Today was the first day of the EGX Developer Sessions, and the first thing to take to the stage was an indie title from studio Tarsier Studios - Little Nightmares.
Originally revealed at Gamescom a month ago, Little Nightmares is a suspense-adventure game in which you control the protagonist in her bid to make it through and escape the floating, travelling location of The Maw - a place that draws in people to offer them the fulfillment of their desires. Some remain stuck there though, as prisoners and our protagonist aims to not become one of them.
Speaking of our protagonist, we play as a young child called 'Six' throughout the presentation, a small figure in a yellow raincoat. The world around her is full of strange things that she doesn't understand and that are larger than her, but with some clever thinking and manipulation of objects she may just make it out from The Maw.
The game presented on screen was one that out sized Six greatly, and this was deliberate as it was explained that they had hoped to catch the perspective of childhood - one of uncertainity, size, fear, but also playfulness and adventure. You can move objects around and some you can even break. The aesthetics of the game in both visuals and sound try to keep up an atmosphere that is suspenseful, slightly creepy but not overly horror-themed. The strange world around Six is meant to depict only that she is of an age where not everything yet makes sense to her and it shows.
With a lighter to light the way and a few lanterns, and a whistle to attract things towards her, it's easy to see that this game's puzzles will take some figuring out and there is a story waiting to be discovered inside The Maw as you progress. Look forward to this game coming out some time in the Spring of next year.