Little Nightmares always felt like a perfect fit for VR. The adventures of Six in the creepy, larger-than-life environments of this world are ripe for first-person exploration. And, at long last, after three mainline entries, developer Iconik has seen fit to grant that wish.
You play as Dark Six (Six’s spectral doppelganger) and must escape from several disjointed scenarios that seem to take place in conjunction with Little Nightmares II. While the timeline is vague, it doesn’t really matter, as Altered Echoes is largely standalone.
You’ll be treated to five areas throughout the title that all adhere to a similar structure: introduce the area gimmick, add the stalker enemy, finish with a gauntlet, and repeat.
The repetition is admittedly not a downside, as it helps inform what is expected of you. However, the title makes the same mistakes as past entries, most notably with level design. The series is infamous for irksome trial-and-error sequences where you have to die a few times before getting the pattern down, and that’s no different here.
Plus, the game — and series — doesn’t excel at effectively cluing you in on what can and can’t be done, which can result in frustration. In general, the perspective shift to first-person allays some of these issues, making environments easier to parse.
The first-person perspective is, frankly, perfect. The feeling of being a speck in a larger world absolutely transfers here. Creature design remains as stellar as always, with grotesque creations populating the ominous environments — a school and library area is a notable standout. The alarming way that monsters move in the world of Little Nightmares is markedly more disconcerting now they can get up in your face.
Visually, the game is truly impressive. In addition to beautifully translating the art style of the series to a new perspective, it’s one of the better-looking VR games to date.
The controls, though, are another issue: tracking and motion are great, but there’s no smooth turning. We can understand not having it on by default, but not including it at all in favour of snap turning is a baffling omission.
By and large, Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes succeeds in adapting the series for headsets, though it’s disheartening that it repeats mistakes from past titles. But, if you already like Little Nightmares, you’ll absolutely enjoy the two hours you spend with this.
