LITTLE NIGHTMARES II
Hide-and-seek has never been played for such high stakes
Boy-with-a-bag-on-his-head Mono awakens in the forest beside a dimly illuminated TV set. The cold comfort of its buzzing screen soon fades, and oppressive darkness bears down on the tiny figure. Mono runs right. Dashing over precipices, past something that has rotted past all recognition, and into a storm drain, Mono soon has his first brush with danger.
The Little Nightmares games are fully 3D but the fixed, scrolling camera in both lends itself well to an eerie atmosphere, creating a 2.5D ‘doll’s house’ effect. Producer Lucas Roussel tells us, “Little Nightmares II will remain faithful to the original approach, but we are bringing vaster and wider locations in the game, including outdoor environments.”
Even though the forest is a much more open environment than the cramped decks of the Maw in the previous game, it doesn’t fail to send a shiver down our spine.
“We enhanced our camera system [to allow for] more in-depth character traversal. I think this difference will be very noticeable for those who have played the first game. This truly enhances the feeling [of] exploration in Little Nightmares II,” Roussel explains, “When it comes to horror, this dollhouse feeling remains an amazing tool to create [scares] in our game.”
WATCH YOUR STEP
Carefully side-stepping around a tripwire, we can’t help but wonder who – or what – knew Mono would be coming this way. So preoccupied by this thought are we that we walk past a pile of ominously discarded shoes and straight into another trap carefully hidden by a layer of leaves. Whatever or whoever is pursuing our tiny protagonist, they’re certainly persistent about it, leaving a trail of traps in their wake.
Roussel continues, “We are retaining the same atmosphere [as the first Little Nightmares] and this idea that this world is too big and too dangerous for those children.”
Those shoes didn’t just signpost that something was, if you’ll excuse the pun, afoot. We can use them to set off traps. After another one wince-inducing death, we start to use footwear and other detritus strewn around the forest floor to set off a concealed carpet of bear traps. However even a pine cone weighs down the diminutive Mono, slowing down his movement; whatever’s out there, if it gives chase it’s probably best to drop everything and run, traps or no traps.
COTTAGE DIE
Leaving the forest behind, we happen upon a creaky cottage with another child sequestered in a basement room. As far as we can tell, it’s not Six – which doesn’t make us optimistic about our new companion’s eventual fate. But for now they guide us through the abandoned building, giving us a leg up here, turning a crank for us there, and generally being a helpful distraction from the eerie, lifesized puppets that litter the place.
“The AI companion brings a lot of options to diversify our gameplay. You will have to protect Six but also Six will protect you in the game and help you to progress,” Roussel says, later adding, “AI partners are always challenging to implement in a game but they truly leverage the experience to the next level.”
And he doesn’t just mean mechanically. Escaping the house together, Mono and his companion attract the attention of a towering, masked marksmen.
Gleefully, Roussel tells us, “The monsters are very different from the first game [and presenting new unsettling monsters] is one of Little Nightmares’ [specialities].”
Darting between cover, our AI partner begins to lag behind. Our gameplay demo fades to black after one final gunshot. Did they make it? Is Mono alone again? We’ll uncover the first twist in this tale – and much more besides – next February.