Little Nightmares Review | Fat And Old People Are Scary.

So, Little Nightmares has been out for a little while now and I didn’t hear much about it personally. I did however only hear good things. People claiming the game will bring out fears you never realized you had, bringing back the fear you once felt when you were a child.

So I finally got the game and jumped on in, as somebody who doesn’t scare easily I was hoping to really feel something I haven’t felt from a game since Silent Hill 2. I feeling of fear and dread that haunts me even when I stop playing the game. This review will be from somebody that doesn’t scare easily as previously stated and I will do my best to stay away from spoilers but the world thinks the fact you move from room to room could be a spoiler these days so be warned. If you want a completely and utterly spoiler free review… buy the game.

Now, the game starts out much like Limbo or last years Inside (Both fantastic games you should go pick up now by the way) and has you just kind of awaken. You aren’t shown who you are or how you got there. You then move your way through each area completing puzzles. It's a pretty standard platformer. The puzzles usually consist of working out how to trigger something or get somewhere without being caught by the enemies or just finding the right place to climb.

The gameplay itself isn't what will make this game worth remembering. The part of the game that makes it special is its atmosphere.

The way the game has been crafted is hauntingly beautiful, not just graphically, but the sound design and level design is equally incredible. The levels are not these grand areas your character stumbles into. Instead each area is something familiar, it's places like a kitchen or bedroom. The things you climb are things you recognize such as books or tables. The way this game tries to get you is with its ability to make you relate to what you see. It's trying to remind you of the childhood fears you had, reminding you that the dark can be scary, old people are skinny and boney and fat people are like towers that look like they'd crush you in an instant.

The sound design very much accompanies these things. There's an almost constant droning throughout the levels that'll keep you on edge and the sound effects sound like something ripped from a horror movie. The old people moving sounds like they're constantly cracking their bones and the fat people have disturbingly heavy breathing and sound as if they could collapse at any point and flatten you.

The game does suffer around the middle part of playthrough as it seems to slow down quite a bit and have you repeating the same kind of puzzles but then thankfully the second half of the game kicks it into 6th gear and is honestly what won me over. Without spoiling the game, the second half really sees your character becoming the deranged, greedy creature you've been avoiding and you see the true effects of somebody who hungers for something. A lot of these platformer such as Inside leave you with an ending that confuse more than conclude and Little Nightmares is no different. You'll finish the game unsure of what you've just experienced but just like Inside you'll be watching those credits with a grin on your face other the absurd things you've just played out.

So I've decided to give my reviews a instabuy, wait for a sale or kill it rating. And Little Nightmares is an instabuy. It's asking price is only £15.99 and I'd say it is 100% worth it. I haven't yet but I'd imagine with a second playthrough you may even be able to uncover some more of the story that's vaguely played out to you.