4/5 ★ – Hill417's review of Little Nightmares Complete Edition.

If you were to throw a coin at a shelf of modern horror games, then nine times out of ten it’ll land on a title that overly relies on jump scares. But if your lucky it might just hit Little Nightmares, a game that relies on its grotesque monsters and harrowing imagery over the conventional scares. We take the role of a little girl in a raincoat named Six, and when I say little I mean it literally, she is probably around 8-12 inches tall. She must navigate her way around the depths of a ship called “the Maw” and avoid being captured by the mysterious freaks, if she is caught then she’ll be the next meal for the passengers. Who by the way are all monsters who don’t even resemble human beings and more like overweight blobs that only communicate in gargles and moans. That’s not all you also have a contorted blind man named the Janitor trying to trap you in a cage and twin chefs who do not look even remotely qualified to be in the kitchen. There aren’t a lot of scares per se, but instead there are high stake moments. You have to sneak under tables, hide in boxes or out run whatever freaks that chase you. With this setting and these monsters you are probably wondering what exactly happened to the world? Well tough luck because we never find out why all of the adults are freaks and the children are microscopic, but I’m weirdly ok with not knowing the truth. Whatever the answers I seek would not nearly be as scary as my imagination. Piecing together what happened in certain rooms is much more freighting then anything the developers could think of. We fall down into a room that’s filled with piles upon piles of children shoes. Or the cafeteria where if you look into the background it is molded like it belongs in a prison. How about the dark and empty day care. You’re given a glimpse into Six’s life on the ship, but not seeing the full picture and having to base your assumptions on what you see is way more frightening than any movie. Theres hardly any music which ironically helps reinforce the isolating atmosphere. Now every little noise I hear, wether it be in the background or a stool I was dragging, I was nervous about every little sound I heard and immediately rushed to solve the puzzle. Puzzles are pretty easy, just drag some objects to the other side of the room to reach new heights. Then there is finding a key to unlock doors. Everything is pretty straightforward. If you are looking to expand your playtime then you can seek out and destroy the statues, light up lanterns for checkpoints, or hug the nomes. Who knows, you might even find some more disturbing visuals. If you don’t have time to explore every nook and cranny (or maybe this is to scary for you) then there is a trophy that requires you to beat the game in under an hour with zero deaths. The “zero deaths” could be feasible… if it wasn’t for some of the narrow platforms. It’s not that they’re hard, but in the wider shots where the camera zooms out it is hard to keep your balance and you will fall off without even meaning to. That is my only complaint, well maybe there could have been another chapter, but Little Nightmares delivers a fantastic game that proves that big things still come in small packages.