DestinyLeah
Hey There! How’s your couch? Comfy, if a bit lonely? It’s like that for the rest of us, too, don’t worry. Should this lockdown last into the dog days of summer, though, Bandai Namco is offering horror fans a little glimmer of hope. The Dark Pictures Anthology is set to return with its next tantalizing chapter before Zoom classes resume in the fall, this time with the haunting tale of Little Hope. In case you missed the first game, or the announcements thereafter, let’s recap.
The Dark Pictures Anthology is a choose-you-own-adventure, choice-built game with several chapters that each tell an unrelated story. The first installment followed a group of young adults aboard the ghost ship Man of Medan, a place where the truth may set you free, but only if you can survive long enough to find it. Players take turns as each character with the goal of shepherding them safely to a sunrise escape. The game could be played alone, with a remote friend, or in ‘movie night’ mode with several friends piled onto the same couch. Little Hope keeps all of those modes, as well as the Curator’s Cut preorder bonus that allows players to start a new game after completion with more scenes and options. If that concept feels familiar, it’s probably because you recognize its developer Supermassive’s first game, Until Dawn. The Dark Pictures Anthology takes everything players loved about that game and puts it to use in smaller, bite-sized chapters of many different stories. Byt the end, there should be something for any horror fan in the series.
A teaser for Little Hope was tucked into the ending of Man of Medan, with a website and trailer release soon after giving players a better look at the concept. Another trailer has been released, and it cements the Silent Hill vibes Little Hope has been radiating all along. For starters, the city welcome sign is the movie Silent Hill sign with a different name slapped on. The story follows a new troupe of young adults who arrive in the mysterious town by bus, only to be enveloped by mystery and dense fog. Little Hope has a dark past, with self-appointed witch hunters meting out heinous punishments to those they did not trust four hundred years before our cast arrives. The deep scars of fear and hate have not faded with time, however, and the danger of untethered rage lingers in the air.
Between the entrapping fog and the abandoned town that serves to explore the mistakes of the past, there is enough here to say that Little Hope is directly influenced by Silent Hill. The occult past and humanoid monsters wielding chains really drive it home. Overall, though, I’m not mad at it; this feels like a game that those of us pining away for Silent Hills can really enjoy. If anything, I am excited to see if the game feels like it is picking up directly where Downpour left off, which is exactly the feeling I get every time a new trailer drops. Time will tell, and I’m happy that there isn’t too much of that before we find out. Here’s to hoping the two or three months between then and now don’t feel like they last a century apiece.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope will release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC via STEAM in Summer 2020.
