First feelings Little Nightmares 2 mixes horror and level leap in a wonderfully atmospheric way

Tarsier Studios ’acclaimed Little Nightmares will continue on Feb. 11. We were able to test in advance what the expected sequel would look like.

Date of issue: 11.2.2021
Studio: Tarsier Studios
Published by Bandai Namco
Available: PC (tested), Xbox One, Xbox Series S / X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Players: 1
Age limit: 16

A few years ago Little Nightmares was an invigoratingly different horror game. The deterrent effect it provided was not based on the lewd monsters or violent riots attacking the player from around the corner, but on a little boy’s escape in a unique nightmare world.

Little Nightmares 2 continues the original game on a familiar line, but instead of a boy in a yellow hood, it tells the story of a new person, a paper-bagged character. Of course, the boy with the yellow hood is still included in the figures.

The backgrounds of the paper bag-headed character are not told any more at the beginning of the game. It is not known where the character comes from, what his name is, or where he is heading. The player-controlled paper bag-headed character simply wakes up from the path along the path without further explanation and embarks on his far left-to-right rolling journey.

Little Nightmares 2 is like its 3D predecessor, like its predecessor. As a rule, the journey progresses from side to side, but the game world also has a small element of depth. The level jump is not particularly difficult and does not require precision, but instead the Little Nightmares 2 player has to solve various smart nuts along the way. For example, the crushing bears of a paper bag-headed figure must be triggered harmless by throwing a shoe at them, or the crank operating the lever must go in search of a little further from the plane.

The best part about Little Nightmares 2 is that the horror it presents is very unique. Bloodthirsty zombies and other game endurance favorites have been seen no matter how many times, but the horrors that differ from the mass of Little Nightmare 2 are like straight out childhood nightmares.

During the journey, the character with a paper bag encounters a comrade with whom a joint escape through the nightmare world is possible. Featuring all the horrors of childhood, like endless gaps, logs crashing behind a player, and horrible huge doll-like creatures lurking in a paper-bagged hero. If the bag-headed character gets pale, the game rewinds a bit and the journey continues.

The atmosphere is also enhanced by the fact that the Little Nightmares 2 screen is not crammed with UI elements or anything extra. At the beginning of the game, Little Nightmares 2 guides you through how to move and stick. After that, the player is practically on his own. The game world has also not been fragmented with, for example, download breaks, intermediate videos or dialogues, but the journey continues in unison from start to finish.

A small downside is that Little Nightmares 2’s controls don’t seem as accurate as many other level leaps, such as the excellent Ori and the Will of the Wispsissä. The movement feels sticky and even easy jumps have to be retried several times in certain situations because the character refuses to go where they would like. In addition, the struggle against it sometimes doesn’t feel particularly good and the timing of the attacks in particular is awkward.

Fortunately, the actual Plane Jump is in a fairly small part of Little Nightmares 2, and the stickiness doesn’t bother me too much that way. It is also possible that Tarsier Studios will have time to fix movement issues before the game is finally released.

In any case, Little Nightmares 2 as a whole is a worthy sequel to the previous game. Fans of the first game will certainly enjoy the new game as well, but Little Nightmares 2 is just as well suited for those who haven’t experienced the first part. There are several references available for those who pass the first game, but you can also jump into the series directly from the second part.

On the plus side, the original Little Nightmares is now being distributed completely free for a few days. If Little Nightmares 2 sounds interesting, you have time to pass the previous adventure before the release of the second part.