The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope - What We Know So Far

In 2015, Supermassive Games released the interactive drama survival horror hybrid Until Dawn. The game burrowed its way into many "Best PS4 Exclusives" lists thanks to its terrifying moments and branching narrative. While Supermassive developed several unrelated subsequent games, as well as an Until Dawn spin-off and prequel for PlayStation VR, the company didn't create a true successor until Man of Medan. 

Supermassive touted Man of Medan as the first part of a new series known as The Dark Pictures Anthology, a love-letter of sorts to the horror genre. If you tuned in for Gamescom 2020, you might have caught some gameplay for the next entry in the anthology, Little Hope. If nail-biting horror experiences are your jam, you probably want to know more about Little Hope. What can you expect from the title? When it will release? And why does it it look like the lovechild of Sleepy Hollow and Silent Hill? If you're brave enough to seek the answers, keep reading.

Most of the video games on display during Gamescom 2020 featured general release windows such as "Holiday 2020" and "2021." Some didn't include any sort of launch target, but the developers at Supermassive Games were kind enough to provide a definitive release date. In fact, fans have known for a while when the game will launch. Sort of.

Originally, Little Hope was scheduled to come out Summer 2020. However, 2020 is seemingly the year of video game delays, and Little Hope was also hit by the delay hammer. Currently, the title is scheduled for an Oct. 30 launch, just in time for Halloween.

However, Little Hope won't launch complete. The game will eventually receive a Curator's Cut mode, designed to let you "play previously unavailable scenes with different characters" once you finish the main story, and each new decision will provide new consequences. This mode will extend Little Hope's replayability even further, but Curator's Cut won't come out until three months after Little Hope drops. That is, unless you pre-order Little Hope, which will net you "exclusive early access" to the mode. On the bright side, the Curator's Cut will be free of charge.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope has received several trailers since Supermassive unveiled it.

You can start with the Official Hope Reveal Trailer, which sets the stage for the game. According to that video, Little Hope will involve the titular town of Little Hope, the undying trope of college students (and teachers) who wander into a haunted town, and Salem-esque witch trials that left an invisible mark on the locals. Meanwhile, the Official Release Date Trailer provides more context for the story, such as the reason college students are in Little Hope and why they don't do the smart thing and run away. It also introduces a creepy little girl who will play a big part in the narrative.

If you want more than story trailers, there are plenty of gameplay demos to whet your appetite. However, some are almost 30 minutes long. So, don't watch these gameplay sessions unless you have some spare time.

Little Hope takes place in Little Hope, a town situated somewhere in the Northeastern United States. Sounds simple enough, right? Thoughts like those tend to get characters killed in slasher films, and that's basically what The Dark Pictures Anthology aims to be.

Judging by the various gameplay trailers and Let's Play videos, Little Hope is a time bending tale that will spread throughout multiple time periods without leaving the confines of Little Hope. While the game will primarily take place in modern times, everything will link back to witch trials held in a colonial-era version of Little Hope, as a force wants to kill people who look like the trials' victims and participants.

Of course, the developers are keeping a lot of Little Hope under wraps, so they might have a few more settings in store for audiences.