Poll: Five Nights at Freddy's - Do you actually find it scary?

thejboy88

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Title says it all. Do you find the indie horror game, "Five Nights at Freddy's" scary or not?
 

Johnny Impact

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Aug 6, 2008
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It was scary when I saw a friend playing it and had no idea what the frig was happening. I thought it was about ghosts or murderous lunatics in bunny suits or both.

It lost a lot (read: all) of its appeal when I learned the critters are animatronic. I cannot take seriously the notion that animatronics designed for use at Chuck E Cheese could ever threaten a human. Too slow, too dumb, too weak. Just push it over, for fuck's sake, it can't even stand up on its own!

The game does provide a high-adrenaline clickfest as you frantically try to stop their approach, and a bit of a jump scare when one robot inevitably pops up right in front of you. But does it induce fear? Not really.
 

darkcalling

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Sep 29, 2011
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It's jump scare the game. I don't get the appeal. Real horror comes from atmosphere and plot for me. Freddy's has neither.
 

EmperorZinyak

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I think that the game gets LESS scary after the first couple nights. They move slowly, for sure, but that makes them more terrifying because they're less predictable. One time on Night 2, for example, I remember Bonnie casually hanging out in the dining room for about a minute. I kept switching back and forth between cameras, but Bonnie never seemed to move. I left him alone for a few seconds to find out where Chica is, only to lose track of him. I switch cameras frantically trying to figure out where he is before putting the camera down only to be greeted by him screaming in my face. I feel like on earlier nights, they never move until I least expect it. On later nights, the gameplay becomes about figuring out patterns and having quick reflexes rather than the paranoia-inducing mind-games of the earlier nights. One of my biggest problems with the sequel is the pointlessness of checking cameras. The only camera that gets looked at is the one where you need to wind up the music box. It can still be intense when you're winding up the music box, as you're expecting to be attacked the whole time. Overall, I'd say that for the uninitiated the games can be scary, but once you've gotten to later nights it turns into more of a reflex-based game.
 

SonOfVoorhees

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Aug 3, 2011
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Saw a lets play of it and it looked so boring with dumb cheap jump scares. Jump scares make you jump as a reflex action, not in itself scary.
 

Fox12

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Jun 6, 2013
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Like Slender, I thought it was pretty creepy... for about half an hour. Once you understand the mechanics, it losers its appeal. I really liked the concept, though, as it was somewhat different when it came out. Now I'm just sick of it. The lore is somewhat interesting, though.
 

JagermanXcell

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Oct 1, 2012
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Personally I see Five Nights as a missed opportunity. Like Johnny Impact just mentioned... they're animatronics: flimsy, unthreatening, poorly constructed, and just far too limited to be seen as forever terrifying.

Second, it's a game that's about A. Trying to avoid the horror? (wha... why?!) and B. Ditching the build up that comes with the theme of horror/suspense. After playing the game and getting bored with it after the fourth jump scare, it made me realize just how barebones it is mechanically. The concept would be so much better for a specific gameplay segment in an actual 8 hour horror game (maybe you're tasked to not only watch the antagonist, but to distract it from getting to you ala reverse Night Trap). And with the help of a different aesthetic, a setting more focused on atmosphere building... and preferably have the antagonist(s) be something everyone is actually scared of... like clowns... or an ambiguous Lovecraft beast... or just something not silly like what we actually got...

So it's a shame that all we have here is a another fad game that relies on cheap scares. Now if any other game take's it's mechanics and improves on them, it'll be seen as a FNaF rip off...
Thanks internet.

EDIT: Apparently the lore is interesting... I weirdly don't want to know why though, at risk of being exposed to "edgy" writings about sticking flesh into silly robutts.
 

JimB

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Apr 1, 2012
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I find it scary as a viewer of someone else playing, but when playing myself, no, I wouldn't call it scary. Stressful and suspenseful, yes, but not scary.
 

Necron_warrior

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Mar 30, 2011
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Jump scares are still in themselves, scares, so yeah it is scary. Not TERRIFYING or HORRIFYING but scary.

And sure it might be the cheapest of scares due to the artificial bounds that are put on the player to induce the most tension, but its still scares.
 

Elvis Starburst

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Aug 9, 2011
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I'd call it more un-settling than scary. The animatronics make me un-easy (Chika's stare...), so that's what bugs me the most. The Puppet, and stuff like the secret endoskeleton really freak me out. The lore of the game (Game Theory has an amazing video on FNAF2 about it) is probably my fave lore in any game ever. It's sooooo messed up
 

TakeyB0y2

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Jun 24, 2011
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EmperorZinyak said:
One of my biggest problems with the sequel is the pointlessness of checking cameras. The only camera that gets looked at is the one where you need to wind up the music box.
Actually in the first game the only camera you need is that one that looks at Pirate Cove to check for Foxy. Other than that, all you need to do is look left, flick the light, look right, flick the light, check on Pirate Cove camera, and repeat.

To be honest, that's my biggest problem with the FNaF games; they're an interesting but flawed concept. Both games employ the whole idea of using security cameras as part of their core gameplay but in both games you only need to use one camera.
 

Trucken

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Jan 26, 2009
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Elvis Starburst said:
I'd call it more un-settling than scary. The animatronics make me un-easy (Chika's stare...), so that's what bugs me the most. The Puppet, and stuff like the secret endoskeleton really freak me out. The lore of the game (Game Theory has an amazing video on FNAF2 about it) is probably my fave lore in any game ever. It's sooooo messed up
I think the game is scary, but I haven't been able to play it myself since I'm a total wuss. But the lore is freakin' fantastic. I'm right with you, it's probably my favorite lore. It's that damn good.
 

CrystalShadow

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Apr 11, 2009
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It's a horror game.

Worse, one that relies on jump scares.

So... No.

Thoese don't do much for me. Actually, horror in general doesn't do much for me.

Still, I guess I don't know for sure with the specific example, not every having played it, but...

It's not likely.
 

ShogunGino

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Oct 27, 2008
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For a few reasons, I have to say 'no'. I mean, I think it's a very interesting and entertaining game, but I feel that the things that make it creepy or scary lose their edge quickly enough.

I myself do not find animatronics or puppets scary. I don't find many things approaching the uncanny valley to be off-putting or scary anyway. That said, the only animatronics from FNaF that I find scary are Old Bonnie, Old Chica, and the Marionette. All from FNaF 2. I find them scary because I think they have scarier designs than all the others. (Old Bonnie's missing face plate, Old Chica's numerous teeth layers, and the Marionette's face, plain and simple)

I disagree with the people who say these games don't have atmosphere. I think the fixed, isolated position you take, with the slow, gradual checking of the cameras of an after-dark hours building with, imo, subtle sound design, has pretty good creepy atmosphere, but, like the animatronics, what makes it creepy does wear off after a while.

I actually think the creepiest part of the games are the Commodore 64-style minigames after you die in FNaF 2. They engage you in a new gameplay style without warning and very little instruction, and you have to figure out what's going on in a very short amount of time, perhaps even replaying it to get a better sense of what the child-killer was doing.

Like others, I think the games are more enjoyable when exploring its lore, which is decently obscure, making interpretation a fun part of the game. Gameplay does boil down to a very certain pattern, with the cameras being all but superficial if not for the fact they have to be activated to stall Foxy or the Marionette. I've heard it said once that by continuing to play the game, you yourself become more robotic, as you stop checking cameras at random and closing the doors at the slightest noise. You get pulled into a routine, all for the sake of keeping yourself alive. Not that this always makes for engaging gameplay, but I actually thought whoever said that had a good point.

So, yeah, with that all out of the way, no, I don't think the games hold onto whatever makes them creepy for very long, but I do think they are entertaining games. Besides, I think the games come at good prices, and I'm someone who's less irked by a few disappointing features if I didn't pay very much for it.
 

Poetic Nova

Pulvis Et Umbra Sumus
Jan 24, 2012
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If it didn't rely on jump scares I would say maybe.
Then again, there are only a few games that I find scary, but atleast they don't rely on jumpscares, rather on having a unsettling atmosphere that contribute to the scaryness.

Both Metro games for example, the amazing soundtrack set the tone and when a Nosalis spotted you it actually gave a sence of danger: They are pretty tough bastards, they can quickly kill you and actually feel like a thread. This and other unnatural events gave us a interesting yet dangerous and often scary world to delve into.
 

Callate

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Dec 5, 2008
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I haven't played it. I kind of have to admire that the creator has been so successful in getting so many people talking about his little low-budget game (and that the game isn't, apparently, crap, doesn't hurt.)

Jump scares are a legitimate scare technique, but they're also one of the easiest to pull off. Something in your face, musical sting, loud noise, bang. It's whether the moments leading up to the jump scare fill you with dread that makes or breaks the experience. And different people's mileage clearly varies on that with regard to FNAF.
 

RedDeadFred

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May 13, 2009
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darkcalling said:
It's jump scare the game. I don't get the appeal. Real horror comes from atmosphere and plot for me. Freddy's has neither.
Exactly. The game is basically designed for people like Pewdiepie to post videos of themselves screaming whenever something pops up.

The game isn't scary, it's startling. Big difference.
 

Elfgore

Your friendly local nihilist
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To me the game is a perfect mix if suspense and jump-scare. For example, I was playing night 3 I believe of the 2nd game. I'm winding the music box and all of the sudden I hear static. I drop the camera, look around the room, only to see this mother fucker after five seconds of searching.


At this point I'm shitting my pants, I throw on the Freddie mask, wait about ten seconds, take it off, and he is still there. At this point, the music box is running low and I'm sure Foxy is about to charge. The suspense is all about to break and it does as Foxy charges me, causing me to scream.

Granted, I'm very weak against scary games. But I do agree the game does exists for youtubers to scream at.
 

Voulan

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Jul 18, 2011
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I'm among the camp that finds jump scares to be cheap, but this game is designed around keeping the jump scares away and that's what makes it such a good game to me. The jump scares are due to the player's inability rather than thrown in for the sake of it. You know that they are going to happen, and that constant urge to make sure you don't get caught out builds some fantastic atmosphere.

That, and the lore behind the game is actually surprisingly intriguing. If any of you haven't already seen the Game Theory episode about both games on Youtube, I seriously recommend it. The design seems to have some really great intention behind it.

And seriously, this was made by one guy. You have to give it credit for becoming such a big thing.