FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 3 REVIEW
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
I think there's something to be said about my own willpower - or perhaps my mental state - that I continue playing (AND reviewing) this franchise. There is absolutely no reason for me to. Yet I trek on, as this is my solemn duty, apparently.
Every time I pick up any FNaF game, I find myself thinking about all the better things I could be playing instead. I think that perfectly summarizes my feelings on the series. It's an absolute time-waster that no one should bother with.
Now, that's not to say that it doesn't have cool lore... But how much does that lore count for, when most of it is completely absent from the games themselves? Why do they insist on barely using their strongest talking point? It baffles me.
FNaF 3 is definitely my least favorite so far. Like the first two, I think that there's some decent groundwork that could have led to something good... But it doesn't. It never does with FNaF. Nothing ever goes anywhere; anything of substance is buried under lackluster worldbuilding and mediocre - or outright bad - mechanics. It's frustrating how something of such low quality became so popular in the mainstream. It's not even like there was one good game, and then terrible sequels to cash in on the success - even the first one wasn't good!
Ugh, thinking about it makes my head hurt.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 1/5
Sound: 1/5
Story: 1/5
Gameplay: 1/5
Worldbuilding: 1.5/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 1/5
Overall score: 1/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
I'll admit, grittier visuals in a FNaF setting is a neat idea. It is almost immediately ruined, though, by how badly that idea was executed. That's what this series does best, after all.
To start with, FNaF 3 looks so bad. The graphics continue to be barely passable at best, and downright ugly at worst.
That's not even the most atrocious fault here, though - that lays within the cameras. The rooms are ridiculously dark and shadowy. This, along with the staggering amount of static overlay, makes it extremely tough to actually see anything. It was so bad that I had to look up pictures to figure out where Springtrap was in some rooms. On that note, I don't think I need to explain that knowing where the animatronic is is an INTEGRAL part of the gameplay! It makes an already frustrating experience even more difficult to enjoy.
Springtrap's jumpscare is 10x weaker than the ones from the previous games, and those already weren't good. For all the tension FNaF 3 attempts to build up, when he finally jumps out at you, it's so underwhelming that it's laughable. I didn't react at all the first time I died to him. The phantom jumpscares are okay, but get stale quickly, too.
Springtrap has a nifty design, but the phantoms are completely uninteresting and uninspired.
The one other positive thing I will say is that the visual style of the minigames is better.
Overall, 1/5.
Sound:
[SPOILERS] Phone Dude is super annoying. I'm so glad he disappeared after night 2. He says 'like' even more than me, which is an accomplishment. [SPOILER END] Phone Guy continues to be the only actually entertaining and fun part of these games. Even he's nearly ruined in this one, though. His role goes from talking to the player naturally, to reading off pre-written instructions. It takes away a lot of his personality and what makes him enjoyable.
Everything else here is totally unnoteworthy.
Overall, 1/5.
Story:
I will not be swayed to give FNaF games higher scores based on lore that's not actually in the games themselves.
The story as a whole IS interesting. It'S the strong suit in this series, and yet it's barely present at all. It's totally ridiculous. That's is why I think they'd work better as movies. Someone even suggested to me that they're basically an ARG at this point, which I can see. The stupidly hidden lore is much more akin to an ARG than an actual game.
The minigame you play after each completed night is cool at first, but gets stale very quickly. There's never anything new in it.
The 'true ending' is actually pretty good, but I hate the way it's executed. The best part of the franchise's plot so far is buried behind an impossible sequence of inputs that you'd never figure out on your own. That is absolutely counter-productive.
Besides that one hidden ending, FNaF 3 is totally forgettable and unneeded. A single cool thing is not enough to make it good.
Overall, 1/5.
Gameplay:
FNaF continues to get more needlessly complicated and less fun with its gameplay. I really didn't think it could get worse after FNaF 2, but at least there, you could actually understand the patterns of the animatronics. Springtrap seems to be totally random for a majority of the nights. You can learn how to counter him, sure, but I didn't really figure out his AI until I was going for aggressive nightmare. All of my wins before that were literally just dumb luck. Nothing is properly explained, there's way too much to figure out, and it makes for an extremely messy experience.
I will say, that once I had really gotten into the groove of things right at the end, I ALMOST found the gameplay at least average. Still, I cannot give a good rating for how I felt during the last 5 minutes.
Overall, 1/5.
Worldbuilding:
I do really like the idea behind this setting. A horror attraction built around FNaF 1, 30 years later, is just meta enough to be fun. But, of course, it is ruined by doing absolutely nothing of note (aside from the true ending, which again, you'll never discover on your own.)
The night minigames are way more lackluster than 2's. 2's were more annoying to slog through once they got old, but at least there was variety within them.
On their own, the secret minigames do add a little flavor. I actually enjoy them and the way you have to glitch them out. It's cool. Too bad most players will never see them.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
Absolutely not worth it. Still easier than FNaF 2 though, to my surprise. I suppose that's because there's only one animatronic to keep track of. Once you watch playthroughs on YouTube, and learn how to counter Springtrap, it's not nearly as difficult as it seems like it will be. Still, absolutely not worth it.
Overall, 1/5.
Overall game score: 1/5. This series continues to go downhill in terms of gameplay, and also takes a dive here with the visuals, too. Anything that could have been good is underdeveloped or way too secret.
I highly recommend you skip this one, and just watch a YouTube video of the true ending if you care about the lore. That's literally the only thing that slightly matters here.
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
I think there's something to be said about my own willpower - or perhaps my mental state - that I continue playing (AND reviewing) this franchise. There is absolutely no reason for me to. Yet I trek on, as this is my solemn duty, apparently.
Every time I pick up any FNaF game, I find myself thinking about all the better things I could be playing instead. I think that perfectly summarizes my feelings on the series. It's an absolute time-waster that no one should bother with.
Now, that's not to say that it doesn't have cool lore... But how much does that lore count for, when most of it is completely absent from the games themselves? Why do they insist on barely using their strongest talking point? It baffles me.
FNaF 3 is definitely my least favorite so far. Like the first two, I think that there's some decent groundwork that could have led to something good... But it doesn't. It never does with FNaF. Nothing ever goes anywhere; anything of substance is buried under lackluster worldbuilding and mediocre - or outright bad - mechanics. It's frustrating how something of such low quality became so popular in the mainstream. It's not even like there was one good game, and then terrible sequels to cash in on the success - even the first one wasn't good!
Ugh, thinking about it makes my head hurt.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 1/5
Sound: 1/5
Story: 1/5
Gameplay: 1/5
Worldbuilding: 1.5/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 1/5
Overall score: 1/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
I'll admit, grittier visuals in a FNaF setting is a neat idea. It is almost immediately ruined, though, by how badly that idea was executed. That's what this series does best, after all.
To start with, FNaF 3 looks so bad. The graphics continue to be barely passable at best, and downright ugly at worst.
That's not even the most atrocious fault here, though - that lays within the cameras. The rooms are ridiculously dark and shadowy. This, along with the staggering amount of static overlay, makes it extremely tough to actually see anything. It was so bad that I had to look up pictures to figure out where Springtrap was in some rooms. On that note, I don't think I need to explain that knowing where the animatronic is is an INTEGRAL part of the gameplay! It makes an already frustrating experience even more difficult to enjoy.
Springtrap's jumpscare is 10x weaker than the ones from the previous games, and those already weren't good. For all the tension FNaF 3 attempts to build up, when he finally jumps out at you, it's so underwhelming that it's laughable. I didn't react at all the first time I died to him. The phantom jumpscares are okay, but get stale quickly, too.
Springtrap has a nifty design, but the phantoms are completely uninteresting and uninspired.
The one other positive thing I will say is that the visual style of the minigames is better.
Overall, 1/5.
Sound:
[SPOILERS] Phone Dude is super annoying. I'm so glad he disappeared after night 2. He says 'like' even more than me, which is an accomplishment. [SPOILER END] Phone Guy continues to be the only actually entertaining and fun part of these games. Even he's nearly ruined in this one, though. His role goes from talking to the player naturally, to reading off pre-written instructions. It takes away a lot of his personality and what makes him enjoyable.
Everything else here is totally unnoteworthy.
Overall, 1/5.
Story:
I will not be swayed to give FNaF games higher scores based on lore that's not actually in the games themselves.
The story as a whole IS interesting. It'S the strong suit in this series, and yet it's barely present at all. It's totally ridiculous. That's is why I think they'd work better as movies. Someone even suggested to me that they're basically an ARG at this point, which I can see. The stupidly hidden lore is much more akin to an ARG than an actual game.
The minigame you play after each completed night is cool at first, but gets stale very quickly. There's never anything new in it.
The 'true ending' is actually pretty good, but I hate the way it's executed. The best part of the franchise's plot so far is buried behind an impossible sequence of inputs that you'd never figure out on your own. That is absolutely counter-productive.
Besides that one hidden ending, FNaF 3 is totally forgettable and unneeded. A single cool thing is not enough to make it good.
Overall, 1/5.
Gameplay:
FNaF continues to get more needlessly complicated and less fun with its gameplay. I really didn't think it could get worse after FNaF 2, but at least there, you could actually understand the patterns of the animatronics. Springtrap seems to be totally random for a majority of the nights. You can learn how to counter him, sure, but I didn't really figure out his AI until I was going for aggressive nightmare. All of my wins before that were literally just dumb luck. Nothing is properly explained, there's way too much to figure out, and it makes for an extremely messy experience.
I will say, that once I had really gotten into the groove of things right at the end, I ALMOST found the gameplay at least average. Still, I cannot give a good rating for how I felt during the last 5 minutes.
Overall, 1/5.
Worldbuilding:
I do really like the idea behind this setting. A horror attraction built around FNaF 1, 30 years later, is just meta enough to be fun. But, of course, it is ruined by doing absolutely nothing of note (aside from the true ending, which again, you'll never discover on your own.)
The night minigames are way more lackluster than 2's. 2's were more annoying to slog through once they got old, but at least there was variety within them.
On their own, the secret minigames do add a little flavor. I actually enjoy them and the way you have to glitch them out. It's cool. Too bad most players will never see them.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
Absolutely not worth it. Still easier than FNaF 2 though, to my surprise. I suppose that's because there's only one animatronic to keep track of. Once you watch playthroughs on YouTube, and learn how to counter Springtrap, it's not nearly as difficult as it seems like it will be. Still, absolutely not worth it.
Overall, 1/5.
Overall game score: 1/5. This series continues to go downhill in terms of gameplay, and also takes a dive here with the visuals, too. Anything that could have been good is underdeveloped or way too secret.
I highly recommend you skip this one, and just watch a YouTube video of the true ending if you care about the lore. That's literally the only thing that slightly matters here.