Little Nightmares 2: Early Build shenanigans impressions

This is an early build for Little Nightmares 2 that we’ve gotten our hands on thanks to Bandai Namco Entertainment, and it’s a bit of a doozy! The game itself will be coming out 11 February for all major consoles and PC, so not too long to wait for the rest of the world. You can check out the impressions of our previous demo here.

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THE STORY IN BRIEF

Once again, you will have Mono and Six in your hands. Wherever you go, there will be threats out to crush your small charges as you try to uncover the secrets behind this dreadful world you’ve found yourself in. The demo doesn’t reveal much about the story, which is understandable, and I’m sure they’d like to keep some surprises for the full release.

START RUNNING

If you’ve played the first game, or seen it played, the basic gameplay hasn’t changed too much. It’s still a side-scrolling game where you control Mono – instead of Six – exploring an oversized environment and working to overcome obstacles, dodge traps and most importantly, not die.

This time, Mono can be a little more proactive as you can use improvised weapons – a hammer, steel pipe, or even a ladle – to defend yourself against the small minions. You’re still out of luck for the bigger guys, which you’d more than likely stealth around. The smaller implements can also be used to disarm traps by tripping them up. Besides that, it has the feel from the previous title: some switches in perspective, and the blend of horror and puzzle-platforming.

Fortunately for you, Six will never be targetted by monsters, so your primary concern is just to get Mono to safety. Considering how difficult it can be for players to control even one character – myself especially, after the first demo – I’m sure this will be welcome for most. Also as previously demonstrated in the first demo, Six will be your partner who you can call over to help manipulate objects, mechanisms or platforming as you wander along hand in hand. There are times where she’ll also be able to nudge you in the direction of your next move, should you find yourself stumped.

CREEPING SHADOWS

The visual style of the game is kept intact, be it traversing the forest, hospital or creepy school. The forest is strewn with rotting corpses and tastefully placed body parts, Why are they there? Well, it’s for you to find out. Scattered, ownerless shoes lay strewn around animal cages. Suspiciously stuffed bags have flies buzzing around them, what could be in them? Go ahead, lore enthusiasts, it’s time to connect the dots. Also probably not for the faint hearted. But! Mono can have many hats he can wear! Balance, as it should be. You’ll have to work for some of those hats, since you’ll have to solve puzzles for them. Work hard for that spiffy headgear!

Enjoy much of what you’ve had before in Little Nightmares, with great use of light and sound to raise the tension and put you on edge. Try and guess what will give you a jumpscare and what will actually signal the arrival of some horrifying thing. Hurray.

Hold on to your hats and Six’s hand as you try to derive some moral support from her presence and your headgear as you bumble around to figure out your next objective. From what we have so far, the game feels quite well-paced. With the addition of new mechanics to freshen up the experience some, fans should definitely look forward to getting the game for themselves.

Little Nightmares 2 comes out on 11 February 2021 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It will also be coming for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, with free upgrades for those who own the current-gen versions.