You can hold a girl's hand.

Gonna say it right away: I liked this game, I played it several times and bought it both for my PS and PC collection of horror games. I did not necessarily love it though, contrary to how I feel about the first ‘Little Nightmares’. The first game was flawless, and it put a bar very, very high for the sequel. Visually (and conceptually), the sequel turned out to be pretty interesting, and despite the fact that you can 100% complete this game in less than 6 hours of gameplay, I still recommend you to buy it, at least during a very good sale. I’ll also obviously gonna give it a blue review – just because this game does not have a speedrun achievement or achievement requiring you to finish it without dying (thank god!). Because if it would have had it, I’d turn my review red. Here’s why.

Gameplay-wise, this game is a bit of a mess. I realize that there is a pretty thin line of making gameplay of something like ‘Little Nightmares’ challenging or straight-up ridiculous, but given that I replayed this game several times throughout the years, I can say one thing honestly. The gameplay is not polished at all. Which is pretty strange given how the first game was really precise in that aspect, and you could actually speedrun it without dying (as one of its achievements requires) fair and square. Just a bit of practice and self-confidence, and you’ll manage to do it, because it’s fair and well thought through. The gameplay of the second game is not like that AT ALL. And I think it’s due to the fact that developers seemed to want the players to always feel ‘on the edge’. Absolutely all the chases are scripted very, very tight, one tiny mistake, and you've got to replay it all over. It happens once or twice, it’s alright. But when it happens during every chase, every ‘battle sequence’, it gets just annoying. The developers wanted you to constantly ‘be on the edge’ to feel the atmosphere better I guess. But you know, replaying the same obvious level over and over just due to the tight requirements is not gonna get you immersed at all. On the contrary, it ruins the immersive experience. I platinumed the first game, I can play that crap lol. And I was not satisfied with the gameplay and the character’s responses in this one at all, not during my first playthrough on PS, nor this time either.

Speaking of gameplay, this game unfortunately inherited some of the most annoying mechanics you could meet in the DLCs for the first game. The hospital level copied and pasted the ‘flashlight freezes enemies’ level entirely from ‘The Residence’ DLC, and it kept the very same issues – poor character’s response and clumsy flashlight movement, which ruins the immersive experience. The grabbing hitboxes depend on your pure luck at best, not your skills. There is a level in the hospital, when your character will have to run through the corridor of hands killing you instantly if grabbed. On my PC playthrough, I passed this section on the first attempt. On my PS playthrough, I was stuck there for half an hour, which turned my opinion about the game sour right away. The levels where you have to fight multiple enemies simultaneously, are not polished as well, and look really poorly in comparison to the gameplay precision of the first game.

Visually, the sequel is pretty neat and on pair with the original, no complains from me here. I’d only say that I find less variety in level rooms and enemies (especially ‘bosses’) here, and some of it felt pretty same-y to some levels of the first game (once again, the entire Hospital section). But it’s inevitable. Conceptually and plot-wise though, this game feels much, much less deep and mysterious than the original. Once again, the first game just really put the bar high. Nothing will ever compare with the chilling experience of going through the Maw, its secrets and references. In LN2, the plot is so straight-forward it actually surprises you, especially the ending. Very linear, maybe even boring. Instead of the atmosphere of mysteriousness and darkness, developers seemed to focus on character-development here, so we figure quite a lot of details regarding the Six and her incredibly clumsy and awkward friend Mono. I see why it’s done this way, but once again, the sequel loses much of the first game’s flavor and mystery, so don’t expect too much of it.

Overall, I enjoyed this game, and as I respect the Little Nightmares franchise for its unique influence on the horror genre in gaming in general, I think it’s necessary to keep this game in your library too if you are a fan. However, the sequel disappointed me in several aspects in comparison to its iconic predecessor. Can’t win all the battles I guess. I hope the third part will improve from it, and I was still glad to dive into the LN universe again.

面白いゲームとは思うが、特におすすめはしない。

〇 良かった点
世界観：綺麗で奇妙で不気味な独特の世界観には惹き込まれるものがある
謎解き：よくできたパズルアクション。ちゃんと迷う箇所もあったが、導線はよくできている。
多彩になったアクション：バールのようなものを叩きつけたり、懐中電灯で照らしたり、テレビによるテレポートを行ったり、チャプターごとの違いがよく作りこまれている。
収集要素：帽子を集めて着せ替えられるのは楽しい
CPの仲間：性能がいい。CPの味方の動きでイライラするといったことはなかった。

〇 微妙だった点
・なぜ前作と比して難易度が上がったのか。
主に戦闘パートの面において、前作と比して難易度が上がったように思う。
普通に難しめな戦闘がストーリーのテンポを悪くしている。
このシリーズのことは、世界観重視な作品だと思っていたので、これが違和感だった。

・逃げパートが結構シビア
ホラーアドベンチャーなのだから、難しくスリリングな設計なのは当然かもしれない。
1作目はここまでシビアじゃなかった気がする。
戦闘パートと併せて鑑みても、難易度オプションを導入してほしかった。

・操作性が悪い（キーボード＋マウス）
そもそもこのゲームはコントローラを推奨しているので、キーマウ使用でこれを言っても仕方ないかもしれない。
推奨ではないキーマウで遊んだという前提のもと、今作はどうにも操作性の悪さを感じた。（前作ではそこまで感じなかった）
「思ったように動けない」が多かった。
僕の操作が下手なだけ？...その可能性もある。

・キーアイテムが存在しないバグに遭遇した
バグのないプログラムは存在しないので、ある意味仕方ないことだが、謎解きに必要なキーアイテムが存在しないバグに遭遇し、1時間無駄に過ごした。

◆ 結論
ゲームはよくできていて、全体的には良いゲームだと思う。
しかし上述の理由から、1作目は強くお勧めできたのに対し、今作はそこまでお勧めできない。
まあセールで安かったら買って遊んでみて、自らいかがなものか確かめてみても良いかもしれない。