Indigo park is a mascot horror with a good mascot

[Innocide]

It's been said countless times on the internet, but rambley is a gem. And if he turns out to be plot twist villain manipulating us all along, the people will revolt.

Finally, FINALLY we've got a mascot horror game where the characters aren't inherently creepy and the atmosphere isn't just "oh and this place is haunted by evil spirits!" all of 5 minutes into the game. banban, poppy, fnaf, and bendy, and other games leave a constant feeling that there's something malicious behind the surface, and that your companion might not be worth trusting. I mean, security breach had a reliable companion friend, but that was after like a hundred games and books with the opposite. I STILL don't believe poppy isn't a villain.

Rambley is unique, adorable, funny, lively, and has clear and nuanced relationships with the other characters in the park, and the park itself. Nothing about him feels secretly untrustworthy or malicious, and I think most people who are suspicious of him are only so because of all the other games that pull the same twist over and over. but by the time you're in the staff-only room and he opens up to you, and then you hear his song, the vast majority of players trust him. You have no idea how refreshing it is for the spooky place to not be obviously haunted by the spirits of dead children possessing previously inanimate bodies that have flesh rending teeth and razor claws, locked in a facility abandoned for it's dark past of murdering children and them apparently not taking too kindly to that.

that sentence was so, so long because they ALL do that. all of them follow at least 80% of that script. This game has creatures that feel more animal than "possessed doll" with colorful, bright designs that children would love if not for the bloodstains.

So little of the story is given, which is refreshing that it's not another 15 layer arg with deceptive hidden triple meanings. There's enough story to understand what's happening and to be hooked enough to want to play more. All of them, every character is charming and interesting. I simped for rambley a moment ago, but I legitimately want to know more about each of them. the story feels like.... it's a story. like it's going to share a story and not share a half-baked mystery with giant pieces missing to feed into a sequel. the game just doesn't feel like it's trying to get you to solve it, it's trying to get you to just enjoy it.

the little details in the animations are good, the molly death was good (everyone I watch reacts to the head being chopped off, whereas I see poppy playtime chase scene deaths and everyone's just like 'okay so this is a whole cutscene, oh noooo they died!') it's fast, gorey, and sudden and that's perfect.

Back to rambley, he notably is more animated and smooth when he's opening up. when he's just following a script, he's just kind of running 2-frame loops, but when he's improvising and talking, he's more expressive and more person-like.

and for the record, I think it'd be completely okay if he causes bad things to happen. He could just be optimistic for the park, and make a mistake that makes things worse somehow. but him being a plot twist villain is just going to be exhausting and I'm going to be so, so disappointed. This game is loved so much because it's running so many refreshing ideas. it's not trying to be a spooky scary jumpscare game, it's trying to feel like a realized world, and the spooky bits feel natural. it's great and I love it and I hope they keep it up!

Sorry, that's just my messy head ramblings at midnight lol