The hero of this second part is called Mono, but do not count on the game to inform you of this detail since we are once again dealing with an adventure devoid of texts and dialogues. What could be considered a flaw elsewhere is rather a strength here, because this minimalism unquestionably serves the mood, scary and dark. The artistic direction is expressed through a grainy image, a limited color palette and rare lighting, just to never leave a moment of hope to the player. The soundtrack echoes these judicious aesthetic choices, since it mixes disturbing sound effects, guttural growls and simple but heady musical themes. As much to say it from the start, all that concerns the atmosphere is a frank success.
Creepy, the universe opposes children literally as high as three apples to giant and monstrous adults, who will not fail to devour them at the slightest opportunity. If we find there one of the characteristics of the first episode, the developers still wanted to broaden the spectrum of the second in terms of environments. While the initial adventure took place in a single place (a gigantic boat), we are now entitled to five different sets, which correspond to as many chapters. The first places us in a disturbing forest overflowing with traps and ends up making us meet a terrifying hunter, whose look rather evokes that of a serial killer. The second segment of the game takes place in a school, and the main antagonist then takes the form of a school teacher as severe as she is terrifying. Then comes the time to visit a hospital, obviously psychiatric, where you have to play hide and seek with a man in a straitjacket. The fourth chapter opposes us to inhabitants of buildings obsessed with their television as well as to a mysterious lanky man. As for the grand finale, we won't tell you anything about it so as not to spoil the surprise. Just know that it turns out to be relatively unexpected and extremely pleasant (while remaining sinister as you wish, of course).
DOUBLE SIX
We therefore see many more countries than in the first part, the passage from one place to another being generally the occasion for a few small puzzles or sequences of platforms taking place outdoors, under a magnificent driving rain. This is obviously a quality, but this is not the only interesting novelty. Most of the time, the Mono you control teams up with Six, the yellow raincoat heroine of the original adventure. The latter is autonomous, but its movements and actions never pose any problem. Indeed, the AI scripts always do their job properly. The little girl always hides when necessary, automatically helps us to operate certain mechanisms, places herself in places where she can give us the short ladder, and never betrays our presence with monstrous adults. This perfection does not make it too artificial, however, the developers having thought of a few details intended to humanize it. Thus, Mono can take her hand at any time to walk side by side, while she will not hesitate to protect her eyes if we point our flashlight in her direction. This luminous tool, which is mainly used in the hospital, is also part of the small new gameplay features, as is the remote control, which is assigned to the fourth chapter and allows televisions to be activated.
If the heart of the gameplay is divided between platforms, hide-and-seek games with gigantic adults, and small puzzles (with a predilection for the latter), the developers have nevertheless chosen to integrate a few moments a little more oriented towards the game. 'action. Two or three chases are therefore on the menu, as well as some fights where our young hero must find the right timing to bring down a hammer on his enemies. This diversifies the action a bit, but expect to repeat it several times each time because the controls lack precision. This defect inherited from the first episode goes hand in hand with a certain difficulty in judging the effects of depth, which will surely lead you more than once to accidentally fall into the void or to be caught by an enemy. This is not the only defect of the game which, if it has the merit of offering a lifespan twice as high as the first part, all the same leaves a taste of too little since it leads us to have the end of story after only six hours. To make the most of the adventure, it is still possible to unearth two types of "collectables" in the sets: hats that Mono can wear at any time, and ghostly silhouettes of children. Finally, the work of the Swedish Tarsier Studios once again suffers from being too close to Inside (which is developed by the Danish Playdead), whether in terms of universe, artistic direction, atmosphere or gameplay. The beginning of the game which places Mono in a forest is also irrefutable proof of this. However, Little Nightmare II has really progressed since the first episode and convinced us far more than its predecessor. Players who had already been enthusiastic in 2017 can therefore approach the new adventure with complete peace of mind!
