Developer: Tarsier Studios
Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
Platform: Switch
Tested on: Switch
Little Nightmares Complete Edition – Review
Another week went by, and another port has been released for the Switch. The latter seems to be the fancy thing to do, to thicken Nintendo’s latest system’s library with recent and fairly relevant titles. This time Little Nightmares receives the Switch treatment with their new ‘Complete Edition’, which is pretty much the base game, with the DLCs included. We were once again intrigued with the adventures of Six and the ‘Kid’.
Story
Truth be told, you will have barely any clue on what is going on in Little Nightmares, both the base game as well as the DLC. You’ll be dropped in an eerie setting known as The Maw, which seems to be a boat of some sort, as it keeps rocking about, shifting items in many different rooms. You’ll be playing as Six or the ‘Kid’, who both want to get out of the creepy setting as fast as possible but sadly many things will prevent you to do so. You can only depend on yourself in this scary world, and you go about your business, trying to avoid the mean – giant – monsters who seem to be out for you, as you seem to be something like a snack to them. There is no real story content to be found, safe for the deductions you make for yourself.
Graphics
Graphically Little Nightmares leaves us with mixed emotions, as a lot of assets are reused throughout the game, which sometimes makes it look a bit more stale than it truly is. Eventually you’ll find the beauty of the game behind its very dark appearance when looking at the lugubrious characters, the somewhat diverse setting, the lighting and the overall grim atmosphere. We noticed that the game doesn’t really have any frame issues on the Switch, but the loading times are a bit on the extremely long side for a game that doesn’t have top notch graphics, and not that many big sceneries to actually process.
Sound
The game solely drives off its atmosphere, with a few extra sounds in the background. You’ll be treated to many soulless footsteps, the screams of monsters out to get you, the moving objects, the crackles of electricity and truth be told, not much else, which is actually a good thing for a game such as this. When a game has such a ‘void’ surrounding it, it enhances the dark atmosphere and does wonders for how a player can be emerged in the experience.
Gameplay
Little Nightmares is a puzzle platformer, with some stealth elements and a certain dark survivor vibe. You’ll be dropped in a grim surrounding without any explanation, and it’s up to you to figure out what the hell is going on, and more importantly to get out with your skin intact. You’ll come across many small puzzles, creepy crawlers and big dirty looking monsters. As mentioned in the introduction, you’ll not only play with Six, but also with the Kid who stars in the DLC chapters. Those who already played the original game, will find it nice that you can immediately boot up the DLC chapters and start from there, if you wish to complete the journey that is Little Nightmares.
Puzzles in Little Nightmares are pretty straightforward, but some do test your gray matter, making sure the game doesn’t become too easy. The game itself makes it so that there are no difficulty options, making it manageable for every type of player to wade through the game from start to finish, in several hours, with the DLC portions included. There are a few stealth segments as well, which are sometimes trickier than you’d like, or think. Nonetheless, the gameplay is varied enough, the puzzles remain fairly entertaining, and the parts in which you have to run away do get your blood pumping just enough to keep you on edge. Overall there’s a decent balance in the gameplay department, making sure that things never really get dull.
The format of the DLC chapters is not that much different than the main game, but the developers tried to spice things up with adding a few trickier puzzles and new mechanics to the equation, to make these extra chapters something more than just lengthening the base game. If you like the content of the adventure with Six, you’ll certainly like the added content, even with the somewhat different feel this content brings.
Conclusion
It’s very understandable that Little Nightmares made its way to the Nintendo Switch, as it certainly is a great atmospheric puzzle platformer, and it holds the key for several hours of fun, but it would have been more attractive had it come at a slightly cheaper price. Nonetheless, if you were on the fence for this title, or simply didn’t want to play it on another platform, now is the time to pick up this great game. Fans of platformers with a dark twist will certainly love the appeal of this one.
Little Nightmares Complete Edition - Review,
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