Little Nightmares is a disturbing, fascinating horror gem

True horror is something that reaches down into your gut, and awakens the primal fear whose sole language can be summed up in two words: “Run. Hide.”

There’s a lot of running and hiding in Tarsier Studios’ little gem of a horror game. But “Little Nightmares” – a puzzle-platformer with generous helpings of stealth thrown in – is also a harrowing tale of survival, of the battles we wage as our inherent purity struggles against tides of greed and corruption.

At least that’s my take on it. “Little Nightmares” contents itself with dropping hints about its universe, while maintaining a thick air of obscurity throughout its brief yet compelling adventure. This absolutely works in the game’s favor. It’s the unknown, after all, that draws you in, and the tantalizing darkness that keeps you from ever leaving.





In the belly of the beast

In “Little Nightmares,” you play a tiny, nine-year-old girl named Six, who’s trapped – cold, hungry, and alone – in a gargantuan sea vessel known as The Maw.

As if that wasn’t distressing enough, the denizens of The Maw aren’t exactly what you’d call hospitable. At first you’d think they simply take pleasure in random acts of cruelty. But then, as one dank, shadowy hallway leads to another, and the many rooms yield their macabre contents, you’ll realize there’s a purpose to their madness. That they’re all cogs in one, giant, nightmarish machine.

Unraveling the secrets of The Maw is the impetus that’ll keep you moving forward. There’s history here – in the vessel’s silent nurseries, bloodstained kitchens, chambers littered with discarded personal effects, and repositories piled high with bundles shaped suspiciously like human bodies. So, as horrible as The Maw is, it is also exquisitely fascinating.

It helps that “Little Nightmares” looks astounding, from the way the meager flame of your lighter casts flickering shadows on the damp walls, to the detailed textures that breathe life to The Maw’s filthy environments. This combination of surroundings pregnant with story and beautifully ghastly visuals cultivates an atmosphere that is as disturbing as it is surreal.

Designed with all the horror but none of the cuddliness of Tim Burton’s creatures, the grotesque “Little Nightmares” villains are all kinds of creepy and gruesome. They are also animated fantastically. In their pursuit of Six, you’ll feel the Twin Chefs’ bloodcurdling single-mindedness in every lumbering step, and the Janitor’s determination as his abnormally long arms grope blindly in the dark. Few video game bad guys are this unnerving.

The sound design is just as wonderful. Music is sparse, but when it’s there, it effectively conveys the loneliness of your situation, or heightens the suspense of your most desperate moments.





Hide and seek

Gameplay-wise, “Little Nightmares” is on the uncomplicated side. You can creep, walk, run, and jump. You can clamber up walls and ledges; dangle and swing from ropes; manipulate buttons and levers; and push, pull, and throw objects. You can also flick your lighter on for much-needed illumination, or off if you want to avoid the scrutiny of those hunting you.

All these actions are used to navigate The Maw’s many environments, as well as solve its various puzzles.

While most puzzles are fun and well-designed, none of them will make you exclaim, “That was sheer genius!” For instance, one will task you with figuring out how to reach a door knob above you (the solution is to drag a chair next to the door). Many will have you scouring rooms for keys, then bringing said keys to locks while dodging nasties along the way. One of the more interesting puzzles has you creating a rope out of meat, which you then use to swing to an otherwise out-of-reach vent.

Some puzzles are far more challenging, but only because of the presence of enemies, who will kill you should you fail to act quickly or make the wrong move. Sadly, these ultimately degenerate into frustrating trial-and-error sessions.

“Little Nightmares” also has plenty of one-hit deaths, a small number of which will force you to retread entire segments. A genuine nuisance.

While the camera only ever moves horizontally or vertically, “Little Nightmares” is not a true 2D sidescroller like “Limbo” or the original “Super Mario Bros.” You have full access to the Z-axis in “Little Nightmares” – sometimes to the game’s detriment. You see, “Little Nightmares” has a few platforming sequences that can only be survived with precision. Unfortunately, the camera angle can occasionally make such precision difficult to achieve. For example, it can be challenging to gauge where you’ll land after leaping over a gap, which can result in you plummeting to your death. It’s also easy to accidentally walk off the edge of a slim plank by accidentally nudging the controller in the wrong direction.





It’s the stealth sections where “Little Nightmares” is at its most intense. While the enemies are dimwitted and will lose interest in you once you’ve vanished into the shadows, they have keen senses, and will relentlessly chase you once they’ve caught sight of you.

Everything from your footsteps to an object carelessly knocked off a shelf will alert them to your presence. One of them can even pinpoint your location by simply sniffing you out, so sneaking past him won’t work if you wander too close to him. Sure, you can hide – underneath furniture, in crates, in vents, and the like – but safety is only temporary, and all it takes to get nabbed and end up in a steaming pot is a single mistake. The persistent dread born of the knowledge that death is but seconds away is key to the horror of “Little Nightmares.”

The suspense can become so acute that the reward for outwitting the enemy is an immense sense of satisfaction and relief.

“Little Nightmares” becomes more stealth and action-oriented as Six’s journey progresses. As your foes become more vicious, the threats become more immediate, the terrors more desperate, and your experiences more frantic.

It’s too bad the game is so short. Your first playthrough – complete with all your bungled attempts at stealth and puzzle-solving – will likely last you between four and five hours. Any subsequent perfect playthrough of “Little Nightmares,” however, will only provide around two hours of play.





A nightmare you won’t want to wake up from

All the aspects of “Little Nightmares’ ” horror – from its spectacularly grim visuals and sound, to its consistently ominous atmosphere, to its frightening monsters and their lethal games of cat and mouse, to The Maw and all its terrifying secrets – come together to create a singularly disturbing experience that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.

Sure, the puzzles could have used more depth and ingenuity, and the platforming could have been more refined. But as a whole, “Little Nightmares” is far too special to pass up. This is a game universe that deserves expansion. I, for one, can’t wait for more, whether that comes in the form of sequels or DLC. — TJD, GMA News


Rating – 8.5/10
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows