Every once in a while, a game comes out of nowhere and completely blows you away. I can't even remember how I heard about Little Nightmares, but it very quickly shot up the ranks of favorite games of 2017. It has all of the ingredients necessary for being an indie darling, and it lives up to the standards established by other, similar horror/platformers like Limbo or Inside.
In fact, it is almost impossible to discuss Little Nightmares without comparing it to Inside. There are many noticeable similarities between the two. Both are ultimately side-scrolling, horror, puzzle platforms that are mechanically simple, yet shockingly challenging. You will fail a fair amount. Both also rely heavily on background and world design to convey a dark, discomforting environment. What either game is actually about is open to interpretation, but there is no shortage of environmental design elements that push a disquieting atmosphere. If the world in Inside is mysterious and subtle, however, the world of Little Nightmares is a bit more upfront. Creepy humanoids giving chase are replaced by disfigured and disgusting beings that are only slightly human.
What Little Nightmares has going for it is a bit more cohesion in its art style and tone of adventure. Most impressive is the effectiveness of an almost claymation-like look to both the characters and their movement. It almost feels as if you are playing in a darker, somehow stranger Tim Burton movie. It's astounding how such a style can create so many terrifying and discomforting creatures and moments. Not only does it give the game a unique visual element that separates it from so many other games; it goes a long way to making players feel anxious.
A key difference from comparable games (like the aforementioned Limbo or Inside) is that it uses the foreground and background, whereas those other games have you move only left and right. The end result of allowing front and back movement is a depth that makes platforming moments more challenging. That, in turn, also adds to the tension since screwing up an angle can result in being caught by one of the pursuing monsters.
As the game progresses, things get even more twisted and frightening. The penultimate "level" involves sprinting by a group of fat, gigantic, disturbing people hellbent on eating you. They spill down the stairs and crash into the hallways in pursuit, almost as if they were in a Dark Miyazaki universe. I found myself gripping the controller so tightly that my fingers were sore, all because I had turned into a ball of stress! And, somehow, the final section gets legitimately scary! (I had yelped out lout a few times trying to beat the last monster/boss.)
Like Inside, one of the best aspects of the game is how little information it actually feeds you. Upon completion of the game, I immediately dove down the internet rabbit holes for theories of what it all meant. The game is filled with messed up concepts - like the consumption of children - and even a fair amount of Holocaust imagery. The little kid that is controlled by the player even has moments that are startling! Additionally, the complete lack of clues or pesky control reminders makes advancing feel even more satisfying. Many major games tend to hold your hand, making sure you never get stuck. This - like Inside - never gives clues. It never explains anything outside the basic controls at the very beginning of the game. Getting through the next section is incredibly satisfying because you can feel your brain putting it all together.
Perhaps the hardest thing to talk about is just how surprising it was. While a comparatively short game, it is also one of those things where the less you know, the better it is. For me, it started strong and finished stronger. I had no idea what the game was or what was in store; I loved every second of it. It's a small game that came out of nowhere to become one of my favorites in years. In fact, I'd argue it's better than Inside (even if just slightly). I want to rave about it more, but I also don't want to ruin any part of it. Suffice it to say, this is one that I will regularly recommend to people.
As an aside, I would also recommend checking out the DLC. "The Depths" was one of the most tense levels of any game I've played. Essentially, recall how horrifying and stressful the "mermaids" were from Inside, then stretch that out for an entire DLC package. (It's also cool in the way that it sort of recycles levels from the main game, but in different ways.) I'm not a big fan of DLC overall, but it's definitely worth it.
Naughty Dog had already wiggled their way into the top spot of cinematic gaming experiences through the Uncharted series, but they cemented it with 2013's The Last of Us. Building off of the adventures of Nathan Drake, they provided a surprisingly refreshing take on the action adventure genre by mixing it with survival horror. To top it all off, they provided some of the best writing and acting seen in video games to date.
It is ultimately difficult to discuss The Last of Us without bringing up spoilers, so be warned that there will be pretty big ones present throughout the piece. Additionally, it is a game in which two aspects are both intrinsically connected and divorced from each other: the gameplay and the narrative.
On the game side, it does a number of things incredibly well. Taking from the survival horror genre, it does a nice job creating tension through tough enemies. Effectively a "zombie" game, it takes its cues from the likes of Resident Evil in that you don't exactly want to run into them. The satisfaction does not come from mowing down endless rows of mindless bodies rushing as a hoard. Rather, getting through the section in relatively good health is ideal. To do so often requires a mixture of stealth and action. Some enemies are nearly impossible to avoid, and thus, you must be ready for a fight. Others give you every opportunity to either sneak by or quietly take them out. Players have to get comfortable doing both to succeed.
Resource management plays a role in the atmosphere as well. Looking around the maps, items can be collected to use for things like molotov cocktails or pipe bombs. Melee weapons can be reinforced, and med-kits can be crafted. To build them, though, requires a safe space out of trouble. The game does not pause while in the crafting menu, so players must be aware of their surroundings, lest they be attacked unprepared. Plus, all items have dual purposes. The ingredients required for a molotov are also required for med-kits. The necessary goods for nail bombs are also required for shivs. It effectively forces one to make key decisions about how to allocate those sources. Shivs are important for opening locked doors filled with items, as well as to escape the clutches of Clickers (which insta-kill you). Yet nail bombs are extremely effective for dealing with large numbers of enemies.
Ammo supplies are also limited. While there are various types of firearms to be found and used, there isn't a ton of ammunition to be found. This, mixed with limited resources, encourages players to act more deliberately or use stealth as much as possible. Confronting enemies - both human or infected - can go very poorly, very quickly.
While these are fun components that maximize the tension and dread, they are also limited. It would not be unfair to argue that there aren't enough ways to utilize the resources collected, or that the AI of enemies isn't exactly smart enough to feel all that exposed when crafting. On "Normal" difficulty, the game also provides more than adequate amounts of resources and ammo to make it through. Then, there's also the "listening" ability that allows players to see where enemies are, if moving.
The game works completely fine as a stealth adventure horror one, and it does these things really well, but it is not off-base to argue it is also pretty limited in scope. This doesn't mean it's bad; just that it isn't quite as revolutionary as many critics make it seem.
Gameplay itself is pretty tight, especially for a game reliant on an AI companion. Ellie, the young girl Joel (the player) is charged with escorting to Salt Lake City, becomes increasingly empowered throughout the game. At first, she mostly just runs around shouting profanities at enemies. Eventually, she is a full-fledged partner, throwing bricks and stabbing/shooting them as well. This, interestingly, does not make the game ever feel easier. Sometimes, there are some awkward moments of trying to get around each other, but it's overall really smooth.
Perhaps the most well-done aspect is in the level design. Where Uncharted games often feel exactly like the hyper-linear corridor it is, The Last of Us feels a lot wider. It is true that there is only ever one direction to end up in. There is no backtracking, nor are there multiple exit points from a level. It is, by every measure, a linear, narrative-driven game. That said, maps are often large and detailed enough that there is plenty to explore. The world within the game provides many narrative context clues, as well as exposes players to optional conversations and notes left behind, which also provide a shocking amount of emotional impact and insight into the history of this place. In combat scenarios, the open spaces go a long way to the feeling of insecurity. There are very few places to hide in which there isn't a "behind you" to watch out for. It feels both realistic and dangerous, getting players to really observe their environment.
The worst aspect of the game, as is a bit typical of Naughty Dog, is how often it forces players to play a particular way. For most of the game, the agency is in how to approach an area. Just sneak by? Try to go all Predator on them and take them out one by one? Set some traps and then go all Rambo on them? The choice is yours! Except when it isn't. For "cinematic" purposes, the game will often throw you into a scenario that allows for only one style of play. These aren't necessarily "bad moments," but they do sort of run counter to the design of the rest of the game, with its combat and maps that are very in-tune with one another and satisfying.
Of course, The Last of Us would not likely be considered an all-time great if not for its story and characters. Without question, it provides one of the most well-written narratives, filled with parallels and subtleties. Characters are surprisingly well-defined, given most of them are only in it for a stretch. And, of course, the relationship between Ellie and Joel develops in a truly organic, believable, and compelling fashion. It's easy to look at it from just Joel's perspective, being that of a father who's lost everything finding something to care for in a surrogate daughter (Ellie). It is not just his story though. Ellie doesn't exactly fit that perspective, as Joel never quite feels like her surrogate father. Instead, he is just someone who has been able to stick around in her life. Given her rather quick bonding to Tess and Sam, she's substantially more balanced as a person. More welcoming and empathetic than Joel, it isn't even ultimately a story in which both must learn from each other: Joel to be more empathetic and caring from Ellie, and Ellie to be tougher and colder for the sake of survival.
It seems that, too often, more is made of these dynamics than are truly there; at the end of the day, it is about two people making an unlikely connection. The characters are written and performed incredibly well, which breathes further relatability into everything. Under it all is a dark sense of humor, too. Overall, the story is structured intelligently. Broken into seasons to function as "acts," it gets progressively darker before finally having it all fall under them. The opening and ending sequences serve as nice, opposing book-ends. And every character introduced along the way has some thematic relevance to the two central characters.
The Last of Us is aided by having one of the best endings, leaving a ton of room for interpretation and discussion. Does Ellie know? She's had such good bullshit detection the entire game, surely she has to know Joel is lying? Is Joel the bad guy? Did he just screw over humanity for selfish purposes? What about the Fireflies? Up until the end, they were presented as humanity's last true hope. Were they in the wrong? Did they have a point? Was Marlene a sympathetic figure? There is so much to go over. The abrupt, unsatisfying ending is perfect in the way it generates player interpretation. A nice, succinct, simple ending is nice once in a while, but give me the dark, deep well, the juicy, meaty ending I can sink my teeth into any day.
As a whole cohesive unit, the narrative and design often work well together. The epic adventure aspect of the story fits perfectly with the linear design of the game. The story creates an urgency to get through it, which perfectly distracts from any desire to really do greater exploring. Everything about the game keeps pushing you forward. The way Ellie grows as an AI companion in conjunction with her growth as a character is great, and further provides context for her and Joel's bond. The limited resources and tough enemies match the dark, intense, and disturbing world.
There are some missteps, to be sure. The inclusion of "puzzles" to do with Ellie or another AI partner are never difficult and feel very "gamey." A misguided "boss fight" near the end is a bit disruptive. There are even some cutscenes that run contradictory to the rules of the world, such as that Clickers can't see you - they follow you through sound - but you are encouraged to hide when they show up. There are other elements that remind you you're playing a video game, but it isn't inherently bad. It just creates a little bit of dissonance between the narrative and gameplay.
Most of the problems are incredibly minor and don't distract from the game. Everything is made substantially better with an original score from Academy Award-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla. The game is aided even more with a great piece of DLC in Left Behind, which actually improves the basic gameplay in a few ways. The game might not be for everyone, with its horror roots making it both a bit harder than an adventure game and a lot more violent (in fact, it features one of the few video game moments in which I actually cringed from it), but for those with an appreciation of what the medium holds for the potential of writing, director/writer Neil Druckmann has offered up a master class.
