Triple Creature Feature 7 (October 2021): Little Nightmares, Alien: Isolation, BioShock 2

It's October again! I'm helping knalb out with the Triple Creature Feature thread since he is away from a PC. Looking forward to jumping into these with the HLTB community!



Immerse yourself in Little Nightmares, a dark whimsical tale that will confront you with your childhood fears! Help Six escape The Maw – a vast, mysterious vessel inhabited by corrupted souls looking for their next meal. Little Nightmares is a puzzle-platform horror adventure game developed by Tarsier Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.



Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Based on the Alien science fiction horror film series, the game is set 15 years after the events of the original 1979 film Alien, and follows engineer Amanda Ripley, daughter of Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley, as she investigates the disappearance of her mother. Alien: Isolation is developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega.



Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the halls of Rapture once again echo with sins of the past. Along the Atlantic coastline, a monster has been snatching little girls and bringing them back to the undersea city of Rapture. BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter developed by 2K Marin and published by 2K Games.

I'm excited to get around to Bioshock 2, I've been delaying playing it for awhile now since I beat the original Bioshock... uh... (quickly looks at my completion records) over 3 years ago (time flies 😳).

The other two games I think are interesting, however I don't own Little Nightmares and even though I think I got Alien: Isolation for free on Epic at one point I don't think my computer will be able to handle it, so I won't be playing them.

I adore the Alien movies (and have a major interspecies crush on the Xenomorph Queen), so I've always been interested in Isolation. But I tried playing that game once a few years ago, softlocked myself after like an hour of playing, and then got too annoyed to ever touch it again. lol
I've always planned on giving it another shot and I guess this is the time for it. Though, Uvehj double-dared me to play it in VR with him and now I'm terrified.

I might also be joining with Little Nightmares since I noticed that I actually own that game. Hah.
But I won't be playing Bioshock 2.

- Matt

I'm excited to get around to Bioshock 2, I've been delaying playing it for awhile now since I beat the original Bioshock... uh... (quickly looks at my completion records) over 3 years ago (time flies 😳).

The other two games I think are interesting, however I don't own Little Nightmares and even though I think I got Alien: Isolation for free on Epic at one point I don't think my computer will be able to handle it, so I won't be playing them.

You might want to check the system requirements, Alien: Isolation is known for being very well-optimized. I was just looking into this myself to see if my laptop could run it, and was pleasantly surprised.

Alien: Isolation system requirements on PCGamingWiki

I already own two of these games, I just need to get Alien Isolation. I'll start Little Nightmare's after I beat Resident Evil 2

I haven't watched Alien but I've always wanted to play Isolation because so many people praise it in reviews. Would it be better to watch the movie before starting the game? I've been spoiled on some major plot points in Alien so it might not matter too much.

I haven't watched Alien but I've always wanted to play Isolation because so many people praise it in reviews. Would it be better to watch the movie before starting the game? I've been spoiled on some major plot points in Alien so it might not matter too much.

It's a stone-cold classic of both sci-fi and horror, so if you're remotely interested I'd say go for it! The movie before the game would make a great 1-2 combo.

BTW Little Nightmares is currently 80% off on Steam for the complete edition - makes it about $8 in my money, so even less in US dollars =)

I haven't watched Alien but I've always wanted to play Isolation because so many people praise it in reviews. Would it be better to watch the movie before starting the game? I've been spoiled on some major plot points in Alien so it might not matter too much.

If you are interested in seeing the movie, I would argue "the movie first, the game second" would be the best experience. I think the movie would be a perfect set-up for the premise, basic lore and overall vibe before delving into this expanded "new" story from Isolation.
But it doesn't really matter that much. Alien is just a great atmospheric sci-fi horror flick that stands on its own very well, even to this day, and the game expands on the core idea and lore with a different story. I don't think one would take away from the other or anything like that. I also don't think it would be necessary to have seen the movie to fully enjoy the game.

I fricking adore the Alien and Aliens movies though, so I'll always recommend them. lol

- Matt

If you are interested in seeing the movie, I would argue "the movie first, the game second" would be the best experience. I think the movie would be a perfect set-up for the premise, basic lore and overall vibe before delving into this expanded "new" story from Isolation.
But it doesn't really matter that much. Alien is just a great atmospheric sci-fi horror flick that stands on its own very well, even to this day, and the game expands on the core idea and lore with a different story. I don't think one would take away from the other or anything like that. I also don't think it would be necessary to have seen the movie to fully enjoy the game.

I fricking adore the Alien and Aliens movies though, so I'll always recommend them. lol

- Matt

Echo this - the Alien movies are awesome and worth watching regardless of any game! Definitely classics that should not be missed =)

Have played the first 2 chapters of Little Nightmares and very much enjoying it so far. While the first chapter really felt like a tutorial, the second actually got interesting and I have many questions that will no doubt remain unanswered by the time I'm done.

So far my favourite part was the room full of shoes where something burrows towards you and you have to escape, and the very end of chapter 2 when you cut off the dude's arms, and just before you're done, one of them twitches about and looks like it's going to grab you - really sent a shiver down my spine lol.

The world building is the strongest part of this game so far, and I'm cool with that because I really enjoy seeing how it all fits together and what the devs have come up with. It really is a creative and interesting world, so I'm looking forward to continuing and seeing what's next! =)

Huh, I might actually participate this time. I tried playing BioShock 2 in January but didn't get that much into it because of Persona 4 Golden taking over everything.
I've been thinking of restarting it for a while and given that I have less games to juggle now I could probably manage it too.

Bioshock 2 was such a great game, make sure you play the DLC Minerva's Den too - it's even better than the base game! I am jealous of all you gamers out there who have yet to experience this masterpiece.

Started Bioshock 2 last night and I’m enjoying it so far! Played for about 3 hours last night and made it through Ryan’s Amusement Park. Definitely plays very similar to the original and it generally is just as creepy (although maybe not as much). The showcases at the Amusement Parks where the giant hands represent the government were comically horrifying though 😂. I feel combat is less clunky than the original too, probably since you can use both plasmids and weapons at the same time now.

From what I can tell right now it seems like we won’t be able to backtrack to any of the previous levels? Not sure how I feel about that.

Started Bioshock 2 last night and I’m enjoying it so far! Played for about 3 hours last night and made it through Ryan’s Amusement Park. Definitely plays very similar to the original and it generally is just as creepy (although maybe not as much). The showcases at the Amusement Parks where the giant hands represent the government were comically horrifying though 😂. I feel combat is less clunky than the original too, probably since you can use both plasmids and weapons at the same time now.

From what I can tell right now it seems like we won’t be able to backtrack to any of the previous levels? Not sure how I feel about that.

There is more than enough supplies in the current level to deal with whatever you'll be thrown at up ahead, even for a no-upgrade run on Hard mode I attempted years back, I don't think backtracking would be at all necessary, it's generally an easier game, especially because you acquire beefy weaponry early on and are also able to dual-wield.

There is more than enough supplies in the current level to deal with whatever you'll be thrown at up ahead, even for a no-upgrade run on Hard mode I attempted years back, I don't think backtracking would be at all necessary, it's generally an easier game, especially because you acquire beefy weaponry early on and are also able to dual-wield.

I’m not too worried, although I’ll be a little bummed if I accidentally miss an upgrade. It’s just a little odd to me they did that since you could backtrack in the original.

I’ve kind of noticed it doesn’t seem as difficult, although I have died twice already 😅. The hacking is so much easier in this one too which I’m happy about since it was super annoying in the original.

I love the selections this month! I'll post my review of BioShock 2 later on in the month because I completed it a few months ago so the game is fresh on my mind. I thought it was much harder than the original so I stopped messing with the extra ADAM. Story-wise I thought the DLC was fantastic, but the main game has really good elements as well.

I've watched a full playthrough of Alien:Isolation. It's beautiful and so atmospheric but it's not a game I would like to play. Stealth plays a big part in this game and that's not my forte. I would also recommend people to watch Alien before playing this game.

I'm still on the fence about Little Nightmares because I watched a playthrough thinking it's not a game I wanted to play myself, but it actually looks really good and fun to play. I've watched it long enough ago to not remember the puzzles. I might purchase it last minute on Switch now that it's on offer, because I would like to play the first game if I ever want to check out the second game.

Just a suggestion to whoever decides to pick up Little Nightmares for the Switch: don't do it. The loading times are huge and it makes the whole experience very frustrating.

I love the selections this month! I'll post my review of BioShock 2 later on in the month because I completed it a few months ago so the game is fresh on my mind. I thought it was much harder than the original so I stopped messing with the extra ADAM. Story-wise I thought the DLC was fantastic, but the main game has really good elements as well.

I've watched a full playthrough of Alien:Isolation. It's beautiful and so atmospheric but it's not a game I would like to play. Stealth plays a big part in this game and that's not my forte. I would also recommend people to watch Alien before playing this game.

I'm still on the fence about Little Nightmares because I watched a playthrough thinking it's not a game I wanted to play myself, but it actually looks really good and fun to play. I've watched it long enough ago to not remember the puzzles. I might purchase it last minute on Switch now that it's on offer, because I would like to play the first game if I ever want to check out the second game.

What Little Nightmares playthrough have you watched? I don't have the game and am thinking of just watching a playthrough.

Just a suggestion to whoever decides to pick up Little Nightmares for the Switch: don't do it. The loading times are huge and it makes the whole experience very frustrating.

Oh no and I just bought it 2 days ago too...

What Little Nightmares playthrough have you watched? I don't have the game and am thinking of just watching a playthrough.

I watched the Zackscottgames one:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-7t9DoIELCQPxelFFG4ZlH3zPvsCx8Ks

I actually bought the game on offer yesterday on Switch and noticed the long load times too.. It's also quite grainy and low quality I would say. I think it's fine for such a short game, but I'll just take my time and play in short sittings to prevent frustration :-)

I have already played 2 games from this month's book club, so that is cool. I don't really have the time to replay Little Nightmares and BioShock 2 right now, but I plan to give my thoughts on the games all throughout the month. Bioshock 2 is my favorite of the BioShock games, though I am really not a fan of the franchise for various reasons. Little Nightmares is really fun, and I highly recommend it for the super tense encounters and the great puzzles. Funny enough though, the spooky games I want to check out this month are almost all from Triple Creature Feature 4 with the Evil Within and Dead Space. I might try to check out Alien Isolation if my schedule permits, and since it is currently midterms right now, I don't think I am going to be gaming a ton this month.

I beat the first chapter of Little Nightmares just now and I think it's well done. It reminds me a bit of DARQ in the structure, side-facing perspective, and tone. I like the spooky, dark atmosphere and sound design quite a bit. The puzzles so far were fairly simple but I expect it to ramp up in later chapters.

Will probably play another chapter later in the day when I take another work break. :)

I beat the first chapter of Little Nightmares just now and I think it's well done. It reminds me a bit of DARQ in the structure, side-facing perspective, and tone. I like the spooky, dark atmosphere and sound design quite a bit. The puzzles so far were fairly simple but I expect it to ramp up in later chapters.

Will probably play another chapter later in the day when I take another work break. :)

Yeah, the sound design in this game is fantastic and brings a lot to the overall success of that game.

BTW Little Nightmares is currently 80% off on Steam for the complete edition - makes it about $8 in my money, so even less in US dollars =)

Same on Microsoft Store, for the "Complete Edition."