ArcadeFlower587
Originally my opinion on OneShot was that it was a unique and interesting concept, with characters and a world I was interested in. In terms of gameplay though, it left a lot to be desired. The gameplay was incredibly basic and not very engaging, and while the gimmick of solving puzzles by looking outside the game itself made the game unique, the game really didn't do enough with that, along with the ending feeling half-baked in my opinion.
And then I played the Solstice run.
This is where the game really shines. All of my complaints are pretty much nullified here. The game still revolves around puzzles and interacting with objects in the environment, but story wise and in terms of how it goes about the previously mentioned gimmick, it's a whole lot more engaging. I was very much immersed in what was happening. All of the characters are memorable and the way you interact with the world is incredible. The Solstice run of OneShot makes the game for me, it's a fantastic experience, up there with some of my favorite games I've ever played.
It's just really unfortunate that the experience of OneShot as a whole is having to get through that initial run that isn't that great, waiting for the game to get good once Solstice comes around. Not to say that the first run of the game is bad, but it's not anything amazing, it's just alright, which is a little frustrating.
I still highly recommend the game but it isn't without its faults, that's all.
And then I played the Solstice run.
This is where the game really shines. All of my complaints are pretty much nullified here. The game still revolves around puzzles and interacting with objects in the environment, but story wise and in terms of how it goes about the previously mentioned gimmick, it's a whole lot more engaging. I was very much immersed in what was happening. All of the characters are memorable and the way you interact with the world is incredible. The Solstice run of OneShot makes the game for me, it's a fantastic experience, up there with some of my favorite games I've ever played.
It's just really unfortunate that the experience of OneShot as a whole is having to get through that initial run that isn't that great, waiting for the game to get good once Solstice comes around. Not to say that the first run of the game is bad, but it's not anything amazing, it's just alright, which is a little frustrating.
I still highly recommend the game but it isn't without its faults, that's all.
2021
This is the video game equivalent of a drug trip and I'm all for it
1998
This is definitely a game that I appreciate more than I actually like. I did enjoy what I played for the most part, but getting just under halfway through the game, I really don't want to play anymore.
For 1998 this game is super impressive, I found myself surprised at how much they were able to do for the time period. Nowadays though the game definitely drags. The movement doesn't feel quite right, the game is super stingy with health pickups, and sometimes enemies can kill you in frankly stupid ways to where it doesn't even feel fair.
When you're in a gunfight and carefully planning your actions it's really fun and engaging, but at the same time there's plenty of boring puzzle solving and the most awkward platforming imaginable.
So yeah, not a bad game by any means and I'm glad I checked it out, but this is not one I have any desire to pick up again, sorry to say.
For 1998 this game is super impressive, I found myself surprised at how much they were able to do for the time period. Nowadays though the game definitely drags. The movement doesn't feel quite right, the game is super stingy with health pickups, and sometimes enemies can kill you in frankly stupid ways to where it doesn't even feel fair.
When you're in a gunfight and carefully planning your actions it's really fun and engaging, but at the same time there's plenty of boring puzzle solving and the most awkward platforming imaginable.
So yeah, not a bad game by any means and I'm glad I checked it out, but this is not one I have any desire to pick up again, sorry to say.
2023
The Rock Band nostalgia is real.
This game is super fun to mess around with. First there's the main rhythm game mode where you can see your ridiculous Fortnite skins jamming out to some banger songs, complete with different instrument options and really fun charts.
Then there's the playground aspect, being able to use any songs you've bought (or the Epic songs in rotation) however you like. Mess with the tempo, change the instrument you're using, mix and match with other songs that other players own. Go nuts!
Is it a super in-depth or complex game? No, but it's perfectly enjoyable multiplayer fun, and as a rhythm game enjoyer I'm glad this is here to stay.
This game is super fun to mess around with. First there's the main rhythm game mode where you can see your ridiculous Fortnite skins jamming out to some banger songs, complete with different instrument options and really fun charts.
Then there's the playground aspect, being able to use any songs you've bought (or the Epic songs in rotation) however you like. Mess with the tempo, change the instrument you're using, mix and match with other songs that other players own. Go nuts!
Is it a super in-depth or complex game? No, but it's perfectly enjoyable multiplayer fun, and as a rhythm game enjoyer I'm glad this is here to stay.
I loved Ori and the Blind Forest when I played it, but Will of the Wisps completely blows it out of the water. This game is a masterpiece. I wish I got to it sooner.
Off the bat, combat is actually fun now! Ori does the fighting themself this time, and the customization is really nice. They have different weapons to pick from, and shards which work as stat boosts and weapon upgrades! You also unlock the bash ability really early on this time, meaning there isn't a sense of waiting for the game to get good like in the first one.
There are full on boss fights now, and all of them are awesome! They're pretty challenging but never frustrating, they hit that perfect balance. It's so satisfying to counter their attacks or outmaneuver them.
The dumbass save system from the first game is gone now thankfully, and the world itself is a lot of fun to traverse through. There are even side quests now which encourage you to revisit areas later on! Each area is distinct and memorable, and wow so pretty...
This is the prettiest looking game I have ever seen, ever. All of the environments are absolutely stunning and the way characters are animated just had me in awe throughout the game. The use of 3D models this time rather than everything being 2D is a change I wasn't sure about but it looks absolutely amazing, especially when the game plays with its camera movement.
Without getting into spoilers, holy shit I love this story so much. I love how much this game is able to show emotion with characters that don't talk. Some characters you run into do talk to you throughout the game, but all the main ones that are the core of the story's emotional beats, everything is conveyed through zero dialogue and it is so powerful. And that ending man...MAN...
This game is amazing, I love it so much. I really can't do it proper justice, just...I fucking love Ori.
Off the bat, combat is actually fun now! Ori does the fighting themself this time, and the customization is really nice. They have different weapons to pick from, and shards which work as stat boosts and weapon upgrades! You also unlock the bash ability really early on this time, meaning there isn't a sense of waiting for the game to get good like in the first one.
There are full on boss fights now, and all of them are awesome! They're pretty challenging but never frustrating, they hit that perfect balance. It's so satisfying to counter their attacks or outmaneuver them.
The dumbass save system from the first game is gone now thankfully, and the world itself is a lot of fun to traverse through. There are even side quests now which encourage you to revisit areas later on! Each area is distinct and memorable, and wow so pretty...
This is the prettiest looking game I have ever seen, ever. All of the environments are absolutely stunning and the way characters are animated just had me in awe throughout the game. The use of 3D models this time rather than everything being 2D is a change I wasn't sure about but it looks absolutely amazing, especially when the game plays with its camera movement.
Without getting into spoilers, holy shit I love this story so much. I love how much this game is able to show emotion with characters that don't talk. Some characters you run into do talk to you throughout the game, but all the main ones that are the core of the story's emotional beats, everything is conveyed through zero dialogue and it is so powerful. And that ending man...MAN...
This game is amazing, I love it so much. I really can't do it proper justice, just...I fucking love Ori.
This review contains spoilers
Ok I know I said I really liked this game in my Sister Location review, but playing it again for the first time in years, it's more complicated than that. I have such a love hate relationship with this game.
Let's start with what I like. As difficult as it is to followup Sister Location's broken story, this is the best case scenario. Henry from the books is now in this continuity and I once again don't like how knowledge from the books is needed to understand the plot. However, the way he was handled here is perfect. I love how Scott ties everything back to the original games with Henry's daughter Charlie becoming the puppet. The minigame that shows what happened that day is heartbreaking and I love it. Henry's ending monologue is my favorite moment in the entire series, it's a perfect ending and such a badass moment. The story as a whole I absolutely love. There's still some stuff carried over from Sister Location that doesn't make sense, but not much can be done in that regard.
The humor feels much more organic this time around. Tutorial Unit is basically the same character as Hand Unit from before, but his lines are so good this time. There's also a lot of fun gags you can run into during the tycoon section of the game.
I also think the voice acting is handled much better here in general! The cast was amazing in Sister Location and the same applies here (I once again have to mention how amazing PJ Heywood is as Springtrap/Afton), but the way the voices are implemented adds to the horror this time. Hearing the animatronics talking as they get close to you is absolutely terrifying.
At least...that's what I would be saying if the gameplay wasn't so terrible. I forgot how genuinely infuriating this game is to play. I never beat the game before and I still haven't now. Why? The survival sections are pure RNG!!! No matter how well you play and drive the animatronics away from you, you can just die because the game said so. Maybe animatronics will camp the vents so you can't do anything. Maybe they'll just completely ignore your audio lures. Maybe the game will just refuse to show you where they are on the map. It's awful. I spent about an hour on the 5th day and knowing there was another day after that where the animatronics were even more aggressive, I gave up. I was just too angry to keep playing. Unfortunately the tycoon section is not much better either. It's SUPER barebones. Buy items from a catalog and place them in very limited spots in your pizzeria. That's about it.
So yeah, while I absolutely love this game for its story and its amazing ending to the series, actually playing it is a nightmare, and not a fun one like FNAF 4.
What do you mean there were more games after this? You're crazy, there have never been anymore FNAF games. That would be ridiculous! The story is over!!
Let's start with what I like. As difficult as it is to followup Sister Location's broken story, this is the best case scenario. Henry from the books is now in this continuity and I once again don't like how knowledge from the books is needed to understand the plot. However, the way he was handled here is perfect. I love how Scott ties everything back to the original games with Henry's daughter Charlie becoming the puppet. The minigame that shows what happened that day is heartbreaking and I love it. Henry's ending monologue is my favorite moment in the entire series, it's a perfect ending and such a badass moment. The story as a whole I absolutely love. There's still some stuff carried over from Sister Location that doesn't make sense, but not much can be done in that regard.
The humor feels much more organic this time around. Tutorial Unit is basically the same character as Hand Unit from before, but his lines are so good this time. There's also a lot of fun gags you can run into during the tycoon section of the game.
I also think the voice acting is handled much better here in general! The cast was amazing in Sister Location and the same applies here (I once again have to mention how amazing PJ Heywood is as Springtrap/Afton), but the way the voices are implemented adds to the horror this time. Hearing the animatronics talking as they get close to you is absolutely terrifying.
At least...that's what I would be saying if the gameplay wasn't so terrible. I forgot how genuinely infuriating this game is to play. I never beat the game before and I still haven't now. Why? The survival sections are pure RNG!!! No matter how well you play and drive the animatronics away from you, you can just die because the game said so. Maybe animatronics will camp the vents so you can't do anything. Maybe they'll just completely ignore your audio lures. Maybe the game will just refuse to show you where they are on the map. It's awful. I spent about an hour on the 5th day and knowing there was another day after that where the animatronics were even more aggressive, I gave up. I was just too angry to keep playing. Unfortunately the tycoon section is not much better either. It's SUPER barebones. Buy items from a catalog and place them in very limited spots in your pizzeria. That's about it.
So yeah, while I absolutely love this game for its story and its amazing ending to the series, actually playing it is a nightmare, and not a fun one like FNAF 4.
What do you mean there were more games after this? You're crazy, there have never been anymore FNAF games. That would be ridiculous! The story is over!!
I mean, more content is nice to have I suppose, it's better than nothing.
For an excuse to reuse Mario Kart Tour assets and double the base game's track count, it's fine.
The tracks here are a significant downgrade in terms of visuals, some remakes are very much butchered from their original versions, and the tracks based on real cities are super boring.
At the same time it's nice to have tracks like Waluigi Pinball, Coconut Mall, Maple Treeway, etc. in the game at all. The characters are a nice addition too.
For the price, you can't really go wrong, but I wouldn't call this good either. It's tacked on content that isn't as good as what was already there. For most updates throughout the pass, I was saying, "Yeah this is cool, but..." and that sums up the whole DLC right there honestly.
For an excuse to reuse Mario Kart Tour assets and double the base game's track count, it's fine.
The tracks here are a significant downgrade in terms of visuals, some remakes are very much butchered from their original versions, and the tracks based on real cities are super boring.
At the same time it's nice to have tracks like Waluigi Pinball, Coconut Mall, Maple Treeway, etc. in the game at all. The characters are a nice addition too.
For the price, you can't really go wrong, but I wouldn't call this good either. It's tacked on content that isn't as good as what was already there. For most updates throughout the pass, I was saying, "Yeah this is cool, but..." and that sums up the whole DLC right there honestly.
2016
I think everyone knows how bizarre it is that this game exists at all. A cutesy RPG spinoff for FNAF, who could've possibly predicted that would happen? Even now I find it kind of crazy that this is a real game that Scott Cawthon really made.
Honestly, FNaF World's insane development cycle is far more interesting than the actual game itself. I'll keep it brief, but basically, FNaF World was released in such an unfinished state and received such negative reactions, that Scott refunded everyone who bought the game, and continued supporting it for free, fixing a lot of its issues and adding more content to it. With that in mind, I can definitely appreciate the game, and Scott wanting to try something fresh and different, but do I like the game? Honestly, no, not really.
I do not have it in me to go after all the trophies and endings, nor am I motivated to go after the Update 2 characters and its new ending (I know what all is there, don't worry). Since I only did a casual playthrough and got the normal ending, you could argue that I didn't play enough of the game to judge it's quality. At the same time though, I just don't want to keep playing it because it's not that fun. I WANT to like the game! I love the idea of a silly spinoff game embracing the absurdity of the FNAF IP and doing something different, but this game definitely needed more time in the oven. It's so barebones. There is barely a story here at all apart from some cryptic FNAF 4 callbacks and some stuff teasing Sister Location. The game relies on being meta and funny, but it didn't land for me personally. I do like the .exe games parody in Update 2 though. I'm aware of that, and that's actually funny, well done.
In terms of gameplay, even after all the patches and updates, it feels rough and unpolished. Battles are just visual noise, it's impossible to take in anything happening when a bunch of attacks are flying all over the screen at the same time, even covering the UI. It makes me wish the game was properly turn based instead of the cooldown system it actually has.
The overworld is confusing as hell to traverse and it's visually boring. At no point was I interested in exploring, I just wanted to get a move on. Also, there is literally no transition from the overworld to the random encounters whatsoever. There's not even an animation or a sound effect or anything. The game just goes from walking around the map, to the start of a battle in a single frame, and it is super jarring.
The character balance is whack. One thing I really do like is never knowing what characters you will get. You unlock new party members randomly so each playthrough can be a different experience. I like the idea on paper, but the problem is that some characters are just obviously better in every way. Once I unlocked a couple of the Nightmares and Funtime Foxy, the game was basically over, whereas before then, some encounters gave me some trouble. The game doesn't really encourage you to experiment with different party setups. Instead it just becomes, "Oh I'm just waiting for the actually good characters to show up so I can use those." If you're unlucky and end up with a lot of weak characters, then uh, I hope you like grinding!
That was a lot of complaining, I realize. I do want to stress that I do love FNaF World as a concept, and I had some fun with it here and there. The more I played though, the more I was noticing elements that annoyed me. I hope Scott takes another crack at making an RPG sometime, FNAF related or otherwise. He clearly has a passion for the genre, and again I think he deserves all the credit in the world for how he handled the release of this game. The man loves and respects his community and that's amazing to see.
Honestly, FNaF World's insane development cycle is far more interesting than the actual game itself. I'll keep it brief, but basically, FNaF World was released in such an unfinished state and received such negative reactions, that Scott refunded everyone who bought the game, and continued supporting it for free, fixing a lot of its issues and adding more content to it. With that in mind, I can definitely appreciate the game, and Scott wanting to try something fresh and different, but do I like the game? Honestly, no, not really.
I do not have it in me to go after all the trophies and endings, nor am I motivated to go after the Update 2 characters and its new ending (I know what all is there, don't worry). Since I only did a casual playthrough and got the normal ending, you could argue that I didn't play enough of the game to judge it's quality. At the same time though, I just don't want to keep playing it because it's not that fun. I WANT to like the game! I love the idea of a silly spinoff game embracing the absurdity of the FNAF IP and doing something different, but this game definitely needed more time in the oven. It's so barebones. There is barely a story here at all apart from some cryptic FNAF 4 callbacks and some stuff teasing Sister Location. The game relies on being meta and funny, but it didn't land for me personally. I do like the .exe games parody in Update 2 though. I'm aware of that, and that's actually funny, well done.
In terms of gameplay, even after all the patches and updates, it feels rough and unpolished. Battles are just visual noise, it's impossible to take in anything happening when a bunch of attacks are flying all over the screen at the same time, even covering the UI. It makes me wish the game was properly turn based instead of the cooldown system it actually has.
The overworld is confusing as hell to traverse and it's visually boring. At no point was I interested in exploring, I just wanted to get a move on. Also, there is literally no transition from the overworld to the random encounters whatsoever. There's not even an animation or a sound effect or anything. The game just goes from walking around the map, to the start of a battle in a single frame, and it is super jarring.
The character balance is whack. One thing I really do like is never knowing what characters you will get. You unlock new party members randomly so each playthrough can be a different experience. I like the idea on paper, but the problem is that some characters are just obviously better in every way. Once I unlocked a couple of the Nightmares and Funtime Foxy, the game was basically over, whereas before then, some encounters gave me some trouble. The game doesn't really encourage you to experiment with different party setups. Instead it just becomes, "Oh I'm just waiting for the actually good characters to show up so I can use those." If you're unlucky and end up with a lot of weak characters, then uh, I hope you like grinding!
That was a lot of complaining, I realize. I do want to stress that I do love FNaF World as a concept, and I had some fun with it here and there. The more I played though, the more I was noticing elements that annoyed me. I hope Scott takes another crack at making an RPG sometime, FNAF related or otherwise. He clearly has a passion for the genre, and again I think he deserves all the credit in the world for how he handled the release of this game. The man loves and respects his community and that's amazing to see.
This review contains spoilers
Sister Location should be used as an example for how NOT to make a sequel/follow-up. I mean it when I say there is not a single thing this game does well at all, EVERYTHING is wrong with it.
Alright so FNAF 3 was supposed to be the ending of the series, but the game was criticized for not being scary enough, so Scott Cawthon decided to make one more game, this time even dubbed "The Final Chapter," leaving the series off on a good note and a little bit of unsolved details to keep fans talking. Nothing big of course, the story still makes complete sense, but you have to end the series all about solving a mysterious ghost story on a little mystery right? It just feels natural.
Uh yeah no, because fans were driving themselves mad trying to solve pieces of the lore that ultimately didn't matter in the long run, Scott decided to make another game AGAIN! Because fuck it why not right? Apparently this series isn't allowed to end until a game drops that receives no criticism whatsoever, good to know!
So how did Scott follow up FNAF 4? How did he address this totally important issue that the series couldn't end without going into? He decided to completely change the direction of the series! This game has explanations for plot elements that we did not need or want explanations for, retcons out the ass, and a complete tone shift! FNAF is now a sci-fi family drama!!! Woohoo!!! That's what everyone wanted right???
Alright lemme just go down the list of everything I hate about this stupid ass narrative before I get into the actual gameplay itself.
Ok so between the release of FNAF 4 and this game, Scott started his series of FNAF novels. These were stated to be a retelling of the games and their own continuity entirely, not related to the games at all. Ya know until this game came out and decided it did want to take some elements from the books actually! If you didn't read them, good luck figuring out what the hell is going on, but hey all the YouTubers making theory videos can cheer and clap when they notice references to the other piece of media they experienced so that makes it worth it right??
This game decides to give a scientific explanation for how possession works in this universe, which is something I already despise. The story isn't scary or mysterious anymore when you just explain how everything works, why the fuck would you do that?
Remember how this plot is kicked off by a random incident of child murders that results in robots being haunted? This game decides to give the murderer a personality and a name, William Afton, which could work on paper, but I have many issues with this. First off, William is no longer some random person that committed murder, he is the co-founder of the fucking company that owns all the animatronics and pizzerias in the first place. Oh. My. God. Again, the more you explain, the less interesting the story is, why did this need to be told to the audience, it didn't. Not knowing anything about William other than the fact that he was a murderer was why he was so interesting in the first place. Remember when he was just known as Purple Guy, and fans would have fun coming up with theories about who he was and what his motives were? Nah fuck that, just tell us everything! Ruin the fun why don't ya! Secondly, this game shows that as far back as the 80s, William was designing animatronics that were specifically meant to capture and kill children and harvest their remnant, which is how the possession works now. Not only does this not make ANY sense as these animatronics from the 80s are far more advanced than anything else in the series, even with two games set much much later, but that leaves me with a question. If William was able to make robots like this and easily get away with murder without being caught, then why in the fuck was he shown in the other games killing children in broad daylight with his own hands????? That doesn't add up in ANY context.
Oh but it gets better! So according to this game, animatronics that have been possessed are basically just new bodies for the soul inside them. They're fully conscious and aware of what they're doing. So yeah, that makes the previous games make even less sense when you think about it for longer than five seconds, but this especially bugs me in the case of FNAF 3. This means that Springtrap was actually still his usual self and fully conscious when he was trying to kill you in that game. Except the entire gameplay loop of that game revolves around luring him away from you by using audio, which there is no way someone as smart as him would ever fall for. Cool, thanks for ruining that for me! The new animatronics in this game are also fully sentient on their own, even the ones that aren't possessed. Don't ask me how that works!
Oh but it gets BETTER! So this game entirely rewrites FNAF 4 retroactively, and I'm not joking. Despite it being very obvious that the gameplay loop of FNAF 4 takes place in the nightmares of a child as he is literally fighting death in his hospital bed, with many MANY clues to back this up, this game says actually no! FNAF 4 really did happen and the nightmare animatronics are...like illusions William made through his science experiments, apparently?? The child's imaginary friend Fredbear is actually a camera that William uses to keep an eye on him because he's actually his son? Or something? And he was actually the one talking to him throughout that game? What in the fuck is going on???
OH BUT IT GETS EVEN BETTER!!!!!! Remember how FNAF 3 was the big final showdown with Springtrap? Remember how he finally died for good and the story was put to rest? Remember how even FNAF 4 didn't touch that ending because it didn't need to be messed with? Sister Location ends with the cliffhanger that actually no, he's back! Because fuck you! You may be wondering HOW since there is literally no conceivable way he could've survived the events of that game, and I hope you don't expect an answer for that because you're not getting one, fuck you!
I haven't even gotten into the meat and potatoes of the game's plot yet oh my god I'm gonna be here all day. So in this game not only are their hints that the child from FNAF 4 is William's son, in this game you play as William's other son, Micheal. The main antagonist in this game, Circus Baby, is actually possessed by William's daughter as well! That's a lot of new characters all related to the villain of the franchise that was supposed to be fucking dead after FNAF 3 and I really don't care for this. This feels like a poorly written fanfiction, why is this actual lore in the series. Anyway, so the game's main five nights are actually not that eventful in terms of story, even though the point of this game was to be more story driven, so that's a little embarrassing. Most of the lore and story stuff is backloaded to the last section of the game which feels sloppy but whatever. This game's big twist besides Springtrap coming back can be described as...what's the phrase for jumping the shark times ten?
So the animatronics trick Michael into getting himself killed so they can use his body as their own and escape the facility. Shortly after leaving, they realize that a decaying human body is not going to last them very long, so they peace out and duck into the sewers, play the next game to get answers for that! So Michael is dead now right? No! Because of stupid barely explained remnant bullshit, he's able to possess his own corpse and carry on like nothing happened. I'M SORRY?????
And I kid you not, this was only done to explain a piece of FNAF trivia that DID NOT NEED EXPLAINING AT ALL. In the first two games, upon beating all the nights, you are fired from your job, with the reasons on your pink slip being tampering with the animatronics, and odor. This was a silly joke back then and nothing more, but this game goes out of its way to explain that actually you have been playing as Michael in every single fucking game and now the odor joke makes sense oh my god woah! What even is this? This isn't horror, this isn't scary, this isn't mysterious, it's stupid. This is supposed to be a horror series yet we have this shit happening now?? This feels like a parody, not a canonical follow-up to a series that ALREADY ENDED TWICE OVER.
One thing I do want to quickly bring up is Baby herself. I do think it's a very interesting idea to have a robot be sentient and fully aware of what they're doing and be forced to do bad things due to their programming. That seems to be where the story is going, with Baby wanting herself and the other animatronics to be destroyed so they can't hurt anyone anymore. It's still way different and doesn't feel like FNAF but I'd appreciate the different idea. Since that would've been interesting though, that's not what happens! Baby was actually playing 4D chess and pulling the strings to get you killed the entire time. Wonderful.
If it wasn't painfully obvious, I despise this game's story with a burning passion, but I won't spend anymore time on it. Before I get into the gameplay itself though, there is one element that I do want to praise. While I do think the animatronics talking to you directly is immersion breaking in so many ways, the voice acting itself is amazing. The cast does a fantastic job, and every time I hear William's voice in the intro, it gives me chills. He sounds so scary and I love that. Any character besides Hand Unit (who I will get to later) has a fitting voice that is very entertaining to listen to. Again, I don't think it necessarily fits, but I want to give proper credit to the cast here.
I had that much to say about this game's story and I haven't even mentioned anything about the actual gameplay yet. Maybe that's because there is none! Let me get into that now.
Unlike the other games, Sister Location has a different setup for each night, you won't be doing the exact same thing five or more times in a row, it always mixes it up, which sounds great on paper, but of course it's executed terribly here.
First off, I have to talk about Hand Unit. If you needed more evidence that this isn't a horror series anymore, look no further than this guy. He will talk to you throughout a good portion of the game with dialogue that's meant to be funny, but is just painful. Imagine Wheatley from Portal 2, but instead of actually witty and funny lines, he just has 'lol random xd' humor that has nothing to do with ANYTHING throughout the entire game. That's Hand Unit.
But how are the actual nights themselves?
Night 1 has literally nothing happening, it's a glorified cutscene.
Night 2 has a stop and go section with Ballora that is scripted to play out exactly the same way every time, making it extremely boring. Walk forward and stop if you hear her music playing, that's it. There's another section with Freddy that is actually pretty tense, having to reboot systems while not letting Freddy get too close and attack you. I actually don't have any complaints with this one! I like it! It's worth noting though that if you die here, you're sent back to before the Ballora section since it's in the same night, and all the nights work this way, because I guess Scott didn't think about basic game design when making this.
Night 3 has a boring section where you hide behind a slab of metal and have to click and hold it in place to keep the bidybabs from moving it. Yes that is seriously it for this section. There's also an almost identical segment to the Ballora one but with Foxy this time, so, yay. Finally there's a parts and service segment where you follow Hand Unit's instructions to repair Freddy. Just click what he tells you to, it's really that simple.
Night 4 is baffling to me. In this one, you get caught by Foxy and stuffed into a springlock suit, which is a super cool idea calling back to the original game! But why is this so insanely hard??? There is no gradual increase in difficulty, suddenly the game goes from piss easy to tough as nails, that's great design! You have to survive the night while tightening the springlocks to make sure they don't close on you, and keep the minireenas from killing you by shaking them off the suit, which also loosens the locks. The game is super strict on how you do this, you have to be on point managing the locks. One wrong move, and you're screwed. It feels like it wasn't properly playtested, it's infuriating. I spent so long on this and found out that since the timing the minireenas appear is scripted, I could use a stopwatch and time when to shake them at the perfect time. Even then I had to pray to god it would actually work, since the springlocks' starting positions are randomized. Also, some dialogue from Baby in this night introduces new bits of lore that sound genuinely interesting actually! She talks about how the suit you're in is from her old pizzeria and that it was never used for its intended purpose, but was still used nonetheless. On one hand, I like that the game introduces SOME element of mystery here. On the other hand, this feels so shoehorned in as a 'look it's just like the other games!' moment. This information is never explored again and we never get any answers of any sort. Scott decided this should be left ambiguous, but there is so little information here that there is nothing you can piece together from this. It's pointless.
Night 5 is horseshit. I'm gonna be fully honest here and say that I rage quit this night. Night 4 is technically harder, but the way this one is designed is baffling. First you have to walk through Foxy's auditorium again, except they aren't there so there is no danger. Then you have to follow Baby's instructions in another parts and service segment. The catch is you have to be lightning fast. Baby will read you a series of numbers and you have to enter them into a SUPER tiny keypad attached to her head. This wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that Sister Location has a custom cursor that is comically large. It's so annoying trying to move in in JUST the right place to press the tiny buttons. If you don't press the right button IMMEDIATELY as Baby says it, you're dead. What the fuck. Immediately after this is a segment where you have to run through Foxy's auditorium AGAIN. This time you can't see whatsoever and have to rely on Baby's instructions in order to avoid Ennard. The problem is that her instructions can just be wrong! And if that's the case, you die and have to do everything from Night 5 all over again. Fuck. This.
I didn't bother finishing it because I was spending more time redoing sections I had already played over and over again than actually making any progress. This is the very end of the game anyway, so whatever.
If you knew about the secret ending beforehand and went out of your way to go after it, Night 5 does have another section that is also pretty challenging, setup like the older FNAF games, which is pretty neat. Why this needed to be locked behind a secret ending is beyond me though, that seems ass backwards. Also, the secret ending requires you to find a secret in a minigame with Baby, and this minigame just has a random chance of popping up after you die, so you might just miss it altogether! Why can't it just work like FNAF 3 where you find a secret in the game itself to take you to the minigame? What was the point of making it more of a pain in the ass in this one??? Also also, if you die in the secret final section of the night, you are once again sent ALL the way back to the start of Night 5. Awesome. This really sucks because it's the only section of the entire game that feels like FNAF at all. But no, this section is locked behind an alternate ending and is a pain in the ass to play because of your penalty for dying in it, which you will because it's pretty damn hard. EVEN THE ONE PART OF THE GAME I COULD PRAISE WAS FUCKED UP, COME ON!
And by the way, the ending you get for this is a joke ending, it's not even an alternate good ending like before. Thanks for that Scott.
So yeah that's Sister Location, and I am being completely serious when I say that this is one of the worst pieces of media I have ever experienced in my life. It is Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Pac-Man World 3 levels of dogshit. I fully believe that this series just should've been left the fuck alone after FNAF 4 came out. While I do really like the final game in Scott's series which I will get to soon, this game did irreversible damage to the franchise and made every bad decision one could possibly make when designing a game.
Oh yeah this game has post launch DLC as well, but I can't play it since 100%ing the game is required to access it! I did talk about some of the story stuff added in the DLC earlier in this review, but I can't speak for how it actually plays. Even if it's good though, having to fully complete the game to access the actually good content does not do Sister Location any favors. I hate this game with every fiber of my being.
Alright so FNAF 3 was supposed to be the ending of the series, but the game was criticized for not being scary enough, so Scott Cawthon decided to make one more game, this time even dubbed "The Final Chapter," leaving the series off on a good note and a little bit of unsolved details to keep fans talking. Nothing big of course, the story still makes complete sense, but you have to end the series all about solving a mysterious ghost story on a little mystery right? It just feels natural.
Uh yeah no, because fans were driving themselves mad trying to solve pieces of the lore that ultimately didn't matter in the long run, Scott decided to make another game AGAIN! Because fuck it why not right? Apparently this series isn't allowed to end until a game drops that receives no criticism whatsoever, good to know!
So how did Scott follow up FNAF 4? How did he address this totally important issue that the series couldn't end without going into? He decided to completely change the direction of the series! This game has explanations for plot elements that we did not need or want explanations for, retcons out the ass, and a complete tone shift! FNAF is now a sci-fi family drama!!! Woohoo!!! That's what everyone wanted right???
Alright lemme just go down the list of everything I hate about this stupid ass narrative before I get into the actual gameplay itself.
Ok so between the release of FNAF 4 and this game, Scott started his series of FNAF novels. These were stated to be a retelling of the games and their own continuity entirely, not related to the games at all. Ya know until this game came out and decided it did want to take some elements from the books actually! If you didn't read them, good luck figuring out what the hell is going on, but hey all the YouTubers making theory videos can cheer and clap when they notice references to the other piece of media they experienced so that makes it worth it right??
This game decides to give a scientific explanation for how possession works in this universe, which is something I already despise. The story isn't scary or mysterious anymore when you just explain how everything works, why the fuck would you do that?
Remember how this plot is kicked off by a random incident of child murders that results in robots being haunted? This game decides to give the murderer a personality and a name, William Afton, which could work on paper, but I have many issues with this. First off, William is no longer some random person that committed murder, he is the co-founder of the fucking company that owns all the animatronics and pizzerias in the first place. Oh. My. God. Again, the more you explain, the less interesting the story is, why did this need to be told to the audience, it didn't. Not knowing anything about William other than the fact that he was a murderer was why he was so interesting in the first place. Remember when he was just known as Purple Guy, and fans would have fun coming up with theories about who he was and what his motives were? Nah fuck that, just tell us everything! Ruin the fun why don't ya! Secondly, this game shows that as far back as the 80s, William was designing animatronics that were specifically meant to capture and kill children and harvest their remnant, which is how the possession works now. Not only does this not make ANY sense as these animatronics from the 80s are far more advanced than anything else in the series, even with two games set much much later, but that leaves me with a question. If William was able to make robots like this and easily get away with murder without being caught, then why in the fuck was he shown in the other games killing children in broad daylight with his own hands????? That doesn't add up in ANY context.
Oh but it gets better! So according to this game, animatronics that have been possessed are basically just new bodies for the soul inside them. They're fully conscious and aware of what they're doing. So yeah, that makes the previous games make even less sense when you think about it for longer than five seconds, but this especially bugs me in the case of FNAF 3. This means that Springtrap was actually still his usual self and fully conscious when he was trying to kill you in that game. Except the entire gameplay loop of that game revolves around luring him away from you by using audio, which there is no way someone as smart as him would ever fall for. Cool, thanks for ruining that for me! The new animatronics in this game are also fully sentient on their own, even the ones that aren't possessed. Don't ask me how that works!
Oh but it gets BETTER! So this game entirely rewrites FNAF 4 retroactively, and I'm not joking. Despite it being very obvious that the gameplay loop of FNAF 4 takes place in the nightmares of a child as he is literally fighting death in his hospital bed, with many MANY clues to back this up, this game says actually no! FNAF 4 really did happen and the nightmare animatronics are...like illusions William made through his science experiments, apparently?? The child's imaginary friend Fredbear is actually a camera that William uses to keep an eye on him because he's actually his son? Or something? And he was actually the one talking to him throughout that game? What in the fuck is going on???
OH BUT IT GETS EVEN BETTER!!!!!! Remember how FNAF 3 was the big final showdown with Springtrap? Remember how he finally died for good and the story was put to rest? Remember how even FNAF 4 didn't touch that ending because it didn't need to be messed with? Sister Location ends with the cliffhanger that actually no, he's back! Because fuck you! You may be wondering HOW since there is literally no conceivable way he could've survived the events of that game, and I hope you don't expect an answer for that because you're not getting one, fuck you!
I haven't even gotten into the meat and potatoes of the game's plot yet oh my god I'm gonna be here all day. So in this game not only are their hints that the child from FNAF 4 is William's son, in this game you play as William's other son, Micheal. The main antagonist in this game, Circus Baby, is actually possessed by William's daughter as well! That's a lot of new characters all related to the villain of the franchise that was supposed to be fucking dead after FNAF 3 and I really don't care for this. This feels like a poorly written fanfiction, why is this actual lore in the series. Anyway, so the game's main five nights are actually not that eventful in terms of story, even though the point of this game was to be more story driven, so that's a little embarrassing. Most of the lore and story stuff is backloaded to the last section of the game which feels sloppy but whatever. This game's big twist besides Springtrap coming back can be described as...what's the phrase for jumping the shark times ten?
So the animatronics trick Michael into getting himself killed so they can use his body as their own and escape the facility. Shortly after leaving, they realize that a decaying human body is not going to last them very long, so they peace out and duck into the sewers, play the next game to get answers for that! So Michael is dead now right? No! Because of stupid barely explained remnant bullshit, he's able to possess his own corpse and carry on like nothing happened. I'M SORRY?????
And I kid you not, this was only done to explain a piece of FNAF trivia that DID NOT NEED EXPLAINING AT ALL. In the first two games, upon beating all the nights, you are fired from your job, with the reasons on your pink slip being tampering with the animatronics, and odor. This was a silly joke back then and nothing more, but this game goes out of its way to explain that actually you have been playing as Michael in every single fucking game and now the odor joke makes sense oh my god woah! What even is this? This isn't horror, this isn't scary, this isn't mysterious, it's stupid. This is supposed to be a horror series yet we have this shit happening now?? This feels like a parody, not a canonical follow-up to a series that ALREADY ENDED TWICE OVER.
One thing I do want to quickly bring up is Baby herself. I do think it's a very interesting idea to have a robot be sentient and fully aware of what they're doing and be forced to do bad things due to their programming. That seems to be where the story is going, with Baby wanting herself and the other animatronics to be destroyed so they can't hurt anyone anymore. It's still way different and doesn't feel like FNAF but I'd appreciate the different idea. Since that would've been interesting though, that's not what happens! Baby was actually playing 4D chess and pulling the strings to get you killed the entire time. Wonderful.
If it wasn't painfully obvious, I despise this game's story with a burning passion, but I won't spend anymore time on it. Before I get into the gameplay itself though, there is one element that I do want to praise. While I do think the animatronics talking to you directly is immersion breaking in so many ways, the voice acting itself is amazing. The cast does a fantastic job, and every time I hear William's voice in the intro, it gives me chills. He sounds so scary and I love that. Any character besides Hand Unit (who I will get to later) has a fitting voice that is very entertaining to listen to. Again, I don't think it necessarily fits, but I want to give proper credit to the cast here.
I had that much to say about this game's story and I haven't even mentioned anything about the actual gameplay yet. Maybe that's because there is none! Let me get into that now.
Unlike the other games, Sister Location has a different setup for each night, you won't be doing the exact same thing five or more times in a row, it always mixes it up, which sounds great on paper, but of course it's executed terribly here.
First off, I have to talk about Hand Unit. If you needed more evidence that this isn't a horror series anymore, look no further than this guy. He will talk to you throughout a good portion of the game with dialogue that's meant to be funny, but is just painful. Imagine Wheatley from Portal 2, but instead of actually witty and funny lines, he just has 'lol random xd' humor that has nothing to do with ANYTHING throughout the entire game. That's Hand Unit.
But how are the actual nights themselves?
Night 1 has literally nothing happening, it's a glorified cutscene.
Night 2 has a stop and go section with Ballora that is scripted to play out exactly the same way every time, making it extremely boring. Walk forward and stop if you hear her music playing, that's it. There's another section with Freddy that is actually pretty tense, having to reboot systems while not letting Freddy get too close and attack you. I actually don't have any complaints with this one! I like it! It's worth noting though that if you die here, you're sent back to before the Ballora section since it's in the same night, and all the nights work this way, because I guess Scott didn't think about basic game design when making this.
Night 3 has a boring section where you hide behind a slab of metal and have to click and hold it in place to keep the bidybabs from moving it. Yes that is seriously it for this section. There's also an almost identical segment to the Ballora one but with Foxy this time, so, yay. Finally there's a parts and service segment where you follow Hand Unit's instructions to repair Freddy. Just click what he tells you to, it's really that simple.
Night 4 is baffling to me. In this one, you get caught by Foxy and stuffed into a springlock suit, which is a super cool idea calling back to the original game! But why is this so insanely hard??? There is no gradual increase in difficulty, suddenly the game goes from piss easy to tough as nails, that's great design! You have to survive the night while tightening the springlocks to make sure they don't close on you, and keep the minireenas from killing you by shaking them off the suit, which also loosens the locks. The game is super strict on how you do this, you have to be on point managing the locks. One wrong move, and you're screwed. It feels like it wasn't properly playtested, it's infuriating. I spent so long on this and found out that since the timing the minireenas appear is scripted, I could use a stopwatch and time when to shake them at the perfect time. Even then I had to pray to god it would actually work, since the springlocks' starting positions are randomized. Also, some dialogue from Baby in this night introduces new bits of lore that sound genuinely interesting actually! She talks about how the suit you're in is from her old pizzeria and that it was never used for its intended purpose, but was still used nonetheless. On one hand, I like that the game introduces SOME element of mystery here. On the other hand, this feels so shoehorned in as a 'look it's just like the other games!' moment. This information is never explored again and we never get any answers of any sort. Scott decided this should be left ambiguous, but there is so little information here that there is nothing you can piece together from this. It's pointless.
Night 5 is horseshit. I'm gonna be fully honest here and say that I rage quit this night. Night 4 is technically harder, but the way this one is designed is baffling. First you have to walk through Foxy's auditorium again, except they aren't there so there is no danger. Then you have to follow Baby's instructions in another parts and service segment. The catch is you have to be lightning fast. Baby will read you a series of numbers and you have to enter them into a SUPER tiny keypad attached to her head. This wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that Sister Location has a custom cursor that is comically large. It's so annoying trying to move in in JUST the right place to press the tiny buttons. If you don't press the right button IMMEDIATELY as Baby says it, you're dead. What the fuck. Immediately after this is a segment where you have to run through Foxy's auditorium AGAIN. This time you can't see whatsoever and have to rely on Baby's instructions in order to avoid Ennard. The problem is that her instructions can just be wrong! And if that's the case, you die and have to do everything from Night 5 all over again. Fuck. This.
I didn't bother finishing it because I was spending more time redoing sections I had already played over and over again than actually making any progress. This is the very end of the game anyway, so whatever.
If you knew about the secret ending beforehand and went out of your way to go after it, Night 5 does have another section that is also pretty challenging, setup like the older FNAF games, which is pretty neat. Why this needed to be locked behind a secret ending is beyond me though, that seems ass backwards. Also, the secret ending requires you to find a secret in a minigame with Baby, and this minigame just has a random chance of popping up after you die, so you might just miss it altogether! Why can't it just work like FNAF 3 where you find a secret in the game itself to take you to the minigame? What was the point of making it more of a pain in the ass in this one??? Also also, if you die in the secret final section of the night, you are once again sent ALL the way back to the start of Night 5. Awesome. This really sucks because it's the only section of the entire game that feels like FNAF at all. But no, this section is locked behind an alternate ending and is a pain in the ass to play because of your penalty for dying in it, which you will because it's pretty damn hard. EVEN THE ONE PART OF THE GAME I COULD PRAISE WAS FUCKED UP, COME ON!
And by the way, the ending you get for this is a joke ending, it's not even an alternate good ending like before. Thanks for that Scott.
So yeah that's Sister Location, and I am being completely serious when I say that this is one of the worst pieces of media I have ever experienced in my life. It is Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Pac-Man World 3 levels of dogshit. I fully believe that this series just should've been left the fuck alone after FNAF 4 came out. While I do really like the final game in Scott's series which I will get to soon, this game did irreversible damage to the franchise and made every bad decision one could possibly make when designing a game.
Oh yeah this game has post launch DLC as well, but I can't play it since 100%ing the game is required to access it! I did talk about some of the story stuff added in the DLC earlier in this review, but I can't speak for how it actually plays. Even if it's good though, having to fully complete the game to access the actually good content does not do Sister Location any favors. I hate this game with every fiber of my being.
I already knew this was my favorite game in the franchise, but replaying it reminded me of how much I love it.
Back in the day, this was the only FNAF game I couldn't finish. It's not because it was too hard or because I didn't like it back then. It's because I was too scared! FNAF 4 is the scariest game in the series and it's not even close. For starters, the animatronics have seen some horrific redesigns in this game. They don't even look like robots anymore, they're just hellish abominations!
You might think that's pretty out of place given what this series has been about so far, but this game is entirely different. You play as a child, in their own house at night, fending off these once friendly characters. Not only is this great for spicing up the gameplay and making the horror aspect the most immersive it's ever been, it also introduces a lot of questions and fun lore to figure out throughout the game.
On top of that, this game relies on its audio for everything. The first three games had great audio design, and in the case of FNAF 1, that's what made the game so unsettling. Here though, it's the main mechanic of the gameplay. When you walk to a door, you're required to listen very carefully for breathing sounds. If you hear that, close the door until the animatronic leaves. If you don't, keep them away from your door by flashing your light.
What makes this so terrifying is that even if you're confident that nothing is at your door, you won't know for sure until you commit to flashing that light at the pitch black hallway. On top of that, the game will make you feel uneasy with these little noises you can hear throughout the house. Since the breathing is really quiet and hard to make out, it's easy to mistake other sounds for it and get yourself killed. Everytime you press that button there's a chance you're about to invite these hellspawns to rip you apart. It's so effective, and it makes playing this game very stressful.
How about that story though? I should bring up that FNAF 3 was meant to be the end of the series. However, the game was criticized for not being scary enough, understandably so. Because of this, Scott decided to make one more game, aiming to make it as scary as possible. This way, the series would properly end on a high note. Thankfully, the story from the previous games remains untouched. FNAF 3 is still the conclusion to the story. FNAF 4 is largely self contained, adding a bit of world building to the series and a bit of mystery of its own that's fun to dissect. It's also great to play a FNAF game from the perspective of a child. There's a lot of potential with that idea.
I know everyone and their mother has talked about this game at this point, but I still don't want to spoil the ending of this game. It's really special. It ties everything together in a satisfying way while also leaving things off in an ambiguous way. The series known for telling its story in an unorthodox way and leaving things up for the community to dissect, ends things on a bit of mystery of its own, while still leaving the other games completely untouched. It's perfect.
FNAF 4 is an amazing game. It's easily the best in the series in my opinion. I love it so much. While I love the eventual proper ending we did get, a part of me will always be sad that the series didn't end here in such a perfect way, as was originally planned.
Back in the day, this was the only FNAF game I couldn't finish. It's not because it was too hard or because I didn't like it back then. It's because I was too scared! FNAF 4 is the scariest game in the series and it's not even close. For starters, the animatronics have seen some horrific redesigns in this game. They don't even look like robots anymore, they're just hellish abominations!
You might think that's pretty out of place given what this series has been about so far, but this game is entirely different. You play as a child, in their own house at night, fending off these once friendly characters. Not only is this great for spicing up the gameplay and making the horror aspect the most immersive it's ever been, it also introduces a lot of questions and fun lore to figure out throughout the game.
On top of that, this game relies on its audio for everything. The first three games had great audio design, and in the case of FNAF 1, that's what made the game so unsettling. Here though, it's the main mechanic of the gameplay. When you walk to a door, you're required to listen very carefully for breathing sounds. If you hear that, close the door until the animatronic leaves. If you don't, keep them away from your door by flashing your light.
What makes this so terrifying is that even if you're confident that nothing is at your door, you won't know for sure until you commit to flashing that light at the pitch black hallway. On top of that, the game will make you feel uneasy with these little noises you can hear throughout the house. Since the breathing is really quiet and hard to make out, it's easy to mistake other sounds for it and get yourself killed. Everytime you press that button there's a chance you're about to invite these hellspawns to rip you apart. It's so effective, and it makes playing this game very stressful.
How about that story though? I should bring up that FNAF 3 was meant to be the end of the series. However, the game was criticized for not being scary enough, understandably so. Because of this, Scott decided to make one more game, aiming to make it as scary as possible. This way, the series would properly end on a high note. Thankfully, the story from the previous games remains untouched. FNAF 3 is still the conclusion to the story. FNAF 4 is largely self contained, adding a bit of world building to the series and a bit of mystery of its own that's fun to dissect. It's also great to play a FNAF game from the perspective of a child. There's a lot of potential with that idea.
I know everyone and their mother has talked about this game at this point, but I still don't want to spoil the ending of this game. It's really special. It ties everything together in a satisfying way while also leaving things off in an ambiguous way. The series known for telling its story in an unorthodox way and leaving things up for the community to dissect, ends things on a bit of mystery of its own, while still leaving the other games completely untouched. It's perfect.
FNAF 4 is an amazing game. It's easily the best in the series in my opinion. I love it so much. While I love the eventual proper ending we did get, a part of me will always be sad that the series didn't end here in such a perfect way, as was originally planned.
Alright I have been way too harsh on this game. It's been a long time since I played it and I was only remembering the parts I didn't like. Playing this again, it's actually pretty sweet.
Changing things up from the first two games, this game game is set 30 years later, in a horror attraction rather than a pizzeria. Dialing things back from FNAF 2, there are six animatronics this time, but on top of that, only one of them can actually kill you and that's Springtrap.
Unlike the other games where the cameras honestly become pointless once you realize how the animatronic AI works, the cameras are super important here. You're required to keep track of where Springtrap is and lure him away by playing audio to distract him. All while this is happening, your audio and camera video will stop working from time to time, requiring you to stop and wait for them to go back online, and that's time Springtrap is using to gun it for your office. To make things worse, the phantom animatronics pop up every so often to cause you problems, getting jumped by one will shut off your ventilation and force you to reboot it, and this is where you're most vulnerable. You have to get that back up as quickly as possible or you are dead. The ventilation can shut off in its own too, but it'll be caused by the phantoms more often than not. I think the main issue is how the phantoms are designed. If you're able to react quickly, Freddy, Balloon Boy, and Chica can be avoided entirely. On the other hand, Foxy and the Puppet can jump you whenever they feel like with no rhyme or reason, which feels cheap.
I do really like the atmosphere of the game, and it feels a lot more involved because you're not just doing the same exact pattern of inputs over and over and over until you win like before. You have to react and be quick on your feet, but unlike FNAF 2 which just throws a lot at you at once and expects you to manage resources at a frankly stupid level, FNAF 3 only has one aspect you need to focus on, but will constantly try to take your attention away from it with phantoms and system errors. None of this is scary, but the thought that Springtrap is making a beeline for your head at every moment you're stuck dealing with all these distractions does make for good tension. It ultimately comes down to the same thing though, react quickly and hope you get lucky. It's more of the same but with enough of a twist that it doesn't feel stale, and I can appreciate that. It still isn't as scary as the first game though. It's honestly less scary than the second game, since you're going to constantly see jumpscares that don't kill you, and Springtrap's jumpscares are laughably bad.
I think it's worth bringing up that this game was originally meant to be the finale of the series (lol). The game really does feel that way, there's no cryptic lore to dissect here, instead the mini games tie up loose ends from FNAF 2 and give an honestly really satisfying ending to the story, and the payoff at the end is so so good, learning that you actually just beat what's essentially the final boss of FNAF and had no idea until after Night 5, I love that.
It's easy to say this game is terrible because it's not scary and feels very obviously luck based on later nights, but I think the game deserves more credit than that. I honestly wouldn't have minded the series ending here, it's a really satisfying conclusion and still pretty fun to play!
Changing things up from the first two games, this game game is set 30 years later, in a horror attraction rather than a pizzeria. Dialing things back from FNAF 2, there are six animatronics this time, but on top of that, only one of them can actually kill you and that's Springtrap.
Unlike the other games where the cameras honestly become pointless once you realize how the animatronic AI works, the cameras are super important here. You're required to keep track of where Springtrap is and lure him away by playing audio to distract him. All while this is happening, your audio and camera video will stop working from time to time, requiring you to stop and wait for them to go back online, and that's time Springtrap is using to gun it for your office. To make things worse, the phantom animatronics pop up every so often to cause you problems, getting jumped by one will shut off your ventilation and force you to reboot it, and this is where you're most vulnerable. You have to get that back up as quickly as possible or you are dead. The ventilation can shut off in its own too, but it'll be caused by the phantoms more often than not. I think the main issue is how the phantoms are designed. If you're able to react quickly, Freddy, Balloon Boy, and Chica can be avoided entirely. On the other hand, Foxy and the Puppet can jump you whenever they feel like with no rhyme or reason, which feels cheap.
I do really like the atmosphere of the game, and it feels a lot more involved because you're not just doing the same exact pattern of inputs over and over and over until you win like before. You have to react and be quick on your feet, but unlike FNAF 2 which just throws a lot at you at once and expects you to manage resources at a frankly stupid level, FNAF 3 only has one aspect you need to focus on, but will constantly try to take your attention away from it with phantoms and system errors. None of this is scary, but the thought that Springtrap is making a beeline for your head at every moment you're stuck dealing with all these distractions does make for good tension. It ultimately comes down to the same thing though, react quickly and hope you get lucky. It's more of the same but with enough of a twist that it doesn't feel stale, and I can appreciate that. It still isn't as scary as the first game though. It's honestly less scary than the second game, since you're going to constantly see jumpscares that don't kill you, and Springtrap's jumpscares are laughably bad.
I think it's worth bringing up that this game was originally meant to be the finale of the series (lol). The game really does feel that way, there's no cryptic lore to dissect here, instead the mini games tie up loose ends from FNAF 2 and give an honestly really satisfying ending to the story, and the payoff at the end is so so good, learning that you actually just beat what's essentially the final boss of FNAF and had no idea until after Night 5, I love that.
It's easy to say this game is terrible because it's not scary and feels very obviously luck based on later nights, but I think the game deserves more credit than that. I honestly wouldn't have minded the series ending here, it's a really satisfying conclusion and still pretty fun to play!
This game is very interesting to me for a lot of reasons. It's pretty different from the original, for better, and for worse. The original FNAF relies on its unsettling atmosphere to keep the player on edge, while this game relies on overwhelming the player and stressing them out. Rather than four animatronics to keep track of, this game has ELEVEN. The game is a scramble to keep all of them away while they have different methods of doing so. It's anxiety inducing in a different way and I can appreciate the new approach.
Unfortunately though, this game has the issue of feeling extremely repetitive. You will eventually realize there is ONE strategy you can use for the best odds at survival. There is literally zero reason to look at the cameras, ever. Simply stay on the puppet's camera to wind the music box, close the camera, put on your mask if an animatronic is in the office, flash the lights, repeat. This doesn't change until nights 5 and 6 where the animatronics can actually force you out of the camera and completely catch you off guard, and you have a fraction of a second to react and put the mask on. This is where the game is its scariest, and also most frustrating, because the RNG elements are super obvious and sometimes dying just feels like bullshit.
Sometimes you will be forced out of the camera over and over again to the point where you can't wind the music box and die no matter what. Sometimes your flashlight will stop working at just the wrong time and guarantee Foxy kills you. Sometimes one animatronic will hang out in a vent for way too damn long completely screwing you over. If stuff like this keeps happening it quickly feels less scary and more annoying.
Also, Golden Freddy is an actual animatronic with AI in this game, which is really cool! The way he's implemented is stupid though. If he's in the office, put the mask on and he leaves, just like the others, ok that makes sense. If he's in the hallway, you'd think to flash him with your light like EVERY OTHER ANIMATRONIC IN THE GAME, BUT NO! You're supposed to ignore him to make him leave, for some stupid reason. The game never teaches you this either since he's only in Night 6, but it can still cause stupid deaths.
With all that out of the way, there is one aspect about this game that I don't think gets enough praise, and that is the lore and easter eggs. FNAF 1 had the newspapers to dissect and Golden Freddy, but that's kinda it. This game has atari style mini games you can encounter that play up the mystery about the story in a way that's super fascinating. Yeah all the game's after this do the same thing, but I honestly think it was executed the best here! When this game came out there was so much buzz around dissecting all the secrets and trying to put the puzzle pieces together. And of course there's the shadow animatronics which don't add anything at all but are just there as a fun easter egg, I like stuff like that.
So yeah, while this isn't as good as the original in my opinion, I do think it's fun in its own way. It's just frustrating sometimes from a gameplay perspective, and it's definitely not as scary as it should be given the game it's following up. I still enjoy it for what it is though.
Unfortunately though, this game has the issue of feeling extremely repetitive. You will eventually realize there is ONE strategy you can use for the best odds at survival. There is literally zero reason to look at the cameras, ever. Simply stay on the puppet's camera to wind the music box, close the camera, put on your mask if an animatronic is in the office, flash the lights, repeat. This doesn't change until nights 5 and 6 where the animatronics can actually force you out of the camera and completely catch you off guard, and you have a fraction of a second to react and put the mask on. This is where the game is its scariest, and also most frustrating, because the RNG elements are super obvious and sometimes dying just feels like bullshit.
Sometimes you will be forced out of the camera over and over again to the point where you can't wind the music box and die no matter what. Sometimes your flashlight will stop working at just the wrong time and guarantee Foxy kills you. Sometimes one animatronic will hang out in a vent for way too damn long completely screwing you over. If stuff like this keeps happening it quickly feels less scary and more annoying.
Also, Golden Freddy is an actual animatronic with AI in this game, which is really cool! The way he's implemented is stupid though. If he's in the office, put the mask on and he leaves, just like the others, ok that makes sense. If he's in the hallway, you'd think to flash him with your light like EVERY OTHER ANIMATRONIC IN THE GAME, BUT NO! You're supposed to ignore him to make him leave, for some stupid reason. The game never teaches you this either since he's only in Night 6, but it can still cause stupid deaths.
With all that out of the way, there is one aspect about this game that I don't think gets enough praise, and that is the lore and easter eggs. FNAF 1 had the newspapers to dissect and Golden Freddy, but that's kinda it. This game has atari style mini games you can encounter that play up the mystery about the story in a way that's super fascinating. Yeah all the game's after this do the same thing, but I honestly think it was executed the best here! When this game came out there was so much buzz around dissecting all the secrets and trying to put the puzzle pieces together. And of course there's the shadow animatronics which don't add anything at all but are just there as a fun easter egg, I like stuff like that.
So yeah, while this isn't as good as the original in my opinion, I do think it's fun in its own way. It's just frustrating sometimes from a gameplay perspective, and it's definitely not as scary as it should be given the game it's following up. I still enjoy it for what it is though.
Since it's Halloween and I'm in a FNAF mood after the movie came out, I decided to play this again.
And honestly, maybe it's because I haven't played this in a while, but I was really into it. I still know the strategies to make this game easier and know the mechanics on how every animatronic operates, but that didn't matter I was still uneasy the whole time. The unsettling audio, the cameras going dark, the random hallucinations you can get, there's always something to keep you on edge and I love that. The jumpscares themselves aren't really scary, but the anxiety that comes before the actual jumpscare is where these games are at their best, though some more than others, and I think this game nails that really well.
Also maybe it's just me but I miss when FNAF was this simple of a ghost story and didn't turn into sci-fi bullshit, it feels really nice to go back to this.
Aaaaand it looks like my FNAF hyperfixation is showing its ugly head again oh boy here we go!!!
And honestly, maybe it's because I haven't played this in a while, but I was really into it. I still know the strategies to make this game easier and know the mechanics on how every animatronic operates, but that didn't matter I was still uneasy the whole time. The unsettling audio, the cameras going dark, the random hallucinations you can get, there's always something to keep you on edge and I love that. The jumpscares themselves aren't really scary, but the anxiety that comes before the actual jumpscare is where these games are at their best, though some more than others, and I think this game nails that really well.
Also maybe it's just me but I miss when FNAF was this simple of a ghost story and didn't turn into sci-fi bullshit, it feels really nice to go back to this.
Aaaaand it looks like my FNAF hyperfixation is showing its ugly head again oh boy here we go!!!
Alright let me just get this out of the way right now. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the best mainline Mario game since Galaxy in 2007. I am being completely serious when I say that.
It can't be understated how much I've been hoping for a new 2D Mario game. The last one was 11 years ago, and that one wasn't even good. As much nostalgia as I have for the first 2 New Super Mario Bros. games, everyone knows they overstayed their welcome. And then nothing for a decade, it's been rough. I know Super Mario Maker exists, but it's not the same, and coming from someone who didn't like Galaxy 2, 3D World, or Odyssey, I just really wanted Nintendo to finally do something with 2D Mario again. It may have taken way too long, but it finally happened!
Off the bat, this game looks amazing. The levels have so much care and detail put into them, and the characters are more animated than ever before. Compare this to New Super Mario Bros. U and it's night and day. The world just feels more alive in this game and the game is just more fun by extension. The music is also fantastic, which I am so happy to say. Though this may be because the game is new and I haven't heard the songs enough yet, but they don't stick in my head like the songs from other Mario games have.
I want to bring up the map design quickly. At first I was a little disappointed that the game seemed to have only 6 worlds instead of 8 like usual, but then I played for myself. First off, those 6 worlds are so much more expanded upon than any of the worlds in the NSMB games. These aren't just 'play 6 levels and then beat the Koopaling at the end,' far from it. You can freely explore the worlds, find things that are hidden, visit shops, and a lot of levels you can play in whatever order you want. As long as you have enough collectibles from the levels themselves, you can advance, 3D Land style.
However, there is also Petal Isles. This is essentially a seventh world. It's a hub area you return to after each numbered world, and it not only has its own levels to clear, but it's also where the final boss is you'll be spending a lot of time there. On the map it's located right in the center, and I love seeing all the worlds interconnected like this, why it took them so long to try something like this again after Super Mario World, I have no idea.
The process of getting collectibles is really fun too. Finding wonder flowers is always exciting, waiting to see what crazy new effect the game will throw at you. Maybe it'll start a musical number, change the level to a topdown perspective, throw a stampede of enemies at you, start raining superstars from the sky, anything can happen. Or if you want, you can just ignore these and finish the levels normally. You do need a certain amount of them in order to progress, but if you have enough, you aren't forced to collect them.
Stages also have a lot of replay value thanks to badges and purple coins. Badges can be earned from challenge levels or bought from shops. They all have different properties, like giving you a Galaxy style spin jump, a vine to grapple onto walls, magnifying coins towards you, improving your wall jump, letting you run faster, there are a lot of these. Finding purple coins is a great incentive to replay levels so you can buy more badges, but it's also fun to experiment and try levels in different ways.
With all that said, I really wish I could give the game 5 stars, but I just can't. Alright, time for my super nitpicky complaints, here we go.
Firstly, the multiplayer. I will say that the online component of the game is amazing, I loved that. Local multiplayer though NOPE. I'm glad they got rid of all the whacky collision that often led to stupid deaths in the other games. However, these levels are clearly not designed for multiplayer at all. I know the Wii and Wii U games got flack for their big open and barren feeling levels in order to compensate for multiplayer, but it's so hard to keep everyone on the same pace in this game. Not helping is the fucking camera. It picks one person at a time to lock onto, instead of zooming out the camera to keep everyone in view like before. Combine these together and it's a recipe for disaster. The amount of stupid deaths I had playing this is ridiculous. It was funny though, I'll give it that.
Secondly, Yoshi. Look, I'm really happy that we have more than the same 4 characters yet again. Daisy, Toadette, Nabbit, and Yoshi being playable? Sweet! Here's my problem. Why is Yoshi a dedicated "easy mode" character? I get why Nabbit is like that, but I would've liked playing as Yoshi and not having the game be braindead easy. The trade-off of having his unique moves but not being allowed to use powerups would've been fine, but he's also invincible?? I just don't understand why it had to be done this way.
And my final complaint and definitely my biggest one, the boss fights. They're bad, point blank period. First off, 2 worlds just don't even have them at all, which feels super weird. Finishing a world with no boss level just feels incomplete if you ask me. So there are only 5 bosses in the game, and every single one is a complete joke. 4 of them are reskinned Bowser Jr fights that never actually get challenging, he's barely any tougher than Boom Boom in the Wii U game, and I'm being generous. The final boss against Bowser is super anticlimactic. When I finished the game I actually said "Oh that was it?" and yeah that's not a good way to end a game.
I think the problem is that they're style over substance. They all have super cool visual effects happening, but after like 5 seconds you realize that the process of fighting them is never any different. It also just feels weird to have Kamek be so prominent in the game and never fight him at any point. This game made me miss the Koopalings and I never thought I would say that.
So yeah, I had a lot to say about this game. As much as I would love to say it's a 10/10 masterpiece of a game, especially with how much of a 2D Mario shill I am, I just can't. It has too much that annoyed me personally. I can say though that I love this game despite the issues I had and it's easily my favorite Mario game in the last 16 years! I'm very happy that this game exists and 2D Mario is back!
It can't be understated how much I've been hoping for a new 2D Mario game. The last one was 11 years ago, and that one wasn't even good. As much nostalgia as I have for the first 2 New Super Mario Bros. games, everyone knows they overstayed their welcome. And then nothing for a decade, it's been rough. I know Super Mario Maker exists, but it's not the same, and coming from someone who didn't like Galaxy 2, 3D World, or Odyssey, I just really wanted Nintendo to finally do something with 2D Mario again. It may have taken way too long, but it finally happened!
Off the bat, this game looks amazing. The levels have so much care and detail put into them, and the characters are more animated than ever before. Compare this to New Super Mario Bros. U and it's night and day. The world just feels more alive in this game and the game is just more fun by extension. The music is also fantastic, which I am so happy to say. Though this may be because the game is new and I haven't heard the songs enough yet, but they don't stick in my head like the songs from other Mario games have.
I want to bring up the map design quickly. At first I was a little disappointed that the game seemed to have only 6 worlds instead of 8 like usual, but then I played for myself. First off, those 6 worlds are so much more expanded upon than any of the worlds in the NSMB games. These aren't just 'play 6 levels and then beat the Koopaling at the end,' far from it. You can freely explore the worlds, find things that are hidden, visit shops, and a lot of levels you can play in whatever order you want. As long as you have enough collectibles from the levels themselves, you can advance, 3D Land style.
However, there is also Petal Isles. This is essentially a seventh world. It's a hub area you return to after each numbered world, and it not only has its own levels to clear, but it's also where the final boss is you'll be spending a lot of time there. On the map it's located right in the center, and I love seeing all the worlds interconnected like this, why it took them so long to try something like this again after Super Mario World, I have no idea.
The process of getting collectibles is really fun too. Finding wonder flowers is always exciting, waiting to see what crazy new effect the game will throw at you. Maybe it'll start a musical number, change the level to a topdown perspective, throw a stampede of enemies at you, start raining superstars from the sky, anything can happen. Or if you want, you can just ignore these and finish the levels normally. You do need a certain amount of them in order to progress, but if you have enough, you aren't forced to collect them.
Stages also have a lot of replay value thanks to badges and purple coins. Badges can be earned from challenge levels or bought from shops. They all have different properties, like giving you a Galaxy style spin jump, a vine to grapple onto walls, magnifying coins towards you, improving your wall jump, letting you run faster, there are a lot of these. Finding purple coins is a great incentive to replay levels so you can buy more badges, but it's also fun to experiment and try levels in different ways.
With all that said, I really wish I could give the game 5 stars, but I just can't. Alright, time for my super nitpicky complaints, here we go.
Firstly, the multiplayer. I will say that the online component of the game is amazing, I loved that. Local multiplayer though NOPE. I'm glad they got rid of all the whacky collision that often led to stupid deaths in the other games. However, these levels are clearly not designed for multiplayer at all. I know the Wii and Wii U games got flack for their big open and barren feeling levels in order to compensate for multiplayer, but it's so hard to keep everyone on the same pace in this game. Not helping is the fucking camera. It picks one person at a time to lock onto, instead of zooming out the camera to keep everyone in view like before. Combine these together and it's a recipe for disaster. The amount of stupid deaths I had playing this is ridiculous. It was funny though, I'll give it that.
Secondly, Yoshi. Look, I'm really happy that we have more than the same 4 characters yet again. Daisy, Toadette, Nabbit, and Yoshi being playable? Sweet! Here's my problem. Why is Yoshi a dedicated "easy mode" character? I get why Nabbit is like that, but I would've liked playing as Yoshi and not having the game be braindead easy. The trade-off of having his unique moves but not being allowed to use powerups would've been fine, but he's also invincible?? I just don't understand why it had to be done this way.
And my final complaint and definitely my biggest one, the boss fights. They're bad, point blank period. First off, 2 worlds just don't even have them at all, which feels super weird. Finishing a world with no boss level just feels incomplete if you ask me. So there are only 5 bosses in the game, and every single one is a complete joke. 4 of them are reskinned Bowser Jr fights that never actually get challenging, he's barely any tougher than Boom Boom in the Wii U game, and I'm being generous. The final boss against Bowser is super anticlimactic. When I finished the game I actually said "Oh that was it?" and yeah that's not a good way to end a game.
I think the problem is that they're style over substance. They all have super cool visual effects happening, but after like 5 seconds you realize that the process of fighting them is never any different. It also just feels weird to have Kamek be so prominent in the game and never fight him at any point. This game made me miss the Koopalings and I never thought I would say that.
So yeah, I had a lot to say about this game. As much as I would love to say it's a 10/10 masterpiece of a game, especially with how much of a 2D Mario shill I am, I just can't. It has too much that annoyed me personally. I can say though that I love this game despite the issues I had and it's easily my favorite Mario game in the last 16 years! I'm very happy that this game exists and 2D Mario is back!
Neat little puzzle platformer with an amazing soundtrack!