For Once, I’m Actually Excited for a Five Nights at Freddy’s Game

I gained’t mince phrases; the 5 Nights at Freddy’s franchise is one which I’ve usually struggled to get into. Regardless of its unbelievable recognition and big success, it shortly grew to become a franchise that I simply could not get enthusiastic about. Positive, the primary recreation was attention-grabbing to me when it first got here out, and I respect the deep lore that the sequence has change into recognized for, nevertheless it felt like each subsequent entry didn’t cease me in my tracks in the way in which that the primary recreation did. The shock issue and uniqueness of the franchise solely grew to become an increasing number of diluted with every recreation feeling the identical because the final.

Not too long ago, although, I discovered of the announcement of 5 Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit, a brand new title set to launch as a celebration of the franchise’s tenth anniversary. The work of Pittsburgh-based developer Mega Cat Studios, this title eschews the everyday gameplay kinds of your customary 5 Nights at Freddy’s recreation in favor of a 2D gameplay fashion with pixel-art graphics. That is by far the largest leap the sequence has taken since its inception, and it seems to be essentially the most bold and distinctive recreation the sequence has seen. And dare I say, whilst a non-fan of the franchise, I’m truly genuinely enthusiastic about this recreation.

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A 2D FNAF Recreation?

5 Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit is the primary title within the sequence to be dealt with by Mega Cat Studios. A 24-person workforce from Pittsburgh, Mega Cat’s earlier expertise largely facilities round releasing fashionable video games for retro platforms, such because the Nintendo Leisure System and the Sega Genesis. It’s an unconventional method, nevertheless it helped them create a reputation for themselves early and infrequently. Since 2023, although, the studio has modified up their fashion, as a substitute specializing in PC and fashionable consoles, whereas nonetheless creating video games within the old-school, 2D fashion.

As beforehand talked about, this can be a absolutely 2D journey title with a pixel artwork graphical fashion. Whereas the sequence has had occasional 2D minigames right here and there, that is the primary time 5 Nights at Freddy’s has absolutely dedicated to a 2D fashion for the whole thing of a recreation. The gameplay seems to be very puzzle-oriented, whereas additionally seemingly permitting gamers to discover a number of completely different time intervals within the Fazbear universe. Because the title would recommend, this title additionally takes heavy inspiration from the anthology novel Fazbear Frights: Into the Pit, one of many extra beloved FNAF novels.

Seemingly in improvement for a really very long time, the primary trailer for 5 Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit was launched in late January, although its official launch got here not lengthy after a sequence of leaks. The early trailers appear actually compelling, and even with a brand new aesthetic, the scare issue remains to be there. On a private degree, I discovered the jumpscares to be actually compelling within the new artwork fashion, and I’m blissful to see that the general stress remains to be very a lot there regardless of the novel change in fashion. However pretty much as good as the sport appears, a lot of my pleasure with Into the Pit comes as a result of it’s doing one thing I’ve been begging the franchise to do for a really very long time: attempt one thing completely different.

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This Is What The Franchise Has Wanted!

As beforehand famous, an enormous a part of the explanation why 5 Nights at Freddy’s grew to become such an uninteresting franchise to me was the barrage of video games launched at one time that performed too equally to 1 one other. The primary recreation, launched in 2014, introduced with it a relatively contemporary tackle the horror style, proscribing the participant by not permitting them to maneuver round freely. Positive, you possibly can see it as “a recreation that makes you sit round and look forward to a jumpscare,” nevertheless it was an attention-grabbing limitation that helped emphasize a large amount of technique in a horror recreation.

Following this sleeper hit, although, the franchise noticed quite a few sequels launched in such a brief span of time, a near-milking of the success of the unique. In simply two years, we had been already on the fourth mainline entry, as sequence creator Scott Cawthon was releasing sequels at a charge that might make publishers like EA and Activision blush. And it wasn’t merely that a number of video games had been being launched at one time, both; it was that these titles all performed extraordinarily equally to 1 one other, failing to essentially present many distinctive gameplay modifications. As somebody who values gameplay greater than something in a online game, the sheer quantity of titles that didn’t meaningfully innovate on the gameplay entrance turned me off of the sequence for some time. Regardless of how unbelievable your writing or lore is, it means nothing to me if it’s accompanied by forgettable gameplay, and that was the largest undoing for this sequence.

Even when the franchise did meaningfully change with 2020’s 5 Nights at Freddy’s: Safety Breach, the shortage of total polish dirty the joy I might’ve had for it. With Safety Breach, gamers had been now not confined to a stationary chair, as they got the prospect to discover with better freedom of motion. This was all nicely and good, however the completed product got here out in an extremely poor state, with main technical points and glitches that made your entire expertise rather less particular. Despite the fact that it appeared to have a contact extra improvement time than the everyday 5 Nights at Freddy’s enterprise, it felt blatantly unfinished at launch, and nonetheless carried some points even after a number of patches.

With Into the Pit, it feels just like the franchise is lastly shifting someplace completely different with a novel new path, and I’m excited. It actually feels just like the franchise goes someplace really new, and it’s displaying an unbelievable fearlessness in doing so. They are saying that you may’t educate an outdated canine new methods, however with 5 Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit, it appears like that adage may very nicely be confirmed flawed. I really hope the franchise continues to obtain distinct entries similar to this, and if that may occur, maybe 5 Nights at Freddy’s will change into a sequence I’ll be fascinated about listening to.

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