Like most of you, my backlog is an ever-expanding list of regret but some of those regrets weigh heavier on the soul than others. Little Nightmares II was one of such weightier regrets given how much I enjoyed the first entry in the series but I finally got round to playing the sequel to the 2.5D side-scrolling horror adventure and it made me fall in love with the franchise again, despite some familiar teething issues.
Like the first game, Little Nightmares II sees you control a small, forlorn, childlike figure as they navigate through a foreboding and hostile world full of unnerving and grotesque nasties. Where Little Nightmares II differs from the first game is that you’re accompanied by a second non-playable character who you soon learn is the protagonist of the first game, Six. Having Six as a companion is enough of a change to make Little Nightmares II feel distinct from the first game but it doesn’t make the experience feel any less isolating and daunting, especially as there are often sections of the game where you’re separated from Six and are forced to proceed on your own.
Little Nightmares II is essentially a puzzle platformer with light stealth, combat and chase sequences interspersed throughout. There is a good flow to the gameplay with nerve-fraying sections of horror and survival broken up by moments of reprieve via puzzling sections. Even though I was sometimes able to predict what type of gameplay sequence was around the corner, I was never truly confident of what type of monstrosity I’d be facing next and was kept on edge throughout the entire game.
That is where Little Nightmares II shines, in its unique aesthetics and horror. The visuals of the the series remain a highlight, drawing inspiration from those stop motion and Claymation short films that were made back in the day and that we somehow decided were kid-friendly yet still haunt our collective consciousness decades later. Each of the game’s five chapters introduces a new main antagonist; a marionette-like caricature that will be skulking around the levels, eventually becoming your pursuer. And there are plenty of other abhorrent creatures to avoid and overcome in between. Even though Little Nightmares relies on familiar horror tropes that prey on deep-rooted childhood fears, it manages to do so to great effect. Without going into spoilers, there was a section that plays on a particular trope that is rife in horror video games but nonetheless scared the absolute shit out of me and had me constantly on edge, squirming and squealing as I gripped the edges of my Steam Deck.
Little Nightmares II is not without its frustrations that feel like a hangover from the first game that came out in 2017 (and also the 2019 mobile game Very Little Nightmares, which I’m probably one of only ten people to play but really enjoyed as well). Some parts of the gameplay are a bit clunky as a result of inconsistent physics and the game’s 2.5D presentation. Examples of the former are the game hesitating when you try to throw an object at a specific target or try to boost jump off your companion Six. I’d have issues gauging my positioning on the 2.5D plane and there’d be times where I thought I’d made a successful jump to only have completely misjudged it and plummet to my death. Or get caught on parts of the geometry that I wasn’t supposed to during a chase sequence and unceremoniously get scooped up by my pursuant and have to start the sequence again.
There are also some parts of the game that unnecessarily throw too much challenge or ask too much of the player given the inconsistent physics. That particular section I mentioned that scared the living Christ out of me; there was a sequence that I had to repeat multiple times to the point where that initial scare dulled over time because the novelty and fear of getting caught had worn off and devolved into frustration. It’s a shame because that section is otherwise a highlight of the series. I appreciate it’s a hard line to toe between making the experience too easy and having a sense of peril but there are times Little Nightmares II doesn’t cooperate within the confines of its gameplay and tries to unnecessarily push beyond its limitations. The saving grace is that examples of this are few and far between and the checkpointing is very generous.
Despite its challenges, Little Nightmares II is still a fantastic experience and a worthy successor to the first game. The best compliment I can give to Little Nightmares II is that it’s one of the closest experiences I have had to playing INSIDE, having the same sense of unease yet curiosity of what was to come. Whilst it doesn’t have the impeccable polish of INSIDE, Little Nightmares II has an undeniable intrigue and mystery to its world with an eeriness and grotesqueness that is matched by few other games. I enjoyed being in its world so much that I replayed it to get 100% of the game’s achievements and am reinvigorated to play Little Nightmares III when it releases in just a few weeks. Bring on the scares!
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