The fear of the unknown is famously the oldest and strongest emotion of all, so if the goal is to make a horror game, why directly present a plot? It may sound like a nonsequitur, but a plot contextualizes everything a player does, making the horrifying unknowns of their situation much more plainly understandable. Without getting a story explained in this way, players are left guessing and can’t take anything for granted, and this “show don’t tell” approach is what Little Nightmares uses to establish its world. All that players know in the beginning is that they’re a kid in a raincoat, but even that much isn’t guaranteed with how far out the camera is in cinematic platformers like these. That sort of distance is great at pulling the background into the foreground of the player’s mind, highlighting the details that constitute the bulk of the storytelling. It’s soundly constructed in theory, but this only contributes to the quality of the presentation, not of the plot itself. This is where Little Nightmares falters, in the actual narrative being presented through its wordless surreality. If a story is going to be told in such a way, it would be best to think of it like a picture book, where everything the player needs to know can be reasonably learned from key images, but this is where that theory of effective horror becomes difficult. On one hand, keeping these grounding details sparse can help preserve the mystery, but a lack of context can also lead to detachment, and of only understanding events in abstract. There’s a balance to strike, where enough should be given to where the stakes are understood, but the rest should be left in speculative shadow. The hallmark of effective surreality is confronting the audience with a sort of Socratic paradox, instilling the knowledge of how little they know and of all the horrific implications that may entail, not just leaving people confused or unfulfilled. Unfortunately, that's a balance the game wasn't able to strike, and confusion was my main takeaway in spite of the imaginative imagery and promising design concept. It’s unique enough to where I wouldn’t dissuade people from trying it, but it’s hard to recommend a game that’s only good in theory.