Willcraft Reviews FNAF

Willcraft Reviews FNAF

"Willcraft Reviews FNAF" was a review uploaded by Will on October 23rd of 2015, where he (what a shock!) reviews FNAF.  The video explains his great distaste for the franchise, not just due to their low quality and mass hype but also for the effect it had on the horror genre as a whole.  The description reads, "I (reluctantly) confront one of the current main reasons I hate humanity: A game franchise that could have been something really good, but more than one thing went very, very wrong." He eventually unlisted the review due to it not entirely representing his newer views (his displeasure towards the franchise still stands, but he feels he could have explained his reasoning better), and though it is still accessible through his Unlisted playlist, bear in mind that this review is by and large outdated. 

Review Transcript:

(post-Willcraftober opening, we begin with a slow zoom on Will as flashes of viewer comments suggesting he either play FNAF or review the series appear one after the other, as the video and audio becomes more distorted, until Will emits a shockwave of anger-induced magic)

Will: "ENOUGH!!"

Lawrence: "What? I haven't done anything!"

Will: "It's not you, it's...dargh!"

Lawrence: "It's FNAF, isn't it?"

Will: "How did you know?"

Lawrence: "You were chanting, 'Kill Scott Cawthon' under your breath..."

Will: "Oh."

Lawrence: "...again. Maybe you should review the games? To let off some steam."

Will: "~Lawrence? What happened the last time you said something like that?"

Lawrence: "You chopped me to pieces, put me back together, and did that over and over."

Will: "Exactly."

Lawrence: "But seriously, why not do it? Why are you so resistant to the idea?"

Will: "Because EVERYONE'S talking about those stupid games! I want to leave my channel uncorrupted."

Lawrence: "Yeah, but there's a surprising lack of good criticism. Most people just say they suck without explaining why. The internet needs more reviews that actually have good, well-motivated arguments."

Will: "...And you think I could actually make a good review?"

Lawrence: "Not really, but making an FNAF-related video is sure to get us lots of views. And views mean moniez."

Will: "I'm not on YouTube for the views or the money. I make content out of passion."

Lawrence: "I can tell. Otherwise you'd just make Monster School and nothing else. Like you should. You business sense-free moron."

Will: "You know, for a Creeper, you're pretty obsessed with profit."

Lawrence: "I know, and that took me far in life."

Will: "Yeah, just look at where you are now! I've always said that the definition of success is having your soul trapped in a plastic toy and being forced to work for someone you hate."

Lawrence: "Fuck you. Seriously though, you should still make a review. After all, you said yourself you make videos out of passion."

Will: "How is that related to this?"

Lawrence: "Well, you hate FNAF with passion, right?"

Will: "Well, yes."

Lawrence: "And the only way to release that hatred is talking about it?"

Will: "Either that or killing Scott."

Lawrence: "Then I suggest you with the option that is less likely to get you in jail."

Will: "Okay then, I'll do it."

Lawrence: "Views and cash, here we cooome..."

OVERVIEW:

Will: "In case you recently emerged from a bunker in the desert, and you don't know what FNAF is, let me give some quick context. It's a franchise of horror games that has gotten absurdly popular. They have also gotten a huge amount of hate for various reasons, mainly for being terrible games and because of the toxic fanbase. In fact, even a lot of people who do like the games admit the fanbase is horrible. After the success of the original game, sequel after sequel has been made faster than the Call of Duty series. The fourth one was going to be 'the final chapter', something I didn't believe for a second. And guess what was announced a few weeks ago!"

*dramatic score plays as the FNAF World banner is shown on screen*

Will: "I am among the people who hate the games. I hate them to my marrow. I cringe every time I hear a word that is frequently associated with them. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HATE WORDS SUCH AS 'ANIMATRONIC'? I USED TO LOVE THAT WORD, IT'S AN AWESOME WORD! IT HAS 'ANIMA', THE LATIN WORD FOR 'SOUL', AND ALSO 'TRONIC', MAKING IT SOUND ALL MECHANICAL, AND THE WORD JUST SOUNDS LIKE A MACHINE POWERED BY SOULS, IT'S SO AWEEESOOOME!! But I can no longer appreciate it. Because every time someone says it, I immediately think of these games now. THANKS, GAMES!! YOU RUINED ONE OF MY FAVORITE WORDS FOR ME!!

Anyway, I have, after a lot of debates with myself, decided to review the games to explain exactly why I hate them. What kinda became the tiebreaker for me was the announcement of this new game, because it made me realize THIS GUY (Scott Cawthon) isn't going to stop. He will continue until someone like me splits his head with an AXE.

So let's begin the review! But first, I'd like to play something dedicated to Mr. Scott Cawthon.

*Will presses a button on a stereo, and heavy metal music plays for a good 15 or so seconds before Will turns it off again and sets the stereo aside*

There! Now let's begin. If you're a fan of FNAF, I ask that you stay and hear me out. If you hate FNAF, sit back and enjoy listening to my criticism. And if you have no strong opinion either way, PREPARE TO HAVE MY OPINION SHOVED DOWN YOUR THROAT."

THE REVIEW PROPER - GAME 1:

Will: "I'm going to review the games in chronological order, and therefore we'll begin with the one that started it all. Let's first talk about the premise of the game. In concept, it's actually really promising. You play as a night guard who is stuck in a building with living, homicidal animatronics. You have to survive till your shift is over in your quest to get a paycheck. Your only weapon is your own two eyes; As long as you're looking at the animatronics, they won't move, trying to fool you into thinking that they're not alive.

The idea of a horror game where you're stuck with living animatronics that only move when you can't see them is actually pretty good. Animatronics can be pretty creepy, and them not moving when you're looking can be both a good horror effect and game mechanic. Anyway, while the concept is really good, the execution is...a series of bad decisions.

First off, your character can't move. Instead, you are shown the animatronics with security cameras. People say that this is meant to make you feel dis-empowered and helpless, and its important for a horror game to give you that feeling, but this doesn't do that for me. Quite the opposite. If I had to move around the building to check the rooms, knowing that the animatronics could sneak up behind me at any time, that would be a lot scarier. I would feel more 'in-control' and therefore feel more like my character. Not being able to move makes me feel disconnected from my character, and therefore I don't worry about his safety. Having to walk around would also make me feel much more exposed than sitting in a cozy office.

Another major flaw is that the gameplay itself is BORING. You're just sitting on your ass, looking at screens. That's not fun, nor is it scary. And another big problem is that there is no evident strategy to beat the game, making this more about pure luck than skill. Sure, you can eventually notice patterns in what you're supposed to do, but the way there is full of trial and error. And that's a problem. You'll probably die a lot in this game, and that sends you back to the beginning again. And since the gameplay isn't enjoyable, this gets tiring very quickly.

I've heard some say that this makes the game 'challenging', but that's not the word to use. The game is not challenging, it's punishing. A challenging game is one that is hard, but losing doesn't come with a penalty so severe that it makes you want to stop playing. A good example of a 'challenging' game is Super Meat Boy. You might die a lot, but you are instantly revived and can spring back into action. The levels aren't very long, either, meaning you never lose much progress. I feel like every time you die you come back a little stronger since you're learning how to beat the level. However, a game where you're very likely to lose due to unforgiving gameplay, where you are pushed all the way back to the beginning upon losing, is a punishing game. And a game being punishing is a very bad thing. It will probably cost you a lot of potential fans, and it's simply poor game design. Now, for the most infamous part of the gameplay: the jumpscares.

Whenever you lose, you get a really clumsy jumpscare consisting of animatronics screaming in your face. Jumpscares are the laziest, cheapest trick in horror. Using them is basically admitting you can't scare people. Now, I'm not saying jumpscares have to be a bad thing. Here, let me show you something - This is my 'horror game class chart', where different aspects of a horror game have been turned into game classes. The chart still isn't finished, but it's finished enough to prove my point. So as you can see, the chart is divided into Tank, Damage, and Support. The Tanks (Atmosphere and Mystery) create the suspense, building up for the Damage (Death, Monster Reveal, and Story Twists), which are the scares. And the suspense and scares are both enhanced by the Support class (Disempowerment, Blood/Gore, Jumpscares, The Uncanny, and Concealing). Disempowerment makes you feel more vulnerable, and thus the suspense becomes stronger and you feel more helpless when confronted with scares. Blood/Gore on the floor and walls make for nice decoration to tell the player that shit's going down, further empowering the suspense. And then we have Jumpscares, which can enhance the effect of scares. If something scary comes as a surprise and shocks the player, it can make things scarier than it would have been otherwise.

So sometimes jumpscares are okay to use. But how do you know when they are? Well, here's a test I like to use. Use your scare without a jumpscare. Don't add a loud noise, and make sure you know exactly when the scare is coming. If it's still at least a little scary, than a jumpscare is justified. So, let's try it. I will now show some jumpscares from the game with no sound, and with this timer telling you when it will happen.

-Bonnie, Freddy, and Foxy's jumpscares are each played silently after a brief timer-

Was that scary? No. Not at all. You see, this is the problem with many horror games these days. THESE (Support) are being used as Damage while Damage and sometimes even Tanks are pushed aside or at the very least being used poorly. And that simply doesn't work. So the actual scares in this game are worthless. But I've heard people say that it's not the jumpscares that make the game scary, it's the suspense building up to them. And this is how it is for many horror games. The suspense plays a huge role while the scares are the payoffs. But here's the thing: there is no suspense in this game. Only boredom. And as I've said, the gameplay is boring and I feel disconnected from the player, so there's no real suspense. You're just waiting for an inevitable and predictable jumpscare. You might say that the suspense part is having to look at the creepy animatronics, but I don't think they look scary. That is, of course, a matter of opinion, but even if you do find them scary, you can't build a horror game around your monsters' designs. Then the game might as well be a collection of pictures of the monsters.

And another problem is that too many things don't make sense about the game itself. For instance, why would having the doors closed drain power? And who would be so pathetic that they keep coming back to a job where they would probably die, and work for minimum wage? If the game was only one long night and then the player quit the job at once, that would make more sense. But now, let's move on to the next game."

GAME 2:

Will: "This game is pretty much the same, with some differences. Firstly, there's a few more animatronics, which doesn't really do anything to improve the game."

Lawrence: "The new chicken is pretty hot, though. Those black, empty eyes and the dark, gaping mouth...and them hips."

Will: "Really, Lawrence?"

Lawrence: "What? I now live in a world where there are no Creepers, so I have to lower my standards!"

Will: "Yeah, but that's a mechanical anthropomorphic chicken."

Lawrence: "With nice hips and a pretty face.

Will: *facepalming* "Why do I even care?.."

Will: "Another change is that you now have an animatronic head that you put on when an animatronic approaches to make them ignore you. This mechanic basically replaces the doors, and I guess it does make a bit more sense, except I don't get why some animatronics still attack you when you wear it and some don't. I haven't found an explanation as to why, so I'm going to see that as a flaw. Another addition is that there's a music box that you frequently have to wind up to prevent a new enemy, who is not an animatronic, but a puppet, from getting out of his box and killing you.

Yay, a new boring mechanic that does nothing but increase your risk of losing the game...and yes, I know it's to make sure you don't wear the head all the time, but then why do some enemies still attack you? That part still doesn't make sense. Other than that, this game is pretty much the same, so let's move onto the third game!

GAME 3:

Will: "This one I would consider worse than the previous two. And that's pretty bad...

Firstly, the main theme of the games is animatronics. This game doesn't technically have any animatronic enemies. Instead, there are 'ghosts' of animatronics, as well as a dead guy in a suit.

Lawrence: "The suit is also an animatronic, though."

Will: "I don't caaare. What we see in the game is clearly a dead guy in a suit, not a haunted animatronic.

Lawrence: "They say humans can be scarier than any monster."

Will: "Well, this guy isn't, because he behaves exactly like the animatronics. In fact, it's pretty stupid how he follows the same rules as them even though he should know better than to simply move around aimlessly and freeze whenever a camera's watching him. If he really wants to kill the player, I don't see what's stopping him from just walking straight to the office to beat him to death.

This is the problem with the game. Not only are there less enemies, but only one is actually a threat. The others are just reduced to completely pointless jumpscares. They don't even kill you, they just scream in your face for shits and giggles. The only enemy that can actually kill you is the guy in a suit. And he's not scary. In fact, even his jumpscare is worse than the ones for other enemies. He doesn't even attack you, he just walks up to you."

*Springtrap's jumpscare plays*

Will (as Springtrap): "Hey man, mind if I waddle in here. I just want to chat a little, about life and stuff, y'know? Soooo...I'm a dead guy. Wanna know about that, then? Funny story, actually..."

Will: "Otherwise, the game is basically the same as the other two. A few mechanics are gone and the game's trying way too hard to be scarier than the others, but overall, aside from that there's nothing to mention.

Now, before I move on to the fourth game, I'd like to address something that many people consider to be the most important part of the game: the story. Why did I wait until now to talk about that? Because I wanted to cover it all in one go. And since the story spans several games, I first had to talk about all three games. So why am I doing this before talking about the fourth game? Because it has little-to-nothing to do with the others. And I'm also not too familiar with the story because I don't care. As far as I know, nothing worth mentioning is in the fourth game, story-wise.

Lawrence: "Do you hear that? That's the sound of angry fans writing comments telling you how wrong you are.

Will: "Anyhoo, I've heard many fans say that what makes the games good isn't the gameplay, but the story. First of all, that's a flaw in itself. A game with a good story is always a good thing, but regardless of the story's quality, the gameplay must still be enjoyable. How else are you supposed to even want to know the story? But, that aside, I will now explain the story that is said to be so complex and amazing. So, a bad man-"

Lawrence: "Purple Man."

Will: "What?"

Lawrence: "He's called the Purple Man. That's important."

Will: "Why?"

Lawrence: "Just go with it."

Will: "Okay, a purple man kills a bunch of children. The children then come back to life (as spirits) and possess the animatronics. Then they hunt down the Purple Man, who hides from them in a suit.

Lawrence: "A hybrid between an animatronic and a wearable mascot costume."

Will: "Will you stop interrupting me?!"

Lawrence: "Will you start being grateful that I correct you?"

Will: "But the hybrid-thingy is malfunctioning, and he ends up getting crushed inside, and reanimates as a part-animatronic, part-human.

Lawrence: "Called Springtrap."

*beat as Will stares wordlessly at Lawrence*

Lawrence: "Appreciate me!"

Will: "What I've just explained is the premise for a story. Not a story. Yet this is pretty much all there is to it. The story is not interesting, complex, or anything. No, it's something the developer threw together to keep the player's interest.

Lawrence: "'All there is to it'? What about stuff like The Bite of '87?" Will: "That's the same. Some easily made-up 'lore' that serves as bait for the player to distract them from the fact that the game actually has very little to offer. Every little thing like 'The Bite of '87' is nothing but a piece of meat dangling from a string right out of the player's reach, held by the developer.

Will: "So that's what I think of the story. It's just a cheap and lazy trick to make sure player keep coming back; Something that Scott makes up as he goes. It could be interesting if he expanded on it, adding details and stuff. For instance, WHY did the Purple Man kill the children? What were his motivations? And how and why did the children possess the animatronics? And why did the Purple Man become Springtrap instead of simply dying? And you also need a better way of telling your story than through arcade-style minigames and that ridiculously hard puzzle in the third game with a disappointing payoff.

I mean, it feels like the games are for some reason trying to make you feel sorry for the animatronics, and how are we supposed to do that if you know nothing about them and never see them in any situation that might evoke emotion? Now, let's move on to the fourth game.

GAME 4:

Will: "This game is pretty different from the others. But is it so in a good way? Let's take a look. The first change you will notice is that you can finally move freely...if by 'move freely' you mean 'faceplant your way in fixed directions'. Seriously, is it so very hard to make the player move like in so many other games? It would be such a big change for the better, yet dear Mister Scott seems incapable of doing it. In fact, I like this new system even less than the cameras. With the cameras, there was a reason why you could only see the area from a few different angles. Because you're viewing it from fixed cameras. However, this new walking function is basically the same as the cameras with the difference that there is little transition. It simply feels clumsy, unnatural, and unfinished. If you can't make a character move properly, don't make them move at all.

Another change is the enemies. They no longer resemble animatronics; They simply look like mechanical monsters. What makes animatronics creepy is that they are built to look appealing, yet they still look off in some way. They take advantage of the Uncanny Valley, something that I'm assuming just about everyone watching this are at least slightly familiar with. These things are not in the Uncanny Valley. You'll never see anyone build something like this with the intention to make them look appealing to children. Instead of looking creepy, they just look overworked and over-the-top. Because of this, it's safe to assume that they aren't supposed to be scary in the same way as animatronics, but a more basic kind of scary. I still just think they look stupid, but that is again a matter of opinion.

The gameplay has changed as well. Instead of trying to keep an eye on each enemy, you ward them off with a flashlight. I'll admit that this is a big improvement. It makes more sense that a monster would shy away from light than decide to not move when a camera's looking at them. It also feels like you're doing something, since switching between screens feels really pointless. It's easier to figure out what to do, and there's also a sense of urgency. But there's still a logical problem. The same problem as in the third game. Why are the enemies just screwing around?

In the first two games, there was a reason why the animatronics just wandered around and didn't rush for the player. They simply aren't looking for him; It's just that if they see him, they attack him. Springtrap doesn't have that excuse because he's human and therefore has a human mind. If he wants to kill the player, he should just hunt him down at once. And if we assume that he for some reason has the mind of an animatronic and therefore works the same as all previous enemies, that excuse doesn't work for the monsters in this game. It's very clear that all they want to do is kill the player, so why don't they? There's many of them, and their target is stuck in a house. How hard can it be to surround a child and eat him before he can shine his flashlight on all of them? Even the ghosts in Pac-Man know more about cornering than these things!

Another issue is that the game is almost doing a thing right, but doesn't. And that thing is Concealing. It's on the horror-game-class-chart. Very important class. See, in horror, you should almost always hide your monster. Show it in darkness, show small parts of it while leaving most of it off-screen, show a silhouette of it, as long as the player can't see the monster properly, you're doing it right. Then you might show the monster at some point in the game, but make sure to leave it hidden for most of the time. The reason you should do this is because what scares each of us the most is our own mind. And if the players can only see small parts of the monster, like their body shape or a small part of it, or if they can't see it at all but only hear it, their imagination will fill in the rest. If I see this (Nightmare Bonnie's arm), my mind will be able to create a mental image specifically designed to scare me. Something that is way scarier to me than this (Nightmare Bonnie in full view).

This game is halfway there with the concealing. Throughout most of the game, you don't see the monsters, only hear them. But here's the problem. You do see them. Clearly. And not just in the scares where you're supposed to see them, but in the gameplay as well. You see them moving away or simply looking right at you. I suppose this is meant to enhance the horror, but it doesn't. I can see enough of the monster to know they aren't scary to me. If I could only see shadows and tiny glimpses, it would be so much scarier. But the way it is, it feels more like the monsters are going, "OH SHIT, HE SEES ME! I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE! Goth, I suck at killing children."

And of course, the game is still just a bunch of jumpscares. The tension is ruined by the clumsy movement, the boring gameplay, and the monsters sliding out of sight. The gameplay has improved a little in some ways, but for every step forwards it takes two steps backwards. So this game is in some ways the worst, and in some ways the best, but no matter what, it's still a terrible horror game.

The Fanbase:

Lawrence: "Are you going to address the fanbase now?"

Will: "Why?"

Lawrence: "Because they're a reason the franchise is so hated."

Will: "Well, a game cannot really help that it has a crappy community. Just look at Minecraft: Great game, but a lot of the players are really annoying. I only take the community in account when judging a game if the game is sold in multiplayer, since the community then becomes a vital part of the gameplay."

Lawrence: "Could you at least mention it? I bet the FNAF fans are dying to know what you think of them."

Will: "Alright, then. Well, yes, the fanbase is a really toxic one. I've seen a lot of FNAF fans that seem to be terrible people. But, I've seen friendly fans and some genuinely good fan content. Some songs, animated versions of those songs, and even some fanart."

Lawrence: "You mean the naughty fanart?"

Will: "No, I was in fact exclusively referring to the Don Bluth-style fanart from that one person. Don Bluth is awesome."

Lawrence: "...Why have you even watched fan content if you hate the games so much? I understand you'd see some fanart since it's everywhere, but watching a fan video must be done intentionally."

Will: "Some YouTubers I like made fan videos. Despite my hatred for the games, I still watch the videos out of courtesy."

Lawrence: "So you believe that if a YouTuber makes a video you don't approve of, you should still give it a try and maybe end up liking it?"

Will: "Yep."

Lawrence: "Hint hint to those who are only here for Monster School? When are you going to give up on this stuff and stick to animating? Nobody will ever come to your channel wanting these videos."

Will: "I like both animating AND reviewing. Why can't I do both?"

Lawrence: "Because animating is your destiny! Cease these foolish distractions and focus on what you exist to do! Embrace your destiny!"

Will: "MAGIC!"

*Lawrence bursts into green flame and begins making bad fire puns to distract himself from the pain, as Will finishes his summation of the fanbase*

Will: "So, as I was going to say before we got off-track, I don't think FNAF is any better or worse because of its fanbase. If FNAF didn't exist, the bad fans would find somewhere else to be bad fans, and the fans making good fan-content about something else. I will, however, show this clip. Just for fun."

*Will plays the shoe scene from Life of Brian, with Brian labeled as Scott Cawthon and his followers labeled as FNAF fans*

Arthur: "He has given us a sign!"

Shoe Follower: "He has given us...a shoe!"

Will: "I've been wanting to make that comparison for sooooo long.

FNAF'S IMPACT ON HORROR:

Will: "Okay, so now I've given many reasons why I hate the games. But they still aren't enough to make me hate them as much as I do. No, there is one final reason. The big one. The one that is born when you put all of the others in a pile."

Will gazes expectantly at Lawrence, who asks "What?", to which Will replies "You're supposed to ask what is is so I can answer dramatically. When Lawrence responds that he "Can't, I'm too on-fire", Will extinguishes him

Lawrence: "Ah, non-pain. I've missed you."