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- July 7, 2022
Little Nightmares Re-capped: The Lore, The Legends, and The Easter-Eggs
Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers regarding the storyline, characters, and content of the Little Nightmares series.
It’s no wonder that the creation of BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment’s “Little Nightmares” series has achieved wide success and a dedicated, loving fanbase. Years after the first game’s release, gamers around the world have connected deeply to the story and the captivating experience, rich in storytelling atmosphere based on the original graphic novel.
Keep reading to watch clips of our livestream gaming experience, read about the lore behind the game, and the overall gameplaying experience.
Little Nightmares I:
Immerse yourself in Little Nightmares, a dark whimsical tale that will confront you with your childhood fears! Help Six escape The Maw – a vast, mysterious vessel inhabited by corrupted souls looking for their next meal.
We wake from what appears to be a nightmare as the character “Six,” who is distinctively known by their yellow raincoat. In the process of the game, we begin to uncover the truths behind the world around us. The most notable detail in the game’s beginning is an incredibly tall man, hanging by the neck from a rope. As the game progresses, we navigate through the beautiful dystopian world that unfolds before us.
And as the leading antagonist, The Lady, materializes in the world, the scenes before begin to connect.
With graceful restraint, The Lady casts the hypnotic spell that keeps the engine running. Amidst the chaos of the world outside, The Maw is the only place that makes sense, and now this rumor of an escaped child threatens everything. Nothing can be allowed to interfere. The guests must eat. The Maw must survive.
The Lady is an unnaturally tall, slender woman with raven-black hair. Her face is covered by a mask, similar to a Japanese Noh one; through which, her two lifeless black eyes glower out of… Like the other characters in Little Nightmares, the Lady rarely speaks, but in playing further, we witness her characteristics and demeanor quickly and learn about her through them.
Elegantly gliding through her ship, the Maw, with an unnerving sense of grace and serenity, her long, dark brown kimono trails behind her. She seems to float and never touch the ground. Our first impression of her is a haunting one, as she stares through a broken mirror and sings a melancholic tune to herself. She seems insistent upon keeping up her appearances. Running the Maw only fuels her vanity and corruption, as she is perfectly willing to allow her animalistic guests to gorge themselves on meat from questionable sources. Nor does she appear to contain any sort of empathy towards the innocent children she has imprisoned and fed to her customers. Fan theories have spread that the reasoning of having the children kidnapped and slaughtered is due to her sense of pride and vanity; the Lady is determined to be the only beautiful person in a world, full of hideous monsters. In children, there is an innocence and beauty that she sees in them that she fears too much to allow to remain living, and perhaps feels threatened. In contrast to her obsession with her own beauty, or because of it, she appears to be unwilling to look at her own reflection, hence her mask resembling the face of specters and demons, and the various shattered mirrors around her living quarters.
Throughout the chapter, the Residence, it is revealed that her reflection appears incredibly deformed, most likely the reason that has led her to hate her own appearance, and the rationale behind her obsession in maintaining an illusion of her former beauty (1).
Below, watch our recap as I play the first Little Nightmares on our Twitch channel!
My gameplay experience: I admit, I am not a pro when it comes to playing video games. Not only will I openly admit I’ve suffered from some brain traumas throughout my childhood and in the last couple of years, and find some of that to blame, my childhood was not one immersed in the world of gaming and I am quite new to all the experience. As one of my first public streams, I played through this game and was immediately immersed in the rich storytelling atmosphere. Though this game is not new by any means, it holds true against the time and advancement of technology and pulls you in with the story. I find it far worth playing, even to this day. Though I definitely found myself stuck in the puzzles, it helped me exercise the brain all while carrying the story along beautifully.
Little Nightmares II:
Little Nightmares II is a suspense adventure game in which you play as Mono, a young boy trapped in a world that has been distorted by an evil transmission. Together with new friend Six, he sets out to discover the source of the Transmission.
We begin the journey of the second game, after an intro sequence to set the mood. Then we see a new character named “Mono,” who wakes up in the middle of a forest next to a television. Immediately, the tone is darkened as tension increases and we are chased down the line of trees by various monsters and creatures alike. After the fear hits its peak, we find ourselves in a schoolyard escaping the teacher, and students– porcelain dolls brought to life.
Tension continues to build throughout the gameplay experience as we make our escape, and find a new friend, who people would immediately recognize as our first game’s main character, Six, as she puts on her signature yellow coat.
The two of them partner together to make their escape, and to find their own purpose in unity together. Six is stolen away by the Thin Man, who makes an appearance in the first game, strung up on the ceiling, but we see for the first time, animated, alive, and on the hunt for Six, for reasons unknown to us. Mono then has to make the journey to find Six again, before it’s too late. He travels through the television screens through various puzzles and means to find her.
And once he does, we make a shocking discovery.
Little Nightmares II has been confirmed as the prequel to the first game, which is unveiled at the second game’s conclusion, where Mono grows older, and transforms into The Thin Man, who had been hunting both Six and their younger version of themselves throughout the length of the second game.
Theories from fans have run wild since the release of the second game. Is Six, in fact, the villain of this series? She was the one who dropped Mono down the cliff. As a result, Mono grew older and became the very thing she was running from, The Thin Man. Or did she realize he may have been the cause of her torment and endless wander through the nightmares of her life, as The Thin Man, who chased her through the landscape throughout the gameplay?
There are mini games that offer some answers to these theories; but some fans come out of them with more questions than answers.
The Secrets of the Maw:
A new character appears in the game – the Runaway Kid, one of the prisoners who is trying to escape from the Maw. The Runaway Kid has a dream that he is swimming in water but then gets dragged down deep below the water by a big arm. Waking up from a nightmare, the boy leaves the children’s room, which served as a prison cell for children. Along the way, he meets a girl with a flashlight, who is also trying to escape from the Maw. Thanks to her, the Runaway Kid leaves the Prison and enters the Depths.
Keep reading the storyline here; and watch the trailer below!
In conclusion, the series itself follows the immersive graphic novel. Worldbuilding and hidden details throughout the game make for a gameplaying experience unlike many; one that not only lingers in the mind with its impression long after it’s played, but creates opportunity for the hidden depths of the unsaid to be written and theorized upon. I thoroughly enjoyed the gameplay experience, and look forward to diving ever deeper into the universe and experience again.
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