LittleBigPlanet 5
LittleBigPlanet as a franchise is a tale of how a community-sponsored flower of pure imagination and creation will ultimately be stomped on so long as it exists within the confines of careless corporate entities that care more about investing in bland, safe properties. After the release of LittleBigPlanet 3 especially, a notable nosedive in the upkeep of the franchise occurred. However, this isn't to say that the community didn't manage for as long as it maintained official Sony support, and things are still managed to this day through unofficial means. With this in mind, many fan projects have been initiated that hypothesize what a LittleBigPlanet 4 could have been over the life of LittleBigPlanet 3 and beyond. Some however suggest that Dreams is the true LittleBigPlanet 4, despite it practically being more of a game engine by its point. Sackboy A Big Adventure does not really count because it does not allow for creative mode.
For me however, a take on a potential LittleBigPlanet sequel that I played closer to the end of official server support for LittleBigPlanet 3 haunts my mind and makes me nervous anytime LittleBigPlanet sequels are talked about now.
I managed to somehow browse the levels one day during the dying days of official LittleBigPlanet 3 support, and I was browsing the various levels that served as attempts and takes on "LittleBigPlanet 4". During my browsing however, I ran across an adventure named "LittleBigPlanet 5". Such an odd choice to opt with a vision for the fifth major installment instead of a simple LittleBigPlanet 4, but okay. The first level was titled "introduction", as usual with LittleBigPlanet installments. It begins with a blur that gradually de-noises into what is clearly a giant zipper surrounded by two fabric-like branches positioned on its sides. The zipper opens- a glowing white abyss is revealed inside. The player character known as sackboy falls out. The camera follows sackboy as sackboy continuously falls for a solid minute. Usually with LittleBigPlanet games you'd expect more visual flair for the introduction level, and you would think even a fan creation would attempt to live up to this typical trend. However, nothing interesting is there as sackboy is falling, and sackboy lands on what looks like the default level background from LittleBigPlanet 1, except the depth is significantly greater visually. When you attempt to shift to the furthest back layer there is simply no end, almost as if there is an infinite amount of layers. How this managed to be implemented, even in the LittleBigPlanet game with the most advanced creative mode tools, is beyond me. You activate a typical starting checkpoint, and if you try to run to the left you hit an invisible barrier. Once you start running right well...nothing happens for the most part. The background is completely black. This seemed like slop made by some mindless child fooling around, but I decided to entertain this for once and kept on running rightwards in the level. However, I eventually hit a floating block of text that read "and so, the trauma of being born sets in".
The level then entirely fades.
A new level then loads. A fully 3D view of a cliff with a long series of planks connecting to the edge of the cliff is presented, and the starting checkpoint is situated by the planks. Sackboy spawns out of the checkpoint. I'm able to move in full 3D movement. This seems mildly possible to make so far, except the checkpoint for this type of level is oriented on a seemingly impossible axis (LittleBigPlanet players know what I'm talking about). I decide to take things mores seriously and traverse the planks. Below the planks is a chasm that leads to an extremely detailed forest? At this point things were starting to seem as if way more than just the standard creative mode tools were used for the design of this. I carefully navigated further, which leads me to eventually reaching another cliff. Upon reaching the cliff, the level then fades into a black background where text made out of gears and knobs slowly hovers down into the center of the screen while a slowed-down version of the game over music from Donkey Kong Country is playing. The "i" is made out of a windmill.
After a minute of this logo sitting there, the music suddenly stopped and I started wondering if the level glitched out. I nearly considered just quitting and forgetting about this, but then the adventure suddenly brought me to its third level. This time, it seems like basically the same level, but this time it seems like there is smoking coming out from the other side of the cliff. I head towards the planks, and this time the forest is on fire. There's not much remarkable beyond this to be honest, and hearing sounds used from the Monster Pack DLC at various points midway through broke the immersion I was starting to drown under for a moment. But then I got closer to the end, and the sounds started becoming more distorted and garbled. It's possible to distort the provided sounds in LittleBigPlanet to some degree, but not to the extent I was beginning to hear. Eventually, the sounds morphed and converged into what almost sounded like a metal-screeching monster(?) Upon reaching the end of the planks again, there was actually a scoreboard this time. It showed my score as 0 of course, as there were no point bubbles or any methodology of collecting points.
The game then led me to back to the adventure map that exists for adventures in LittleBigPlanet. My completed levels were displayed, along the next one I needed to complete and more that were to be unlocked. I should mention that the adventure map itself looked unremarkable outside of the fact that it looked like a desert I guess. Selecting the next level I needed to complete led me to spawning from a starter checkpoint located inside what almost looked like a butcher shop. As with the previous level, I was also able to move in all three dimensions, albeit this time it felt more believably constrained to the vanilla creative mode tools provided in LittleBigPlanet 3. The starter checkpoint was the only light source in this butcher room, but I was able to see the meaty, yet boney sides of hanging carcasses at the edges of the room's dark abyss ever so slightly. I wander around and it almost seems like it's just a very contained box at first. I can't nudge the carcasses at all, but I can grab them and they make a meaty sponge-like sound that I do not recall ever being in the LittleBigPlanet creative mode soundboard. Eventually, I must have accidentally activated something because I randomly fell through the floor and ended up landing into a completely dark area. A 3D flashlight laying on the ground randomly flickers, revealing a silhouette of my sackboy. Within a few more flickers however, I begin to notice something else. A deflated sack is laying in the background. It had obvious eye holes, a mouth hole, the iconic zipper...what it was was obvious. The sight of this nearly caused me to begin vomiting. This wasn't something you could easily construct with vanilla creative mode tools either. One of the tracks from the Wilderness levels in LittleBigPlanet 1 begins playing (I forgot the name of it, but it's when you defeat the Creator).
I almost begin running to the right of the level, but then my curiosity re-peaked and I ran to the left of the level really quick. I immediately hit a wall, but collected a hidden prize bubble. Usually when you collect a prize bubble in the mainline LittleBigPlanet games, the game merely tells you what category (as organized in the UI during creative mode, or within the level editor basically) the prize is in. "new costume", "new object", "new material", etc. This time however, I noticed that no actual category was referenced. The icon for the prize was the deflated sack, and instead of stating the category of the prize (which I would have assumed would have been as an object in creative mode), it was categorized as "deflated one". It didn't have "new" right before it either as it usually does. Puzzled, I ran back rightwards, and eventually I reached a scoreboard. It told me I collected all prizes, and then ended the level.
The adventure then followed with a cutscene that showed sackboy running down a dark hallway that began gradually phasing into a cave-like tunnel structure. The cave molded into something more fleshy, and then almost skin-like. Sackboy then found himself standing in the middle of what seemed like a beating heart, with no escape. Sackboy became visibly frightened, and then a narrator began speaking:
"Your complex relies upon this very moment, sackboy. No matter how much you may try to escape it, this will always influence you. Your whims, your passion, your tendencies. You, are the real horror, sackboy. This curse is not only beholden to you, but to all of us. But for you, you failed to overcome it, and for that, you will rot in my cellar forever".
The level then ended and moved onto the next level, which was just the starter checkpoint inside of a cage within a dark room space. For a solid thirty or so seconds, the starter checkpoint just sat there not emitting any light or doing anything at all. Eventually it lit up and sackboy jumped out, but the level prevented me from doing anything. Sackboy immediately sat down and entered a crying animation. This seemed to be on loop. Such is not impossible to necessarily construct in LittleBigPlanet 3 (besides maybe that extreme delay regarding the starter checkpoint, which could be brushed off as a momentary glitch maybe), but I could not even pause the game and exit the level. This was the point where I was really almost beginning to assume things were actually breaking, but then a stop-motion hand suddenly crumples up what's entirely visible in the scene. The generic LittleBigPlanet logo was then left on the screen while loud screaming sounds were playing, sounds which were very obviously not on the LittleBigPlanet soundboard and seem more like they came out of some snuff film. At that point I instinctively lunged towards my PS3 system to unplug it because I'm not listening to that shit.
It emerged.
My TV screen still remained cut to that LittleBigPlanet logo and its frame began morphing into a fleshy substance. I immediately ran out of the room because screw that. Considering this is my home however, I cannot just permanently bar off that room, so I took a breath and peaked back in there for a second. Half of the room was covered in the fleshy substance, and it was more grayish now. The center of the mass was an opening that revealed the TV screen, and it was still on with the LittleBigPlanet logo.
That damned beast absorbed my game cabinet, which had all of my copies of the LittleBigPlanet games. Those hold sentimental value to me. I lost it and I don't care if I'm powerless, such a dishonor cannot be tolerated and I figured I would go down dying if it meant avenging my collection of LittleBigPlanet games. Especially LittleBigPlanet 2, the best one out of the entire series (despite me playing 3 leading up to this point btw).
I charged into the entity and tried smashing my hands into the screen, but the screen immediately transmorphed into a gooey substance and sucked in my arm up to my shoulder. I was being sucked into this thing, and it started making a hissing noise. My head, then body, then legs were being pulled into this, and I saw the light closing in from behind my feet as the entity grew a zipper that was slowly closing up the orifice that I entered.
Then I quickly woke up with my heart pounding, looked down at my PS3 controller with low battery, and noticed I was back to the Adventure menu for these levels. It seemed like I completed way more levels than I remembered, and it honestly looked like way more than what LittleBigPlanet 3 possibly allows for Adventures. It looked like there were at least 50 levels on this, and they were really packed. Honestly, I really didn't want to try any of those other levels. Especially with nightmares like that.
I selected the final level, and loaded in from the usual starter checkpoint. However, it was an infinite-layer blank level like the intro again, only this time the background was the normal standard blue color. I ran to the right for a moment and then I lost control as black letterboxes took over the screen and a cutscene seemed to be starting. Sackboy stopped running for a moment and stared forwards at the camera. White text floated above sackboy's head that read "You did it". More text followed: "You have been reconstituted". "I now grant you the power". An empty prize bubble notification appears in the game.
My PS3 then cut off. Both made me mildly pissed and also think "probably for the best actually". However, as I was about to walk over to my bedroom, I feel a growth in my belly area. I feel around it, and I notice what feels like large notes forming. This nervously prompts me to lift up my shirt and I get beholden by the sight of a zipper that has formed on my chest. The flesh around my zipper looks agitated and more red compared to the rest of my skin. At this point, I just assume it's a weird-ass dream again and that I'm in some sort of inception of dreams this round, so I try unzipping it. A fleshy abyss appeared to be inside of me, and the zipper cavity began engaging in breathing-like motions. The misfortune of reaching my hand inside of that cavity fell upon me, and while I mostly felt what seemed to be my internal organs...a hard object was felt. Its shape was too weird and peculiar to be my spine I figured, so I tried to pull it out. A handgun. It was a handgun. I look ahead of me towards a mirror, and a stringy beam of light shot out of my cavity and connected to a holographic-like ball above me with text that read "new object!" with an image of the gun. The stringy light and orb hovered around for a few seconds before suddenly disappearing. I thought I knew what had to be done. But then I realized the true implications of this.
I paused time. I then flew to New York. Not by plane of course, but by literally hovering my body through the air quickly. I arrived at the site of where the old World Trade Centers were located at, and then rewinded time a bit. Eventually, I reached the date of September 11th, 2001. As the first plane was flying in, I paused time and grabbed it. I deleted it. I'm the Creator now I thought. This Earth is my own personal LittleBigPlanet moon now. But soon after, once I unpaused time, something dreadful followed: the first tower exploded anyways. This made me realize that maybe some things really are out of my control, and so I rewinded time to before my deletion of the plane and just allowed the following events to happen anyways. The course of humanity's horrors truly cannot be redirected, was my true realization upon this day.
My only avenue for a sense of power now, was becoming the horror myself. And should I pursue this? Time will tell.
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