Recent reviews by Moitjae06

Pros:
- The atmosphere can be suitably light-hearted or eerily dark when needed.
- The Pizzaplex is so damn cool to look at and is just really visually appealing. There are also tons of easter eggs and references scattered across the attractions that FNaF fans will be pleased to see.
- The animatronics, for better or for worse, all have distinct and memorable personalities. It's a plus to me however, as I feel that their personalities mesh well with the overall tone of the game.
- The endo section at 3AM is an actual nightmare to go through on a blind playthrough (in a good way).
- The music, and the sound design in general, slaps.
- It's very possible and valid to play this game with stealth, i.e. crouching behind objects, making distractions, utilising hiding spots and watching the cameras to plan your next move, which really amps up the tension and overall mood of the game in a way that I suspect was the intended method of playing.
- The free Ruin DLC, which adds a whole new campaign with a new protagonist following the events of the base game, does an incredible job of improving on many negative aspects of the base game, most of which are covered in the cons section of this review.


Cons:
- The game has a recurring habit of telling you to go somewhere in the Pizzaplex, only to then say that you're missing an item of importance and instructs you to go to some other location a mile away then come back with said important item.
- Couple instances of poorly guided progression, i.e. no clear indication of where to go next, or the game gives you a hint on what to do only once, and never repeats it ever again.
- The provided map of the Pizzaplex is poorly designed, which is a shame, considering the point above.
- The overabundance of STAFF bots are an absolute pain in the butt to deal with at times.
- Post-6AM spawns the only usable save station in the atrium balcony. All other save stations are disabled. This is both a pro and a con in my opinion, since it really adds to the tension of getting through the final animatronic decommission without dying, but can also lead to loss of both time and effort either through loss of progress by dying before saving, or having to trudge over to the atrium every time you want to save your progress.
- The game's story might make some FNaF 1~6 lore enthusiasts weep.
- This game takes up a rather unreasonable >80GB of your storage.
- You need a somewhat decent device to comfortably play this game. Not an absolute high-end build of course, but at least a mid-tier is recommended, while a low-end will most definitely struggle. I recommend checking benchmarks to gauge the expected performance before purchasing.


Overall:
FNaF SB is definitely worth a try in my opinion. While it's far from the best game ever, and also has some untapped potential here and there, provided that you're able to run the game, and have the storage and money to spare, this game is a fun way to pass the time, and is also rather decently replayable. The infamous game-breaking bugs and glitches are also mostly fixed at the time this was written, making now a better time than ever to try the game out. A solid 7/10, though I also recommend buying this game when it's on sale.

A huge step-up from the previous game in almost every way.

Visuals have so many extra levels of detail, all while maintaining the style that made this series iconic. Combat, while still relatively lacklustre, was made more dynamic with the inclusion of a visible health bar, stamina, and a dash-like ability called Flow that doubles as a traversal utility. Banish, this game's stealth ability, is another really useful tool in your arsenal, and is encouraged as you heal yourself with each successful Banish.

The return of so many familiar friends and foes was just the cherry on top of this treat of a game. While a few fan-favourites were relegated to last minute cameos (poor Sammy Lawrence and Tom), the return of major characters such as Allison and the Butcher Gang were certainly welcome, and made a long-time fan of the series like me smile with happy nostalgia. And that's not to say any of the new characters weren't memorable either. The Keepers did their job of being intimidating freaks of nature really well, and Wilson, though very comically evil, served well as a villain that we all took pleasure in taking down in the final showdown.

And of course, how could I talk about characters without mentioning the Ink Demon himself? After knowing him as the deformed and animalistic abomination that he was in the first game for so many years, it truly shocked me to see how much he had changed over time. Almost completely abandoning any semblance to his original cheeky cartoon form, Ink Bendy's evolved and more demonic form, complete with a deep and intimidating voice, just left me in awe. While some people complained about the absence of the first game's free roam chase mechanic, I found his new mechanic of hiding before he spawns to be equally as tense, and very fitting to his more intelligent and sadistic character.

Story wise, this game did wonders in cleaning up loose plot points in the first game. Anyone who's played the first game, or watched a playthrough of it, would know that the ending of chapter 5 ended up creating more questions rather than answering them. Not only did this game clear up a lot of ambiguity from that ending, but it added a whole new layer to it, all in a way that actually made sense.

As an immense fan of BatIM ever since the second chapter, BatDR was an absolutely delightful experience. Like any other game, it's not perfect. It's got some technical janks, as well as a few questionable design choices. But it's such a massive improvement from the first game, and it's got so many good qualities outweighing the bad, that I can't possibly give this game a negative review. A definite recommendation from me, whether you're a fan of the first game or not.

Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator, or FNaF 6 as some call it, is way up there when it comes to my favourite FNaF games in the entire franchise.

It, as well as UCN, was a fitting end to the series, before a new era began with Steel Wool Studios' involvement in the future games' productions. The cutscene you get for achieving the completion ending was brilliant, and every moment leading up to it was innovative and engaging.

Much like every FNaF game, it's not flawless. Some rather wonky mechanics are present, namely in the salvaging segments. However, much like almost every FNaF game, its positives far outweigh its negatives. I admittedly had way too much fun in the tycoon segments customising my pizzeria, with my in-game wallet and certain items' liability risks being the only limits. Not only that, every single placeable attraction (save for the animatronics) being playable gave me an opportunity to either chill, or earn some extra cash in preparation for the next major segment of the game: the office segment.

This is where the gameplay of FFPS truly shines for me. This time, there was no timer that you had to wait out while fending off animatronics. This time, you leaving that cramped office alive was up to how long you took to complete the tasks, and whether you could keep the animatronics and your temperature at bay while doing so. No formulaic cycle you have to repeatedly follow in order to win, minimal RNG effect on your chance of survival, and no incentive to rush the tasks other than impatience. Because that's what really gets you killed 99% of the time in this game: impatience. The tasks will get done eventually, and there's no in-game reason why you should rush them instead of playing safe. And mind you, playing safely doesn't mean spending twenty minutes on a single office segment. With good earphones/headphones, once you know what the sound cues are, know how to decipher them, and can make quick decisions on prioritising between tasks, temperature and warding off incoming threats, you'll be able to breeze through the office segments with relative ease, allowing you to move on to the next segment.

The salvage segment, your final duty of every day from Monday to Thursday, was, as mentioned above, slightly wonky in its gameplay. It's not terrible, of course. Concept wise, it's really tense having these decrepit yet familiar animatronics (save for one) sat seemingly lifeless before you, while unsettling audio prompts are played and you record any suspicious responses to each prompt. However, things like the very subtle aggression sound cues, and the RNG aspect of how many phases the animatronic will progress with each paper flip, could've been reworked. It's still consistently doable, mind you. But out of the three core gameplay components in this game, I'd say the salvages are a bit on the lower end of them.

As I suggested with the previous games in the franchise, this game is a must for anyone looking for the definitive FNaF experience. As such, FFPS will be a definite recommendation from me. Whether you're a fan of lighthearted tycoons, or a sucker for horror with tense environments and mechanics, this game's got it all. Plus, it's free! You've got nothing to lose but time, energy, and tears of laughter/frustration from watching Helpy break his back after missing the ball pit for the fifth time in a row.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there, and go make some money!

Although the focus of Sister Location's main campaign was lacking in gameplay, it was still a solid experience. Is it replayable? Eh, not really. Was it fun though? Definitely! The characters looked unique, sounded unique, and acted unique. The atmosphere, despite leaning more into the science fiction side of things instead of the unsettling paranormal pizzeria setting, was utilised really well and made for some pretty tense moments. The sound design is one of, if not my favourite in the entire franchise. The small tidbits of gameplay that existed throughout the nights were fun and engaging, with the exception of night 4, and night 5's secret non-canon ending; the former for being more difficult than engaging, and the latter for being the best gameplay segment that the main campaign offered.

Moving away from the more tame side of things though, the custom night was an absolute blast to play. Despite not being able to customise individual characters' AIs, the presets, as well as their accompanying difficulties, provided a variety of challenges that I had never experienced before in a FNaF game. No fate-dependent wait times for animatronics to leave, no unfair and unavoidable combinations being thrown at you, and overall no RNGesus to beg to for mercy. Each character has a set movement pattern and own way of being dealt with, with the challenge being having to juggle between multiple of them at all times. It's stressful, sure, and requires at least a decent amount of concentration and practice to conquer. But despite its chaotic nature, each preset, especially on very hard difficulty, was surprisingly well balanced, and never felt unfair. My success being dependent on pure mechanical skill made every death not a chance to restrain myself from breaking something, but a chance to think about what went wrong, and how to fix it in my next attempt. This made Sister Location's 10/20 challenge (Very Hard Golden Freddy mode) an actual challenge, and an absolute treat to play, practise, and eventually beat.

A very solid and welcome entry to the franchise in my eyes. Some love it for the reasons I stated above. Some hate it, whether it be for the lack of consistent gameplay, the bizzare additions to the (still overly complicated) lore, or something else altogether. But as for me, much like every other game in the franchise, if you're looking for the definitive FNaF experience, don't skip out on this game. Its gameplay may differ from the usual formula, but if that's something that bothers you, I highly recommend sticking around until you go for the private room ending and eventually unlock the custom night. It'll take a bit of getting used to, but once you do, you'll be surprised at not just the return to the original FNaF gameplay loop, but one that has been tweaked and refined into a genuinely enjoyable experience.

FNaF 2 is a mixed bag for me. It's got quite a bit of good qualities, but also a single prominently bad one that personally brings the overall experience down a few notches for me. For the sake of fairness though, I'll take the rose-tinted glasses off for this review. Now let's get to it.

On the bright side, I found nights 1 up to 5 (and at a stretch 6) to be a relatively fun experience. It progressively got more difficult, but it never felt unfair. Balancing between flashing Foxy, managing your flashlight's battery, winding up the music box and dealing with whoever comes into your office or the vent exits provided an enjoyably stressful challenge, a quality that I'm sure many other people love this game for. Compared to the simplistic nature of the previous entry's gameplay loop, this game introduced a more complex yet exhilarating experience. And of course, how could I talk about this game and not mention the debuts of many iconic and memorable characters, such as Withered Bonnie and the Puppet? When it comes to character designs, I personally feel like FNaF 2's roster was one of the best in the franchise.

On the other side of the spectrum, however, we have the absolute insanity that is the custom night's 10/20 challenge, or Golden Freddy mode. Attempting this challenge and managing to finally beat it after almost 5 hours and god-knows-how-many attempts unfortunately soured this game's previously shining visage. The sheer amount of luck required to beat this challenge is unlike any other FNaF game I've played. All the other custom night presets, even Fazbear Fever (10/10 mode) to some extent, provided some test of skill, where RNG didn't primarily dictate whether you would be given a chance to wind the box a reasonable amount, or be forced to mask for eight whole seconds because Toy Bonnie decided to be a lazy hunk of scrap metal in leaving the vent. I understand that this torture was only brought onto myself, and that Scott Cawthon never intended for this mode to be beatable, but compared to the other games' ultimate challenges, even FNaF 3's Aggressive Nightmare mode, I had almost zero fun trying to succeed, all the while knowing that the odds would almost always be stacked heavily against me in every single attempt.

However, like I previously mentioned, I want to be fair in this review. Despite how frustrated I got with 10/20 mode, despite how many times I felt like giving up and abandoning this game forever, I cannot in good conscience give FNaF 2 an overall negative verdict. Like I said, this challenge was not even intended to be fair in the first place, and the only person that dictated I should beat it was myself. And if I look at the game as a whole, with or without the influence of nostalgia, I still see a game that not only revolutionised the franchise at the time of its release, but also provided a plethora of never-before-seen concepts and ideas that many fans eagerly took and expanded upon in their own fanmade creations. It amazed, it inspired, and it planted the seed for so many of the fan creations we've come to know and love to this day.

Do I recommend this game? Of course! Whether you're a long-time or a new fan of the FNaF franchise, this game is a must for anyone who wants to get the full experience of the series. However, if you do, and you're a completionist who won't back away from one of the supposedly hardest challenges in the series, be prepared for a potential multi-hour grindset consisting of hitting the Esc key every few minutes, getting minor hand cramps, and cursing Toy Bonnie into the darkest pit of hell.

Good luck, and have fun!

Despite its flaws and poor reception upon release, I'll always hold a special soft spot for FNaF 3. Sure, it's one of the weakest in the franchise in terms of scares, and the RNG can be almost unbearably unfair in Nightmare mode and especially Aggressive Nightmare mode. However, it's got what I believe to be one of the best settings in the franchise, with an appropriately unsettling atmosphere, and it introduced Springtrap, one of the most influential characters to ever get added to FNaF's ever-growing roster of characters.

Overall, a solid entry to the franchise, and one of my personal favourites to boot. Recommended if you want a bit of that old-school FNaF experience, or even if you just want to revisit the game for a nostalgia trip. I got it for both, and it was definitely worth it. 👍

After beating nights 1 through to 8, I can't believe I've been ignoring this game for such a large portion of my (admittedly still ongoing) FNaF phase. Despite having watched playthroughs and even played it to a smaller degree when I was a kid, coming back to it years later and really immersing myself into the game for the first time in ages hit so differently.

If you're looking to play this game, I highly recommend getting at least a decent set of earphones or headphones, and making sure external sounds are at a minimum. Being able to hear and recognise the breathing sounds, as well as the direction some footsteps are going, is essential to your survival, no matter the night.

In terms of volume, I personally recommend keeping it at a level where you can confidently make out the footsteps, which are notably more subtle than the breathing. Of course, having it higher will allow an easier recognition of sound cues, but it comes at the expense of having your eardrums blown in when you accidentally mess up and flash Bonnie in the face.

Gameplay wise, I found myself really enjoying the flow of it. It's simple, yet it keeps you busy at all times, especially in the later nights. Whether it's running to a door to listen for Bonnie or Chica, flashing the bed to keep Freddy at bay, listening to which side Foxy is running to, or tracking Fredbear's or Nightmare's distant footsteps, as long as you're familiar with the mechanics and know how to deal with each threat appropriately, it's always go-time until the alarm clock beeps at 6 AM. No limited power to worry about, no music box requiring your attention every three seconds, and no situations where RNGesus decides to throw you an unavoidable combination of attacks. It's just you, your flashlight, and those rabid anthropomorphic robots roaming the halls.

Ultimately, it went from being one of my most forgotten entries in the franchise, to one of my absolute favourites. It's tense, it's nerve-wracking, and it actually made me jump on numerous occasions. If you're weak-hearted and can't handle sudden Olympics height jumps in decibels in your ears, please don't play this game. If you can, however, I highly recommend giving this game a try, and if you're ever having trouble with any of the nights, I also highly recommend checking out Ambience's 'FNaF Academy' videos. I could not have gone as far as I did without them.

Good luck, and don't let the Freddles bite!

Introduced by memes, went in expecting said memes, and left with aforementioned memes and so much more.

The game looks amazing, the music and sound effects are absolutely stellar, and it feels great to play. Although the controls are rather overwhelming at first, once you learn the ropes, every combat encounter will be a pure dopamine-fest as you chain together combos, pull off precise parries, and perform Zandatsus on anyone who dare cross your blade. I did install a camera mod within the first hour, since by default the camera moves in very awkward and sometimes downright confusing ways during combat, but aside from that, playing as Raiden is an experience that I will never forget. Might I also add that a controller is not necessary to enjoy this game. I played from start to finish using the keyboard and mouse settings, and while it is highly recommended to take some time remapping the keys early on, the game is very keyboard-&-mouse-friendly, and it does a good job making it feel comfortable and intuitive.

I would also like to mention that this game, despite being very particle-heavy, is very well optimised. I own a non-gaming laptop with an integrated Intel graphics card, and the only times the frames dropped to a slightly low number were when I went full hog during blade mode and cut an enemy into over a hundred pieces. And that was optional. Otherwise, I was able to play with consistently smooth frames on everything medium and at a resolution of 1280x720, which left the game still looking fabulous. Definitely a pleasant surprise considering this game's visuals, and a note of reassurance to those who are worried about this game's performance.

If you like cinematic combat-heavy hack-and-slash games, this game will most certainly be to your liking. There is no need to play the Metal Gear Solid games beforehand either. I had never played these types of games before, nor have I played the preceding games in the series, yet I had an absolute blast of a time. Though I do hear that having a little context beforehand is nice, it isn't necessary, and going in blind to the series' story definitely won't detract from the experience.

A strong personal recommendation from me, and I will eagerly keep an eye out for the rest of the Metal Gear series, of which I hope gets PC ports sometime in the future.

'Ori and the Blind Forest' is truly one of the best games I've played yet. Had I made this review after only finishing the game once, I would've meant that with a tiny grain of salt. However, after playing through the game multiple times and finally getting all the achievements, I realised that there's so much more to this game than a heartwarming story and gorgeous visuals.

Some may have found it troublesome, but playing as Ori felt so amazing. The fluid movements, running around from place to place while chaining together bashes and dashes, gave me a level of satisfaction that no other game had given me before. Again, it's something that may be to another's distaste. I've personally had moments where I fatally overstepped a narrow platform or flung too far off a wall and into spikes. But once you get the feel for Ori's movement, getting from point A to B is downright addicting at times, and it's definitely worth getting used to, both for ease of progression and for the enjoyment factor.

Combat, while admittedly lacklustre, only stays that way for the first third or so of the game. Once you unlock bash and stomp, you pretty much have to try to die from enemies. And that's not to say that you can't deliver death as easily as well. With enough powers and ability points, Ori goes from a fragile tree spirit to an absolute power unit. As I mentioned before, chaining together all these movement and combat abilities feels so good and powerful, it was downright jarring every time I started a new playthrough.

And of course, I can't forget about the music and sound design. From the area-specific music tracks, to the sound effects played when Ori uses a power, they all add to the game experience beautifully. They're great, they're memorable, and they can make you feel emotions ranging from second-hand grief to absolutely unstoppable savagery.

Overall, an absolute masterpiece of a game. It has it all: beautiful visuals, enchanting music and sound design, emotion-packed story, and fluid satisfying gameplay. I highly recommend giving this game a try, and if you enjoy it, you'll most certainly enjoy the sequel. A massive thank you to Moon Studios and anyone else involved in the production of this game, and I look forward to seeing what new games they work on in the future.

During the six months that passed since I first completed the Chronicles, and the inclusive two months since I returned to get the rest of the achievements, I have gotten around to completing the rest of the Ace Attorney series, from the Investigations duology, to the sequel trilogy, and finally, the Professor Layton crossover.

While there were games from that list that I greatly enjoyed (notably Spirit of Justice and the Layton crossover), the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles remains as what I personally consider to be the peak of the Ace Attorney games. Lovable and memorable characters, charming music, great usage of the 3D visuals, and a beautifully written overarching story.

While I do admit that the first game fell a little to the mundane side (both story and pacing wise), the second game takes those problems and manages to not only polish them up, but somehow manage to bring back underdeveloped plot points and wrap them up in a natural and enjoyable way. Returning characters either keep their charm from the first game, or become even better somehow, and seemingly one-off characters are brought back in a way that makes them some of the most memorable of the cast. It's no wonder then that people comment on how the first game exists to provide the necessary bases to make the second game as good as it is.

Overall, a fantastic experience, and a delightful duology. To any Ace Attorney fan contemplating on whether to give the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles a try, it'll be a definite recommendation from me. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't, but if you've enjoyed the original trilogy (which I do recommend you play beforehand), chances are that you'll enjoy the Chronicles just as much, or maybe even more.