In My Littlest Nightmares (II)
Little Nightmares II is an experience that doesn’t end once the credits roll — it festers in your thoughts long after the screen goes dark, making you dig deep into your emotional well just as you would when interpreting art in a gallery. But it’s so much better than art that hangs on a wall, waiting to be loved and pondered over. Little Nightmares II is art you can play and submerge yourself in just a little more with each step.
(Speaking of steps, if you take one more, you may encounter spoilers. I’ll try to tiptoe around the big ones.)
This is one of the joyous occasions when a sequel (or prequel) lives up to the high hopes fans have built up. Since its release in November, it has been racking up the 9+/10 reviews, which is absolutely justified. If you were even remotely a fan of the first Little Nightmares (which was also a masterpiece) then LNII needs to be boosted up to the very top of your next-up playlist right this second.
Worldbuilding
Little Nightmares II is a dark yet beautiful landscape that builds off of the same style as the first game, but brought out into a full world. The world is twisted, sad, and frightening as both Six and Mono make their way toward the middle of the city, where a sinister tower is emitting a transmission that is warping every inch of the landscape as far as they can see. Mono emerges confused and disoriented in some woods that are clearly set up to capture any creatures (animal or man) that happen by in whatever baleful way necessary. While the scenery may change, this concept remains the same throughout the game. Even in the quiet, small, hopeful moments, there is an unsettling feeling that lies heavy atop you.
Our protagonist and deuteragonist
At the beginning of the game, Mono comes upon a shack housing a particularly aggressive taxidermist, and in the back room is an imprisoned, starving Six. Mono offers a hand in assistance and friendship, which Six considers before pushing it away and running. After all Six has been through, this is simply her way. Her self-preservation comes first no matter the cost and will likely always be a permanent character trait, which you will be forgiven for forgetting by the end of the game. Six can’t escape from the shack alone and has to learn how to work with another if she is going to survive, as long as the cooperation continues to benefit her.
This may be a harsh outlook on Six, but part of the pondering you will do after the game has concluded is asking yourself, “Why?” While there is no concrete answer to this lingering question, this is the primary thought that will continue to haunt you until you come to your own resolution about it (or the developers confirm the plot, which is unlikely). Is Six just ruthless? Did she see something in Mono that she wanted to try to stop? Was she, in her own way, trying to save him? The array of possible answers makes for an incredible storyline that allows the memory of LNII to last in the forefront of your mind long after the final scene.
The monsters
This was the strongest theme that really stuck with me in a very haunting way for weeks after I finished the game. This reflection was certainly stronger in the first Little Nightmares, but remains here nonetheless: After we as people go through so much, sometimes we become the monsters that we have spent our lives fighting so hard against, and sometimes the real monster doesn’t look like a monster at all… sometimes, it looks like a friend.
For a game that feeds off of our childhood nightmares, this is a terribly uncomfortable thought. Aside from the monsters within us, LNII really stepped it up a notch from the last game. The monsters are almost unfathomable to adults, frightening in a whimsical way. But this time, the monsters didn’t make us just feel afraid or angry, they genuinely made us feel sad. It’s hard to feel empathetic when something is trying to kill you, but the Viewers committing suicide, the Bullies whipped into submission, and the endlessly tragic origin of the Thin Man makes playing the game so heartbreaking you wonder if you should even try to survive.
The mechanics
The mechanics are incredibly easy to learn, even if you pick up the game from someone else in the middle of their playthrough. You will be immersed almost instantly. The first seven-eighths of the game, you will feel a little frustrated, wondering why they didn’t make this a multiplayer experience — but by the end, you know… you know. Regardless of major spoilers I’m trying to avoid, I feel like there still could have been some way to make that a reality. Even in Super Mario Odyssey, your hat (and player 2) is taken away, so surely LNII could have figured it out.
But even watching from the sidelines is like witnessing something better than a movie. I truly can’t complain much about the exclusion of a multiplayer mode because being able to sit back and just soak it all in felt like a privilege.
In the end
Little Nightmares II truly is a playable work of art. It’s dark and addictive in all of the best ways. Each encounter you have makes you reflect on more than just yourself and your own survival. It leaves a lasting impression that stretches beyond the fun gameplay. Whether you played the first game or not, whether this is “your type of game” or not, I highly recommend giving it a try and I can damn near guarantee that you won’t leave disappointed; heartbroken, yes, but disappointed, absolutely not.
Sound off in the comments and let me know what your interpretation of the ending is and what struck you the hardest in your playthrough.
Now go get!
