Little Nightmares 2 is a sequel to the acclaimed horror platformer from the Swedish company Tarsier Studios, which tells the story of the adventures of a girl in a yellow raincoat nicknamed the Sixth. She is forced to survive in a world where evil has settled and no place can be considered safe. Anyone you meet can be a villain, any dark corner can be a deadly trap. Everything as in the first part, but now the Sixth is finally not alone. Lenta.ru tells how the developers decided to surprise the players this time.
A boy named Mono, dressed in a tattered cloak woke up in the middle of a huge dark forest. His path lies through a thicket full of deadly traps to the dilapidated Pale City. A mysterious transmission is broadcast from there, which distorts the bodies of residents and other living creatures, turning them into monstrous monsters. On the way, Mono rescues an unfamiliar frightened girl from the sinister forest Hunter. Now the two of them are heading to the very epicenter of evil because perhaps it is there that the key to salvation from all horrors is located.
Two From The Forest
Tarsier Studios’ atmospheric horror-platformer Little Nightmares 2 expands on the lore of the first game, which takes place on the Womb a giant ship that looks more like an underwater skyscraper. This time the player will pass through city locations, which is very reminiscent of Limbo and Inside similar in style and atmosphere, from Playdead studio they also start in a forest area followed by gloomy urban landscapes.
The developers did not make a direct sequel, telling about the adventures of the Sixth. To some extent, Little Nightmares 2 is an independent game that you can play without knowing about the events of the first. The only thing that connects the game with the first part is a drawing of a nome (a small creature that looks like a mushroom) drawn by Six in the conclusion and an Easter egg associated with the main villain of the last game. Perhaps there are actually more references, but the developers have hidden them well.
The second game is not devoted to the thirst for gluttony or some other mortal sin, but more reveals the theme of mutual assistance, betrayal, and revenge. But the Sixth continues to show sadistic inclinations: she fiercely breaks the head of a porcelain child, then with pleasure, she breaks the fingers of a mannequin, then she warms her hands by the fire in the crematorium, where another enemy burns down. Mono is not worried about this at all he has his own secret connecting him to the TVs broadcasting the eerie Program. Also, the developers almost literally hung subtle and obscure Easter eggs throughout the game hinting at the final twist.
Scary Stories
Like the previous installment, Little Nightmares 2 incorporates many familiar horror elements from movies, literature, and even urban legends. It’s still a fairy tale, but evil and gloomy fairy tale filled with suspense. There is no banal happy ending for the heroes, and even less so for the world in which they are forced to survive. Even Hansel and Gretel from the famous fairy tale did not face such horrors as Mono and Six. A forest hunter with a gun and a bag on his head is scary, but much more terrifying. A school where empty-headed porcelain schoolchildren study and their behavior is controlled by a nightmarish Teacher, who can stretch her neck to an incredible length. In an abandoned hospital people mannequins who are afraid of the light are being treated and the mad Doctor is wandering about watching the health of the patients from the ceiling.
The game also has the main villain. If in the first part it was the Mistress or Lady, resembling a Japanese geisha and combining the features of a witch and a ghost from Asian horror films, then in Little Nightmares 2 there is a Thin Man in a Hat a mixture of Slenderman, Freddy Krueger and the urban legend of the people in black secretly controlling the lives of ordinary people. Apparently, it is he who controls the Transmission, which turns the city and its surroundings into a surreal canvas, twisted in time and space.
The Thin Man is associated with particularly frightening and stressful moments of the game. From time to time, he begins to chase the player, forcing him to quickly overcome obstacles. Any hitch can cost the protagonist his life it seems that the villain moves slowly, but does not lag. As if on purpose, the game at such moments snatches control from the player’s hands, forcing Mono to hesitate in front of the approaching threat. Also, the developers this time gave a bold hint of the origin and identity of the antagonist. In the first game, one could only guess about the past of the Mistress.
However, Little Nightmares 2 remains faithful to the iconic feature of the series the player will have to build the history and logic of the world himself according to the hints that the developers left behind. There are no notes shedding light on the events of the game, there is no backstory of the main character and there are no explanations. The authors require the player to be attentive and even perhaps, some cultural background however, the game is worth it. If there is no desire to understand the intricate plot, it will be possible to do with reading fan theories and interpretations on forums and thematic sites.
Jumping Over The Abyss
The gameplay in the second part is based on the interaction of Mono and the Sixth. Fortunately, the girl, controlled by artificial intelligence, does not get underfoot but helps to successfully solve puzzles and bypass traps. The developers are doing everything so that the players fall in love with the companion in the yellow raincoat and they begin to trust her. You can even take the girl by the hand and run with her. Such a trifle gives the game a special charm. According to the plot, sometimes Mono is forced to overcome obstacles alone and fight with enemies, and without a companion, it becomes very uncomfortable.
In each location, the player is awaited by monsters that differ from each other in-game mechanics. You need to hide from some, fight with others. Compared to the first part, the style of the passage itself changes slightly – the player controls Mono, who can repulse enemies, and the savvy Six helps him open doors, climb high surfaces, or catches a boy in a jump.
The protagonist can carry weapons, smash doors, boards, and heads of evil porcelain children, who jump on the hero from different sides in the School. Mono, due to age, cannot hold weighty objects for a long time, so axes and hammers are limited to certain locations, and they cannot be taken out of the hole in the door. In most cases, you will have to run away from enemies, especially when a whole crowd of monsters starts chasing Mono – there are several such spectacular and intense chases here.
The developers diversified the gameplay not only with axes but also with a flashlight and even a television remote control. Moreover, the flashlight serves not only to illuminate dark corners but also as a kind of weapon against Patients – converted people who more resemble mannequins. They are agile in the dark but stop moving in a ray of light. At first, such monsters meet one at a time, but then they attack in groups, and the game, in a sense, turns into an arcade. You will have to quickly shine a flashlight in different directions and run at the same time, and, unfortunately, playing on the keyboard with a mouse at such moments becomes especially difficult – the creators honestly warn that the game is designed to be controlled from a gamepad.
At the level with TVs, the remote control falls into Mono’s hands. It is worth turning off the TV, and the hypnotized monster standing next to it will start looking for another. True, sometimes it can play a cruel joke when enemies who have not found a replacement for the TV begin to hunt Mono and it is difficult to escape from them. In order not to fail the puzzle, you need to follow the correct procedure.
However, the tests are intuitively simple and sometimes even provided with tips (for example, in the form of a photograph on the wall), the developers did not complicate the gameplay, so you won’t have to get stuck in one place for a long time. It is not necessary: the plot of the game fascinates so that you want to quickly find out what will happen next, and not pore over the next riddle. Because of this, puzzles are annoying, which are solved by the selection method and because of this become too long, although the principle of the solution is clear immediately. If you remove them, the game will only win.
Despite the similarity with other games of the genre, Tarsier Studios does not want to be accused of borrowing at all: the game surprises with dramatic content and truly living characters with their own characters and an interesting fate. And the heartbreaking ending will leave the player in shock before the end credits, which puts the Little Nightmares series on a level above its predecessors. In fact, it develops the genre of horror-platformers which, unfortunately, very rarely pleases with new projects.
