Little Goody Two Shoes never shows you its entire hand. The horror narrative adventure is part PS2-era RPG, part sapphic dating sim, and part existential horror with a stunning look that strikes a balance between nostalgic 90s anime classics and its bizarre, circus-themed flavour of eldritch horror. It is comfortably endearing but fueled by paranoia and, like the loving village protagonist Elise calls home, is ready to transform into a hellscape at any moment.
The origins of our heroine are kept deliberately under wraps as the story begins. She was found in the woods by her adoptive grandmother and raised as her own, but whether her late guardian was telling the truth is quickly up for debate as the game begins. Everything we’re told is lined with an aura of doubt, with dark subject matter deviously juxtaposed with an otherwise jovial tone. Don’t believe everything you see, no matter how wholesome.
Little Goody Two Shoes is a sequel to Pocket Mirror, which follows the mother of protagonist Elise on her own horrific fairy tale adventure.
You must build a life for yourself in the humble German village of Kieferberg, performing everyday tasks before stumbling upon an innocent witch in the woods who needs to be defended from a merciless horde of old-fashioned villagers. After taking shelter in your chicken coop, the adventure begins in earnest. By day you’ll take part in cutesy arcade minigames, leaning in to all the trappings of ‘wholesome’ and ‘cosy’ games, but as soon as night falls, you’ll often fall into disturbing dreams, or watch in helpless wonder as the world around you begins to transform.
On the surface, it is cutesy and unassuming, although the opening hours make it obvious that something strange is afoot beneath the pedestrian lives of farmhands and innocence of the local church. You’ll perform banal tasks for residents or decide to go on dates with some of the other girls in the village, getting them to fall in love with you before luring them into the woods to be devoured by a supernatural creature that promises you the world. It’s so sincere, loving, and well executed, but also isn’t afraid to flip on a dime and terrify you.
Elise is a bit of an ass, happy to insult those around her or take others for a ride if it makes her life easier. Only after you actually get talking to fellow characters and come to know them is she able to turn over a new leaf. She never hesitates to make her friends sleep outside or kick off in the middle of town, yet we still put up with her. It’s a direct product of her upbringing, a hostile stigma that sticks around and haunts our heroine in whatever she does, and only by putting herself through hell will a chance to unlearn them arise.
Alice in Wonderland meets Serial Experiments Lain is the combo that springs to mind when I try and recommend this unusual gem to people, and that’s already giving away too much – knowing as little as possible is the best way to experience Little Goody Two Shoes. I’m a giant fruit and jumped at the chance to play an anime lesbian living out of an adorable farmhouse, but was quickly taken aback by the horrific ordeals our main character soon goes through.
Elise is a lead character who is able to confront her womanhood and be given an opportunity to try and grow, which is incredibly valuable, even if it’s done through the morbid hellscape of a circus falling apart at the seams. I still need to work my way through to the ending and see what other routes and characters have to offer, but even after a couple of short hours, this gem offers a slice of horror unlike anything I’ve seen this year. Don’t sleep on this one, or don’t sleep at all, because you’ll inevitably be dragged into a weird boschian nightmare.
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