Little Nightmares

At times mechanically clumsy, but artistically sound, Little Nightmares might get on your nerves every once in awhile, but its imagery will burrow into your brain and never leave.

Like Hide and Seek, Little Nightmares confidently captures the exhilarating fear of waiting to be found by something that’s hunting you. But it also replicates the alien horror of being a child that doesn’t understand what’s happening to and around them, and of a seemingly familiar environment turned into a series of opportunities for safety and danger.

Giving the story a few rounds of proofreading might have inspired the designers to add more obstacles and offered more flexibility to the players. Still, the well-presented aesthetic and emotional impact make Little Nightmares more than worthy of a playthrough.

In all seriousness, Little Nightmares does a fantastic job of pulling off “childish horror”. It strikes a good balance in introducing horror without ever being too scary; anyone who loves a little bit of the macabre without the intense dread of true terror will love this indie title.

Ultimately, Little Nightmares strikes a fine chord between charming and creepy in a way that perhaps only a former LittleBigPlanet developer could do. The game knows when a delicate touch is needed in terms of creepiness, and conversely gets the adrenaline going when things go from zero to sixty as a gelatinous humanoid biped suddenly decides Six would make a good lunch.

Little Nightmares worked its way into my dreams because it's just bright enough, just safe enough to make me let my guard down. The game isn’t always successful at balancing some game design fundamentals. But when the lights went out, it left me remembering that, really, I'm just a small thing in a dangerous world myself.

There are some collectibles to find and some secrets to figure out (neither of which are necessary to complete the game) but aside from those two things, there’s not a whole lot of reason for most people to replay Little Nightmares. Overall Little Nightmares is a great game and I loved playing it. The odd checkpointing and not having multiple paths through are small issues with a very solid and entertaining game.

Little Nightmares goes for about $19.99 (digital) and for that much the game is pretty much worth it. Once the game begins, it is easy to be hooked and enthralled all the way to its conclusion. From an artistic and design standpoint, it is one of the most creative looking games around, and pulls off the whole demented doll house look perfectly. On Xbox One it may not be the smoothest running game, but it is still perfectly playable. Not a long or challenging game by any means, but Little Nightmares does manage to make a lasting impression.

Little Nightmares is a small triumph, then, with impressive design, engaging if relatively narrow gameplay and some wonderful world-building. Your character Six proves to be far from the empty cipher she might first appear to be. Your journey of discovery as to her true nature is just as interesting as the wider evaluation of this gory, globulous and gluttonous collection of misfit creatures and the strange building they appear to be amassing in. It manages to combine room-contained puzzle mechanics with action platforming rather well and the stealth element is both challenging and not too frustrating (always a hard balance to strike).

Little Nightmares es una pequeña gran experiencia, que domina algo más difícil que el terror: la tensión. Lo hace sin ocultar los rostros del miedo, solo el nuestro. A través de su coordinado y placentero ejercicio de puzles, de su impecable diseño de niveles, cautiva y acongoja, pero no solo por el miedo a la muerte, sino por el miedo a una triste, vacía y culpable vida.

Entre las quejas que habría para no subir un poco la calificación estarían algunas imprecisiones en su platforming y la decisión un tanto extraña en la colocación de algunos de sus checkpoints, fuera de ello no tuvimos mayores problemas que nos arruinaran una experiencia muy fresca y emocionante.

Artísticamente, tanto en el diseño visual como en el sonido diegético y extradiegético, todo va encaminado a lo mismo: hacernos ver que somos un elemento extraño, acongojarnos y ponernos los pelos de punta con cada crujido de la madera, con cada golpe, con cada respiración.

Little Nightmares ne manque clairement pas de charme. On passe donc un bon moment en sa compagnie, mais ce moment est hélas de courte durée. Les trois ou quatre heures nécessaires pour boucler l'aventure laissent incontestablement un goût de trop peu. Mais le plus problématique reste tout de même le sentiment permanent de jouer à un clone de INSIDE. Et ce n'est pas l'ajout d'une petite troisième dimension dans les contrôles qui y change grand-chose.

Si vous accordez davantage d'importance à l'ambiance et l'immersion qu'à une maniabilité exemplaire, vous serez plus à même d'apprécier l'expérience proposée par le jeu de Tarsier. Dans le cas contraire, vous ne pourrez que constater la perfectibilité d'un soft qui, heureusement, ne manque tout de même pas de qualités et d'atouts pour venir se nicher dans votre ludothèque.

Little Nightmares è un'esperienza che a oggi resta unica e quando ci si ritrova dinanzi a un'operazione del genere non si può rimanere indifferenti. La sua unicità va necessariamente premiata e va sottolineata, nonostante si presenti a una platea di videogiocatori che, quasi sicuramente, non apprezzerà l'inanellarsi di enigmi all'interno del resort. Con sincerità aggiungiamo che dalle prime prove fino a oggi la convinzione era quella di poter trovare molto di più in Little Nightmares, forti del fatto che l'avventura sarebbe stata autoconclusiva, ossia capace di soddisfare la nostra sete di curiosità su Le Fauci e Six: così, invece, non è stato e gli sviluppatori ci hanno confermato, anche in queste ore, che la loro volontà è quella di dare vita a un universo completamente nuovo, che di capitolo in capitolo possa aiutarci a comprendere di più su Sei e Little Nightmares. Resta un po' di amaro in bocca, ma aspettiamo fiduciosi.

Так или иначе, своей первой игрой Tarsier зарекомендовали себя с крайне положительной стороны и показали, что могут и умеют делать отличные современные игры. В этом году они также выпустят свой второй самостоятельный проект — эксклюзив для PlayStation VR Statik, в которой игрокам предстоит исследовать человеческое сознание.

Little Nightmares trollbinder med väldigt välskapad atmosfär och härlig design men blir aldrig riktigt så där jättebra som det hade kunnat bli. Aldrig i närheten av fjolårsmästerverket Inside. Den något sladdriga spelkontrollen gör att jag dör på frustrerade sätt och utmaningsgraden är för lågt ställd, som dessutom slutar abrupt efter endast två timmar. Nu är det förvisso inget fullprisspel vi snackar om men jag hade gärna sett minst den dubbla speltiden.