[Review] Little Nightmares II

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Game Informations : 
Developer: AYAX BELLIDO
Plataforms: Xbox One, PS4, Switch y PC
Initial release date:  FEBRUARY 23, 2021, At 3:32pm PDT

 

 

To begin with, I am one of those people who are not very resistant to the horror genre. I always go trembling and heartbroken before those works that are conceptualized in advance to scare people, and that incidentally, confront them with fears that have been unresolved along the way.

Therefore, I can say that Little Nightmares II, a game developed by Bandai Namco and available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC, is a title that I suffered from beginning to end, but that paradoxically I greatly enjoyed due to a narrative that keeps you captive, above all, to the feelings of horror that the user is experiencing and which are woven through a very well implemented gameplay.

And it is that Little Nightmares II is in my opinion, a work that has perfectly understood that shocks, blood and excessive violence are not necessary to create scenarios and narratives that cause shivers. All it takes is haunting atmospheres and a constant sense of vulnerability to experience the dread of living in a nightmare.

Childhood nightmares
Before continuing, it should be clarified that a server has not had the possibility to play the first installment of this saga. Little Nightmares II has been my first approach to the franchise, and without a doubt, it has become one of the video games that has made me the most tense in recent years. Here, we will play as a little boy named Monkey, who will try to make his way through a huge and dark world full of monsters represented by adults.

In this sense, Little Nightmares II opts for the use of the childhood nightmare to make us feel afraid: the characters from whom we must flee are a terrifying school teacher, a ruthless doctor, or a strange man with long arms and a lanky figure who comes out of the television with every intention of ending us.

Each one of them could well be a protagonist drawn from the deepest and darkest dreams of our childhood and, of course, they are contextualized in immense scenarios that make the sensation of terror grow, like an old and abandoned academy where students do not They will be your friends, or a doctor's office full of scary patients. All you want is to escape the place as soon as possible.

review little nightmares II bandai namco
Image: Bandai Namco

The nightmare becomes even deeper when feeling helpless accompanies you through each of the corners, because in order to avoid our adversaries and the frightening final bosses we will only have a couple of basic mechanics at our fingertips: run and hide. It is a childish nightmare with overwhelming spaces and perspectives, and with repulsive creatures that perhaps we have all feared at some point in our lives. I mean, who didn't have nightmares about their school teacher or the doctor who, dressed in strange gadgets, was about to check on you? The imagination and the unconscious sometimes follow very mysterious paths.

Run and don't look back

Little Nightmares II is a 2.5D platformer, so as usual in genre titles, the game mechanics will be based on exploration and puzzle solving. In that sense, at first glance all the levels of the game seem very similar, and as such they are played under the same dynamics, however, the developers have managed enough to print some elements that give the player certain variations.

review little nightmares II bandai namco
Image: Bandai Namco

In essence it is a chase game, but it would be unfair and simplistic to just reduce it to this as it would mean ignoring aspects that challenge the ingenuity of the players such as the different puzzles that will be presented to us, and in which we will have to show off our intuition and deduction to achieve progress without falling into the immense darkness through stairs, beams or ventilation ducts. In that sense, Little Nightmares II seeks to squeeze every last drop of creativity in each of its scenarios, achieving more than acceptable results in most of them if we take into account the basic purpose of the game.

Although the main dynamics are running and jumping through the different platforms until the level is exceeded, there is also a grip mechanic that we will use constantly throughout the game. We can execute this element individually or with the help of Six, partner and protagonist of the first video game, who will give us a hand when passing certain tests, completing certain puzzles or giving us some clues about the level when we are stuck. Also, we should add that protecting Six is basically the plot that drives much of the game's narrative.

During one facet of the game, a small flashlight will also be included in the character, which works to ward off certain dark entities that seek to attack you. The light will make these beings stop, in a dynamic that reminded me of Alan Wake. Also the televisions turned on will be part of the mechanics of the game in some levels, since they will allow you to transport yourself from one point to another, and you will have to find the most ingenious way to use them to advance.

On the other hand, aesthetics play a key role in enhancing the chill and terror that is inherent in the title, creating a sense of anguish and doubt in every step you take. Practically all the scenarios are distinguished by a grayish-blue tone with very little lighting, which makes shadow play a constant during each of the tours that we must do.

In that regard, we can also say that the art design is terrifying enough with each of the characters that we see on screen, and that particularly the final bosses have been conceptualized in a neat and terrifying way, therefore, for no time will it pass. for your head to face them, you will only want to run and not look back until you find a way out.

In the world of nightmares
Little Nightmares II is a game that takes advantage of open spaces, and there will be occasions when we can explore the back of the stage in search of a collectible (such as the different hats that the protagonist can use) or an Easter egg that is kept hidden Between shadows. The latter are not many, but at least they are enough to add an extra interest in the game.

Of course, it is an exploration delimited by the camera and by the walls of the stage itself, because at some point you will collide with an invisible wall or find a bottomless hole. However, this little freedom and concession in exploration makes Little Nightmares II's levels feel more like real places than simple lines of passage; and therefore, the video game universe feels more alive and immersive.

Puzzles also make the most of space, but in the opposite direction. In other words, if exploration makes scenarios appear larger, puzzles will often need to be solved in small spaces, which makes it much easier to search each corner to find that hidden key or secret lever we need. The result is that the levels and puzzles do not become frustrating, because you know that the solution is hidden close to you, and that it only takes a little patience and intuition to find it.

Where there will be frustration, regardless of whether they are large or small spaces, is in the combat system implemented for the game. If you ever have to struggle to get out of a difficult situation, prepare to feel desperation on great levels, because all the weapons you can find are too big for you. This results in a slow and totally predictable attack, as your little protagonist must drag the object with difficulty and lift it with great difficulty and then try to hit an enemy.

 

This combat system is really very frustrating, but I don't dare to pigeonhole it as a completely negative element, as I understand that it is an aspect that aims to boost the feeling of anxiety that is trying to convey within the game. In addition, fortunately there are few situations in which you must fight directly, in addition, you can always find an ingenious way to do it.

Where if I think a bit remains to be owed is in the audio design, as it is a section that had the mitigating factors to highlight more and better accompany the atmosphere and thick narrative of the game. The typical suspenseful melodies and the sound of a music box rumbling in the lonely nothingness are present, but not enough to make your skin crawl. Finally, to say that Little Nightmares II is a short game that simplifies each of its dynamics to make it feel fluid despite the inherent tension that exists in each of the levels, and in which it will take between 8 and 10 hours to finish it.

We can say that Little Nightmares II is a simple game that does most things well: it has a brilliant character design, creates an eerie atmosphere, and the puzzles are very entertaining. Perhaps it falters in elements such as the combat system, the monotony that can be felt in some of its levels and the sound section that could give more, however, we are talking about a very well executed horror game that takes us to the shadows to face our fears.

It is not a horror video game that seeks to make you scream or jump out of your seat, perhaps for many lapses it does not even have the goal of scaring you. Little Nightmares II only tries to take the idea of a bad dream to mix it with a clear and irrefutable idea: nobody likes to be chased by something bigger, nobody likes to feel helpless in the face of the immensity of our deepest nightmares.

Here is a video about the game