Transmitting fear into a person's mind is not as simple as one might think. Whether it is a feeling or a primal instinct, experiencing it allows our body and mind to transcend their essence, short-circuiting every semblance of control.
Quindi, the creation of a video game like Little Nightmares, in which terror and unease reign supreme, must rely on a deep study of the human psyche and all those archetypes capable of instilling shivers, horror, and a sense of sensory fragility at multiple levels.
When I played it for the first time, I immediately noticed that the developers' work was nothing short of impeccable; the claustrophobic settings alternated with immense, cyclopean places that made our avatar, the mysterious and curious childlike figure in the yellow k-way, feel like a tiny presence in the vast and frightening macrocosm in which it lived.
The announcement of the third chapter in the series, which should also debut on Nintendo Switch during 2025 according to the rumors, has made fans of the gem from Tarsier Studios jump out of their seats, those who with Little Big Planet gave rise to a new phase of rediscovery of the platform genre with adventure elements thoughtfully and perfectly woven into the main story.
In this new title, orphaned by the Swedish studio that had previously declared its creative experience with the little nightmares closed with the second chapter, we will find the gameplay mechanics that we learned to love in the first and second games: the released trailer showed us the two protagonists struggling with platforms that are apparently not so stable, wobbly walkways from which it is possible, though not advisable, to cast a glance into an unfathomable void and horrifically cyclopean creatures ready to seize them and drag them into the darkness, to quote someone who knew a thing or two about monsters, dark cathedrals, and fantastic adventures.
Inutile to emphasize how the cooperative mode becomes essential for a title like this, centered on the narrative dynamics between the two available characters and the need to solve puzzles together, collaborating precisely to manage to get out of it and continue the adventure conceived by Supermassive Games.
Low and Alone, these are the revealed names of the two children, because that is what they seem to be despite the frightening masks they wear and conceal their features with, they find themselves in a place known as the Spiral, a sort of prison-world in which they will have to make their way, encountering enemies born from ever denser and darker shadows.
Personally, I have found in the game images and the few videos shown in these months a good adherence to the setting of the first two chapters: the protagonists appear mysterious and cryptic enough to generate interest around them and the story they carry with them; everything will depend on how the co-op gameplay is integrated and how much the game will manage to entertain by balancing puzzles and brainteasers with a solid story capable of standing on its own two feet, without the help of continual narrative "crutches" tied to the two previous successes.
La Necropolis in which we will begin to play, a crossroads of death and destruction, will instead be the place that opens wide to us a noteworthy adventure?
We will know when we have it in our hands; for now, let’s keep the chills down our spines and prepare to travel through the fears of our childhood.
Simon Larocca
My name is Simon Larocca, and I am a gamer, collector, and lover of pop culture in all its forms. I go to the cinema whenever I can, I have been reading since I started wearing glasses, so, basically forever, and I have a passion for storytelling in all its forms, so powerful that it became my profession. But as Doc from Ritorno al Futuro would say, there would be no present if one did not look at the past with respect and admiration, and it is the Simon child of more than thirty years ago, give or take a year, who is to thank for that.
Simon Larocca
My name is Simon Larocca, and I am a gamer, collector, and lover of pop culture in all its forms. I go to the cinema whenever I can, I have been reading since I started wearing glasses, so, basically forever, and I have a passion for storytelling in all its forms, so powerful that it became my profession. But as Doc from Ritorno al Futuro would say, there would be no present if one did not look at the past with respect and admiration, and it is the Simon child of more than thirty years ago, give or take a year, who is to thank for that.
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