Little Nightmares is an indie puzzle-platformer horror adventure game developed by Tarsier Studios and was published by Bandai Namco for all available consoles during it's release. There are no
official Ps5 and Xbox series X copies, but this does not mean the game is not playable as it has been tested and it works perfectly with the next gen. The game takes the players in a new horror universe that is
now known as the Little Nightmares Universe. The game was originally called hunger, however the closer the release date got the more Trarsier though about the title and they ended up with little Nightmares.
The game was a major hit. Upon its release the game earned an award in the indie category and it was nominated plenty of times through out the years. Moreover, the game's popularity and it's appealwith the fans
allowed the developers to expand the game by releasing three (3) DLC, a spinoff game for Android and Ios called Very Little Nightmares, digital and physical comics
and a full on "sequel" called Little Nightmares 2 which was released in Fubruary 2021.
The Game was released in two (2) editions excluding the digital copy:
Standard Edition
Includes the game alone
Little Nightmares Six edition
Includes the game,a small comic, CD with the soundrtacks, A poster, and a figurine of the Protagonist Six
Gameplay
The Gameplay of little nightmares is very simple and that's something that makes the game very appealing. It doesnt need to be complicated as it knows what it wants to be
Tarsier Studio understood what was need to be made in order to create a horror game that did not require jump scares and gory imagery. The game is simple,death occurs if an enemy hits the character ,
dropping from high areas, being caught by an enemy and falling into death traps. The chracater controled is known as Six and she is very vonurable making her always be one shot.
Six ventures around inside an area known as the Maw, and goes through five different levels/Chapters.
These are :
The Prison
The Lair
The Kitchen
The Guest Area
The Lady's Quarters
In every level the player has to try and proceed as stealthy as possible in order to avoid being detected. As mentioned above, the player gets the control of Six, a small girl who wears a yellow raincoat
with a hoodie that shades her face.The gameplay of Six is very plain, however that does not mean it's bad. Six has the bread and butter skills that most game protagonist have and these are the ability to sprint,
crouch,jump, climp, slide and picking up items. These commands are very responsive to the press of the buttons. The little girl also holds a lighter, that she can use to light her way and other collectables such as lamps.
the game rewuires the player to stay play a stealthy game where they should not be spotted by an enemy. If the enemy does spot Six, the player can sprint away and hide in a different location. Hidind does not quarantee that
she wont be spotted. It should be mention, that the best part of the game is the horrific atmosphere it creates and the fact that there is not a single line of dialogue, making the story different for every signle player.
The Game unlike most of the horror game during it's era, is not on first person prespective but instead it's on third person. This allowed the players to always keep track to the location of their hero, their enemy and their
goal. The question is how can they reach that goal without being detected and where to run in case they re detected. Every level has a certain difficulty.
The Prison pretty much as the tutorial, where the players get to learn the basic mechanics and how certain things work. In the Lair holds the first boss and that is the Janitor, with the noodle hands. Unlike a normal
enemy the Janitor can not see Six with his eyes, however his hearing and smell abilities are superior.Moreover, his Long streched arms, can reach in higher places where others could not reach and unlike some other encounters,hiding
on the high ground is not a safe option. In Chapter 3, where the kitchen is the players meets their next foe, and it's the twin chefs. The chefs are faster than the janitor, and they re more in numbers. Needless to say they
have their eye sights and they re dangerous. During chapter 4, the game doesnt introduce a certain enemy but instead it brings Six infront od the Guests in the Guest Area . The guest act similar to the chefs, however the game's
level design allows for the guests to spot Six and chase her. On the final chapter, the enemy meets the final boss and that is the Lady. The lady can grab six from the distance and she is the fastst one of the enemies. Her boss
battle relies on the player's reflexes and puzzle ability.
Collectables
Little Nightmares has three types of collectables for the players to go out and discover. The first type of collectable is the Nomes that Six has to come across and chase. Theres a total of 13 Nomes spread out
between the 5 Chapters. The Nomes are small white-silver creatures with a humanoid from. The head however, look more like a pointy mushroom. When Six enters a room with a Nome, or if a Nome is nearby the player will hear a distinctive
croaking sound. When Six aproaches a Nome they ll start sprinting away and they will try to hide. Six has to chase them and hug them.The moment she does, the Nome's behaviour change and they become friendly towards Six and they repeat the
movements made by Six such as Jumping,walking and crouching.
Another type of collectable are the Lanterns and Candles. and there is a total of 30 of them scattered across the chapters. Out of the 30, 21 of them are Lanterns and 9 of them are candles. The Player only needs 20 for an achievement
but the more the player collects the more they re rewarded. Unlike the Nomes, these items do not make any sound . Once the player comes across either the candles or the lanterns , the player can use the lighter held by Six in order to
light them up.
The last type of collectable found in the original Little Nightmares is the doll statues. They are 10 in total and they re very small. They re made from porcelain and they re modelled after the games main villain, the Lady. The way
that Six collects these statues is by smashing them.
Collecting all of the items will reward the player with plenty of goods. To begin with, there's three different achievments based on the three collectables mentioned above. Smashing the dolls will allows Six to equip a special mask. The Mask
does not change anything in terms of the gameplay, it simply adds towards the appearance of Six. Additionaly,finding collectables unlock concept art in the Extras Menu found in the main manu.
Little Nightmares: Secret of the Maw DLC
Little Nightmares success allowed for Tarsier Studios to expand the universe ven more with the addition of the Secret of the Maw DLC expansion. Unlike the main Game, the players get to control a new hero in plade of Six and he is known as
the Runaway Kid . Similar to Six, he shares the same abilities, and instead of a lighter he replaced it with a torch. The Runaway kid's story takes place at the same time as Six's campaign. This allowed Tarsier to show some event
that happened prior to Six and explains how certain items where at convenient places. Unlike Six though, the runaway kid visits three different locations within the maw.
The Depths
The Hideway
The Residence
Each Chapter in the runaway kids campaign add new stuff to the game. During the Depths, the runaway kid can swim in water to reach other surfaces. Nothing though is safe, as down in the depths the new enemy of the story is hidden and that is the granny.
The Granny is normal foe when it comes down to land gameplay, however during water levels, one thing can be tell for sure... STAY AWAY FROM THE WATERS. Escaping the Depths leads to the hideaway where the gameplay revolves around puzzle solving with the help
of the Nomes. The player's also get a glimpse of what Nomes are and how they act. Its a great part filled with interesting puzzles and level design. The Hideaway is close to the Lair where Six goes and it's the "home" of the Janitor. The last place for
the campain of the runaway kid is the residence. During the residence the gameplay adds a new combat mechanic using the torch. A new enemy in the form of shadow kids sprint around. Their weaknsess is the light emerging from the torch. The player has to
turn their torch on them and they slowly burn away. An indication that a shadow is nearby is in the animation of the hero. The kid always holds the torch with one hand, but when a shadow is nearby he holds it with both hands. The main encounter in the
third chapter is ofcourse the Lady.
The runaway kid also has collectables during it's campaign, and very similar to the orginal collecting them reward the player with achievements and concept art of the game. Unlike Six whose campaign had three different types, the runaway kid only has one type, and
these are the flotsams. The flotsams are represented as bottles with a giant eye symbol in the place of their labels. The way to collect them is simply by picking them up. When he does, the kid opens the bottle and gets a piece of paper that is inside and places it
in his pockets. There is a total of fifteen of them.
This is a video with my Honest review close to when i played the Game
The Gameplay of little nightmares is very simple and that's something that makes the game very appealing. It doesnt need to be complicated as it knows what it wants to be
Tarsier Studio understood what was need to be made in order to create a horror game that did not require jump scares and gory imagery. The game is simple,death occurs if an enemy hits the character ,
dropping from high areas, being caught by an enemy and falling into death traps. The chracater controled is known as Six and she is very vonurable making her always be one shot.
Six ventures around inside an area known as the Maw, and goes through five different levels/Chapters.
Little Nightmares has three types of collectables for the players to go out and discover. The first type of collectable is the Nomes that Six has to come across and chase. Theres a total of 13 Nomes spread out
Little Nightmares success allowed for Tarsier Studios to expand the universe ven more with the addition of the Secret of the Maw DLC expansion. Unlike the main Game, the players get to control a new hero in plade of Six and he is known as
the Runaway Kid . Similar to Six, he shares the same abilities, and instead of a lighter he replaced it with a torch. The Runaway kid's story takes place at the same time as Six's campaign. This allowed Tarsier to show some event
that happened prior to Six and explains how certain items where at convenient places. Unlike Six though, the runaway kid visits three different locations within the maw.