Little Nightmares Review – Uncomfortably Memorable

Since I first saw the trailer for Tasier Studios’ creepy little platformer, Little Nightmares, I knew it was a game I wanted to play. For two years I dutifully resisted the urge to watch someone else play the game on YouTube. I read that many people took issue with the game’s length, but that’s not an unusual critique for gamers. Additionally, those critiques were usually prompted with a phrase like, “I loved the game, but…” so I knew the game was still worth experiencing for myself, regardless of how short it was.

Hardly a couple hours after first loading into the nightmare, it was over. Those people were right, Little Nightmares is a short game. What they failed to mention was how uncomfortably memorable Little Nightmares is.

Not-So-Little Terrors

Little Nightmares isn’t a jump-scare game. There are a few moments where events happen suddenly, but they’re not in-your-face loud-noises-and-bright-lights situations. Generally, the horror unfolds slowly and ploddingly — similar to that of A Plague Tale.

The scariest is the unseen and the unknown. The latter of which the entire game works to answer.

You awake alone, in a dark, damp world. A small child in a raincoat with a single cigarette lighter to fend off the darkness and the terrors that likely lurk within.

Minor story spoilers ahead.

Soon it becomes apparent that you’re not alone. Hulking, human-like creatures inhabit the game’s environment and one glimpse of your little raincoat will send them stomping toward you with a flurry of thundering steps.

Little Nightmares is largely a game of cat and mouse. As a small child you can run beneath tables and into crevices in the dilapidated environment that your gigantic pursuers cannot get into. The environment not only serves as a refuge from the horrors of the game, but it provides you with the means to distract the monstrosities and make a safe getaway.

The distractions are all environmental puzzles. Some require a bit of thinking, while other require quick reflexes. The puzzles were all relatively simple to ascertain and the need for quick reflexes is padded by a generous respawn system.

If you manage to get snagged by a monster you won’t be sent back far. The forgiving difficulty was a large factor in the expedited experience. I never spent very long in one area, so I was never frustrated or bogged down, but I also felt like I was just scratching the surface of the mysterious circumstance I found myself a part of.

Unsolved Mysteries

Because I was flowing from one section of the game to the next, I was hardly able to pick up on the story. It felt a bit like that was the point, though. Maybe the developers kept it vague so our imaginations would come up with something far sinister than what they could come up with.

But that doesn’t feel the case. The developer also proved that they were capable of creating some truly creepy elements without resorting to gore or violence for shock value.

When the game ended, I hardly felt like I understood what I witnessed over the course of the handful of hours I spent dashing to safety. Little Nightmares was creepy, the controls easy-to-learn and the level design kept the game flowing. But at the end of it all, Little Nightmares fell short. Literally.

Just when I started to form a rough idea of what was going on, the game ended. With one last twist, the game left me hanging. More questions left unanswered than answered.

No Reason to Relive the Nightmare

Aside from a few collectibles (which unlock concept art and achievements if that’s something you’re interested in), I didn’t find much reason to go back through the couple of hours of gameplay. Due to the game’s brevity, I can clearly remember each scene. Also, the puzzles and level design was linear, so there’s only one way to do almost everything in the game.

There are a few downloadable content packs available for purchase, but I’m hesitant to spend money on anything else. Little Nightmares wasn’t a bad game, but even at the discounted prices I bought it for, I still feel like I paid too much for what I ended up with.

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A retail copy of Little Nightmares was purchased by Epic Brew for the purpose of this review.