Little Nightmares – Grotesque meets Burlesque

Little Nightmares may seem cute and simple on the surface, but it’s a game with hidden depth and a grotesque topic. What starts out as a fairly straightforward but eerie little game quickly starts to throw its many distorted creatures at you, over and over again, until you uncover its true meaning. I was expecting a cute, little nightmare (pun intended), but instead I got a terrifying game with enough lore to make most horror franchises feel ashamed of themselves.

I wish someone would turn Little Nightmares into a movie. An animated horror movie would do just fine.

Anyway, Little Nightmares is published by Bandai Namco and it could be mistaken as a short, unpretentious game trying to ride the wave of success from Limbo and Inside. As I overcome some frustrating moments – most of them because I wasn’t expecting the game to be that clever –, I unearthed more and more about The Maw and the reason why Six, our little heroine, is moving through it and exploring these horrifyingly damp and degraded locations.

It’s not often that you’ll see a game that looks like Little Nightmares. It’s almost like you are playing inside of a dollhouse, only a twisted, horrific one. The lighting and color choice is so unusual that it all feels too palpable, depressing, almost as if you can sense the dread and the corrupted air. Six is magnificently animated, with smooth and graceful movements, in contrast to the horrible creatures that you will meet along the way. She is capable of climbing, running, moving objects around and crawling in a way that would make Solid Snake proud.

Speaking of creatures, these nightmarish concoctions resemble gelatinous blobs of skin, and you can tell that some of them wear hideous masks – made of skin?! – to hide what is probably an even more horrendous sight. Each level has (or in fact, is) this kind of boss battle, where you have to make your way past one or more of these dwellers. The set pieces are amazingly well thought out, and if they can be frustrating (as I mentioned before), it’s probably because you’re not paying attention to the environment. Here is a valuable tip: carpets are perfect to muffle noise, so use them as much as you can. On the other hand, sometimes it’s best to just make a run for it, as some of these sequences are strictly timed and a second of hesitation will end up in you getting crushed – literally.

As you move on, things will get more and more grotesque, with the secrets of The Maw coming to light. I won’t spoil it here, but I can tell you that it almost feels like a twisted metaphor on our actual world and how the rich and ruthless pay their way into anything and everything, to satisfy their darkest desires, no matter how depraved and immoral. Six has to escape from the clutches of obnoxious creatures, sometimes by running as fast as she can while everyone is out to get her, and these moments are genuinely terrifying and exciting, usually ending with a sigh of relief as you finally rest your hands and calm your beating heart.

Little Nightmares may be a bit frustrating if you are playing it wrong – there’s quite a bit of stealth required and one particular passage involving a dinner table is exceedingly unforgiving. However, if you take your time and persevere you will find one of the best horror games of late, an unsuspecting diamond that has an unrivalled atmosphere, an intriguing story that will leave you questioning what you’ve seen, and plenty of suspense.

Fans of Limbo and Inside will love Little Nightmares. This is an accomplished grotesque/burlesque horror adventure and a little gem of a game.

Final rating: 9.0/10

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