Now what kind of game would we consider this to be? Before I look it up I want to point out that this is the kind of game that I really enjoy because like many other games that kind of slot into the same category, they don't spell out to you what is going on as far as the story is concerned. I am reminded of epic titles such as Limbo and the awesome Inside which is in my opinion, one of the best games ever made.
Whatever this genre is called (which we will define shortly) the way it works is that there is little to no intro, and the story develops over time normally without a single word being spoken. The story, is largely up to the user to decide based on what they are shown and this can lead to some wild fan-fiction about what the game is truly about.
I enjoy this sort of thing and this is part of the reason why I was drawn to Little Nightmares 2. That and the fact that I loved the first installment.
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Just like the first one you play the role of a nameless, faceless, and rather androgynous little child-like thing and you are at the mercy of a rather unforgiving series of enemies and surroundings that put you at a definite disadvantage by virtue of being so smol.
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The enemies that stalk you are huge adult-like monstrosities that are very well designed and at least compared to you, they are huge even though they are just normal-sized adults as far as the world you occupy is concerned.
All things that you encounter are intentionally spooky and they cleverly incorporate platforming into the action with normal sorts of things such as books and shelving that serves as something you must climb in order to progress.
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All of the levels look like something that would happen in an actual nightmare and that is part of what makes this game so great. None of this is particularly difficult, but it can be quite frustrating in a way because the various sections have very small time windows as far as when you need to hit the button is concerned. The above picture of the beds being suspended from a ceiling is a section that if you do it just slightly wrong, you will fall to your death and then get reloaded back to a checkpoint that normally isn't too terribly far back.
But here is the part where I get a bit frustrated with the game. Despite the fact that this game is less graphically heavy than say, God of War Ragnarok, RDR2, or any of the usual 3D open world games, the load time for getting you back to a checkpoint and ready to have another go is too long.
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There are multiple sections that I have already encountered where there are lessor enemies that you have to smack with a stick or wrench or something like that and while this isn't "difficult" per se, especially after leaving some sort of parrying and dodge actual fighting game, the timing on your strikes must be precise: There is no forgiveness in this game for doing something slightly wrong. No worries other than the fact that the reload to your checkpoint takes entirely too long because of artistic decisions that the devs made about maintaining the ambiance.
This is fickle on my part, I know but when I fall to my death or fail to strike a little demon doll with the wrench at just the right point for the 3rd time, the 8 seconds or so that it takes for it to reload is friggin annoying and simply encourages me to quit.
While they are quite forgiving as far as how far back you have to go on most of the sections, there are certain instances that while really cool the first time you see them, that you feel as though this is just a time waste to force you to do it again and again just because you haven't figured out the exact timing on a hasty jump that you have to do right at the end.
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This section, for example, is horrifyingly beautiful the first time you encounter it, but after you have been forced to run that hallway for the 13th time it just starts to seem rather tedious.
In the end this is a wonderful little game that is exactly what I am looking for right now because I don't think I am prepared for a game that is going to use the entire controller right now. In this game you basically only use 3 buttons outside of specific situations and the game will notify you if you aren't even using the correct button rather than just have you flair around getting killed over and over again.
I think this is a great story game that doesn't really have a story that is spoon-fed to you. It is also included in most of the world's PS-Plus Extra catalog so the price of "free" is a welcome one.
What did you think of the Little Nightmares games? Let's talk it over!