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u1201698's Little Nightmares (PC)
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| [September 28, 2018 09:39:32 AM]
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For my third time picking up the controller and playing "Little Nightmares", I decided to restart the game so I can apply the new perspective I have gained explained in the previous entry. What I found was more examples of this child's real life is one of poverty and ill-guided parenting or caretaking, but also the protagonist's unconscious desires spilling through into the gameplay. There are two figures introduced early on the game, one in the opening scene and the other a few moments after while moving through the environment. The first, I believe, is the child's Mother and she is presented in the game as an eery figure who turns their back on you as their first gesture as well as small statues you can break for an unnamed reward. The parallels are obvious in this one. The mother's unethical behavior in the real world as well as distance from her child shows up blatantly her. The second figure is the child's father, who is found dead hanging from the ceiling. This could be the starting point of how the child's life started to spiral downward. Was it ethical for his father to kill himself and leave his son behind? A very tough question. Now as for the child's unconscious playing into the gameplay, if this is a dream, he/she has given themselves the ability to jump high, climb fast, slide through narrow passages like a secret agent and be brave through all the frightening situations. The child manifests his/herself as a hero, but the world around him as the villain.
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| [September 27, 2018 07:14:07 PM]
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After diving deeper into "Little Nightmares" it became obvious to me that the game is about exploring the nightmares of a child who is being raised by unstable parents or a similiar situation. I came to this conclusion because the age of the main character does not match up with the themes and images, as well as items he is allowed to use, in the game. For example, the protagonist uses a lighter as a light source. This raises several questions; Why is a lighter the first thing to come to his/her(the main character gender is ambiguous) mind? Why not a flashlight? Also, where are his/her shoes? The child protagonist is walking around barefoot, leading me to believe that in the real world his family may not be able to afford shoes. The most glaring example are the creatures that inhabit his/her nightmares. They are beyond creepy and carry mature themes, leading me to believe that there is a lack of supervision in this child's life, allowing him to watch and see things above his age. Not only are the creatures and their design too mature for the protagonist, but the actions they commit are as well. Mummifying children and keeping them in cages is just one case. these monsters are too human-like to not represent people for this child's life who threaten or scare him. It could be his parents or bullies who make fun of him and beat him up because of his poverty. The last thing I want to point out is the difficulty of the game compares to a lack of guidance in the child's life. The player struggles through the same scenario several times before getting help or finally figuring it out on your own, maybe a reflection of the protagonists home-life.
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| [September 26, 2018 12:21:16 PM]
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Although the title, "Little Nightmares", suggests this game is in the protagonists head as if we are just experiencing the child's nightmares, there are still some ethical issues raised despite the "this isn't real" vibe the game initially gives you; Although, I have only played for a couple hours, so I may be wrong about this. The idea that this child was abandoned and left to fend for itself, or has been kidnapped by someone and trapped in a maze of horrors is frightening within itself, even without the game's aesthetics. The entire situation reeks of unethical behavior, and in a sense is the actual "villain" of this story. It is unethical to kidnap a child as well as abandon one and is interesting how those notions supply the challenges for the main character within this game. I am excited to move forward and see how the story unfolds.
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u1201698's Little Nightmares (PC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Tuesday 25 September, 2018
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