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Little Nightmares II |OT| One maw time

Orta

Banned
In fairness it probably won't be as bad on a second playthrough, knowing what is coming but it has left a sour taste so far.
 

Arachnid

Member
Combat is completely shit. Your attacks are slow and controls are janky and you are attacked by fast, nimble things.

I'm at the part in the hospital where you are attacked by waves of those "hands" and after 30 tries i just stopped playing. You just have to hope your attacks land where you want them and you have to do it correctly several times in a row. Which requires luck and a lot of patience re-doing it again and again, two things i don't have.
Eh, the hands aren't bad. You just anticipate their lunge and hit where they land before they can dodge. Super easy IMO. Also, didn't we only have to fight like 3 of them that entire level (that first solo one and that second duo one that spawned the second when the first was almost dead)?

The kids at the school, on the other hand, made me want to pull my hair out. Chapter 2 was the only part that was really annoying about trial and error. Little bastards.

That said, I'm enjoying it so far. It's more of the first but slightly more disturbing. I also really like Mono. He's oozes personality. I think I'm starting to prefer him to Six.
 
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The only negative for me is the combat , if you don't swing perfectly your dead , everything else is great , the style , the graphics, the sound , my score is 9.5 out of 10
 

Orta

Banned
So I gave it a second playthrough, much improved. Trial & error is hugely cut down this time round, its beautifully grim too. Far more gloomy than the original which had a more innocent albeit macabre charm. Highlights for me were the eerie outdoor/rooftop sections and Doctor level/boss battle, obviously the devs are fans of the Exorcist 3 (not to mention Poltergeist, Day of the Dead, etc), though the headmistress runs the doc close, what a creepy unsettling old bitch! Combat I didn't find bad at all. There is a second or two window of opportunity before enemy attacks so positioning yourself to counter I thought was quite straightforward. Really relieved that it has come good for me, only negatives are the final level which was a bit tedious/generic (the purple door puzzle and final escape) and the overall short length of the game. I reckon it could be done in under three hours so I'd be wary of buying it at full price. I got my steam key @ Gamebillet for €21.

Six is an intriguing protagonist. Hopefully we'll find out a lot more about her if we get LN3

*this scene btw, fucking weird wasn't it?

20210214011437-1.jpg
 
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Arachnid

Member
Holy shit, the ending to this game was fantastic. Not enough horror games nail the ending like that. The only other horror games that come to mind with amazing endings are Silent Hill 2 (the champ by a large margin) and Soma (and the first Last of Us if you count it as a horror game; I wouldn't argue with you if you didn't).

Legit gut punch. I love existential fuckery like that. Similar feeling to the end of Soma for me.

A lot of people online are slamming Six for her choice there. It's deserved. She sucks. That said, I get her reasoning. Mono just had to keep fucking with the TVs, didn't he? How many times did she pull him out before he reached the end? Four times? After all that, she's the one who gets caught and taken by the Thin Man. Then she gets trapped in some fucked up dimension for 20-30 years, and she grows up into some deformed creature that looks like the Janitor.

Mono released her from the gardeners basement and pulled her away from her music box (presumably her happy place since she manifested it in the other dimension she was trapped in), only to get her stuck in a worse (but similar) position with an interdimensional entity that corrupted and deformed her for decades. Mono was well meaning, but he added nothing but pain to her life. Her dropping him and leaving him trapped to become the Thin Man still has an element of spite to it since she could have just ditched him when they escaped, but I can get her being pissed about the decades of whatever she went through because of him. She also just needed to separate from him since she was better off on her own. She came off as more physically capable for a lot of the game. She ran faster, she jumped higher/farther, and she was able to take out the bully with her bear hands. IMO she viewed Mono as dead weight. Her leaving him was a mix of that and spite for the situation he got her in.

That said, I'm still Team Mono. He was a great protagonist. Kid just oozed personality, and he came off as adventurous (which was a fun foil to Six's more survival focused nature). Still, I get why his kind of personality isn't really ideal in this universe.

I wish this game was a little bit longer, but for 30 dollars? 6 hours is ok. The story/ending were fantastic, as were the scares, puzzles, and level design. This was even better than the first game with it's DLC IMO. Solid 9/10 indy game for me
 
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sometimes i would lose control of the character , i would go right and he kept going up , it made me fail a few time , anyone else had that problem ? or is it my controller?
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I liked it a lot. I thought it was better than the first. The settings this time around were much better and felt more expansive and gave a greater sense of scale to the game.

My biggest issues were.

The part where you need the flashlight to freeze the pursuers. The controls on moving the flashlight were kinda loose and wonky for me. It was hard to aim it given the POV. Also the door mazes at the end were pretty much pure trial and error. I don't like that. At least give a clever reason to pick which doors. I agree the attacking with melee stuff was oddly timed, but I still had a much better time with that than the damn flaslight. That one part where you need to move through what looked like a mess hall or something where all those bodies converge on you at once I died like 10 times because I couldn't aim the damn flashlight properly. I'd say 90% of my deaths in the game were that area.
 

Arachnid

Member
I liked it a lot. I thought it was better than the first. The settings this time around were much better and felt more expansive and gave a greater sense of scale to the game.

My biggest issues were.

The part where you need the flashlight to freeze the pursuers. The controls on moving the flashlight were kinda loose and wonky for me. It was hard to aim it given the POV. Also the door mazes at the end were pretty much pure trial and error. I don't like that. At least give a clever reason to pick which doors. I agree the attacking with melee stuff was oddly timed, but I still had a much better time with that than the damn flaslight. That one part where you need to move through what looked like a mess hall or something where all those bodies converge on you at once I died like 10 times because I couldn't aim the damn flashlight properly. I'd say 90% of my deaths in the game were that area.
The ending with the doors isn't random. Only one of the doors has music playing through it. You follow the sounds of the music box and they lead you to Six. That section is pretty short once you realize that.

Agreed about attacking with the melee weapon. Bullshit. That was where all my deaths were (specifically, the bullies; the hands were easy to anticipate). I didn't really have any problems with the mannequins or flashlight though. Controlling that felt pretty intuitive to me. Especially once I realized they couldn't even move as long as you kept the light on a swivel and kept flashing them all as you walked. Double points if you just grouped them up and kept them all frozen together as you walked. I didn't end up dying there once (unlike the bullies who made me want to pull my hair out).
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
The ending with the doors isn't random. Only one of the doors has music playing through it. You follow the sounds of the music box and they lead you to Six. That section is pretty short once you realize that.

Agreed about attacking with the melee weapon. Bullshit. That was where all my deaths were (specifically, the bullies; the hands were easy to anticipate). I didn't really have any problems with the mannequins or flashlight though. Controlling that felt pretty intuitive to me. Especially once I realized they couldn't even move as long as you kept the light on a swivel and kept flashing them all as you walked. Double points if you just grouped them up and kept them all frozen together as you walked. I didn't end up dying there once (unlike the bullies who made me want to pull my hair out).
maybe that’s why I missed the music thing, I play with the volume down and listen to podcast while I game. 😂
 
I don't get the trial and error complaints. Isn't that the point? Anything else in a game like this would just be going through the motions. Gamers really dislike being challenged in anything but dark souls.
 
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nkarafo

Member
I don't get the trial and error complaints. Isn't that the point? Anything else in a game like this would just be going through the motions. Gamers really dislike being challenged in anything but dark souls.
Dying from something you had no way to anticipate isn't challenging. It's just... there.
 

Orta

Banned
This doesn't sound too promising....


Tarsier parent company Embracer Group revealed its Q3 earnings today, including a section on the Swedish studio. "After the quarter Tarsier studios game Little Nightmares 2 was published [by Bandai Namco] and was well received by its audience," reads the earnings report. "Tarsier studios will, from now on, focus on creating new IPs."

In a webcast to accompany the earnings, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors went into more detail. "I'm super-thrilled, and I spoke to the CEO of Tarsier the other day, and congratulated him [on] the critical success of Little Nightmares 2. It's an IP they created, but it's owned by Bandai Namco and published by Bandai Namco, so it doesn't really have any significant commercial impact for us, even though if it does really well it could have some royalty revenues over time.
 

Orpheum

Member
Finished it.

Overall it's great and answers a lot of story related questions from the first game and it ties in perfectly.
Atmosphere is top notch, puzzles are cool

The controls are sometimes really clunky though just like the first game but checkpoints are drastically improved.

you should buy it.

For such a small game it has a long, unskippable credits sequence. Goes on forever.

You can accelerate it with your right analog stick...or left...i don't remember
 
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VGEsoterica

Member
I know the debate of "are games Art" is always a thing but it seems like it's mostly been settled in the favor of games. Not sure how many people would consider them a Fine Art but all things considered...

If there was ever a game series, or one game in particular that put a major emphasis on "games as Fine Art"...it's Little Nightmares II. I fell in love with the series when I played the first game and had II pre-ordered the day it became available...so to say I was excited for this release would be an understatement.

Even with all the hype I'd built up in my head Little Nightmares II still managed to meet and EXCEED them. It's quickly shot up my mental "best games of all time list" and is biting at the heels of Grim Fandango.

Everything about the world Tarsier Studios has created is downright incredible. The visuals are hauntingly beautiful in how serene yet chaotic they appear and feel. Even in the moments where you are running for your life you can't help but want to stop and look at the environments and catch little details that really help in the world building of the Pale City.

In some ways the game feels like playing in a surrealist painting. Like Salvador Dali and M.C. Escher created a world for a video game to inhabit. Between the use of scale, perspective, impossible spaces and color I don't think I've been this impressed by a games art design in a while.

Throw in some light puzzle solving and chase gameplay...and wow..just wow is this game F'ing good!

Curious who has played yet? or what game settled the "are games art" debate for you personally?
 

Arachnid

Member
Agreed. It's criminal how under the radar this game is going. It's one of the few horror games I've played to truly nail the ending (SH2 is the king by a margin, and SOMA also comes to mind). They outdid the first game comfortably.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
Actually im looking the first and this game this week.

I feel it so depressing. So i have to take a little time to play it.
 

VGEsoterica

Member
Agreed. It's criminal how under the radar this game is going. It's one of the few horror games I've played to truly nail the ending (SH2 is the king by a margin, and SOMA also comes to mind). They outdid the first game comfortably.

SOMA had an amazing ending for sure. Without spoiling anything I DID NOT see that coming
 

PSYGN

Member
I bought the first game and no one knew of it then, but now my coworkers discussed the second game the other day so I'm happy that this series is getting the exposure it deserves.
 

nkarafo

Member
I was expecting to see more.

The game is very short. But that's not the issue. For me the issue (besides the trial and error gameplay) is that, while this game is mostly a "sightseeing simulator", there aren't many things to see.

Many areas are empty hallways. And the rooms that do have something in them are usually not very varied. Each chapter has it's own theme, sure, but all rooms in each chapter look the same. And there aren't many chapters to see.

The last chapter in particular only has one decorative "weird" object. That is repeated a few times in a few rooms and that's it. The rest of it is just empty. The first chapter is mostly empty outdoor areas with trees and grass. Nothing interesting to see.

It's like they didn't have the time/budget to create a lot of different looking rooms with many different assets. Since the game is so short, i was expecting it to look more "dense" if that makes any sense.
 
The game is very short. But that's not the issue. For me the issue (besides the trial and error gameplay) is that, while this game is mostly a "sightseeing simulator", there aren't many things to see.

What bothers me a little bit about this is how the game sometimes feels like it's wasting your time. You'll walk into an area where you'll see objects lying around that you can interact with, or things in the environment you do something with, like opening a locker, only to then find out that there's no point to any of it and you should've just kept going.

Not a huge issue, but still...
 
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Arachnid

Member

RIP Little Nightmares. The devs are done with the series. The publisher wants to make more but we'll see.
So the writer of the games actually said Bandai-Namco has a 250 page document detailing the lore and characters, and background of everything on the series. So they could just make a new game and tie it together neatly. But also I think Tarsier lost a couple of devs and they made a new studio called Section9 and they seem to be working on a scifi metrovania with aesthetics similar to LN2 - https://twitter.com/section9int
 

Orta

Banned
So the writer of the games actually said Bandai-Namco has a 250 page document detailing the lore and characters, and background of everything on the series. So they could just make a new game and tie it together neatly.

Would you have a link to that please?
 

Orta

Banned
Well that's reassuring. Hopefully Bandai will have an internal team that can do the content justice.
 
Well that's reassuring. Hopefully Bandai will have an internal team that can do the content justice.
Kinda wonder if the devs are regretting this move. The IP is really talked about after that ending. Never seen such a bone headed move ever from a dev team. Bandai seems to have let them do whatever they wanted with the IP. so whats the issue here ?
 

Orta

Banned
Here's a cool little toy for those of you unaware, the Unreal Engine 4 Unlocker. It basically gives you a free cam mode in LN2. You can't play the game whilst you are operating it, rather you can just explore and capture the environments that are otherwise locked to fixed perspective.

https://framedsc.github.io/GeneralGuides/universal_ue4_consoleunlocker.htm

Bring up the console in-game and type toggledebugcamera and off you go.

Few examples....

20210225201428-1.jpg
20210226225045-1.jpg


20210227122041-1.jpg
20210227212704-1.jpg


20210227214120-1.jpg
20210227215723-1.jpg
 
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Here's a cool little toy for those of you unaware, the Unreal Engine 4 Unlocker. It basically gives you a free cam mode in LN2. You can't play the game whilst you are operating it, rather you can just explore and capture the environments that are otherwise locked to fixed perspective.

https://framedsc.github.io/GeneralGuides/universal_ue4_consoleunlocker.htm

Bring up the console in-game and type toggledebugcamera and off you go.

Few examples....

20210225201428-1.jpg
20210226225045-1.jpg


20210227122041-1.jpg
20210227212704-1.jpg


20210227214120-1.jpg
20210227215723-1.jpg
i wish it could be done on Ps4 , i would have so much fun with that
 

CitizenZ

Banned
Funny how many people saying trial and error when that was the reason i found the original just ok while it received these glorious reviews. I made a comment about this fact on a YT video and was roasted by numerous people. I thought the GP design was terrible and making you constantly repeat was amateur. 10/10 for design and atmosphere but gameplay devs, gameplay is what matters.
 
Funny how many people saying trial and error when that was the reason i found the original just ok while it received these glorious reviews. I made a comment about this fact on a YT video and was roasted by numerous people. I thought the GP design was terrible and making you constantly repeat was amateur. 10/10 for design and atmosphere but gameplay devs, gameplay is what matters.
i kinda have to agree .
 

Orta

Banned
Looks like LN3 is possibly in the works....


  1. Home
  2. Worldwide Brand Manager –Little Nightmares
    • 15 rue Félix Mangini - 69009 LYON​
    • Ref: 03112021/EU/CORPO​
    • Publication date: 03/11/2021​

As a Worldwide Brand Manager within our Content Creation & Publishing Team, you will work on our headline IP: Little Nightmares in all of its incarnations: games, merch, transmedia etc.

You are in charge of defining and carrying out the brand identity of this license to continue to increase it success 7 million units sold to date.​
 

Alan Wake

Member
Funny how many people saying trial and error when that was the reason i found the original just ok while it received these glorious reviews. I made a comment about this fact on a YT video and was roasted by numerous people. I thought the GP design was terrible and making you constantly repeat was amateur. 10/10 for design and atmosphere but gameplay devs, gameplay is what matters.
Yep, both games have the same issue here.
 

Ryuji Goda

Member
I'm playing through it right now. I'm at the part with the dolls walking towards you if you don't shine your flashlight towards them. But holy shit, the trial and error is insane in this game. It really sours me on the game. I love the atmosphere and messed up designs of the enemies but the part where you play. I'm not sure.

It sucks because I really want to love this game. In some parts it reminds me of Inside, but Inside is much better.
 
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