Compelling horror adventure Little Nightmares has crept onto the Nintendo Switch console, in the form of a ‘Complete Edition’. It’s one of the more disturbing games you’ll ever play on one of Nintendo’s consoles, that’s for sure.
We hate the incredibly lazy reviewer habit of saying that ‘new product is like older product mixed with older product two, but it’s been a long day and frankly we’re in a lazy kind of mood. So Little Nightmares is like the sickening offspring produced by a twisted liaison between Silent Hill and Limbo. This creative, pitch black adventure could have come straight from the mind of Tim Burton, except that it’s just a little bit too dark. Seriously, this game is the most harrowing experience we’ve had in forever (since that time we accidentally drove through Wolverhampton). Which makes it all the more hilarious that it’s now available on a Nintendo console.
Don’t think for a moment that we dislike Little Nightmares, however. As horror fans, we lapped up the oppressive atmosphere and grim presentation. We simply needed to take a long shower and enjoy a Care Bears marathon afterwards, to cleanse our souls.
A sphincter-clenching adventure
Gameplay is similar to Limbo in many respects (hence that previous analogy). Your objective is to guide a silent protagonist through many horrifying locations, avoiding threats as you have no real way of fighting back. You’ll need to overcome simple puzzles and master some carefully-timed platformy bits to progress. And chances are, before the final credits roll, you’ll die over and over and over again.
Enemies come in many forms. At the beginning of the game you’ll mostly be avoiding flesh-chomping wormy things, which reminded us of the brain suckers from – you guessed it – Limbo. However, as you progress, you’ll encounter far worse. Oh my god, some of the beasties in here will have you browning your trousers the first time you spy them. That’s the Silent Hill element right there. Some truly terrifying creatures and set pieces are stashed away in Little Nightmares’ menagerie, and they’ll haunt your dreams for sure.
Those puzzles are simple enough to figure out, and certainly not on a par with Limbo’s brainteasers. However, we still found ourselves gripped by the game until the bitter end. And this Switch edition comes stacked with DLC, so you can relive your encounters with those terrifying beasts from a whole new perspective.
The presentation is what really sets Little Nightmares apart from rival titles. Stalking through dark, deserted rooms with nothing but a tiny light to guide your way is unsettling at best, horrifying at worst. And if you want to pick up an object and carry it somewhere, you’ll need to extinguish that light. Oh, god, no.
You can grab Little Nightmares right now on Nintendo Switch.
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