Welcome to our review of Little Nightmares II, the sequel to the prevalent Little Nightmares. And it’s nightmare fuel, alright – we all have our own fears. I’m not too fond of needles, and I’m not that fond of the dentist, but Little Nightmares II added a few new ones to the list. Thanks for that, Bandai Namco. Well, let’s dive in.
Nightmares…
Like Little Nightmares, Little Nightmares II’s concept is escapism, with the genre being a combination of a suspense-adventure game with puzzle elements. In this entry, you play as Mono, a young boy trapped in a world that has been distorted by the humming transmission of a distant tower. With Six, the girl in a yellow raincoat (the protagonist of part I), as his guide, Mono sets out to discover the dark secrets of The Signal Tower and save Six from her terrible fate. Since I don’t want to recap the whole story of part I, you can check out the review right here.
But their journey will not be straightforward as Mono and Six will face a gallery of new threats from the terrible residents of this world. Will you dare to face this collection of new, little nightmares? Since this is the second part of the story, Bandai upgraded the abilities of its protagonists. Unlike Six in the first game, he has the ability to use any long objects as tools to break objects or obstacles or as weapons to fight small enemies.
Storytime!
Let’s cover a little bit of the story without giving away too much of the narrative. The beginning of the game shows Mono dreaming of a hallway that leads to an eye at the end. Just as it grows near, the boy wakes up in the middle of a dense forest near the TV. While exploring the Wilderness, Mono stumbles upon many traps and corpses of people who accidentally fell into them. All this eventually leads the hero to a shack, wherein in one of the rooms, he offers his hand to a frightened girl, who immediately runs away, rejecting his help. In pursuit of her, Mono notices people who have been turned into effigies. Near the attic, he catches up with the girl (who is actually Six) and once again offers her help.
This time, the girl agrees, realizing that she cannot escape alone – hence the co-op AI function kicking in. Together they run out of the house, but the Hunter, who lived in the house, hears them leave and goes out the door to pursue them. Taking a shotgun with him, he sets off to pursue the children and attempts to shoot them. They can lose him by jumping under a small cliff up ahead, but he moves forward and stands in a spot, looking for them. Mono and Six gain courage by holding each other’s hands and carefully evade the Hunter until they make a break for it, nearly killing them until they both duck in a small hole.
For narrative reasons, I’ll put spoiler tags on my next part. Just as the Hunter breaks open a hole and reaches for the doorknob, Mono pulls the trigger and shoots the Huntsman through the door and in the chest, killing him, and basically setting the tone for the whole game (rinse and repeat). After they recover from the recoil, the children jump out a window that was knocked open from the impact, where they then find and use a door on the shore and sail across the ocean. After a little while, Mono and Six arrive at the beach of the Pale City.
Upgraded Nightmares?
So, is this entry basically an upgraded version of Little Nightmares? No, they made the subtle quality of life changes – and they are good. One of the most eyecatching examples is the use of a flashlight instead of a lighter. These help with gameplay elements – the flashlight, for example, can be used to immobilize certain enemies like the Patients. Additionally, Mono does not travel alone and is aided by Six as a companion. Both Mono and Six must work together to accomplish various tasks and puzzles that cannot be done alone. Another cool feature exclusive to Mono is using televisions as portals to navigate the Pale City (the map Little Nightmares II’s world is set).
Mechanics-wise, Little Nightmares II is a real brain breaker, which will test your puzzling skills to the maximum. More than once, the obvious route is not the route to take. I was stuck on a certain part of the hospital (my least favorite part of the whole game), which made me almost throw my controller at the tv. Until I thought outside the box of logic and was able to pass the part I was stuck at for a good hour. Here lies the strength of Little Nightmares II; it challenges you to use both physics, logic, and your environment to your advantage. And keep in mind that Six and Mono are still small beings, so while they can handle an ax, they won’t be able to run away as quickly as a full-grown enemy.
Surrealistic Painting
Graphic wise, the game looks like a walking painting on the Nintendo Switch. Although it might be hard to spot some of the doorways you can pass or items to pick up, it still is one of the best looking games on the Switch right now. Sometimes it felt like I walked into a Dali or Escher painting. It helps with the vibe the developers wanted to set – and they did a great job doing so. When an enemy came close, the pulse of Mono became louder and started beating faster – well, it elevated my own pulse as well.
Conclusion
To me, the game reached a highpoint in the final chapters. Don’t get me wrong, the first four chapters are great, but the final chapter’s puzzles are on fire. Mixing all kinds of genres and hinting at a few classics, which I can’t name since it will hint at how to solve them. However, the ending left me with more questions than answers – so hopefully, this will be covered with some DLC or Little Nightmares III. The only point of criticism I have is that it’s still short; given it’s longer than LN1 – the ending still felt a little abrupt. How, why, eh? were words that came to mind, but man, it was a ride—time to collect hats and glitches instead of running around like a chicken without a head.
Little Nightmares II is the perfect example of evolving a series into a more mature and cultivated version of its predecessor. And if you are not yet convinced it’s the game for you, there’s a demo out on almost every platform!
