Anyone else disappointed by this game?

[code_name_amani]

Hi everyone.

I hate to be the debbie downer but I honestly feel cheated. I think the game is misrepresenting itself; from the trailer and descriptor of the game, it really gave off a survival horror/American McGee's Alice/Neverending Nightmare feel - but then less that partway through the story it turns into a straight fantasy! With magical trees!! And silly bugs!! On top of that I feel like most of the horror in this game is subpar. It's almost entirely creepy or gorey imagery but nothing more. There's nothing truly frightening about this game. Honestly though, I wouldn't even mind the cheap horror if the themes presented in the initial chapters remained in the rest of the game. It was atmospheric at first, and really intriguing. I wanted to learn about the asylum and the people working there; there were so many tantalizing hints to abuse and crazy medical procedures going on... And then the forest/Ithersa chapter happens.

I just don't see how this game has overwhelmingly positive reviews. Even if you enjoyed the plot, weren't you tricked by the trailer? I get the sense that most people purchased this game because they expected in some way for it to be a horror/thriller. How are more people not expressing disappontment? I, for one, am incredibly frustrated. I think the creators lied/falsely advertised because they know the popularity of the types of games Fran Bow tries to emulate (Neverending Nightmare). It's obvious that the devs didn't have it in them to tell an actual, complete horror story resplendent with horror themes. And if they were honest to their consumers, that would be fine. Another story entirely.

If I had know how a large section of this game was going to be (thematically and gameplay-wise) I wouldn't have bought it. I feel like I wasted my money.

I'm wondering if anyone else was disappointed too? And if you weren't, I'm wondering why not? You couldn't possibly have purchased this game thinking it was anything other than horror, so how can you be satisfied with the whole product?

[Vella]

I'm disappointed in the ending

[code_name_amani]

Originally posted by Courage the cowardly dog:

I'm disappointed in the ending

I haven't gotten to the end yet (I'm about halfway through I believe), but from what I understand the ending is ambiguous and not in a good way, yes? I've seen people say that it's vague just for the sake of having manufactured intrigue. Why didn't you like it?

[Zilleo]

For me the only dissaponting thing in this game is the ending. It's like one of those "open" endings you get in some books. After I finished game I read posts in the forum there's going to be part 2, so I guess it makes sense they wouldn't give us all the answers. Honestly I do like it and I think it's a great game. I wanted to play it since it came out in 2015 because it reminded me of Bad Dream series (btw I recommend it).

I tried not to spoil anything but just in case watch out !

I have no idea how did you get survival horror vibes from the game and the trailer. Did you read the description? "Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game that tells the story of Fran, a young girl struggling with a mental disorder and an unfair destiny". Did you see the tags? It's psychological horror, a story about 10 yo girl's traumatic experience and her way of trying to recover. We're talking about heavy psychological trauma of a child, I don't find it weird at all that she would end up creating a fantasy to cope. IF she did, because I think everything that happened is either only in her head or she really became involved in some nasty supernatural business. That's what was supposed to be explained in the ending but it wasn't.

I think this type of game is supposed to be just creepy and unsettling, survival horror is better for adult characters.

Oh and during the game the are hints and connections to characters you met in asylum, though I agree they're kinga vague.

Sorry for errors and mistakes, english isn't my first language but I'm trying :)

[Corlain]

The game was good, but the asylum section was a lot better than the rest for sure.

[🎴 The Great Escape 🎴]

I personally wasn't disappointed by it; as for the ending, I merely took it as an "open for interpretation" type of ending, but I can understand why people would feel let down by it. I actually saw a play-through of some of the game on YouTube before I bought it, so I knew what I was getting into. It's more of an adventure game than anything else (as mentioned above by Zilleo) with psychological aspects thrown in.

I will also agree that some of the clues that help you put things together can be a tad vague, and I did find certain chapters of the game a little more enjoyable than others (one of my favorites is the "Clara and Mia" chapter, for those two fascinate me).

I basically agree with everything Zilleo said above.

[unknown]

you know what that fantacy world part does make sence for the story however they made it too long mainly due to the puzzles being somewhat difficult to figure out when compaired with the rest of the game meaning you spend way too much time there. if you already know what to do its actually pretty short but when you are running around a somewhat big area without any idea what you are looking for then it starts to be unenjoyable. the game was advertised as a point and click adventure so i got exactly what i expected. the game as a whole though is very good and when you first get the ending you will probibly be upset but then about 10 minutes afterward you will start to think about the game as the writing is very deep. and is one of those you really need to think about it kind of games.

[karelklod]

Are you sure you are not just advertising Neverending Nightmares with your review and critisizing more popular games like Fran Bow? Your account is quite empty.I always thought Fran Bow is WAAAAY more popular than NN. You can't be serious when you say that Fran Bow tries to EMULATE NN. ANd it is actually shoking to read that you can put AMerican Mc Gee's Alice near the Neverending Nightmares, because Alice is way out of NN's league, NN needs to like start doing math and sports and do a plastic surgery, and make more money, and... Oh man, this is just ridiculous to compare Alice and NN. Also I like Fran Bow and I think NN sucks in comparison, I'll tell why I think so, and answer questions from your post.

I was disappointed in the ending, but that's all. The game was scary for me because I liked Fran and I was worried that something bad will happen to her because of me. Well, bad sh*t happened, so I wasn't happy with the ending, and everything was kinda pointless because of the ending. Guys, you need to make more endings...
I actually liked that magic part, because it was something new, it was fun and innocent, just like Fran, and it made parts with dangerous monsters cooler, because of the contrast. I got through Fran Bow in one long evening, ended in the night and my eyes would totally pop out if it was longer, but I still wish there was like a second chapter or something. I like that girl.
I bought it because it has a cute little girl and gallons of blood on screenshots. And there were gallons of blood, and there was a little girl.
I dislike Neverending Nightmares, It was kinda boring, because mc forgot to introduce me to his personality, and that guy breathes so strange, i wanna tell him to start doing some sports, mb running, swimming, or he will die because of a heart attack in his 20s. I just can't be sympathetic towards such a wimp. And how can I just care about some random guy who makes strange noises? Mb he is a d*ck or an idiot. You just start running there, and you have no idea who is that guy on top of your cursor.
I like Downfall. Joe Davis and Fran Bow don't breath like their hearts are about to explode because they are too lazy and take antidepressants with a bad effect on a blood pressure. Sounds which main characters make, they can really p*ss me off. Mb I will try again one day, but I don't expect much anymore. I mean... This is just a pale boy, who sucks at running, and a good game should grab your balls right at the beginning. That's the rule.

Anyway, your post and your review really look just like advertising. And a bad one. Where is your style, man? How much do they pay you? I can do it better.

[unknown]

Originally posted by karelklod:

I Personally think they are both good and very different games and that the op wasn't an neverending nightmares advertisment. one is a point and click adventure with a lot of personality and the other is an ocd with depression simulator. In one game you are supposed to care about a protagonist who is different from you and the other the protagonist is supposed to be a blank slate modle for you to use as an extention of yourself similar to most fps games where the main character has nothing but a name.

they are completely different and they do not try to emulate one another as they provide a very different experience with nothing the same but the genera of psychological horror with mental illness as the main theme. although fran bow isn't really horror but more of a dark adventure. I liked them both.

[karelklod]

Originally posted by anonymous:

Originally posted by karelklod:

I Personally think they that the op wasn't an neverending nightmares advertisment.

I have no idea why I didn't get a notification about your answer, but I clicked today on that topic, and saw it for myself.
Dude, I can't take you seriously. You are saying that op isn't advertising and expresses his opinion, but your page is too blank. I just assume that you are another advertising bot. That's how you present yourself here. If you wanna get another effect - do something with your freaking image.
Wow, I guess, another page opened instead of yours so I need to edit my comment here. If you don't know OP personally, I don't think that your opinion about his goals is valid. Do you know nothing about people who write comments for food? Well, they exist.

Originally posted by anonymous:

Originally posted by karelklod:

supposed to be a blank slate modle for you to use as an extention of yourself similar to most fps games where the main character has nothing but a name.

I told you already, I can't associate myself with such a p*ssy. He is not a blank slate. He is pale and blonde dude, who sucks at running, and makes these faces, ugh. He sucks, and I know nothing that can make me care about him, but he also sucks too much for me to imagine myself at his place, because, honestly, he makes these faces, never does jokes, always afraid, no interesting actions or thoughts, I would die of boredom if I was at his place, and most of all, I must look at his round pale face all the time during the game. Not a freaking candy to look at.
ANd why are you explaining that they are different? of course they are different.
I don't want to discuss NN, we are not at NN community. But if someone is not out of his mind, has normally functioning brain and isn't a promoter for NN - he will never compare McGee's Alice with NN. That's just an embarassment for a person to do so.

Originally posted by anonymous:

Originally posted by karelklod:

although fran bow isn't really horror but more of a dark adventure. I liked them both.

If you look at the definition of "horror" in the dictionary, you will find, that Fran Bow is a horror. Dictionaries are not as scary as they look. And if they are scary, I suppose, horror-lovers should like them even more.

[unknown]

Originally posted by karelklod:

Originally posted by anonymous:

I Personally think they that the op wasn't an neverending nightmares advertisment.

I have no idea why I didn't get a notification about your answer, but I clicked today on that topic, and saw it for myself.
Dude, I can't take you seriously. You are saying that op isn't advertising and expresses his opinion, but your page is too blank. I just assume that you are another advertising bot. That's how you present yourself here. If you wanna get another effect - do something with your freaking image.
Wow, I guess, another page opened instead of yours so I need to edit my comment here. If you don't know OP personally, I don't think that your opinion about his goals is valid. Do you know nothing about people who write comments for food? Well, they exist.

Originally posted by anonymous:

supposed to be a blank slate modle for you to use as an extention of yourself similar to most fps games where the main character has nothing but a name.

I told you already, I can't associate myself with such a p*ssy. He is not a blank slate. He is pale and blonde dude, who sucks at running, and makes these faces, ugh. He sucks, and I know nothing that can make me care about him, but he also sucks too much for me to imagine myself at his place, because, honestly, he makes these faces, never does jokes, always afraid, no interesting actions or thoughts, I would die of boredom if I was at his place, and most of all, I must look at his round pale face all the time during the game. Not a freaking candy to look at.
ANd why are you explaining that they are different? of course they are different.
I don't want to discuss NN, we are not at NN community. But if someone is not out of his mind, has normally functioning brain and isn't a promoter for NN - he will never compare McGee's Alice with NN. That's just an embarassment for a person to do so.

Originally posted by anonymous:

although fran bow isn't really horror but more of a dark adventure. I liked them both.

If you look at the definition of "horror" in the dictionary, you will find, that Fran Bow is a horror. Dictionaries are not as scary as they look. And if they are scary, I suppose, horror-lovers should like them even more.

Mabey i worded that a bit wrong since i was trying to explain that the games had different goals in mind. No part in fran bow did i get the inpression that it was trying to outright scare me (thats what i mean by horror) as i was so involved in thd story trying to figure out what is real and what isn't.

[Jesus Titty]

I just finished the entire game. I enjoyed the game overall, everything was so amazing! But that ending ruined it for me and killed my mood. It felt like they ran out of storyline and rushed the ending without explaining anything. I for sure thought I wasn't done with the game yet and I was ready to go to the next Chapter and figure out whats really going on but no, credits roll and I make a "What the ♥♥♥♥?" face for 30 minutes. There were many things that were never explained that are the main reason why people played this game in the first place. We never got an actual reason why we were chosen by Remor other than "I feed off your pain", we never got an answer on what Oswald and Grace's motives were, or the asylum in general. We never got a reason why they told us Fran was dead but she actually was alive? Also Mr. Midnight was dead but he was alive as well? Whenever there is a villian, you learn their backstory and know what they want. The ending told me nothing, although we learned that Grace is a ♥♥♥♥♥. :D The ending was done SO poorly and could of been so much better. Interpretation endings are horrible, every game that has endings like that the people are never satisfied with them for the most part (Unless there are multiple endings which Fran Bow does not). In the end, I'd recommend this game but warn people that the ending is awful and cliffhangs you to death with a bunch of confusion and no sense of the plot. :)

[pb]

Not as much as disappointed, but yes, the Ithersa chapter completely broke the immersion, I felt like I was playing a spinoff of Broken Age or some such, and then the rest didn't impress me as much as the first two chapters either. And the ending... could be better. But all in all it's a good game (certainly much better than Neverending Nightmare, which was plain boring to me).

Ah, one thing I was disappointed with are the achievements not unlocking on Linux - I found out halfway through the game, there is a fix but it would mean replaying the whole game to get the past achievments, so I just finished without it.

[Stigma]

The ending was all in her head.. She's completely out of it by this point due to all the Duotine she's constantly been popping. Yes, a gaming mechanism that becomes a highly symbolic part of the plot!

Fran is an unreliable narrator, get it?

Also, she died and went to Ithersta aka the afterlife. Simple enough?

[unknown]

Originally posted by Stigma:

The ending was all in her head.. She's completely out of it by this point due to all the Duotine she's constantly been popping. Yes, a gaming mechanism that becomes a highly symbolic part of the plot!

Fran is an unreliable narrator, get it?

Also, she died and went to Ithersta aka the afterlife. Simple enough?

well we will know when the next game comes out since they are about to realeas their current project. it looks pretty neat

[Meriipu]

I liked ithersta :c