Failure at Freddy's | Will Duncan

This article contains spoilers for Five Nights at Freddy's

The mold-breaking addition to the FNAF (Five Nights at Freddy's) series leaves much unanswered and to be desired. On paper, the game should be a complete success, however, the further I got into the game the more it became apparent that it was rushed and partly unfinished. From getting trapped in the daycare ball pit to glitching through walls, I finished my 19-hour “shift” wondering, “Is that all?”

Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun game, but after spending hours wandering the map and finding mysterious rooms that read “security level 10 required,” I was led to believe the game was much longer than it actually was. Maybe it’s because I simply didn't want the game to end, but as I watched the final post-credit scene I thought to myself, “My computer didn’t crash and lose an hour’s worth of progress just for this.” Yes, I acknowledge that the FNAF saga is adored for these types of endings (which force players to come up with their own theories to solve the mystery and lore that surrounds the series), however unlike the previous games, which were simpler and offered nothing to get attached to, the ending to this game did not provide as much closure as one would hope. With a game so big you would hope for an equally matched ending.

Another issue I faced was that the game was too big. There were too many locations and I found the map to be generally unhelpful; this often led to me getting lost and seeking out help outside the game. This feeling of having no sense of direction continued into the missions. I was constantly puzzled trying to decipher what the next step was: I even spent an hour just trying to escape Fazer Blaster.

Overall I found the game to lack an intuitive play style ie. how was I supposed to know you could parkour the maze walls in Fazer Blaster to escape via the spiral staircase? Additionally, with a game of this size, you are bound to become numb to jumpscares from the main animatronics. As I progressed in the game I got bored of seeing the usual jumpscares from Roxy and Chica and only really felt scared of them when trying to escape after taking the eyes and voice box. I would have liked to see a larger variety of jumpscares like the ones from The Daycare Assistant, Lil’ Music Man, Vanny, and especially the Map Bot. Initially, the creators did a great job of this, however, the addition of new jumpscares quickly plateaued as the game went on. I understand that there are deadlines that need to be met with a franchise this big, especially with holidays so close to the release date, but I can’t help to think that the creators bit off more than they could chew with this game.

I hope my review doesn’t turn you away from this game, that is not my intention at all, I just want to lower your expectations to not get disappointed like I was. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the game and do not regret the time I spent playing but those are just a few things I wished would have been fixed before the release. Every player has their own experience with a game and these are just my notes, I hope if you've already completed the game you were satisfied with it and that if you are planning to play you don't let this take away from your experience. Happy gaming XOXO.