017The Big
STORIES EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
“We don’t want to just retread
old ground, we want to create new
experiences in this world,” Mervik
elaborates, “otherwise it would
become just a creepier version of
The Famous Five books. ‘Six In The
Maw’, ‘Six Goes To The Signal Tower’,
‘Six On Finniston Farm’. I think we
can do better than that.”
He clarifies that the team isn’t
throwing the little children out with
the nightmarish bathwater, saying,
“The challenge in this game is to take
these new elements and make them
feel as much Little Nightmares as
the first game was. Can we give the
player a familiar companion and still
make them feel utterly alone? Can
we let the player wander around in
outdoor locations and still make them
feel trapped and claustrophobic?
That’s where our head is.”
While horror is an undeniably
popular genre, Mervik thinks it’s far
from being wrung of all potential,
saying, “When people are interacting
with your work, they can’t help but
give more of themselves to it and
that gives you the chance to affect
them in a more profound way; being
active in a scenario erases that
protective screen that cinema
provides, which, in horror, can be
an extremely powerful tool.”
Concluding, he says, “Horror
games should be leading players into
the darkness, and abandoning them
at the worst possible moment.”HUNGRY FOR MAW
Tarsier is thrilled to be building out
the world of Little Nightmares.
“We were overwhelmed by the
response to the first game – none of
us expected that – so to be in this
position makes us very proud,”
Mervik says. “However, the downside
this time is that we’re not coming
out of nowhere, there are fans out
there now, very passionate fans, so
we can’t help but feel even more
stressed out about making this game
as perfect as we can. The only thing
we can do though is continue to follow
our instincts.” He adds, “It worked
out okay the first time round.”Get your horror fix plus Mervik’s view
on the first game in our feature on p62.QMono’s able to use some of the things
you find as improvised weapons.QSix is no slouch even if she can’t fight
like Mono. What skills can she use?info patches
update your brain
FIVE POWER
Gaming is far from an environmentally friendly
hobby but Sony is making positive steps with
the next generation. In an announcement
from the newly formed Playing For The Planet
alliance, SIE boss Jim Ryan said that PS5 will
aim to waste less power than its predecessor
with the suspend play feature.WITH A VIEW
Fireproof Games has been delighting mobile
players with its series The Room for some
time. But now the series is entering the
virtual dimension with The Room VR: A Dark
Matter, announced for PS VR early in 2020.
Part escape room and part a series of puzzle
boxes, it’s a perfect fit for PS VR.BODY OF PROOF
LA Noire: The VR Case Files hit the PlayStation
Store last month. Featuring cases from all
five desks of the original game, you can also
box, race, and shoot in virtual reality. If you’ve
already got the first game, you can get a 25%
discount on this PS VR entry – just select ‘Get
VR Cases’ from your game’s main menu.FANNING FLAMES
Mervik says that while fan
theories haven’t influenced
development as the team
has a clear vision, he’s been
impressed by the accuracy
of a number of them.