#(ill still be mentally tweaking out and silently judging... everything's fine!!!)

[venbetta]

I've been really getting into SOTM since it's come out, and I have to say, it's better produced than SW's other fnaf games. I'm not saying it's 100% perfect, I'm not gonna gas it up to be game of the year, but it feels cohesive compared to their previous games. It's the fact that when it was originally announced up until its release, I wasn't 100% on board; I didn't know what to expect. I've come out of it surprised by how potent some of the narrative beats are.

I've heard some people say that the story wasn't cohesive or that it didn't make sense, which i get, it took watching a few other playthroughs to catch things I missed during the first watch. And I know the mimic's origins are in the TFTP books, which usually doesn't help either, but the game does a good job at establishing the mimic's creation enough to latch onto. Plus, the Murray family feels real to me, Edwin's neglect, Fiona's caring natural. If they weren't in the game, i think it would've been a dull experience. There were slow moments when I was watching Fusion's playthrough, and I thought, "Gimme more Murray family lore." And when it did show up, I was engaged. Learning and finding out more felt rewarding (I don't have the game myself :( ... but watching other people play has helped).

I know I missed things, I probably still am, but I've grasped enough of it to understand a good majority of the story. The endings were nice, I can actually tell which one is definitely the canon one. The secret one was so sweet and heartbreaking. I loved Arnold, even if we don't hear him speak that often. Dispatch is a prick in the best way. The VAs did amazing.

My only complaint is that the minigames (the crane one) were kinda boring. I did almost fall asleep during that part. I don't have many grievances with SOTM, it surprised me.

I know people keep comparing it to Poppy Playtime, and all that other stuff, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it taking inspiration from it. They literally took inspiration from Alien Isolation and Outlast from what I've heard, and that shouldn't be seen as an insult to compare any of these games with one another.

And as someone who's been with fnaf since the beginning, I get why people are a bit discontent about this game's presence. I miss the old games, but I don't see anything wrong with mixing something up in this new Era. I loved Security Breach, even with its flaws. It's a beautiful mess with... a not very cohesive story, but it's fun. Saw someone try to compare SB with SOTM to criticize the latter when they are two distinct narratives with varying visuals. Of course SOTM doesn't have life to it, it's an abandoned, defunct factory with ROTTING bodies. It's a horror game. There's nothing wrong with SB switching up the environment either, it's still a horror game... even if it was catered to be child-friendly which there's nothing wrong with that either...

Comparing apples to oranges.

I digress.

I wish it was easy for people to admit and accept that SOTM isn't going to feel like FNAF, instead of chalking it up to being a bad game or spitefully comparing it to other games for the sake of criticizing when it's easier to just say "This isn't for me anymore." And also not blame any party responsible for making it that way (Steel Wool). Markiplier admitted it in his recent playthrough, it felt nice hearing that from him. To have that self awareness and acknowledge that it's not the same, but it's okay that he doesn't like it and it's no one else's fault!!!! GRGHRGH

I love FNAF, and it's complicated lore, and it's sometimes buggy games. Unless some other game comes along that completely alters my opinions on it, I'm willing to see where this franchise goes, honestly.

So now excuse me while I go make Freddy and Monty kiss each other like lil toy dolls