Developer: Tarsier Studios
Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PS4
Little Nightmares: The Hideaway DLC – Review
A few months ago, the first expansion of Little Nightmares was released. This started the story of the Runaway Kid and his escape of the Maw. The Depths have proven no real difficulty for our hero and the Granny was taken to a better place. Now the story takes us to the second part of the adventure namely The Hideaway
We all got really wet in the first chapter and what is a better place to warm up than the engine room. The Runaway Kid got captured at the end of the first DLC and luckily he manages to escape his prison in order to progress. He does so by falling down and ending somewhere in a forsaken place filled with little creatures called Nomes. For people who never heard of this entity, Nomes are tiny people with pointy hats that have a scared but playful nature. They discover our little hero and manage to wake him up. After recovering you set onwards to your journey. One of the first helpers manages to get away from us but there is a less fortunate person stuck in a crack in the door. As you want to repay your debt you free the little child from its precarious situation and when freed he cowers clutching his legs in fear. Time for a warm hug, from our time with Six we remember you could hug Nomes in order to give them some comfort. When doing so as the Runaway Kid this opens up a whole new world. Your newfound friends will aid you instead of running away and now you are welcomed to the whole puzzle concept of this DLC.
‘How to work with Nomes’, a book written by the famous author R.K. informs you all the fun things you can do with these inhabitants of the Maw. You can throw them at doors in order to open them or put them in higher places in order to move objects so you can reach them. The way the AI works is nicely done but since the script isn’t too perfect, making it slightly bugged, sometimes you might have to reload a previous checkpoint or get frustrated by the unresponsiveness or the computer’s lack of walking the right track.
In the dark corners of the engine room lurks an old familiar: the Janitor. We know that he does no harm but he will catch you if he spots you. A good mixture of puzzles and stealth made the challenging part of this expansion good but the various hiccups that are in the engine make it again very irritating. To give you two examples, in one part you must guide a glowing object trough a dark area while the Janitor is searching for you. Because he is always blocking the roads and easily detects you, even though he is blind, this part becomes a cat and mouse game. The other glitch is where you must activate a conveyor belt and use the momentum in order to cross a large pit. In some sessions the physics engine of the item had a little hiccup multiple times, making it almost impossible to complete (when compared with other times). We hope this part gets fixed or it gets a little larger margin of error for less experienced players.
The scenery of the engine room is one that creates a scary atmosphere at first, but gives you a calm warm feeling in the end. Time based this DLC is as long as its predecessor, a normal run will last you around 45 minutes to one hour depending on skill and how willingly the Nomes are.
Conclusion
The second DLC in the Season pass is another short little story following the Runaway Kid in his adventure in the Maw. While the first was cold, wet and blue, this one is warm, hot and red. This is a nice shift in contrast and a new way to experience the game with the addition of teamwork with the little pointed caps. However the small bugs make the few puzzles quite difficult but these new ones are much more fun to complete since they are less straightforward than those in the previous DLC.
No Comments