Wow, this is seriously one of the greatest games I’ve played into a long time! Felt like a mix between Spirited Away and Coraline; except it was 10x more terrifying and had me on the edge of my seat in certain parts. This was brimming with atmosphere, and the art style was fantastic, and most importantly the world built in this game was ridiculously dark and one that can really be delved into it you look at theories online.

Overall this is one of the better games I’ve played in recent memory and was an experience I’ll never forget!

Since its earliest moments, Little Nightmares has led my thoughts back in time, down the narrow corridors, ever so familiar to me, of the manor of Gormenghast which Mervyn Peake imagined in the middle of the last century. Having in mind my undying love for that book, it could only mean I was in for a good experience.

Little Nightmares is designed as a side scroller platform which gives particular emphasis to realistic game physics: aspects such as gravity, objects weight, acceleration and velocity, all follow a logic that, as did Little Big Planet back on the PS3, add to an exceptionally 'playful' guise the feeling of being inside a miniature of the real world. The player is asked to walk, crouch, run, jump, move stuff around and solve puzzles, by resorting to all the aforementioned, in a setting which begins with single simple rooms and develops into more complex (but never excessively so) connected environments. As some old school horror games did (White Day and Haunting Grounds come to mind), it also adds mechanics such as escaping and hiding from invincible enemies. Combining these aspects with the realistic physics I mentioned, the game does great at building a genuine sense of tension behind every step taken or object grabbed, as it makes the player’s control feel less like pressing buttons and more like actually engaging in those actions.

Stylistically, for those unfamiliar with the Gormenghast novels, Little Nightmares is a bleak, gloomy, largely grotesque game, full of cramped locations, claustrophobic, grimy and dirty, dark or dimly lit. This should give the player a horrifying and disturbing atmosphere, yet the extremely bizarre way in which everything is portrayed emphasizes instead a world whose grotesque is synonymous with absurdity, not fright. This can be also implied by the characters, who present the most disparate physiognomy, comically deformed, oblong, enlarged, disproportionate and eerie, like cartoons that the unconscious mind of suggestible children re-elaborates and regurgitates in their sleep.

The story is conveyed mainly through visual narration and the interpretation the player gives to each small clue and detail in the environment. Despite possibly resulting in some blanks or unintelligible pieces in the plot, it is certainly the best method of narration when considering the medium: the player is not only a passive spectator of explanations or dialogues, he or she is not generally given a dot on the map to be reached for the next checkpoint, but instead there is active participation in the exploration that will provide details and clarity on the mystery and confusion that protagonist and player mutually feel.

Quite short on its own but prone to be expanded with some challenging achievements and DLC, Little Nightmares is definitely a recommended title for those who search a good (albeit not very challenging) platform game, a visually stunning and curious adventure and a bizarrely grotesque yet humorous narrative experience.

Little Nightmare es otro hijo de los "juegos ambientales", esos que su apartado artístico va por un lado y la interactividad por otro. El juego te dice que te pares a ver el diseño de escenarios y personajes pero también te dice que si corres sin mirar atrás te lo pasas todo a la primera. La ambientación es terrorífica y amenazante pero no hay riesgo real, los puzzles no son más que obstáculos inoportunos y los monstruos secuencias con unos patrones muy específicos. Lo que más se alaba es la imaginación de su mundo, y con eso estoy de acuerdo, los diseños son verdaderamente interesantes, pero nada de eso sirve o sirve poco si no viene acompañado con su gameplay. Hasta ahí sería todo, pero Little Nightmare en su afán de ser oscuro y encarnizado presenta en un mundo brutal a unos niños, siendo estos el elemento central, pero no hay nada infantil (en el buen sentido) en él. Little Nightmare te hace una alegoría (poco sutil) de los adultos alimentándose de los niños, pero también usa una referencia al holocausto como un nivel de "el suelo es lava". Little Nightmare tiene por tema principal el hambre, pero no tiene ni idea de que decir al respecto.

Played through again for the first time since launch, and for some reason I enjoyed it a lot more on this run.

Maybe I autopiloted my way through last time. But now I was suddenly noticing wee things, and putting theories together, and marvelling at how well it portrays scale.

I am fully on board for the sequel.

This has a spectacular art style and compelling atmosphere that carries it through its brief runtime. At times reminiscent of Spirited Away, it's a whimsical and unnerving experience where you control a small child who makes her way through a world of grotesque giants. While the puzzles are often a bit too simple, the world ambience is undeniable and keeps you on edge. I wish it were a bit more challenging and many of the situations feel like they're designed in a way where it's cool the first time around but not on repeat which makes failure due to imprecise controls frustrating. It has some wonderful sound design, though, and while the story doesn't add up to much, it's a fun, tense, ride that is a must for any horror fan.