratively it is spectacular and the development of both Monkey and Six makes you feel, even though they don't speak, that there is a sincere emotional connection. That's why the betrayal hits you so hard.
Gameplay
The game is a 2.5D adventure game where there is a bit more freedom than other games of its style; you can move to more places. It focuses on exploration, puzzle solving, stealth and chase sequences. The game constantly seeks to keep you tense and succeeds very well, to the point that anything that appears can scare you a little. And of course, just like the first one, here you feel even weaker and more vulnerable.
There are no mini-maps, radars or instructions; everything must be deduced by you based on the environment. If you are a player who is used to guides, you may have a harder time. There is something known as environmental puzzles, where you have to, for example, move boxes to reach certain points, work with Six to advance and give another use to the environment.
Now there's more combat, but it's still very limited, just enough to make us feel vulnerable. Now we have hammers, pipes and axes; the problem is that again the game falls into the error of having imprecise controls and you will fail not because of bad, but because the control of the mechanics is imprecise. Also, now we can defend ourselves, but it's better to just run away.
The game has a very marked stealth, mainly in areas such as the Mistress and the Doctor, which are key. You can hide under tables, beds and furniture, and the chases are pure adrenaline. They do have trial and error: at first they scare you, but then that thrill disappears if you try several times. I consider it a game with an accessible learning curve; anyone can play it, since its mechanics are simple and with few buttons. It is also enjoyable to play as a couple. All the mechanics and the environment are very intuitive. The most difficult thing you will see is the timing in moments of chase or combat.
I think it has limited replayability. Once you finish the game, you will hardly want to do anything else. It offers collectibles, secrets and re-understanding or re-interpreting the story, although with an explanatory video you save more time. The gameplay is fine, fun and well balanced. The only problem is its imprecise controls, which can be frustrating, though not enough to ruin your experience.
Graphics and visual design
The graphic quality is good, it complies quite well and, although the best thing is its narrative environment, graphically it surpasses its prequel. Something I love is the design, which has so much personality and already feels like a world with identity, one of those that when you see them you say: that bug must be from the Little Nightmares 2 saga.. They are great and very scary designs, where in this one they are scarier than in the previous one, since the first one was more visually unpleasant. Besides, their animations are quite well done.
Its artistic style remains dark and surreal, and mixes childish elements with horror; that is, it takes our typical nightmares we had as children and puts them on screen.
Sound and music
The soundtrack is simple. I feel that it doesn't reach the first one, but it is still quite good. There are many tense moments with music and melodies that make the areas darker. The sound effects are very well done; the bosses are not only visually scary, but hearing them in the areas and their reactions make your hair stand on end. Their footsteps, creaking, breathing, plus the moments in which you interact with the environment; for example, an iconic sound is those related to televisions.
Although it has no voice acting, the sounds that Mono and Six emit are sufficient to understand many ideas or feelings.
Difficulty and accessibility
In my experience, in general it is simple. It's very linear and it's not impossible not to know what to do to advance. Yes there is more trial and error, but it's not exhausting, and this mostly in chases; beyond that, I consider it an easy game. It has no difficulty options, so everything is balanced.
As for accessibility, it is basic for a game of its year. Although it is a smaller studio, perhaps it could be improved more in this section, if possible.
Additional content
The campaign can last between 5 and 7 hours. It is short, but enjoyable. With respect to replayability, it is short, since it's practically all about collectibles, secrets or seeing some details that you may not have noticed. The advantage is that, being short, it allows you to play it again without any problem, but beyond its story there is nothing else. It has no mini-games, secondary missions and it doesn't have any expansion like its prequel.
Technical Aspects
I played it on PS5 and it went pretty well. I found it to be stable in FPS, resolution and decent load times. Not the fastest, but not slow either. It improves a lot compared to its prequel. For lower generation consoles, it may feel slower.
Some bugs appeared, but they were minor problems that you forget at the time or hours after playing. So I consider that it is well optimized for all platforms, although some are better than others.
Value for money
Its original price was around 30 USD, which I think, for a launch game, is pretty good. Any price lower than this is worth it. I think it is one of the few games that offers a good quality vs. price ratio. I could even say that, for the quality of the game, they could have put it at 40 USD.
Trophies / Achievements
- Platinum obtained: No
- Percentage of trophies: 29%
- Estimated time: 6-8 hours
- Platinum difficulty: 2 out of 10. It has 35 trophies including the platinum and it's pretty much, beat the game, collectibles and simple trophy cleanup. For some reason, it didn't call to me so much wanting to get everything out of the game.
Conclusion
Little Nightmares II is short, intense and very well done. It's not perfect and its imprecise controls can be annoying, but never to the point of ruining the experience. The game knows how to make you uncomfortable, keep you tense and make you feel small and vulnerable all the time. The strongest thing is in its narrative. Without saying almost nothing, it manages to build a dark story that connects emotionally, and its final twist, along with Six's betrayal, is one of those moments that stick in your head. Visually it has a lot of personality and, although the music doesn't surpass the first one, it goes well with it.
It is a short game with little replayability, but for its price and the experience it offers, it is totally worth it. It is one of those games that you finish and you stay thinking for a while.
My final rating is:
4.2 / 5
