#little nightmares game

[0aestheticallycrying]

I think a big mistake theorists make when trying to explain little nightmares, is by applying “real world” logic to it.

When we dream, something could seem totally normal in the logic of the dream but when you wake up, you think and according to “real logic” it doesn’t make any sense.

for example, irl we know that pushing two apples together would cause them to collide. this makes sense to us. however, dream logic could be if you push two apples together, they become transparent and float into your arms before becoming your brain. that makes no sense using our logic, but in the dream, it makes perfect sense logically.

we keep trying to apply this “real” logic to little nightmares, but it really doesn’t follow it at all. it is a world of nightmares that has become real, and exists. dream logic applies there, and i think that is the reason so many things are left unexplained.

[criminallyaddictedtomilk]

[bunnaoi]

Haaaappy Newyears!!

Brought to u by gremlin 1 and glitchy gremlin 2!

[rarityroo]

YALL!!!

I’ll will be writing but I’m gonna be honest with this in my possession I’ll be so unproductive

[voidaspects]

My initial thoughts on what we've seen from Little Nightmares III so far:

okay, first of all-

ohmygodohmygod it's happening this is the best day of my life I'm eternally grateful we get more of this oh my god I'm so happy-

okay, with that out of the way, I have more in depth thoughts. My overall feelings on the reveal are incredibly positive, but with the caveat that this is still visibly missing some elements from the initial LN formula. This isn't to say that this will be bad in comparison, just different, and I feel it's worth it to put a spotlight on that.

The most obvious example of a change in philosophy is the inclusion of multiplayer. To be totally honest, I was actually worried about the idea of them including it, because the addition seems to stand against the linear artistic experience that the series is recognized for, but the way they've pitched the multiplayer does sound pretty unobtrusive, so I'll bite my tongue on that. I do think it has a risk of making the experience less cohesive though. It's clear that the decision was inspired by LN2, but that undersells the amount of individuality that six has in that game. You can't recreate the volatile emotions of your interactions with her if there wasn't the moments where she's not there with you, and you couldn’t have the scripted moments where she acts of her own accord to serve the narrative, if she was meant to serve the dual purpose of being a vessel for another player. idk, I suppose we'll see.

The other visible element that branches out from the original philosophy is the very clear push towards grounded, overt storytelling. Little nightmares from the beginning has presented it's story in a very deliberately vague way. Typically, it pushes the story beats through implication, and let's your brain fill in the gaps to get the intended story beats alongside some lingering uncertainty of the conclusion you've come to. it's not a game that is meant to be explained (contrary to what some youtube videos might tell you lol). the truth of little nightmares story is, explicitly, what you personally take away from it. some people view six as sympathetic, some people view her as purely heartless, and neither conclusion is wrong (please don't fight about it ; ;)

anyway, point is... this new entry is distancing itself from that element that's been inherently baked in until this point. like in the initial development of the first game, they removed all references to real world language, there is deliberately no spoken language in the series. the only exception so far, out of every piece of media in the series, has been the comics, which were cancelled and decanonized (though those characters still exist in that universe somewhere, in my heart ; ;) and the press release material, which has been the backbone of all explicitly stated Little Nightmares facts. we wouldn't even have character names if it weren't for that stuff, there are no names stated in any of those games!

with that said, and while it is cool as hell that they exist... making the new announcement of additional story media in this universe be through audio drama is a bit of an odd choice, isn't it? like... inherently? with this in mind? Like I'm over the moon with excitement, I'm not complaining, but the change in philosophy is pretty visible, right?

also, speaking of the universe, another example of the shift to more overt and clear storytelling is that they've officially given the setting a name. this isn't strictly new, we have "The Maw" "The Nest" (still canon in my heart ; ;) "The Pale City" and the new game, in turn, has "The Necropolis"

and yet, another name in the marketing has been "the Nowhere," a name that has been exclusively described with language implying we are already familiar with it, e.g. "welcome back to the Nowhere" and "are you ready to return to the Nowhere?"

This name has never been used in any previous media, as far as I know, but I think it's pretty clear that the underlying implication is that "The Nowhere" refers to the entirety of the LN universe.

not to sound like a broken record, but... my reaction remains a simultaneous "this is cool as hell" and "this was made with a very different philosophy in mind."

I predict that LN3 will have a much more cohesive story, grounded in a specific and defined setting. We've lost the ambiguity present in the series' identity, but that could lead to some cool things in the future.

overall? I'm extremely excited and incredibly optimistic, but do think that we should go into this new experience with the understanding that it might be a different one. There is visibly a new team working on this one, and while they may not have put as much focus into the subtleties of this franchise's identity, they are very clearly trying to stay true to the overall identity. you can tell in the art style, it's borderline perfect, and it's very clear that the people working on this knew how important stuff like that was to this game, and to us. This won't be the same experience that Tarsier would have made, but Tarsier was content to not make any more of that experience, so a new direction is far from blasphemous. I'm overjoyed that we're getting this new experience, with all it's little differences, and I can't wait to see what they do.

(also, to anyone who's curious about the design philosophy of the original game, I highly recommend this presentation. I feel like not enough people have seen this, and it's so interesting. Its all neat, but since It was partially to promote the game while it was still being developed, a lot of stuff in it is just showcasing a demo of the game and showing the trailer. All the cool stuff you'll wanna hear starts around the 16 minute mark)

[myxomatos-s]

the sense of scale in this game is just amazing

[canadianno]

Hey has anyone done this yet

I couldn't stop thinking about my friends' comment on my humanoid Bill Cipher design looking like Six so I did this

Bonus screenshot redraw . I spent like 10-15 minutes struggling to meticulously line up these cans because I was scared to enter the next room. I think Ford would also do that

[bloodofelves]

► lovely indie games I played in 2023

[theydidntstaydead]

some games i enjoy a very normal amount!!

AMERICAN MCGEE'S ALICE (2000) BAYONETTA (2009) LITTLE NIGHTMARES (2017) AMNESIA: THE DARK DESCENT (2010) MANHUNT (2003) SILENT HILL 2 (2001) RULE OF ROSE (2006) BIOSHOCK (2007) INSIDE (2016) ALICE: MADNESS RETURNS (2011) LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW (2012) HAUNTING GROUND (2005)

[batfluffs]

six from little nightmares!

[tsevile]

«Are you ready to return to the Nowhere, little ones?»

Little Nightmares III – by Supermassive Games

[0aestheticallycrying]

help my dad just saw the doctor for the first time while playing little nightmares and just straight up closed the game 😭

[wolfiiburr]

Little Nightmares - Chef Illustration

[bunnaoi]

She’s looking for us…

Reposted with the correct coloring; version I posted yesterday was a bit too washed out.

[amavaria]

The Hollow Knight people

[zu-is-here]

Dark Roast Cafè ☆

The demon gave you a loan to open a cafe — and a week to pay off the debt... Time to summon staff ♪

Fluffynightkiller Week by @help-im-a-gay-fish

Ccino by black-nyanko

Nightmare by jokublog

Killer by rahafwabas / rahaf-wabas / rahofy-sketch