The best Five Nights at Freddy’s game and it isn’t even a debatable topic. The game features the most enjoyable gameplay loop in the entire franchise with easily the most satisfying ending. The murder victims of the purple guy were set free from their eternal Hell of the animatronic suits while the very man who took the lives of the innocent children is left to forever exist between a state of the living and the dead as an ironic punishment for his crimes. Honestly a genius ending and if Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 was the final game, then I’d say the series would be one of the greatest in gaming.

I know a reason the game was heavily disliked when it first released was because of the “weak jumpscares” (Which isn’t where the horror in these games comes from, but whatever), though I would argue the game has the greatest set of jumpscares as getting hit by a ghost animatronic and not immediately hitting a game over causes quite the panic which in turn makes Springtrap's jumpscare all the more great. Speaking of Springtrap, his design is genius. It is what a good horror villain should be. The fact you can’t quickly spot him in the camera makes later nights terrifying as you’re frantically looking between each camera to see where he’s moved so you can lock him out of the office.

The office design is also great. The building makes a lot of sense with each point of entry for Springtrap making sense and no useless spaces that don’t make sense for the design of the building (Something that Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and Sister Location just fail at for whatever reason). The game requires you to be on your guard at all points which makes potential deaths actually feel like your fault instead of being at 4:00 AM and Toy Bonnie just fucking up your day and allowing the wind up box to reach 10%.

I mean, the game isn’t perfect, but there isn’t much to criticize at a base level. My personal favorite and infinitely better than Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. Wait, you like Five Nights at Freddy’s as well? I just got into these games recently, haha. What’s your name? By the way, I like your TV Girl shirt, do you listen to Deftones?

Rating: B+
Genre(s): Point and click adventure, survival horror

I don't think I can give Ultimate Custom Night a rating. It is a best of compilation that exists to push masochists to their absolute limits. It isn't a Five Nights at Freddy's game as much as it is a bragging right, which I can respect.

I would explain how the game operates but I had to watch a four hour long playlist of explanations of each individual mechanic to reliably make it to 1:00 AM. I don't know where this falls in the Five Nights at Freddy's narrative (And to be honest, I'm terrified of looking up any story past Sister Location), but this game is my own personal Hell. Every issue I have with each individual Five Nights at Freddy's game is accounted for made exponentially worse by the fact this game requires 100% concentration to play (Which if you require me to be sober and not listen to random Spotify playlists when playing a game as simple as Five Nights at Freddy's, you've pushed me to my absolute limit).

Ultimate Custom Night lives up to its name because if you do not care, then you'll move on. I mean, most people have better things to do than put 119 hours in a video game to say you beat it (That's just my Steam time, I tried on PlayStation but stopped after seeing the control list and feeling like I'd have an easier time learning how to play "Tommy the Cat" by Primus with a missing arm). This game is terribly designed and it revels in that fact. It knows its audience and who is going to be playing it and it earns respect for that. The game is fucking brutal and asks you for its undivided attention because you can't brute force this game.

I enjoyed my time... but if you ever make me play this game again, the screams of the voices of the damned will be heard from across the world.

Rating: ???
Genre(s): Point and click adventure, rage game

If you hate this series, then you most likely hate the domino effect of cheap knock offs and the Markiplier's that wanted to become the next famous horror indie game YouTuber (By the way, CinnamonToastKen's playthrough of Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls is better than anything Markiplier has ever made and I will not debate why). But as a first game in a series and even a horror game, Five Nights at Freddy's is absurdly good.

The gameplay loop is easily the most engaging in this one. The power supply and Pirates Cove add resource management that keeps you on your toes and can't be easily exploited in your favor. Furthermore, each animatronic is honestly really good, with my favorite being Freddy as I think he's easily the most terrifying (Freddy caused the bite of 87' and I will not debate this). Chica is the weakest of the robots and even then, it isn't too bad given how she looks in each subsequent game.

I do have an issue with how movement opportunities work in this game because it requires you to stare at Pirate's Cove the entire night from night 5 onwards. Furthermore, how Foxy drains power when stopped during an attack either means I'm gonna win 4/20 with 8% power or lose it all by 4:00 AM.

Another issue I have is with the power shortage sequence and how you're literally gambling with a random number generator as to if you're going to live 5 seconds or 50 seconds which doesn't create tension, but rather mild irritation from the guy who just wants his PlayStation trophies.

The narrative is also way too vague for its own good. Like, I wasn't around during the series peak (I played this game for the first time October 2023, lmao) but I would place money down that Mark discovering Golden Freddy by complete happen chance is the only reason people put an effort into discovering this games plot.

Though, Five Nights at Freddy's is a game that your enjoyment will ultimately boils down to "I have nostalgia" or "This game is really good despite its flaws." The game is good and plays a lot better than a majority of Five Nights at Freddy's games after (Check out my FNAF 2 review). Though, I can't say this series is the pinnacle of gaming. The Five Nights at Freddy's movie, though?? Yeah, that's one of the greatest modern thrillers and I will die on that hill.

Rating: B
Genre(s): Point and click adventure, survival horror