“Immerse yourself in Little Nightmares, a dark whimsical tale that will confront you with your childhood fears as you help Six escape The Maw – a vast, mysterious vessel inhabited by corrupted souls looking for their next meal!”

https://www.bandainamcoent.com/games/little-nightmares

This story had me invested right away, and in an attempt to avoid spoilers, I’d like to tell you all about this brilliant Puzzle Platformer / survival horror game created by Bandai Namco.

You start the game as a yellow hooded child named Six in a world of The Maw. Right away, you’re introduced to some extremely detailed dark imagery. While learning the mechanics, it’s clear that the place you’ve awoken is a place you want to escape. Six is challenged with many puzzles that allows movement to the next area. Puzzles range from discovering to simply move chairs to jump from one place to another all the way to scarily outrunning vicious antagonists. Throughout the gameplay, you’re given pieces to Six’s story, and introduced to other interesting characters that appear to help you throughout. I was genuinely interested in the character development of Six, and cared deeply about how she fit in this scary place.

After completing Six’s story, you’ll want to play the supporting story as “The Runaway Kid”. This is a parallel story which has some direct cross-over. It feels like certain segments are directly interlaced with Six’s story. Almost like each character just missed each-other in scenes. His story is similar in the sense that he is trying to escape this place and has the same challenges to overcome. Amongst new enemies to escape from, you face the same major villains from Six’s story, only in different contexts. Do you escape? You’ll need to play to find out.

The music and sound effects during this game were haunting. I can honestly say that when I had headphones on, it was extremely intense. The Music, Sound effects AND controller vibration made for an emotional experience of each scene. The use of silence was enough give you chills. Playing this game with headphones is a must!

I have to admit, I know of kids that have played this game. It’s reviews seem to be from anyone 11yrs and up. Little Nightmares had difficult mechanics at times, and I find it surprising that younger kids were able to navigate all of these tasks. The story right-away starts with some horrific imagery and continues to hit you with emotional and graphic narratives. I’d be curious to hear what a younger kid truly took away from this story. Good and Bad. The challenges of a child in a scary world; something that most kids can empathize with, right?

Little Nightmares 2 is now available for pre-order, and I’ll be honest, the trailer gives me the same feels as it’s brilliant predecessor.