Five Nights At Freddy’s Franchise Overview
Developed by Scott Cawthon, Illumix, Steel Wool Games, Scottgames & Clickteam LLC USA
First Release: Five Nights At Freddy's (23rd July 2014)
Latest Release: Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted (28th May 2019)
Five Nights At Freddy's is a franchise that has been enshrouded by a loving community that is dedicated to solving its secrets, ever since the release of its first game. From starting as a simple point'n'click in 2014 to rapidly developing into an upcoming AAA game later this year, I will be looking at the franchise's main titles. I will be excluding Five Nights At Freddy's: Help Wanted as I believe it has too little new content to offer and feels more like an add-on to the franchise rather than a main title, however, when I play it, I'll be sure to review it.
Five Nights At Freddy's (2014)
While the new era of console wars started in 2014, between Xbox One and PS4, an indie developer Scott Cawthon, using the criticisms he got from his failing games, made a beginning to a fantastic horror franchise that would ravage the internet for the following years. The origin of the bizarre timeline this game inevitably creates is amazing and it's a horror experience to be cherished. Back in my review of FNAF 1, I made criticisms of the game for having a linear, unenjoyable path that you must take to beat the game. However, now I have one additional criticism to add: the lacklustre horror. I didn't mention this in the review as the atmosphere of the game was so immensely great that it unnerved me to my FNAF-beginner core, however, the jumpscares get tiresome. While it's not to the same extent as FNAF 2 of being like a jumpscare vaccine, it does get to a point of being repetitive. The game still offers a high quality of hidden secrets for the players to uncover, and the atmosphere, as mentioned before, is the best in the series - hands down.
Five Nights At Freddy's 2 (2014)
With only 2 months and 3 days' break from animatronic horror, players were re-introduced into the hell of Freddy Fazbear and his crew. This game was complimented for the supernatural mystery that blended with adrenaline spikes but criticised for its steep difficulty that you need to master before you can enjoy the game. Unlike other critics, I disagree with this. While the difficulty challenge is a huge problem for this promising game, the terror that many speak of is not present for me. The atmosphere and tensity of the experience would have nearly vanished if it wasn't for the disturbing animatronic designs saving the last capsule of the horror essence. In my review of FNAF 2, I mentioned how the story is great once again, and I still agree with this. The game managed to sneak in clues and hints that caused questions and answers to submerge from this RNG mess which then led to many huge debates like whether this game is a sequel or prequel.
Five Nights At Freddy's 3 (2015)
2015 served a disappointing pallet of horror games, however, Scott Cawthon saved this with FNAF 3 and FNAF 4. If you have read my review of FNAF 3, you know how much I love this game and how much fun I had playing it. The atmosphere is clearly back to its nerve-racking roots and the gameplay is much improved to be skill-based and less RNG-focused. I argued that the horror is gone as the lazy jumpscares of this game and the repetitive jumpscares of FNAF 2 built up my immunity and I still agree with that, however, I feel like I used that excuse to pummel the score down too much. The gameplay is very much in its own league and it doesn't struggle with a difficulty curve but instead has a built-in mastery path to take. While I wish the game was more flexible in dealing with Springtrap, I still salute its great design. The story once again is fantastic as it deals with hidden minigames and lore segments that cause the player to dissect them in their own time.
Five Nights At Freddy's 4 (2015)
Served with FNAF 3 in the year 2015, this game is seen as amazing and a spectacle that horror games should follow. I very much disagree with this and if you have read my review on FNAF 4, you know how much I hate this game. The story is a mess that even the most committed fans can't solve and the atmosphere is tense but average. While the concept for the gameplay is great and reminiscent of FNAF 1 with the awaiting of your death, the execution is poor. The game sometimes doesn't follow its own rules with the audio cues and the odd blend of adaptivity and routine-styled gameplay is unsatisfying which is a shame as this game offers the best horror, with its high-risk gamble of jumpscares.
Five Nights At Freddy's: Sister Location (2016)
With the best presentable story in the franchise, this late-2016 release of the series of possessed animatronics offers many juicy answers and theories with a paced story of its own. The game itself received mixed scores, however, it is very much near the top with its quality. The graphics/design of the animatronics is something I didn't get to praise but looking back on it now, I say it's a positive graphical overhaul along with its successor, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator. As mentioned before and in my review of Sister Location, the game offers a nicely created narrative with clues and hints, that bridge a gap between the game and the books while handling the convoluted weight of FNAF 4. The gameplay is fantastic and as much as I love the switch in gameplay every night, it drags the skill level and mastery path down quite a lot.
Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator (2017)
Advertised and released to seem like it's a fan-made spin-off of the franchise, this sneaky little game was hidden to be FNAF 6. The game was praised to be an "interesting evolution of the FNAF formula" and I very much agree. I have no new criticisms of the game and no new positive regards that I haven't said in my review of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator, but I can still say this; despite its incredibly steep mastery curve, it offers and serves as a beautifully, well-made game with versatility in gameplay, the same adaptivity of FNAF 3, and the same horror of FNAF 4, just to different extents.
FNAF 9 (?)
With Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator being FNAF 6, Help Wanted being FNAF 7 and Security Breach being released later this year as FNAF 8, I decided to think about what I would like to see in a possible FNAF 9.
Story
The story of my desired FNAF 9, would follow a certain location: Fredbear's Family Diner, the original location. We only saw a glimpse of it in an FNAF 3 minigame and many speculate that the first child killed there is either Cassidy, the child who possesses Golden Freddy, or the child that inevitably possesses the Puppet. Not only would it be interesting to explore the beginning of the animatronic hauntings but it could provide for cat-and-mouse type gameplay like presented in FNAF 3 with Springtrap, as only one or two animatronics are present.
Another possibility would be seeing a restaurant, post-Pizzeria Simulator. With Pizzeria Simulator tying up loose ends in the series and seeming almost like an end to a saga, a new and rebuilt Pizzeria Franchise with child disappearances and animatronics would seem appropriate and interesting. Either way, I would like to see the same paced-story writing that Sister Location offered, and what Security Breach might be doing.
Gameplay
The gameplay is the most important part, after all, we're talking about video games. With Pizzeria Simulator's versatility of deciding who gets to attack you, I would love to see some choice like that again, maybe going as far as designing the animatronic in the first place. This would also be fitting with the original Fredbear Diner as you get to decide what kind of animatronic will be representing your restaurant but also representing your fate. The adaptivity and cat-and-mouse of Pizzeria Simulator and FNAF 3 must appear as this type of gameplay loop is what made me love the 2 games and could even be presented in the free-roam style that Security Breach is opting for. Finally; cameras. The eerie and beautifully horrifying cameras of the original trilogy need to make a return as these are the sweet terror supplies that I miss from recent instalments. Oh, and NO STEEP DIFFICULTIES.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of FNAF 9 is something that needs to be done right as the best in the series also happens to be the first in the series. The tensity for the player needs to be harsh and breathtaking - not in the Keanu Reeves way. The desolation and isolation have to creep up on the player and the eerie sounds that echo through the building need to feel unnatural. The odd terror also has to appear as well, like being in a school or a children's restaurant after dark and with no one in sight. This is what FNAF 1 nailed, not just through design but also audio. FNAF 2 failed this sense of horror because of the player being placed in such bright environments with a sense of security. FNAF 3 headed the right way as FNAF 1 and FNAF 4 attempted but failed due to the audio cues being clustered against one another.
After looking over the whole franchise, the Five Nights At Freddy’s rankings are:
Five Nights At Freddy’s 3 (2015) and its revised gameplay score are tied with Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator (2017) at a rating of “GOOD”
Five Nights At Freddy’s (2014) is tied with Five Nights At Freddy’s: Sister Location (2016) with a rating of “GOOD”
Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 (2014) is third place with a score of “SUBPAR”
Five Nights At Freddy’s 4 (2015) is last, with a score of "SUBPAR”
Giving the whole franchise a rating of…
