I just started Little Nightmares. I threw this game on my wishlist the second I heard someone compare it to INSIDE, and then bought it on a sale at some point.
It’s not as good as INSIDE, but the comparison is deserved. It’s like that game in that it’s got minimal gameplay and focuses more on art, atmosphere, and delivering an experience. I don’t think that’s a bad thing; I’m actually a sucker for games like this. I loved Dear Esther, loved LIMBO and INSIDE (although LIMBO is one of those games that I love, but never want to play again… like Cave Story), and loved To The Moon. So I think games like this can be good.
The game has a good aesthetic, but for a horror game, it can’t seem to build any tension. I just finished the first two levels, and at no point did I feel the pressing need to get away from the monster. I was never tense or on edge sneaking around it or avoiding it.
On a positive/mixed note:
[spoiler]Your character periodically becomes ravenously hungry, and you have to eat something before you can proceed.
The first time, there’s a kid on the other side of some bars who throws you a piece of bread.
The second time, it happens in a room where there are some rats running around, and I found myself thinking, “oh, this is going to be rad if it makes you catch and eat one of the rats.” But no, there’s a piece of food in an open cage, and you go into the cage to eat it, at which point the monster catches you (surprising nobody, but I don’t think it’s really supposed to).
The third time, though, it again happens in a room with some rats, and there are mousetraps down. One of the rats gets caught in a trap and is in its death throes, and you go over and eat it alive.
So that’s cool and gruesome, and there’s a pretty good building, creepy soundtrack piece every time the hunger thing happens, but it’s a shame that I was able to predict eating the rat so easily.[/spoiler]
I’m not too thrilled with the game so far, but I get the feeling that it could build on me.
