Our experience with Little Nighmares had been short but intense: with a longevity well below expectations, the adventure of Tarsier Studios was saved from a too negative judgment only thanks to an exceptional character design, in which the grotesque representation of the worst vices of man screeched in comparison with the little Six, in a perfect combination of Limbo, Little Big Planet and Bioshock. Already at the time - we are only talking about April, but we had declared it right away - we wanted more: we therefore awaited with trepidation the announcement and the arrival of the Secrets of the Maw DLC, eager to dive back into the dark meanders Maw.
The Depths
As we already know from the numerous cages present in the second chapter of Little Nightmares, Six is not the only little creature imprisoned in the Maw, the mysterious floating hotel in the ocean whose guests embody the most dismal and sinful vices of modern society. Here it is then in The Depths, the first of the three DLCs planned by Tarsier Studios, we will live a story parallel to that of the protagonist as one of the other little runaways who share - perhaps it would be better to say they should share - his own sad fate.
It is not yet known, at the conclusion of this first episode, if the new character will also undergo the transformation of Six who, as we have already seen in the original adventure, from a defenseless being follows a path of emancipation that leads her to defeat her parents. enemies in a way that could never have been expected. You will have understood that in part we remain vague so as not to spoil the surprise for those who have not yet had the opportunity to play Little Nightmares, but even being able to expose ourselves more we would not have much to say, since The Depths is an incomplete chapter, which ends yes with a battle against the boss of the level, but at the same time it projects us towards what will be the second DLC, already announced, entitled The Hideout.
Compulsory swimming course
The Depths referred to in the title of the DLC refer not only to the most remote levels of the Maw, but also to the ocean itself, which has flooded the boiler rooms and flooded most of the rooms that the player will be called to. go across. We confess that we did not hold back the disappointment of the early stages of the game in which, to reconnect with the events of Six, we saw our character cross in the opposite direction some of the areas already visited in the main adventure: with the terrible suspicion that the developers had opted for the easy way of recycling the environments we prepared for the worst, and then fortunately discovered a deviation from the path that led us to the new area of the Maw.
The whole area, we have already mentioned, is almost completely flooded. The progression certainly does not stand out for variety: in the role of the new little protagonist the player is called to climb, jump, solve some very simple environmental puzzles and swim. Be careful not to stay too long in the water though: Granny, terrifying being an amphibian with long arms, will always be ready to grab you and drag you into the abyss, causing an immediate game over. The variety is therefore not so varied, and certainly does not know anything new: if Six also swam, in this case swimming and exploration have more or less the same space and in the long run the first gets tired, forcing the player to a series of repetitions that lead to the choice of the correct path with a simple trial and error system that is certainly not very rewarding.
A faint light
One of the most characterizing elements of Little Nightmares was the faint flame of Six's lighter, emblem of the fragility of the protagonist, at least in the early stages of the game. In Secrets of the Maw: The Depths, the protagonist will be able to count on a real torch. At least in this first level it will not be necessary to use it too much, if not to make your way into the darkest areas: already in these short situations, however, the Unreal Engine 4 behaves well and creates those plays of light and shadow that make the gait of a small child terrifying in the putrid waters inhabited by Granny.
Similarly, the animations, the dark environments and the scripts are the same already seen in Little Nightmares, although in our opinion less impressive. However, this is the first episode and, given the premises, it is reasonable to expect a climax also on a visual level: just as Granny shows herself in her deformity only at the end of the chapter, we hope that the developers have properly exploited the potential of the technical sector. to amaze us.
Just as Six was never seen directly in the face, even the fugitive, the new protagonist, always has his gaze turned downwards and his tousled hair covering his features. It is simply an anonymous blue shirt to distinguish him from Six: this clothing is much less impactful when compared with the screeching of Six's waterproof yellow compared to the gray of the Maw, but even in this case we wait to see if with the continuation of the plot it will be possible to become attached to the character, certainly on a less captivating visual level. The depth torch (which is not even called that on purpose), on the other hand, opens up possibilities that tickle our horror fantasy: finding terrifying monsters in total darkness or solving light-based puzzles are just some of the elements we expect to find. find in the next episode, and that the Unreal Engine 4 could handle very well.
In the hour or so necessary to complete The Depths we found no news worthy of note, but rather the confirmation of what was already good in Little Nightmares: the darkness, the frighteningly sick and disturbing setting, the feeling of loneliness of an apparently defenseless protagonist who tries with all his might to escape the inevitable. The repetitiveness of the gameplay and the simplicity of the puzzles force us to hope that the next two chapters, already planned, contain more material and develop with such a variety as to also characterize the new character, who will surely have to contend with new villains. It will also be interesting to see if and how Tarsier Studios will decide to bring the two protagonists together, in order to give a worthy conclusion to that little nightmare that yes, albeit brief, we still feel to recommend to anyone who wants to experience a thrill to remember.
Verdict: Recommended only for true enthusiasts
