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“Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?”
~The unknown individual

To be honest, I didn't really plan to write this review. I mean... what is there to say? It's the second game in Supermassive's horror anthology (a series of short spooky stories told in "choose your own adventure" way with some QTE elements) and I already wrote detailed review of Man of Medan (which was the first one), so, like I said, what else is there to say? Surprisingly, it turned out that, even though the core mechanics here is almost identical to what we've seen in Man of Medan, the actual storytelling, the structure of the game is pretty different and it does make it to feel... well... different. So... here goes.
First of all, unlike Man of Medan, this game allows you to re-play previous scenes at any point. In other words, you don't need to play through the entire thing to be able to return to the main menu and re-start from any place you've already visited. And you will want to do that. For two reasons. First – QTE play (way) bigger role now and it'll be easy to lose one of your characters pretty often. And second – unlike Man of Medan, Little Hope heavily relies on the exploration. I mean, sure, you needed to do some exploration in Man of Medan to get the full picture of what's going on, but in this game? The entire ending will depend on what you will discover on the way. This time we've got ourselves a witch story (you know, The Blair Witch kind of stuff) and technically speaking, you'll need to discover who put Bella in the Wych Elm (if you know what I mean), otherwise, no one will be happy.
And that's... quite an interesting thing. See, what we've got here is a multi-layered story. With tons of details, some of which will become clear only during the ending. Which is way, way more interesting than what we had in Man of Medan, in which things were pretty obvious since very beginning. But at the same exact time... it feels a little bit weird. Especially for those of us who play in either co-op or hotseat. Because yes, multiplayer mode is still the main dish in this game, with single player being only five-hours-long thing that, while being totally fine, can't really compete with what you'll get in a company. You see, Man of Medan with its unique structure that used to make you question everything, was extremely funny in multiplayer exactly because of that. It was impossible to say what's real and what's not. People used to panic and therefore make a lot of stupid mistakes. And it was fun exactly because of that. If you've ever seen horror movies before, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Remember all of those kids on the screen? Screaming and running like idiots and therefore ending up dying in some very stupid ways? That's exactly what Man of Medan used to make you to do. Here? It's exactly different story (pun not intended). Together with your friends, you'll try to discover as many clues as possible and make some right decisions, while trying to survive all the QTE encounters. In other words, it's not about panicking anymore. It's about the exploration and QTE skills. And somehow... it's hard not to miss what we had in previous game.
I'm not trying to say that Little Hope feels bad, or something like that. Quite the opposite. I'm a huge fan of this kind of stories and I'm very glad that the amazing idea of people playing adventure games online that Miller brothers (Cyan Productions / Cyan Worlds) had back in early 2000s (URU: Ages Beyond Myst) is still alive and kicking. But at the same exact time, the new formula doesn't feel nearly as exciting as the one from Man of Medan where it was easy to lose the character just because one of your friends panicked and made some really poor choices. Even in single player the new formula doesn't feel nearly as exciting. Just because... you know. After you learn the truth, the game starts to get boring and not only I didn't feel motivated enough to play through the alternative cut (an alternative mode that puts a different set of characters from your group into the spotlight and shows you about an hour of cutscenes you haven't seen before), I didn't even feel like I wanted to save everybody. Just because... but no, I won't spoil it to you. I already said that the story is more complicated this time, let's just say that there won't be nearly as much sense in saving everybody this time.
So... yeah. I totally admire the fact that Supermassive Games didn't try to just copy / past things from their previous game. While using the same exact mechanics, they did their very best to make Little Hope to feel different. And it does. For both good and bad. I totally loved the story this time, the setting is very solid, the atmosphere is fantastic (as long as you love woods, fog, abandoned houses and stuff like that) and all in all, the game has quite a lot of things to surprise you during your first run. But at the same time, multiplayer mode (again, let's not forget that multiplayer is a main dish here) doesn't feel nearly as exciting. Just because the entire “don't trust your eyes” thing is gone and it's all about the QTE now. Also, the endgame development can feel a bit frustrating. Especially during your first try. For example, even if you'll be able to achieve the good ending, some of your characters will still be able to die. Just because of some choices you've made ages ago, without even knowing about the impact they'll have on the ending. It's like “Hey! We won! Yay!” and then BOOM! Some monster appears and one of your guys is dead. With no way for you to interfere. It's kinda... smart and when you'll look back and think about all that during your second run, it'll start making sense to you, but at the first time... no, seriously, it's a mess. Playing through the entire thing and then watching your guys dying? Doesn't feel right.
I still do recommend this game, though. Heck, I think I'm turning into Supermassive Games' fan. Totally love the way they tell their stories. From Until Dawn to Hidden Agenda to The Dark Pictures Anthology. Can't really call any of those games perfect, but somehow, Supermassive never fail to create that certain feeling that makes you feel like you're actually diving into a movie. And I'm not even a big fan of the interactive movies. It's just... I dunno, with Supermassive Games it's always fun to be a part of all that. To explore, to make the mistakes, to try and figure out what's going on... I always end up feeling like everything I see in the game is real. For whatever screwed up reason there is. And the multiplayer mode that The Dark Picture Anthology offers? I don't think you'll find anything else like that on the market. You have friends who love horror movies? You're in for a treat. Especially if those friends are living nearby. Because personally? I'm totally in love with the hotseat mode here. Just make sure to order enough pizza and the next five hours of your life will be awesome. I'd say, play Man of Medan first, though. Because, even though story there isn't as cool as in Little Hope, multiplayer-wise, it's the best one so far. Dixi.