I expected way more jumpscares

[Ssjbryando]

This is a good and a bad thing. I've never really played horror games before, knowing FNOF and seeing this being inspired by it I expected a ton of a random jumpscares.

The scary moments were so little that I actually think they could have added much more.

Slight spoilers obviously:

The theme of all games is practically, suspense.. UNTIL the final chase which has most of the jumps. Chapter 3 had an amazing Ms delight chase too tbf and the TV scene.

But for anything in between, the big bear with the battery in chapter 3, they could have easily added a ''him turning his head'' as you got close, or during the haunted house casette ''dont move, dont move'' and if you did not run in the next 10 seconds Catnap would grab you (or other way around)

There were a lot of small moments in all chapters that could have easily had some more. Also, Catnap did absolutely nothing lol. Anyway, fun game.

[emirai]

I get where you're coming from. I'd like to put my own two cents in this. Horror doesn't essentially need jumpscares to leave an impact on the player. There's quite a good number of games that use atmospheric horror to leave its player disturbed and I actually appreciate that and find it refreshing (the titles at the moment are escaping me right now, but I'll update this once I remember some of them). Ch. 3 accomplished this very well, while also straying away from what Ch. 1-2 and too many mascot horror games in general often do. A good example from this chapter was Home Sweet Home. As the protag descends further into the orphanage, the radios in the hallways narrate a disturbing story about a child's body remains left in Elliot Lugwig's home. We also see scratch marks and the words "guilt haunts you" in on the floor and in the office room at the end of the hall. Plus, Catnap stalks us throughout the hallway. All of that building up the Huggy Wuggy TV scene was very well done without overdoing any aspect.

On another note, I'd like to compare Catnap to Death the Wolf from Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. Just like Death, Catnap doesn't use confrontation, unless necessary. In Death's case, it's to humble Puss and he stalks him to metaphorically remind him that death can happen anytime. In some comparison, Catnap confronts the protag once he gets too close to reaching the Prototype. Moreover, Catnap stalks just the protag as a way to protect both his home and the Prototype. Even in his original child form, Catnap/ Theo wasn't a confrontational type, but more or less remained quiet and in his own lane away from other children. So it makes sense why he's in the background. While it would be nice to see him more, I feel like Catnap fulfills the role he was meant to play in this chapter.

It's still cool that you enjoyed this chapter.

[76561199641450686]

Origineel geplaatst door Ssjbryando:

This is a good and a bad thing. I've never really played horror games before, knowing FNOF and seeing this being inspired by it I expected a ton of a random jumpscares.

The scary moments were so little that I actually think they could have added much more.

Slight spoilers obviously:

The theme of all games is practically, suspense.. UNTIL the final chase which has most of the jumps. Chapter 3 had an amazing Ms delight chase too tbf and the TV scene.

But for anything in between, the big bear with the battery in chapter 3, they could have easily added a ''him turning his head'' as you got close, or during the haunted house casette ''dont move, dont move'' and if you did not run in the next 10 seconds Catnap would grab you (or other way around)

There were a lot of small moments in all chapters that could have easily had some more. Also, Catnap did absolutely nothing lol. Anyway, fun game.

I agree with emiral. Horror games doesn't required jumpscares. It needs to build fear, atmospheres, tension, and suspense in order to anticipate it throughout the game.

The most effective jumpscare can be done, only if they build all horror factors at the right moment to deliver the scare. If they use too many jumpscares, it lose the scare factor. For example, if Catnap show up or jumpscare you too many times, you can no longer fear him and thus making him less effective antagonist.

The Home sweet Home hallucination is the perfect example how it done the horror correctly. While explore the hallways and listen the disturbing radio, you hear the phone and try to find it. Once you found the phone and told you to run, you turn to the door open, Catnap peek and looked at you before he goes away. When I first saw it, I got scared and thought he's going to attack me because there's no way out, but instead he goes away, not knowing if he's going to attacked me. This is a good silent jumpscare because not only it scare me, but also did not deflate the fear factor. While continue to explore, you notice that the all two doors closed except one where one door was sight open and hear Catnap's breathing. When you peek, you'll notice the Catnap's eye in the dark room. This allow build the fear factor and give first impression of Catnap's character who begin to stalk you throughout the chapter whenever you'll see Catnap or not.

In the office, this jumpscare alone is one of the most effective scares in indie horror game because once I got the battery and walk out, Catnap came out of nowhere and attacked me. When that happened, I legitimate screamed because I do not want to get heart attack. I was not mentally prepared and catch me off guard even Ollie warned me about Catnap lives for the hunt and hides in the shadows and flickering lights, waiting for best opportunity to attack.

In conclusion, Less jumpscares is better because it can allow to build all horror factor in order to build terror, so you can anticipate the scene of danger and atmosphere in order to deliver effective jumpscare.

[emirai]

Origineel geplaatst door JRPGaming1990s:

Origineel geplaatst door Ssjbryando:

This is a good and a bad thing. I've never really played horror games before, knowing FNOF and seeing this being inspired by it I expected a ton of a random jumpscares.

The scary moments were so little that I actually think they could have added much more.

Slight spoilers obviously:

The theme of all games is practically, suspense.. UNTIL the final chase which has most of the jumps. Chapter 3 had an amazing Ms delight chase too tbf and the TV scene.

But for anything in between, the big bear with the battery in chapter 3, they could have easily added a ''him turning his head'' as you got close, or during the haunted house casette ''dont move, dont move'' and if you did not run in the next 10 seconds Catnap would grab you (or other way around)

There were a lot of small moments in all chapters that could have easily had some more. Also, Catnap did absolutely nothing lol. Anyway, fun game.

I agree with emiral. Horror games doesn't required jumpscares. It needs to build fear, atmospheres, tension, and suspense in order to anticipate it throughout the game.

The most effective jumpscare can be done, only if they build all horror factors at the right moment to deliver the scare. If they use too many jumpscares, it lose the scare factor. For example, if Catnap show up or jumpscare you too many times, you can no longer fear him and thus making him less effective antagonist.

The Home sweet Home hallucination is the perfect example how it done the horror correctly. While explore the hallways and listen the disturbing radio, you hear the phone and try to find it. Once you found the phone and told you to run, you turn to the door open, Catnap peek and looked at you before he goes away. When I first saw it, I got scared and thought he's going to attack me because there's no way out, but instead he goes away, not knowing if he's going to attacked me. This is a good silent jumpscare because not only it scare me, but also did not deflate the fear factor. While continue to explore, you notice that the all two doors closed except one where one door was sight open and hear Catnap's breathing. When you peek, you'll notice the Catnap's eye in the dark room. This allow build the fear factor and give first impression of Catnap's character who begin to stalk you throughout the chapter whenever you'll see Catnap or not.

In the office, this jumpscare alone is one of the most effective scares in indie horror game because once I got the battery and walk out, Catnap came out of nowhere and attacked me. When that happened, I legitimate screamed because I do not want to get heart attack. I was not mentally prepared and catch me off guard even Ollie warned me about Catnap lives for the hunt and hides in the shadows and flickering lights, waiting for best opportunity to attack.

In conclusion, Less jumpscares is better because it can allow to build all horror factor in order to build terror, so you can anticipate the scene of danger and atmosphere in order to deliver effective jumpscare.

Your explanation is very well detailed. Thanks for expanding more on my post. This is something that I feel a lot of players misunderstand about this chapter. They expect the scare to come out at them all the time, but they miss the slow builds of that horror. Even the tapes and letters themselves are unsettling enough to leave a disturbing impact as you explore Playcare. And that's why Ch. 3 was so good, because it did something different from Ch. 1-2 and what other mascot horror games often stick with. This is something I hope Ch. 4 continues doing from there.

[Federal]

Honestly, I just wish there was more Catnap in general. His presence felt really lacklustre considering Playcare is "his church and hunting ground". For the main antagonist of the chapter, he just wasn't there, and when he was it was just for a brief second. I would much rather not have the final boss fight, and instead have him actually feel like he's hunting you through Playcare. The hallucination part was great, especially when Ollie says "you need to run", and then you turn and he's just peering at you from the hallway. That was fantastic, but it fell off after that.

[Ssjbryando]

Origineel geplaatst door emirai:

..

I agree, I actually dont like Jumpscares (I think they are cheap tricks) which is why I was hesitant to play this game. Soma is good in the sense that it is mostly suspense, I heard Amnesia is too

I still had a ''damn, potential'' feeling here surprisingly. (It really is 99% purely building up to a chase part in both 2 and 3) parts like the big bear turning the head, when the lights were off in the main playground - some sounds, some footsteps, some danger, Catnap poppin' out way more at times, etc. (I forgot Chapter 2 lol, love mommy long legs though)

Generally, it was a fun experience. 3 was honestly well done except for maybe a bit too many puzzles and quiet time in between

[Ssjbryando]

Origineel geplaatst door Federal:

Honestly, I just wish there was more Catnap in general. His presence felt really lacklustre considering Playcare is "his church and hunting ground". For the main antagonist of the chapter, he just wasn't there, and when he was it was just for a brief second. I would much rather not have the final boss fight, and instead have him actually feel like he's hunting you through Playcare. The hallucination part was great, especially when Ollie says "you need to run", and then you turn and he's just peering at you from the hallway. That was fantastic, but it fell off after that.

Yeah, I also had the feeling he would chase you more (Almost like RE2 the silver guy) in the playground sections. There was never any real danger if you kind of saw through how the game was scripted early on

And the final chase with him also felt a bit lackluster to me. I was more frustrated figuring out battery orders than anything.

[76561199641450686]

Another thing I like to add is that the main reason why Catnap doesn't show more often is because the way he drawing on the wall with his claws. For instance, the drawings on the wall states “The Prototype has save us all, Why have you return?, Your time is running short, turn and go home, Happy and fun why was it done?, Guilt haunts you, Coming back was a mistake, I live to serve angel of salvation, I’m still watching, There is no room for you here, Why have you wandering here, Leave my home, and dead by the originals command.”

These drawings might indicate that Catnap is talking to us even though he wasn't here. These drawings also show us that we're being watched and stalked to ensure Catnap doesn't allow us to get too close to Prototype because of his god. Catnap doesn't try kill us, but instead he warned us to leave before we crossed the line.

Even Miss Delight warn us to leave because Catnap doesn't want us to be here. But we have no other choice, but to ignore their warnings because Poppy warn us that the prototype will kill us if we try to leave and escape.

I'm still working on review, this may be the longest review I ever written, but I'll try to gather enough details to fully analysis the game. it's almost done. I divided between non spoilers section and spoilers section.

[76561199641450686]

I'm not disappointed with Catnap because he doesn't appear in the first two chapters and therefore, does not build up in the first two chapters. The only character I'm worried about is the Prototype because unlike Catnap, the experiment #1006 was building up in all three chapters like we saw on tapes and on screen after the death of Mommy Long Legs and Catnap's Sacrifice. I can't let the hype ruin my experience based on trailer, I have to keep open mind what the game actually is rather than hating it because I don't get what I want.

[Ssjbryando]

Origineel geplaatst door JRPGaming1990s:

Another thing I like to add is that the main reason why Catnap doesn't show more often is because the way he drawing on the wall with his claws. For instance, the drawings on the wall states “The Prototype has save us all, Why have you return?, Your time is running short, turn and go home, Happy and fun why was it done?, Guilt haunts you, Coming back was a mistake, I live to serve angel of salvation, I’m still watching, There is no room for you here, Why have you wandering here, Leave my home, and dead by the originals command.”

These drawings might indicate that Catnap is talking to us even though he wasn't here. These drawings also show us that we're being watched and stalked to ensure Catnap doesn't allow us to get too close to Prototype because of his god. Catnap doesn't try kill us, but instead he warned us to leave before we crossed the line.

Even Miss Delight warn us to leave because Catnap doesn't want us to be here. But we have no other choice, but to ignore their warnings because Poppy warn us that the prototype will kill us if we try to leave and escape.

I'm still working on review, this may be the longest review I ever written, but I'll try to gather enough details to fully analysis the game. it's almost done. I divided between non spoilers section and spoilers section.

That is a good point I might have brushed off, it's his way of showing up.

Looking forward to that review

[emirai]

Origineel geplaatst door JRPGaming1990s:

Another thing I like to add is that the main reason why Catnap doesn't show more often is because the way he drawing on the wall with his claws. For instance, the drawings on the wall states “The Prototype has save us all, Why have you return?, Your time is running short, turn and go home, Happy and fun why was it done?, Guilt haunts you, Coming back was a mistake, I live to serve angel of salvation, I’m still watching, There is no room for you here, Why have you wandering here, Leave my home, and dead by the originals command.”

These drawings might indicate that Catnap is talking to us even though he wasn't here. These drawings also show us that we're being watched and stalked to ensure Catnap doesn't allow us to get too close to Prototype because of his god. Catnap doesn't try kill us, but instead he warned us to leave before we crossed the line.

Even Miss Delight warn us to leave because Catnap doesn't want us to be here. But we have no other choice, but to ignore their warnings because Poppy warn us that the prototype will kill us if we try to leave and escape.

I'm still working on review, this may be the longest review I ever written, but I'll try to gather enough details to fully analysis the game. it's almost done. I divided between non spoilers section and spoilers section.

This! I compared Catnap to another fictional character, since their roles are similar to some sense. Moreover, I don't believe every villains needs to be physically present to leave a heavy impact on the player. Even small scenes of them showing up unexpectedly can leave the player on guard the whole time and the villain's presence is still there despite not actually being physically there.

[emirai]

Origineel geplaatst door JRPGaming1990s:

I'm not disappointed with Catnap because he doesn't appear in the first two chapters and therefore, does not build up in the first two chapters. The only character I'm worried about is the Prototype because unlike Catnap, the experiment #1006 was building up in all three chapters like we saw on tapes and on screen after the death of Mommy Long Legs and Catnap's Sacrifice. I can't let the hype ruin my experience based on trailer, I have to keep open mind what the game actually is rather than hating it because I don't get what I want.

This! I wish more people here were more rational like you. It's hard finding a lot of folks that have the same points as me.

[Froggy926]

Origineel geplaatst door Ssjbryando:

This is a good and a bad thing. I've never really played horror games before, knowing FNOF and seeing this being inspired by it I expected a ton of a random jumpscares.

The scary moments were so little that I actually think they could have added much more.

Slight spoilers obviously:

The theme of all games is practically, suspense.. UNTIL the final chase which has most of the jumps. Chapter 3 had an amazing Ms delight chase too tbf and the TV scene.

But for anything in between, the big bear with the battery in chapter 3, they could have easily added a ''him turning his head'' as you got close, or during the haunted house casette ''dont move, dont move'' and if you did not run in the next 10 seconds Catnap would grab you (or other way around)

There were a lot of small moments in all chapters that could have easily had some more. Also, Catnap did absolutely nothing lol. Anyway, fun game.

I understand but emori are whatever there name was is right. Jumpscares when your making a horror game should be the least of the devs worries. What you want to do is strike the type of fear EVERYONE gets scared of. 1 The fear your not safe and are alone, 2 a sence of dread, 3 disgust with unsettling content like for example the part where it LITERALLY TELLS YOU A DEAD BODY IS IN YOUR BUILDING WITH ORGANS AND BONES REMOVED, 4 the fear of the unknown you want the player to NEVER KNOW what will happen after something, except sometimes. And 5th and above all the feeling that you are not safe.

[emirai]

Origineel geplaatst door Froggy926:

Origineel geplaatst door Ssjbryando:

This is a good and a bad thing. I've never really played horror games before, knowing FNOF and seeing this being inspired by it I expected a ton of a random jumpscares.

The scary moments were so little that I actually think they could have added much more.

Slight spoilers obviously:

The theme of all games is practically, suspense.. UNTIL the final chase which has most of the jumps. Chapter 3 had an amazing Ms delight chase too tbf and the TV scene.

But for anything in between, the big bear with the battery in chapter 3, they could have easily added a ''him turning his head'' as you got close, or during the haunted house casette ''dont move, dont move'' and if you did not run in the next 10 seconds Catnap would grab you (or other way around)

There were a lot of small moments in all chapters that could have easily had some more. Also, Catnap did absolutely nothing lol. Anyway, fun game.

I understand but emori are whatever there name was is right. Jumpscares when your making a horror game should be the least of the devs worries. What you want to do is strike the type of fear EVERYONE gets scared of. 1 The fear your not safe and are alone, 2 a sence of dread, 3 disgust with unsettling content like for example the part where it LITERALLY TELLS YOU A DEAD BODY IS IN YOUR BUILDING WITH ORGANS AND BONES REMOVED, 4 the fear of the unknown you want the player to NEVER KNOW what will happen after something, except sometimes. And 5th and above all the feeling that you are not safe.

Thanks. Also, OP did reply back to my post and agreed with me.

I also want to point out on something that people kind of overlook and it's how a lot of mascot horror games (I want to emphasize on this, since mascot horror cropped up a lot after PP) rely too much on jump scares. They don't know how to build up the horror element with the resources they already have. And as overhyped as Ch. 3 is, I will say it did bring a new expectation to mascot horror and what the genre can expand on and do. I really hope that Ch. 4 moving forward and just new mascot horror games in general can follow this method of horror.