When I originally played through Little Nightmares, I was immediately captivated by its horrifically grotesque and atmospheric world, a world paired brilliantly with simplistic but enjoyable puzzle-platforming gameplay. It felt heavily reminiscent of other indie horror platformers Limbo and Inside, opting for a gameplay experience that places the importance of a strong sense of atmosphere at the top of its list of priorities. It was good fun to play, but its short 2-3 hour run time and frustrating moments with the hard to judge depth perception left me a little annoyed with an experience I otherwise loved. Almost four years on from the release of the original, Little Nightmares 2 has arrived in the hopes of providing more of the gripping horror that the series has become known for. Does it succeed in being as engaging as the original, or does it find itself struggling to have the same impact? Read on for our Little Nightmares 2 review.

Grotesque and Gripping

Like the original, Little Nightmares 2 contains no dialogue. Instead, the story is for you to piece together throughout the roughly 4-6 hour adventure. Little Nightmares 2 introduces us to a new playable protagonist, a young boy known as Mono, who teams up with Six, the protagonist of the original game. The duo are attempting to make their way through The Pale City, a drab and decrepit city that seems to be negatively affected by the transmissions coming for the Signal Tower located deep in the heart of the town. Little Nightmares 2 chronicles the journey of Mono and Six as they attempt to reach the tower and disrupt the signal, with the two encountering numerous nightmarish atrocities along the way that want nothing more than to see the pair meet an untimely demise.

It becomes clear pretty quickly that the transmission coming from the signal tower is having a profound impact on both the city and its remaining inhabitants. People stand in awe at the tower on rooftops, while people who dwell in their homes are drawn to the static broadcast beamed through their television sets, so absorbed that turning off their TV will send them into a fit of rage. There may be no dialogue and thus not much in the way of narrative, but Little Nightmares 2 manages to still contain a series of interesting events that make for an enjoyable tale, in part due to the fantastic world building and consistently strong atmosphere, with the final moments of the game leaving me in shock and awe.

The unnerving atmosphere of Little Nightmares 2 is by far the game’s strongest asset. Unlike many horror games that rely heavily on cheap thrills like jumpscares, Little Nightmares 2 doesn’t take this approach at all, instead allowing all its fear to build because of the helplessness that you feel playing as a small defenseless child. The angsty moments arise when you’re hiding away from a foe, unsure if they’ll find you or you’ll luckily escape with your life. The soundtrack also does a great job at adding further fuel to the game’s fire, making scary and thrilling moments throughout the game all the more intense. Little Nightmares 2 isn’t outwardly scary in the traditional ways one would expect horror games to be, instead offering up a deeply uneasy and suspenseful form of fear that is constantly keeping you invested.   

Atmospheric Angst

When it comes to gameplay, Little Nightmares 2 plays largely the same as the original, with some quality of life improvements and new additions sprinkled in. As Mono, you make your journey alongside Six throughout the Pale City on a quest to reach the strange Signal Tower, making your way through the wilderness on the outskirts of the city, a rundown school, and a derelict hospital before arriving at the mysterious tower. Each of these locales is home to a horrific individual that will hunt you down as you make your way through their respective level. For example, the Hunter watches over the wilderness, using his lamp and shotgun to find and kill anyone who lurks in his area, while the Teacher resides in the school, chasing down Mono if spotted with her immeasurably long extendable neck. Your task throughout Little Nightmares 2 is to do whatever you can to evade the clutches of these demonic creatures, which in most cases is running and hiding due to your conveniently bite-sized appearance.  

Progression throughout each level can be achieved by platforming your way through the environment and completing puzzles that will unlock doors for Mono and Six to move deeper into the city. The platforming controls particularly well, with Mono able to jump, run and crouch to suit the situation at hand.  Unlike the first game which suffered occasionally with frustrating depth perception, Little Nightmares 2 overall feels easier to handle in such instances. For example, when walking on a narrow plank, the game will lock Mono’s movement to 2D, preventing him from falling off the plank, a common sense approach that wasn’t implemented in the original.

Each level also contains numerous puzzles that serve to provide some gameplay variety between level exploration and canned chase sequences where you find yourself running away from the level’s monster. Puzzles often require you to manipulate the objects in the rooms available to you in order to retrieve a key or other item of interest required to progress. For example, there is an x-ray present in the hospital of an animal toy that appears to have a key inside it. In order to retrieve the key you are required to place fluffy toys in an x-ray machine to see if it contains a key inside. If it does, you then must place the cute animal toy in the incinerator and burn it to get the key needed to open the door to the next area. There are countless creative puzzles present throughout Little Nightmares 2, ones that require you to take note of your environment and work efficiently as possible. Even Six can lend a hand in puzzles, whether it by boosting you up to otherwise unreachable heights or activating a lever for you.  

A Dynamic Duo

Combat is also introduced in Little Nightmares 2 for some moments throughout the game. It starts off fun to begin with as it feels really satisfying to shatter the heads of the freaky mannequin children at the school, but the awkward and sluggish nature of the controls quickly leave the experience feeling largely frustrating and downright unenjoyable. If you miss your first attack (which you likely will), more often than not it will result in your death, which just doesn’t feel fair in a game where most deaths feel fair. I’m not against the idea of combat in a Little Nightmares game, but not if it feels as poor and undercooked as it does here. Overall though, combat mishaps aside, Little Nightmares 2 is a joy to play, with each level an unsettling but enjoyable playground to explore. If you stray off the beaten path you may even find the glitching remains collectibles or the hats that you can force Mono to wear.  

While combat was the only major issue I had with how the game played, I did have some issues throughout my playthrough in the form of visual bugs. Leaving one room and entering another would cause a weird issue where the screen awkwardly loads in the room as you walk into it. This was a consistent issue I had throughout the entirety of the game, an issue that would take me out of the experience a tad too often. Mono also occasionally appears to spasm out as if he’s clipping into something which also further breaks immersion. The odd item in the environment would also exhibit a similar sort of behavior. The problems I encountered weren’t major by any stretch, but it was a shame to have the gripping atmosphere of the experience hindered somewhat by these problems.

Turn Off the TV!

Little Nightmares 2 is a great game, but at the same time it’s a few hiccups short of being an amazing one. The combat segments are half baked and infuriating, and there are a few too many visual bugs that shatter the immersive experience that Tarsier Studios otherwise brilliantly craft. Despite its shortcomings, Little Nightmares 2 still offers up a chilling and engrossing journey that will hold your interest throughout, with gameplay that is simple but serviceable.

SCORE: 8/10

Pros:

• Chilling atmosphere
• Solid gameplay
• Brilliant aesthetic

Cons:

• Combat is frustrating and undercooked
• Occasional visual hiccups

Review code provided by the publisher. Played on PS4. You can read SP1st and MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.