The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope (2020)

I played this game on Halloween week, online with a friend. The game is great and perfect for online coop. I am really glad that we gave this a try, since we had so much fun with it.

The story and characters are memorable, and it is easy to get to know them. This makes it hard when you have have to decide on important events that can change the course of the story. But that is the point of these types of games. Get you invested into a roster of characters, thus making you think hard about the decision you make. The game is very immersive, and the monster designs are grotesque and so well done. One of them specifically was a bit too much for me haha!

Now, the game did have a weird pacing in terms of moving from different scenes. I understand that it has to adjust to the decisions you make, but sometimes it felt a bit choppy going from point A to point B. Nevertheless I give it a good score in terms of "combat" against the monsters. It was very tense and scary.

If you like these types of games and have a friend to play with, definitely give it a try. It is not a long game, and you will have fun, for sure.

Honestly, this was shaping up to be a 3/5 - it's a step up from Man of Medan, and I like these games fine while I'm playing them. Just like MoM I felt no particular investment in any of the characters and it failed at creating that emotional connection (if I think about it no Supermassive game has ever done so until The Quarry), but this one had a pretty interesting concept, set partly during the Salem witch trials which isn't something I've seen delved into in a video game before despite its potential for horror. I was also pretty intrigued by the whole 'identical counterparts' and the intersection of Salem and modern-day plots going on.

And then the ending just... shits the bed so utterly. Like, so utterly that it retroactively brought my enjoyment of the game crashing to the ground and tainted every second that had come before it.

Why are we still doing this 'twist' in 2023? Why? It's tired, it's boring, it's uncreative, it's a cop-out, it's been done over and over and over. It's Cliche Twist #1. I genuinely didn't know anyone still did it unironically outside of edgy theories people think up about kids' media online.

Preferred this to Man of Medan, even though I think MoM has better characters.

Pros:

• Improved UI (button presses vs button mashes vs combat inputs are more clearly signalled, I only experienced two keep calm segments and both were fine)
• Cooler (if less unique) setting, I'm a slut for New England (and an even BIGGER slut for New England horror)
• Twist is a bit less obvious than in MoM
• Truly detestable villain, I mean colonial witch trials are already prime content to make you pizzed the redacted off but damn did I hate Reverend Carver
• There isn't a super long prologue sequence where nothing much ooky spooky happens, here you're thrown right into the middle of nowhere, creepytown, USA
• Angela is an icon, she's a legend and she IS the moment, I mean come awn now!

Cons:

• The twist, maybe. Honestly it didn't bother me, I get it, it was giving Directed by Mike Flanagan but I can imagine some people being mad asf.
• Thinner(?) characters, the people here feel less developed than the characters in MoM but honestly that kind of lends to the campiness of it all(?). Like Taylor is annoying and kind of a redacted who litrally has pink dyed short hair likeeee, idk I thought it was pretty fun but it's not original (but then that's kind of part of the point I guess, since presumably these hallucinations are derived from his knowledge of horror pop culture)
• Plot holes(?) - was any of the witch stuff real? Or did Anthony just read that witch novel too many times? is the Reverend being into the Occult just code for him being a peadophile? The whole witch trial aspect kind of messes w/ the more direct links that the 70s and 2020 eras have. I definitely would not remove it but idk some stuff could have been more clearly wrapped up.

was gonna title this, I AM the weirdos mistah, but spoilers !

Last Halloween I played the first part of the Anthology, Man of Medan. It wasn't a memorable game, but a good playthrough in a lazy weekend.

This Halloween was released the second part, Little Hope. At first, I was skeptical about an Anthology proposal, especially because of the narrator that connects the different stories.

But It surprised me. Little Hope It's a simple game. But it's much more assertive than the first. The gameplay really works in favor of the story, and succeeds in creating tension with the aesthetics and choices. The characters are better thought and easier to emphatize. It knew how to end and where to end.

Yes — it is obvious, and has a lot of easy stereotypes. But It's a genre game, so it is okay to be tacky. Who doesn't love a small town horror?

I like traditions. And thematic holidays. So more than just a satisfying experience — I will be waiting for the next October 30th, and a brand new — not so good game.

Improvement over Man of Medan but still away to go. The characters were presented much better and the story was more compelling with twists and turns keeping things interesting, It did fall apart towards the end however which dampened my overall view. Some well executed jump scares along with fun loop segments kept things relatively enjoyable and worth the £30 spent.