History VideoGame / LittleHope

''The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope'', also known simply as ''Little Hope'', is an AdventureGame slash SurvivalHorror developed by Creator/SupermassiveGames and published by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment. It's supposed to be the second game in an {{Anthology}} of horror games called ''VideoGame/TheDarkPicturesAnthology''. It was released worldwide on October 30th, 2020 for PC, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and UsefulNotes/Playstation4.

** The witch trials in the 1690s had many similarities to real-life witch trials, in particular, the infamous Salem witch trials or the British witch trials as such as those of Matthew Hopkins. The use of spectral evidence such as Mary's false seizure and Amy supposedly touching and curing her has been documented. The executions of hanging, drowning, thrown from heights and being crushed under stones were used, however, only hanging was ever used as an execution method in America (crushing was used famously on Giles Corey as part of an EngineeredConfession, but he never confessed to witchcraft and died due to the torture). The other methods were used in Europe, [[spoiler:which is a hint that the trials are all a conjuration of someone's troubled mind.]] Further, Amy and Joesph's insistence that Mary, rather than Carver, is the true culprit was also fairly common, as Carver's position as a priest would've made it very hard to condemn him.

* DeadStarWalking: Subverted, but ultimately ZigZagged with [[spoiler:Andrew, who is voiced by, modeled after, and motion captured by Will Poulter. While he certainly can still die, he has a lot PlotArmor up until the literal end of the story where can die [[DriventoSuicide via suicide]], and even then, his fate is still determined by a number of factors. If one of the other protagonists are still alive he won't die. If he never found the gun, or used all of the bullets, he can't go through with it. And if he was antagonistic to Vince his suicide attempt will be interrupted by him and Andrew is arrested by the police. It is honestly very easy to keep Andrew alive, but possibly the most difficult to save.]]

** [[spoiler:Daniel's theory that the college class are suffering a DyingDream is quickly dismissed by the rest of the group, but is proven correct by the end (with the class being hallucinative representations of the deceased Clarke family members).]]

* SequelHook: Much like ''VideoGame/ManOfMedan,'' the game ends with a teaser for the next game in the Anthology, ''House of Ashes.''

** The witch trials in the 1690s had many similarities to real-life witch trials, in particular, the infamous Salem witch trials or the British witch trials as such as those of Matthew Hopkins. The use of spectral evidence such as Mary's false seizure and Amy supposedly touching and curing her has been documented. The executions of hanging, drowning, thrown from heights and being crushed under stones were used, however, only hanging was ever used as an execution method in America (crushing was used famously on Giles Corey, but he never confessed to witchcraft and died due to the torture). The other methods were used in Europe, [[spoiler:which is a hint that the trials are all a conjuration of someone's troubled mind.]] Further, Amy and Joesph's insistence that Mary, rather than Carver, is the true culprit was also fairly common, as Carver's position as a priest would've made it very hard to condemn him.

* PlotArmor: [[spoiler: Anthony]] cannot be killed no matter how many quick-time events you fail, because [[spoiler: the entirety of the game is taking place in his traumatized mind]].

* DeadStarWalking: Subverted, but ultimately ZigZagged with [[spoiler:Andrew, who is voiced by, modeled after, and motion captured by Will Poulter. While he certainly can still die, he has a lot PlotArmor up until the literal end of the story where can die [[DriventoSuicide via suicide]], and even then, his fate is still determined by a number of factors. If one of the other protagonists are still he won't die. If he never found the gun, or used all of the bullets, he can't go through with it. And if he was antagonistic to Vince his suicide attempt will be interrupted by him and Andrew is arrested by the police. It is honestly very easy to keep Andrew alive, but possibly the most difficult to save.]]

** DeadStarWalking: Subverted, but ultimately ZigZagged with [[spoiler: Andrew, who is voiced by, modeled after, and motion captured by Will Poulter. While he certainly can still die, he has a lot PlotArmor up until the literal end of the story where can die [[DriventoSuicide via suicide]], and even then, his fate is still determined by a number of factors. If one of the other protagonists are still he won't die. If he never found the gun, or used all of the bullets, he can't go through with it. And if he was antagonistic to Vince his suicide attempt will be interrupted by him and Andrew is arrested by the police. It is honestly very easy to keep Andrew alive, but possibly the most difficult to save.]]

* ElementalMotifs: The executions that take place during the witch trials all follow the four elements. [[spoiler: Amy is drowned in a river (water), Abraham is thrown off a high place and impaled (wind), and Joseph is crushed underneath heavy stones (earth). The only possible outlier is Tabitha, who can either be burned at the stake (fire), or she can be hanged.]]

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The fate of [[spoiler: David/Dennis]] in the flashbacks and [[spoiler: Daniel]] in the present if you choose the wrong character traits or miss certain quicktime events.

* IdenticalStranger: The main characters in 2020, the Clarke family in the 1970`s and five of Little Hopes locals during the witch hunt hysteria in the 1690s all look and sound similar to one another, with the current day group noticing this fact in regards to the other two group of doubles.

* RedHerring: [[spoiler:Angela is the oldest playable character, at 48 years of age. Assuming the game takes place in 2020, she would have been born around 1972 — and the entire Clarke family died in late January of that year. This is presumably to support the idea that Anne was reincarnated as Angela soon after her death[[note]]The game is explicitly set at the end of May, meaning that Angela could have easily been born February-May 1972 to make her age match up[[/note]], kicking off another loop in which the group as a whole are being reincarnated again and again after they die — which despite being heavily set up throughout the game, ends up not being the case at all.]]

* HorrorHost: Pip Torrens returns to play the cheerful Curator, apparently a recurring character across the "Dark Pictures Anthology."

** A literal example with the gun Anthony can bring with him, which can factor into the worst ending where [[spoiler: Anthony commits suicide as the sole survivor]]

* AccidentalHero: [[spoiler: One ending has Vincent be this to Anthony if the latter angered the former during their brief confrontation scene at the church. If the player also got all four members of Andrew's group killed, condemned Mary to death in the final flashback and saved at least one bullet in the gun found earlier (as well as managing not to lose the weapon on the way) during the story route, then Anthony is all set to carry out the ending where he takes his own life in front of his old home...only for an enraged Vincent to suddenly show up with a cop he called earlier, which results in [[InterruptedSuicide Anthony's suicide being stopped just in the nick of time]]. In short, Vincent in this ending indirectly saved the one person in his life he wanted dead.]]

** [[spoiler:Throughout the whole game, Andrew is the only character in the college class who never faces a direct risk of death, having no demons out to kill him and surviving to the climax even if the player fails all his QTE`s. This is another hint of all the danger being fictional.]]

The game is set to receive a follow-up, ''VideoGame/HouseOfAshes'', currently scheduled for a 2021 release.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the prologue, some sort of [[spoiler: shadowy figure or demon is seen behind Megan]]. This is never explained or touched upon again for the rest of the game.