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Intro
Little Hope is a frustrating game. It sets up a very intriguing story about a group of souls who are doomed to reincarnate and die the same deaths in this town over and over again, and the only way to escape is to embrace the best versions of themselves and repent for past sins. Only for it to... not be about that. While it may not be the worst Dark Pictures game, it's possibly the most insulting due to this simple fact.

Story
As I described above, Little Hope is about a group of cursed souls who have sinned throughout all of their incarnations, and this game follows their final incarnations in a last attempt to redeem themselves and save them from eternal damnation. Naturally, anyone would think that sounds pretty cool, until it turns out, the game is actually not about that.

Instead, Little Hope follows a man (Anthony/Andrew) who loses everything. His family, his home, his reputation, even any friends he may have had. The game's prologue follows the *supposed* deaths of the entire Clarke family in 1972, and flash forwards 47 years later, where we follow their modern day incarnations as they are hunted down by demonic versions of their past selves. The big twist is that none of this is real, there were never any demons, or reincarnated souls, nothing like that. Instead, it's about Anthony trying to move past the guilt he felt after his family died, learning to recognize that the fire was just an accident, it was nobody's fault, not even Megan's.

Here's the thing: It's not the fact that this is the twist, it's the way the twist is done. If you're going to explain your story as "it was all a dream," you should tell the reader/viewer/player that this is the natural, forgone conclusion to the story, not something that's revealed at the last second as a stinger.

Characters
Fortunately, Little Hope is a definite upgrade from Man of Medan in terms of its characters. The characters this time are a bit more memorable, and they have some depth, as compared to Man of Medan, which mostly didn't have that.

Andrew - Inarguably the main character of the game. He is Anthony's alter ego, as well as one of the most playable protagonists. Despite being the main character, he's kind of a passive observer throughout the story, and doesn't seem to have much of an opinion on his classmates. This make sense at the start, since he has amnesia, and likely doesn't remember them very well and is only now formulating his opinions on them based on the events of the game, but Andrew never has any major interactions with any of the other protagonists aside from John, his professor. Andrew himself is the only character who doesn't really have a character arc, and his fate is largely reliant on how he treats Mary, the 1692 incarnation of Megan. Overall, he's a serviceable main character, but he doesn't really fit the "everyman" archetype, especially considering how personal of a story Little Hope is. The everyman is the opposite of what Andrew should be.

Angela - A mature student who has a hardy exterior but a heart of gold. Unlike her previous incarnations, Angela is very independent. She isn't afraid to express how she feels, even if it gets her into a heated argument with one of her classmates. In the past, she suffered an abusive marriage, and this produces her fatal flaw: her issue with trusting others. She's independent to such a point that she actively refuses help from others, and to redeem her, she has to learn that it's okay to put a little bit of trust into others, just not all of it. Yes, she's pretty unlikable in the beginning of the game, but towards the end of Act 1, her behavior becomes more understandable, given her troubled marriage and divorce, and she becomes a bit more sympathetic afterwards. It also helps that most of her mechanisms of death revolve around the suffocating nature of her past selves' roles, that being the matriarch who always has to be wise and there for their familiars, but never being allowed to express their own opinions.

Daniel - The token jock, Taylor's boyfriend, and old friends with Angela. He is easily the weakest character in the entire game. He doesn't really serve much of a purpose to the story aside from existing to fulfill the "five playable characters" quota. Daniel's defining trait is that he's just a pretty nice guy. That's it.

John - The de facto leader of the group, and a mentor to Andrew. He's a recovering alcoholic who has a lot of pressure weighing on him, given that he's meant to look after his students in this scary situation, while also trying to maintain a professional attitude and make a good example in front of them. This weight of expectations causes him to come off as antagonistic when he doesn't know what to do, and he often has trouble considering other solutions besides his own. John has the most malleable character arc in the game, he can be pretty different depending on if the player decides to portray him as an irresponsible mess, or prove his status as the leader, while also allowing others to take charge when necessary. Much like Angela's demon, it helps that this weight of expectations is represented by his respective demon, a man who was executed by crushing.

Taylor - She is the token Tumblr girl, being snarky, humorous, but also stubborn and independent. Her arc is pretty similar to that of Angela's, that being she learns to rely on others when necessary, the difference being that she's more independent in social situations. When someone or something is actually threatening her, unlike Angela, she'll become incredibly panicked and can even descend into hysteria.

Gameplay
Unlike Man of Medan, Little Hope has the least amount of branching out of any Supermassive game. The story is not completely and totally linear, but it never really strays away from the main path, and makes repeat playthroughs feel repetitive. Only three of your choices really matter: taking the gun from the shed, whether or not you calm down Vince outside the church, and deciding to accuse Carver or Mary. These three choices pretty much decide the game's final outcome, and no others really factor into it. To top it off, this is a little bit longer than Man of Medan, being about 5 hours long, which can really make it a slog when 100%ing it.

Verdict
Despite how disappointing its ending may be, I'd still say Little Hope is worth playing. Not only are the characters an upgrade from Man of Medan, but the atmosphere, soundtrack, and sound design are probably some of the best in the entire anthology. It makes for a particularly immersive time, no matter how frustrating the final result is.