Tabitha Schultz

A major improvement in every way over Man of Medan. I still absolutely loved MoM, but Little Hope has a much more engaging plot, more weighty characters, and improved mechanics concerning the QTEs. The characters' arcs have an underlying layer to them, instead of just learning how to not be the cookie-cutter douchebags like in the previous titles. They feel like people. The flashes to past depict a well done and historically accurate account of the late 1600s New England trials and provide an intriguing backdrop for the story. Trophy hunting in this one is much simpler and helped along with immediate chapter select and head/heart choice tracking. This game definitely contains more symbolism than the previous title, though it's not immediately obvious, and this adds extra flavor and deeper emotional impact to the ending(s) (it's also kind of tied to the mechanics of the game). It still contains a lot of horror tropes, but no more than Until Dawn did, and the pacing I feel is quicker than Until Dawn was. Supermassive has also managed to keep the monsters fairly unique and interesting in each of their games, and these monsters and what they represent I think are no exception. Not everyone is going to like it (looking at you, cynical critics and game blogs), but instead of focusing on what it doesn't do, focus on what it does do, because it does it well. It's an engaging narrative on psychology/social interaction and delves deep into the effects of trauma and coping, with a backdrop that will make Silent Hill fans feel at home. Hint: read all the secrets you find. The secrets tracker in these games show you which secrets, when put together, form an explanation of something about the story. If you think there's a plot hole, you probably didn't read the secrets too well