Lil Gator Game was a really fun, special little adventure with a big heart and a wholesome story. But it was also so short that it was easy to be left wanting more. In the Dark seeks to rectify this by giving us another chapter of the story to play through. Although it’s a DLC, it’s almost more of a sequel, as it’s roughly as long and involved as the base game, as well as being of similarly high quality. It not only makes for an excellent subsequent adventure, but its story still hits in a big way, while adding some elements that significantly improve the game’s movement options.
In the Dark starts with Tom letting the protagonist know that there’s a cave system under the island that everyone can travel to. He also specifies that it’s totally been there the whole time, you guys. This is clearly marked on the map with an exclamation point, and entering it kicks the story off. You need to have completed the Lil Gator Game itself to be able to access this, so you’ll have to boot up your original save to hop in. The plot focuses on the group running into a “villain” called Darklord, who is a pig child backed up by a few teenagers. Darklord is hellbent on using fireworks to destroy the town you spent the base game building, so it’s up to you to defeat his “minions.”
The dialogue is once again funny and packed with character. The new cast members are memorable and unique too, such as Amberly, Darklord’s exasperated babysitter, and Ruth, a bear that just wants to nap (you and me both, Ruth.) The story once again takes a really heartfelt, tear-jerking turn toward the end with some strong narrative choices too, proving that the game’s writer is no one-hit wonder. Overall, playing through the entirety of In the Dark will take three or four hours, just like the base game, making Lil Gator Game a more complete-feeling experience.
I was a bit apprehensive since In the Dark takes place in a cave system, which is a far cry from the forested island the base game covers. But these fears were unfounded, as the environment here is also quite beautiful and packed with character all the same. It’s honestly still kind of hard to get your bearings (and even more so than the base game due to it being underground,) but the cave system is divided into three separate areas: the mining area, the stalactite (or stalacmite) area, and the tree root area. As such, it’s still just as much of a joy to explore here as before.
Once again, the plot structure is short and simple, as it tasks you with doing three quests for your friends in the regions. These correspond to Darklord’s “minions” and are considerably shorter and simpler than the base game’s three main quests. One has you break cardboard “enemies” while sneaking around the napping Ruth without waking her, another has you make a movie for Darklord’s minion Emilio, and one has you race his minion Amberly. As such, most of the meat here is based on gathering your bearings, which is easier said than done. There are also a bunch of cryptids to find (these are also cardboard) for one of the characters.
Each of the three regions has seven new friends to recruit, and you’ll actually need to recruit four of them from each region before undertaking each main quest. There’s a lot of verticality on display here, though, so searching the place is easier said than done. Thankfully, there’s a brand new addition that helps with this. Fresh weapons In the Dark introduces now have charms, which grant weapons a special ability. The first one you get is a pickaxe that has the slam ability, letting the protagonist break boulders and spin through the air when an air attack is used.
Other weapons have a dash ability that lets you stab forward (even in mid-air,) and ones with a spin ability that attacks in a circle around the player but also launches them upward if used in the air. My favourite, though, is the hover ability, which lets you hold the attack button and attack continuously, and hover in the air. This allows you to cover a huge amount of ground. There are also new items, such as a drone and helium-filled balls that you can use to bounce on ceilings. Most of these are a lot of fun to use, although I do wish some form of quicker weapon switching had been implemented, as the different abilities are largely so useful.
Once you finish the main quest, you can then use the megaphone and smartphone items from the base game to find everything you’re missing, which will trigger a final cutscene, just as in the base game.
It was lovely to return to the world of Lil Gator Game and to have the protagonist’s movement options opened up so much, so I’m happy to report that this DLC is every bit as charming as you’d likely expect. Any fan of the base game would be doing themselves a disservice by not checking out this lovingly crafted follow-up.
Lil Gator Game: In the Dark: Lil Gator Game: In the Dark is a loving follow-up to the base game that doubles the game's size while adding some worthwhile new abilities. – Andrew Farrell
Check out our previous review:
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