#CANON BEAST BENDY MAKES ME. ANGRY-

[hunter-the-sad-skeleton]

B.Beast Beny. :) (Reblogs appreciated!)

[mwolf0epsilon]

If you could remake batim into an outlast/resident evil type survival horror game, what would be your ambitions for the characters/creatures?

Someone's been studying my taste in horror games, good call Anon.

Honestly if I could remake Bendy and the Ink Machine into a more intense horror game I'd definitely take aspects from resident evil, but would keep the shock value to a minimum.

I consider BATIM as more of a subtle horror deal. With exposition being a little more Bioshock-y in terms of piecing together the story through audio logs and exploring the environment. Visual horror is good stuff for giving your mind space to piece stuff together, and fill in the general gaps to our own ability. I like exploring nooks and crannies, so imagining the horrors of Joey Drew Studios through bits and pieces I caught in my peripherals would absolutely make me embelish it more than what we're actually given in canon, so scenery and storytelling visual cues are a must to allow for a good theorizing experience!

Of course no horror game is without some good scares and tense moments, which I can easily offer right here through a few easy picks of my favourite rouster of horror elements that could be applied to certain characters:

The Ink Demon - The Demon itself has this missed opportunity of being a bigger threat. It pops up occasionally but you end up easily overcoming your fear of it by simply knowing where the nearest miracle station is (even it's Beast form is easy to deal with by exploiting the map layout). I say make the demon more like RE2make's Mr.X with just a hint of RE3make's Nemesis, and you'd have something worthy of being feared by the whole studio. Couple that with limiting the miracle station's placement in certain zones, and increasing encounters, and you get an enemy that forces you to think quick on your feet.

The Projectionist - Remember Half-Life: Alyx's distillery? Oh yeah baby, I'm going there! Make the Projectionist as tangible a threat as Jeff. Force the player to be in close quarters with the hulking beast that is the Projectionist, without a way to fight back. Tense stealth zones can do wonders if you know where to place them in a game. Eliminate the Butcher Gang stealth mechanic in favour of actually trying to navigate a zone where you need to be spacially aware, otherwise you'll get a very angry Projector man on your case. And for the love of god give us options on how to deal with him besides a Tommy gun that we might not be able to unlock.

Twisted Alice - Less protagunism on her part in one singular zone. Make her more mysterious, have her appear earlier as this unknown force that may or may not help you out at first (Think Ada Wong in RE2make or Atlas in Bioshock). Have her manipulation skills actually explored in more than a bunch of fetch quests. Make the Demon and Angel path choices more impactful (give us a way to save Buddy Boris after so much effort but maybe increase difficulty if we do so? Make it worth our time).

Sammy Lawrence - Multiple stage encounters. I don't mean just drop him in as is to fight Henry, I mean, degradated him further and further with each fight as a means to show his wavering faith and stability. The final encounter could end with him actually becoming a proper horrifying ink monster? Give him a form that fits his distorted voice in chapter 5. Look at any instalment of Resident Evil transformation sequences for reference. Don't rob Sammy of a better fight than getting his mask yeeted off and then a cheap shot from behind.

Allison and Tom - Introduce them earlier. Have them as a presence that you want to seek out to get help from. Don't just throw them in without context because, while the studio is confusing, there should be hints that they're around and surviving. Give them presence and maybe some quests to earn their trust. Trust systems can be very helpful in certain horror scenarios! It also gives room for more choices.

Bertrum Piedmont and Lacie Benton - You know what would make Bertrum's boss battle better? More stages to it! You know what could make that possible? Lacie helping her boss out for old times sakes. I've already pointed out multiple stage battles could work well, so rather than stretching them out like I suggested with Sammy, why not make Bertrum's a real amusement park experience?

Brute Boris - Provided we'd get a chance to save Buddy Boris, make the good route fight harder by having Alice construct a much more threatening version of Brute Boris out of multiple Boris clone corpses. Otherwise in the bad path you'd just need to tweak a few things, like item accessibility and environmental advantages to complete the fight.

Joey Drew - Give us the option to fight him, regardless of if we can or cannot beat him. Let us get a taste of revenge if only just briefly before being thrown back over and over again. Depending on choices the fight could be more menacing or not.

That's about it in terms of mechanics I'd employ for a reimagining of Bendy and the Ink Machine. As you can tell it's less on the Outlast front and more on the horror survival/adventure survival spectrumthat Resident Evil and Bioshock are known for.

Here's hoping BATDR is as spooky and intense as TheMeatly keeps telling us! Might make these ideas seem like child's play... Or not. We'll have to see won't we?

[bubblytarts]

Bendy and the Inky Musical - Part 5/5

This is it. The end of Act Two. But this is not the end of my Inky Musical content. There will definitely be more to come, as there’s so much I didn’t cover in these summaries. 

But without further ado, let’s finish this story! Featuring a subtle How to Train Your Dragon reference, a very confused ensemble, and a sweet, cheesy happy ending (because slight spoiler, I am not leaving this musical on the exact canon ending). 

Dreams Come True (Reprise) - Joey, Ensemble

This is clearly the homestretch of the musical, and even the characters can feel it.

Henry finds the throne room, and plays Joey’s tape.

Joey’s voice begins offstage, as the ensemble helps to convey the tone of dreams coming true. There are portions of the lyrics that are exactly the same as the original Dreams Come True, but now Joey is being himself, instead of his public persona, so the words about doing anything to make dreams come true are much more sinister.

Joey Drew himself then appears. Henry interrupts him to say “you aren’t here!” And Joey agrees before backing Henry up, until he falls onto the throne. Joey hands Henry the end reel, and almost dares him to put it in right then and there.

Joey lets the chorus intimidate Henry a bit more before walking off calmly. Henry is confused why everyone suddenly runs off, until he feels Beast Bendy looming above him.

The End of the Road - Wally, Henry, Ensemble

Henry bolts from the throne, as Beast Bendy chases him around stage.

Wally and the ensemble are there to cause chaos. The song is loud and confusing, with very happy sounding lyrics, but are actually much darker if you actually listen. The lyrics are also very vague and could apply to Henry or Bendy, like the ensemble isn’t sure who they’re rooting for.

The projector for the end reel is moved constantly around the stage by the ensemble, forcing Henry to continue running.

Wally throws himself in the way a few times to give Henry enough time to escape a bad situation, using his “don’t shoot the narrator” shtick to his advantage. The ensemble causes trouble, as they keep grabbing at Henry, blocking his way, or moving the projector. But they also do part easily at some points. Depends on what lyrics they’re singing at that moment.

Eventually, Wally shoves Henry through a clear path, and he escapes offstage. The ensemble cowers before Beast Bendy, but Wally holds his ground, singing alone, “It’s the end of the road.” After the applause, Beast Bendy roars and raises his arm, and the lights flash in an effect similar to Sammy’s death in Chapter Two, before going out.

Believe - Henry

Henry has finally made it back to the throne room, and the projector is there. He turns to wait for Wally, who after a lengthy pause, doesn’t appear (his fate is left ambiguous). Henry slowly turns to the projector slowly, and Beast Bendy enters.

There’s a note played, and Henry quietly sings, turning towards Bendy. It’s an apology song. He’s sorry he couldn’t protect not only his friends, but his creations. He’s not sorry he left, but he is sorry for what happened after.

Bendy seems to be listening as Henry sounds close to tears. Henry admits that he doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, but he’s learned a lot.

He believes in the power of hope, of faith, of trust, of love, of happy endings, and of course, belief. He believes in his friends, and that they believe in him.

Henry touches Bendy’s face gently, and once more apologizes for what happened to him because of Joey. At Joey’s name, Bendy roars, and Henry scrambles back, telling Bendy that he believes in him too, before playing the end reel.

The End plays in huge letters on the back of the stage, and Bendy collapses as the lights go blindingly bright.

To Hell and Back - Joey

Henry is standing in an apartment. He turns, and and older Joey is there with his back to him. Before Henry can even get a word in, Joey begins his song. It’s slow, and Joey is using his happy, public persona, but he also isn’t trying to hide how sinister the lyrics are. The words are similar to his speech in the apartment in-game, but he fully admits to his crimes, and even hints that this isn’t the end of Henry’s story.

Henry is getting obviously agitated as Joey continues to blame him for what happened. Joey has made his way to Henry’s side, and wraps his arm around Henry’s shoulders. That’s too much.

Henry interrupts the song to yell about the horrible things he’s been through. It seems like Henry might even take control of the song, but when the music picks up again, Joey cuts him off. Without further ado, Joey admits that this indeed isn’t the end of the story, and reveals the door to the studio, giving Henry and the audience only a few moments to gawk before shoving Henry inside.

Creators and Traitors (Reprise) - Henry, Joey, Ensemble

(Think more angry Finale B; Rent)

Henry immediately starts pounding on the door. Joey leans against the other side, telling him to get a move on. Henry sinks to his knees, and Joey begins to walk away, convinced he’s won.

Henry starts singing again. The melody of Creators and Traitors. It’s very quiet, but he’s telling Joey that he’s switching the roles. He’s not the traitor, Joey is. Joey scoffs as Henry stops again, and Joey sits down at his desk, looking over his storyboards.

Then the ensemble starts repeating Henry’s words. Henry looks around, and Wally holds out his hand to help him up. Henry joins the singing, which is stronger now, and swears that the story doesn’t end this way.

Henry walks in place in the center of the stage, music and dancing growing in intensity, showing the passing of dozens, if not hundreds, of loops. Wally stands behind Henry, watching as Sammy breaks away from the ensemble’s movements to nod to Henry and stand next to Wally, adding his voice to the two of them. The others follow. Buddy, Susie, Norman, Allison, and Tom.

As the crew join Henry in marching, the music now a thundering roar, Joey frantically tries to draw over his storyboards, singing his own overlapping part, another melody similar to Dreams Come True, before running towards the door, trying in vain to hold it closed for a moment before Norman and Tom bust it down.

There’s an overwhelming key change as Henry stands face to face with Joey, the ensemble and main characters at a fever pitch while Henry and Joey sing their solo parts in each other’s faces, neither backing down.

Joey tries to take over the song and establish himself as the creator again, before a Henry corrects him again. The roles are switched. Henry’s the creator, and Joey’s the traitor. And Henry says the story ends here.

The sound of Beast Bendy roaring plays in the background as the ensemble holds their final note, Joey screams “No!”, and Henry smashes the end reel. Blackout.

Outta Here! (Reprise) - Company

(Think the happiness of Finale; Newsies)

Henry stands alone on the stage. He looks around, confused, when Wally comes running in, looking ecstatic. Henry remarks that Wally isn’t wearing just black and white anymore, but Wally tells him that’s not the important part here.

Cue the entrance of a very human Sammy Lawrence, being supported by Norman, who now has a normal human head. Henry is in shock as Wally drags him towards his friends, immediately annoying Sammy. Susie shrieks as she and other ensemble members start to come on stage, declaring that she’s beautiful again.

Henry, now incredibly excited, starts greeting the friends he’s finally getting to see again for real. He shakes hands with Grant, Shawn, and Lacie, gets a kiss on the cheek from Susie, and gets a disgruntled huff from Bertrum before getting tapped on the shoulder.

Henry looks confused for a moment as the boy in front of him smiles and says hello. “You probably don’t know me, but I’m-” and then Henry has the moment of realization and pulls Buddy into a hug.

Allison calls from the other side of the stage, and Henry sends Buddy to go hang out with Wally before going up to her and Tom to give out another hug and handshake. Tom grumbles, but then tells Henry, “You did it. Didn’t think you would-“ and Allison smacks his arm. Tom also then mentions that Joey disappeared. They don’t know where he is. Henry isn’t worried. Allison asks Henry how he knew he could do it, and Henry looks out at the others on stage, and answers “I knew you all believed in me.” She smiles. Henry notices a letter on the floor. He picks it up, and reads aloud, “Well done, old friend.” Sammy yells to Henry, and he pockets the letter, not concerned.

The music picks up as Wally shouts, “We got outta there!” And everyone cheers.

One final singing and dance number, with the main characters front and center, as Henry leads them out of the studio, to whatever awaits them.