The sequel to 2017’s great horror game Little Nightmares is out on February 11, 2021, but a brand new demo has been out since late October for those interested in returning to the story of Six. Following the ending of the base game and DLC you play as a new character named Mono with former lead Six acting as his companion. Together they work to traverse a decaying city and escaping The Thin Man.

Little Nightmares II is a 2021 horror adventure game, it is developed by Tarsier Studios  published by Bandai Namco. It releases on February 11, 2021 for PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. A public demo is currently available. 

Editor’s Note: Spoilers for Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares II may be present within this preview. Our review of the original Little Nightmares can be seen here.

Publisher Bandai Namco has been doing several experimental games the last few years and one such title just so happened to be the acclaimed Little Nightmares. Originally released back in 2017 the game would go on to sell over 2 million copies across five platforms and three years becoming a bit of a sleeper hit. Though that’s not to say that initial sales for the game weren’t strong as it debuted at number 4 on the UK charts in its debut week. And received a budding following in it’s home of America.

In the original game you played a little girl named Six who was attempting to escape from her captures in a dangerous maw. Six defeated the Lady and gained her powers after biting her neck. In the sequel Six is featured, but replaced as lead by a brand new character named Mono and they traverse a city together escaping The Thin Man. In the new public demo you play as Mono and travel around a rural like area. There you meet another new female character who helps you get around some puzzles in a house you were trapped in to escape into the outside. While outside you’re pursued by a man carrying a shotgun who attempts to kill Mono and the girl. 

One of Little Nightmare’s strongest suits was it’s slow build with the horror over a course of a 4-6 hour period. The sequel is much more open and brazen with it’s approach. There’s grotesquely altered dead bodies all over the place and the vibe of the scenery is super dark and twisted. The demo is only about an hour or so, but it gives a strong indication on the themes of the game. It’s a shame we couldn’t explore the new city setting Mono & Six will be faced with in the full game, but at the same time I’m glad Bandai is being kind of quiet about it promotion wise. The last game featured a ship, so maybe Little Nightmares II has other vehicles like cars for it’s level designs? 

It’ll be interesting to see how far the teamwork mechanic goes. We saw bits and pieces of this in the original game with the gnomes. Now that Six will be playing the role of the gnomes I’m sure her powers she gained from the Lady will have some kind of part to play in the sequel. There’s a lot of wiggle room for the sequel’s past mechanics to be tweaked and I’m looking forward to seeing how far Tarsier Studios goes with the horror with the sequel being so upfront about it. Little Nightmares II releases on PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on February 11, 2020.