I have to confess, I was secretly (and perhaps unreasonably) hoping that after the game's intro John would appear in grumpy muppet form and would just start playing the game and commentating, never addressing the fact that he's a puppet.
Honestly I didn't find it that bad. By the end of that first area with a billion of them I had tuned them out. I actually found it more unnerving during certain parts that are deathly silent, and from the number of jump scares in silent areas I think the game knows it.
I like how the world seems to be a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" type setting where puppets (instead of cartoons) just go about and nobody seems surprised to see or talk about them.
Yeah, it reminds me of WFRR (especially with the dynamic between pissy Gordon and Ricky lol) and this one SCP that kind of treated living kids show puppets as a known thing lol/actors like everyone else. It was kind of hilariously delightful.
Mel Brooks said you can't do a parody of something you hate, and I feel like this is a great example. The creators clearly have respect for the source material and are having fun with the concept of it becoming deadly cynical without being cynical themselves. It's hugely refreshing.
@@TiiAye Nah, you're just making up that difference. Satire can make use of parody and parody can work through satire. In fact, parody is often defined the same way satire is.
I love that John forced his way through the very first Norman and got the gun immediately. The expected path is to avoid the first few muppets (because you have no weapon) which leads to the wrench. Then you can use the wrench to get through the muppets to the next areas (like where the gun is).
Fun fact: The text John reads off the wall in the beginning is from the Confessions of St. Augustine. It's a really famous Christian philisophical autobiography about St. Augustine's sinful youth before finding God and like contemplating the nature of the soul. Fun stuff in a children's TV studio!
Szymanski's Christianity is a big part of his identity and he put a lot of not particularly subtle religious messaging into his game. The Confessions is honestly one of the more subtle nods. I'm not saying this as a criticism or anything, just an aspect of the game I haven't seen many people talk about.
@@GolemCC interesting, I came away feeling the game was pretty secular because I see the concepts of neighbors and friendship as universal, but now I know why I felt vague familiarity with The Confessions quote because I studied it in a religious lit class in college. I think it's a great pick because as I recall St Augustine was willing to interrogate and reflect on his faith
Hey John!! Sorry if it's been mentioned before but a RUclipsr, Sagan Hawkes, released a video essay on mascot horror and credited you for coming up with the name "mascot horror"! It's a very interesting video if you haven't seen it yet.
@@fountgarde Frankly, I think looking at that bébé's cheeks would make even Oscar the Grouch (speaking of Sesame Street) break into a grin. Plus Kimmy's doing awesomely! Everything's coming up roses in the Wolfe household - he deserves all the happiness there is. 💕🥰
I love how this game is a parody of mascot horror while also improving upon it and doing better. It fixes the "mascot horror walking sim/collectathon" issue by actually having gameplay with puzzles and combat, which although simple is really all that's needed in a genre where gameplay normally seems to be behind marketability, visuals and "deepest lore". It also avoids the "powered by dead children" schtick we've seen a million times since FNAF and says something surprisingly poignant in that it wasn't the evil of the company that brought it down, but the cynicism of the world that destroyed it.
Yes! You really nailed my thoughts on this, especially the refreshing take on them not being evil. I love how you put it: the cynicism of the world made them get shut down, not being evil puppets that started killing people. It made the ending surprisingly wholesome and rewarding in ways other games haven’t touched.
My experience was more like: John: I got hundreds of comments last time telling me that he is voiced by Arlo. So yes, it's voiced by Arlo, I acknowledge it. Me: I have no idea who that is. John: And no, I don't know who he is. Me: Okay I won't worry about it then.
@@GAEULsbn I honestly was going bonkers to try and figure out who’s voice it was and why it matched so well with it being a puppet. I eventually just Googled it and was like ‘Omg, it fricking Arlo! I’m freaking subbed to that guy, how did I not realize it was him?!’
I think this game could have benefited from more enemy variety mechanically speaking. The puppets are aesthetically distinct enemies but they never feel any different in combat. it would be cool to see them behave differently or have unique weaknesses. I think that could add a lot more depth to the combat. Maybe a certain enemy is really tough to deal with so you save your tape to use on them. Some enemies could be better dispatched with the shotgun while others require precision with the pistol.
Yeah lots of these indie horrors love to indulge in their "puzzles" or item collecting, forgetting that combat is also an important aspect even in horror games. Resident Evil series get it right.
@@selty But for a gun that might not reliably always hit the mark, it's a little hard to differentiate between stronger enemies sponging up more ammo vs. a not-very-good gun that just sometimes forces you to shoot more
The fantastic inventory system, the insane amount of voice lines the characters have, the quality voice acting, the attention to details both big and small, decent variety of enemies, the unique details that didn't need to be there (each map you look at fitting the theme in its styling), the maps themselves feeling unique, the sound effects, the puzzles being both simple but require a bit of thought, having very easy to see and remember locked doors, secrets abound, and the fair amount of quality of life features. This game honestly has it all and for a "mascot horror game" is leagues above the rest. I can only hope they keep the quality or improve from here.
Well indigo park is coming but it won’t be anything special. The game is made by a college student who knows very little about coding. He has only one game experience. The game will be in chapters. But at least it has an excuse if its not good. At least we know it’s a passion project more of.
I never had a problem with mascot games and merchandise. We all gotta make money. As long as I liked playing the games, that's what matters to me. It's why I never got too bothered by Bendy and stuff (Poppy on the other hand). Now this though? This is some really solid stuff that I honestly do hope they do a little merchandising for because they reeeeally deserve it for a job well done. I wouldn't mind owning one of these guys or reading a tie in book.
I’m still playing it myself, but I can totally see the care that went into creating this - far past just thinking “oooh, the $$$ we can make on stuffed animals”.
My brother, who is 7 and is special needs, absolutely loves this game play through. It’s the only thing he’s been watching for a week. Anytime he gets tv or iPad time, he asks me to turn it on. He simply just calls it “The Game.” He gets really stoked every time it’s turned on, and I think he’s single-handedly added 10k views to this video.
Your summary at the end is basically how I felt too. It was a high production game, great graphics, voice acting, SFX, puzzles, etc.. It just became a first person puzzle game with no horror or suspense. It doesn't take long for the puppets to completely become a non-threatening enemy, they're more of just slight annoyances. And yea, I agree just more could've been done with it.
@@samwisegamgee1243 because it has jump scares It’s classied as horror. The creator said it was survival like game with muppet theming not mascot horror
@@NahidFrolloYou just get a lame ending where he just says he wondered what happened to the studio for a while before he eventually just forgot about it. Its pretty unfulfilling to try to help you want to find the better ending.
I'm like 99% sure the bomb on the golden statues was meant to teach the player how to use it against the green puppet/the curtain boss, aka literally the dodongo cave thing John mentioned lmao
to be fair, it’s one of the only areas with stuff on the ground, AND it’s the smallest item in the game. i missed it on my first two sweeps of that room.
@okayyollie you're not wrong. It's the the humour that almost every time he said I picked up everything, the coin was on screen. And that he also mentioned q few other times "its always a coin." Not at all judging him. Just my personal frustration seeing it, and not being able to say "look down" 😅
While maybe not worth a full replay, the unlockable harder difficulties do provide a lot more of the chaos you talk about. Things like a puppet exploding into a massive group of them to gang up on you, and statues coming to life and persuing you. It's really helping spice up my replays. P.S. the accuracy of the weapon was not user error. It definitely has a huge spread, and it was my biggest complaint of the game
My good boy dog died last night and I couldn't sleep well tonight. Memories of his sweet face haunts me constantly and it hurts so bad. Thanks for posting. It'll help in keeping me distracted for a while.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I lost my pup a few weeks ago. It’s a living nightmare but soon the memories will be fond ones. Just gotta get through the rough stuff first.
[bringing tea, cookies, and huggles] Sending comfort from one pet owner to another. My favorite saying: "Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them and filling an emptiness we didn’t ever know we had."
Thank you for the kind words both of you. Everywhere I look reminds me of the memories we shared: playing fetch, hide and seek, tag your it and even him trying to nibble on my pen and notebook as I tried to study. I am using distractions because I have cried for hours and still when I think I'm too dehydrated to cry, the tears burst out. He melted his way into my frosty heart so I guess it was a given that water would be shed when he had to go. But damn.
I'm so so sorry. I was just there - lost my boy Kiptyn suddenly on April 28th. I'm sure he was there wherever they are now to tell your doggo a really silly joke when he arrived! Try to think of and talk about all the good memories, but don't be afraid to let out your emotions. Keep pushing through, it will get better slowly. 💛
I know that it was cheesy and yadda yadda, but the end bits to this game really resonated with me. I grew up on Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood and Sesame Street and those shows taught me really important and valuable lessons, both moral and social. The fact that one of those shows is gone and the other is now only accessible to children in more financially able households (it's no longer on a non-cable channel) sincerely pains me. You'd be surprised how much a kid can learn from a giant talking bird puppet, lol. They really were the light in a dark world for a LOT of kids; whether it be war or living in a home where it was a struggle to make ends meet. I dunno. Just something that uh....really hit me.
I watched a Sesame Street documentary recently (Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street) and it was really interesting. I live in the UK so didn't know it was just on cable now in the US, apparently it was originally created to help teach preschool to poor inner city children so that sucks. The guy who plays Big Bird says he sees him as a child, so he asks the questions children would ask. This game was such a loving homage, I really enjoyed it.
This was probably the best "mascot game" I've seen. You can tell a lot of love went into making it. I enjoyed it enough to watch John play it for 4 hours.
2:01:26 Seeing a stage curtain sucking in and then spitting out bodies of "dead" actors seems like the most cynical allegory for the film industry ever ...
I’m playing this myself, so I don’t want to spoil anything but I just HAVE to watch the beginning of your play through. YOU make games so much more enjoyable, even ones I have finished and played multiple times - I still come back to watch your commentary and snarky remarks. Thrilled you are tackling MFN this week!!!
Playing this with a new baby! Thank you so much John. The aim was definitely was wild on the guns. I hope you, Kimmy, and CK are all doing well and that CK is letting you get more sleep at night.
This game had a lot of delightful Roger Rabbit movie vibes to me. It's quite impressive. In my humble opinion. This is how I'd imagine a well made modern Roger Rabbit game to look and feel like.
1:16:15 - "Can't beat that entertainment quality now can you" -- In fI'ull seriousness, you're right! I love hearing you talk about where you're gonna go next (but the mocking "and then I'm gonna go there" makes me laugh lmao), it keeps me engaged and immersed, and I love your casual conversational tone. I've had a rough day and this kind of thing is perfect to unwind with --- thanks for the quality content, it's comfort food for the soul! 2:25:24 - "Why did it fail. Okay that sounds kinda harsh. Why did the show....... bomb." Killed me on sight. 2:29:19 - "It makes my little gamer brain tingle a little bit" EXTREMELY RELATABLE. Saving the last hour for after work tomorrow but this has been so thoroughly enjoyable to watch so far! A really refreshing take on mascot horror
i just wanna say I really appreciate John for letting us see the intro cinematic before saying hi. For a lot of people this is our first time seeing the game so its nice that he cares about our enjoyment of not only his lets play but the game itself. This isnt anything new with John's videos but I just wanted to point it out as little things like this make John one of my favourite youtubers. I doubt he'll see this comment but I just want to say thank you for always being genuine and for spoiling us so much with hours long videos. You rock.
When I was looking for a horror playthrough RUclipsr a while back I chose John because a) he isn't really annoying and b) he doesn't speak during cut scenes and reads out notes he finds (the voices are a bonus lol)
@@Mulbert yeah i love how he doesnt scream super loud at jumpscares or feel like he needs to act a certain way to make it "entertaining" I love watching his playthroughs at night before sleeping because theyre always so chill. I agree with the voices lol especially that infamous note saying Death X 1000 haha
I remember in the comments of your demo gameplay, people were theorizing on why Gordon doesn’t react to the puppets walking around on their own. I think most people assumed the demo just started partway through so he wasn’t surprised anymore so it was kind of weird that it’s…not even addressed? There also seemed to be less (or at least different world building) in the demo that showed the outside world was unfriendly. Interesting that they took a war direction with it. Anyway! A fun play through to watch. I died a bit when you threw the punctuation into the statue, I was worried it was a single item now lost forever but then you got more
I found your channel because of your paranormal response videos, binged those, and decided to check out your game play vids. I love them! I'm not a gamer, but your commentary and savvy are so entertaining - i love turning these on now in the evenings to relax!
2:09:05 I actually went back a bit before the scene, and you did actually lose a bullet, went from 26 to 25, thats great attention to detail game lol, but also screw you for taking ammo away xD
I'm so glad to see a playthrough of this by you! I've really been loving this game and love seeing how people play differently as well as their views on it. The artstyle of this game is so charming and I'd love to see more of these characters, and (minor spoilers) I really enjoy the mix of horror and corniness of The UNFriendly Neighborhood, that feels like a setting MOST "kids shows but DISTURBING" type of games would've used for the entire runtime instead of the characters being used for an actual story of depression/building emotional walls between each other. An awesome playthrough from you as always :>
I'm so happy that you made a video for this game. I was hoping you would. Something I realized in this video is that your english is really good to understand, even if you speed read notes. I didn't need to read along like I need to do with some other RUclipsrs. (English is not my first language)
Can really tell how enjoyable this game is for you John! If only most other mascot horror games can actually prioritize their quality like this one before merchandising. The creators really shows how much they love this subject and the parody itself delivers.
2:47:38 It was the token on the floor. Those damn tokens. And yes, shooting Ricky during the cutscene does consume a bullet. You went from 26 to 25. I thought the attention to detail there was pretty cool.
This game was refreshing I gotta say. The puppets were funny and I loved your initial reactions with a lot of the things the puppets were saying 😆. The re map set up, going through doors and inventory was well done. Loved how they went about setting it up though like you mentioned John, they should have taken advantage of the chaotic atmosphere more. Adding more random encounters and random things that happened. I actually wouldn't have minded if they even threw a random classic re "going through the door" jump scare encounter where you're forced back into the room and have to fight multiple puppets. Adding that element would have made the game better and made it more unpredictable (keeping the suspense up). A good way to go about that could have been to introduce the "bad neighbors" periodically earlier on. The "bad neighbors" could throw things off by having negative/psychotic things to say and behaving much differently than the "normal neighbors" (Maybe randomly ambushing the players or chasing players threw doors and being much harder to take down. Would have liked that more than the tanky puppet in the trench coat. An upgrade system would have been awesome too, like you mentioned. Especially since there was a lot of back tracking, they could have incorporated that to make that whole process even more fun/rewarding with the coins. Having more weapons and being upgradable would have given more use for the blue tool box too I feel. Where you could keep regular items in the red tool box and weapons in the blue one. If the game had those added to it then I feel it would def be a 10/10 for me. Though overall they did a great job, like you said John. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what they put out next!
The muppets dialogue is hilarious, Thanks again John for the amazing content. Hope you and your family are doing well and are adjusting to the new lil one.
OMG yes! thank you so much, John! I know you're probably busy with your baby, but thank you for uploading so much theses days! Hope you have a wonderful day with CK and Kimmy!
This game has very good production value and, as a muppet fan, I appreciate how lovingly satirical the dialogue and notes are. With that said, it feels a lot more like an adventure puzzle game than a survival horror game. After you fight a few rooms of them, the enemies become more of a casual hindrance to your progress than scary stalkers who create tension for you. Regardless, still a fantastic game in its own right. The neverending, overlapping rambling from the enemies was the real horror, honestly. That'd be my one big criticism. Maybe it's just me but that kind of constant word repetition and overlapping voices drives me a little bonkers.
Agreed. I think I could have actually been interesting if it was consciously chosen when, how and which puppets babbled. It could have added a lot to the ambiance in creepiness and humour but it turned into just an annoying barrier of noise that would make you want to leave the area asap
I think the unfriendly neighborhood section could have been better utilized to change up the gameplay a bit and revive the horror elements. It would have been cool to see the corruption on the modern society from tv reflected more in the puppets with them being secluded and quiet like ricky mentions at the tower about the city rather than continuing to be noisy. This might be a stretch but maybe you walk into a room and some puppets are arguing with each other it leads to puppet hands getting disconnected through fighting and now you have puppet hands crawling and leaping after you as a new type of enemy or just puppets with weapons. Room wise they could have had a graveyard set or something that was originally used to teach kids how to deal with grief and to be there for others but now its abandoned and spooky. Idk I just feel like a few spazzing puppets chasing and the boss isn't as crazy as it could have went.
For the briefest of moments, when it was showing the various different TV shows and the slow, ominous pan towards the window, my brain went "Oh wow John's created a really detailed new opening for his videos!" EDIT: Also "glowering" is the second way you tried. Like "ow" or "now".
One of the things you can tell about John is he's a BIG reader, he's got a massive vocabulary, knows a lot of other words and can sometimes struggle with pronunciation because he's only ever read them, not heard them so I love when people help out readers by gently pointing them to the right way to say it. Personal struggles: macabre (still say mac-kay-bray sometimes), sepulchre (not a clue) and hyperbole (hi-per-boll).
@@redisthecoolestcolour as a big reader myself, with a degree in library science and working in a library, it can always be a bit embarrassing to admit that you don't know how to pronounce a certain word. But I so appreciate people who gently correct and inform, AND people who aren't afraid to admit that they struggle like I do! (Today, I pronounced "Sisyphean" out loud wrong but was met with "Yeah idk how to pronounce that either")
@@Hiparu "Full of Sisyphean tasks" or "Pyrrhic victory" is how I describe my days at work. 😂 I'm proud of being part of the "not knowing how to pronounce it, but liking the definition anyway" club
@@klaudisoit was an ARG (I think you call it) they had a bunch of things to find on the game website. Game theory live has a video on it. It was about the house Norman lives in I believe
Not sure if John realizes later but if someone wants to play this, you CAN knock them out with just the wrench. It has pretty good reach, just keep backing up and swinging.
This video coming out today has really brightened my mood. I've been looking forward to this since you played the demo. But really I want to sincerely thank you for this video I've just been having the worst week and your videos always manage to help me through the tough times.❤❤❤
Arlo is a Video game commentary/review channel that mostly talks about Nintendo and Nintendo Adjacent properties, He only appears on screen as a blue puppet similar to sesame street character
Somehow I didn't know Jello was involved in this project. Great video, John, I love how much content it has. Also, I think hearing the puppets non-stop talking can be very stressful.
i've been chipping away at this video over my lunch breaks for the last week, which is the first time i've done that for a longplay in a few months now ? i've been having trouble staying focused on them lately, but this one was so fun to watch and i'm so glad you kept returning to green clear the rooms on the map lol that would have driven me crazy too. i also 1000% agree with the comment that this game's aesthetic was what hello neighbor tried to do. ALSOOO was surprised by the undertones of the game? the background context of a post-war world and gordon himself being a veteran and darkness vs light as a metaphor for desolation vs hope, and ricky's speech about the light sometimes being frightening bc even though it's a source of warmth and hope, it also illuminates the bad things. idk i walked into this one not really expecting much, but the message hit smth in me. especially that scene in the movie theater, that had me tearing up for reasons. and on that note, i'm glad you did go the extra steps to help the puppets, i haven't seen any of the other alternate endings yet but i like the one that you went with tbh!! thank you for the video i'll be thinking about this for a few days now
Really impressed with the level design and music / sound cues in this game. Every part felt like a distinct experience. So much of this game is optional. I love that you can choose to take care of the studio at the end (or not, which I think might be more true to Gordon's grumpy side). I don't think I fully understand the story though, or the world in which the game is set. These puppets have always been sentient? Are there other, non-MFN puppets out in the world, or are these ones unique? Is their creation important or remarkable? I was hopeful the "Final Letter" would tie it all together. But maybe that's me being a sucker for this exact premise - nostalgia, sentient puppets, the potential evils of television, the effect of TV and video on kids, grumpy old guys "just doing their job" who turn out to be giant teddy bears - and demanding more detail than is necessary. Thanks, John and Max! Really fun video.
The puppets being alive is practically for you to determined why which is why there is not direct answer. It’s for to think whatever you want to think.
@@mydogghost I really dislike "choose your own filling for this plot hole" but I get what you mean, and like I said, maybe I'm asking for unnecessary details
Man, I didn't realize that this was made by two of the Szymanski brothers, that's WILD. Also, John Szymanski's other game of note is Kyle is Famous which is a CYOA that is quite wild. Edit: That spoof of "Saturn Devouring His Son" is peak comedy
I'm so glad you played this game, John, even with the difficulties in presenting it as a Let's Play. I'm grateful how you take the time to explore, allow cutscenes to play out without speaking over them, and read files and even seemingly "unimportant" scenery. I also appreciate how you edit around backtracking etc while still presenting the game smoothly. Honestly that's the only complaint I have about the game based on live streams I've watched of it: a little too much backtracking and I kinda wish the pacing were tightened up a tad, but THAT is a personal preference All the best to you, Kimmy, and CK!
I enjoyed the H E L L out of this! Love the RE framework and the mascot horror coat o' paint they splashed on it, it's very fun and it does scratch that RE itch in my brain (I have the same obsession with checking the map areas obsessively for items, I'm so glad John does too lol) in a very satisfying way... kinda like they dropped a new RE game out of nowhere. I could tell within the first hour that this was going to be something I'd come back and rewatch every so often, and it's a definite now. Loved the ending John went with, the Mr Rogers reference was so cute!
Thanks for playing! Just finished the vid. Appreciate you getting as many secrets as you could - I'm stumped by that slot machine type puzzle, too. The thing I really enjoyed about this game was how you could interact with a few of the bigger puppets. It would have been sort of cool if all of the puppets, like Norman and Leliana, had something you could find and hold out while one of them is running at you, and they would stop attacking and enjoy the item or whatever. I guess kinda like the monster in Amnesia: The Bunker lol. Maybe they don't all need cutscenes but it would help sell the "Yes" ending a little more if we could see that all of the puppets just like, forgot themselves or something during the shut down, and that Gordon helped them remember/re-find themselves. I was oddly intrigued by the little Vietnam war-esque subplot that they had and how Gordon was obviously affected by it, but it didn't seem to have too much actual bearing on the story. Maybe just shorthand for how well Gordon's able to aim a gun? Or just proof on how "unfriendly" the world has become. Speaking of, they absolutely could have gone harder with the "Unfriendly Neighborhood" and made that the House Beneviento of the game. Obviously it would have been way sillier but it would have been fun to see them play up the sinister. Great playthrough!
Homestly also being a completionist myself, noticing the tokens on the floor of the cinema and the inspection area in the reels room John barely touched is leaving me CRAZY
I love the longer vids, I can watch them while I'm at work during my downtime or for the weekend I cuddle on the couch with my dog. Thanks Max for revealing the secrets of John's playthroughs.
I understand the felling of wanting more/different things out of the gameplay, but i kinda like the simplicity of the mechanics, to go along with the overall story and world they created.
3:13:27 I'm convinced is a Michael Scott vasectomy, which makes me very happy haha. Love the video John! The length is really great, but what makes it especially great is the "snide" commentary when you return. It's a bit hard to come with anything concrete to comment about, because your videos are great. I get that you might feel like the repetition doesn't make for great content "And now I'm gonna do this, and then I'm gonna do that", but I think it does. It's entertaining enough and then your personality and perspective is what really makes the videos fun, like when you correct yourself when you say "WE're gonna" because you're doing all the work and we're just watching. Idk what others have said about it, but I have no problem with the "referring to the editor" jokes either. They're funny! As for the game. I think the babbling would've made me insane if I played with headphones. I'm also so used to indie horror games being so lore and horror heavy with notes all but explicitly saying stuff like "the founder sacrificed his wife to Cthulhu and now there are eldritch horrors living in the muppets", that I was left almost confused as to what was the deal with the muppets. But I think a comment further down summed it up well as the universe being a "Who framed Roger Rabbit" style world where sentient non-human tv characters is apparently an every day occurrence. That said I'm glad they didn't lean in to the horrors of war angle more than they did.
![They're INSIDE MY HOUSE [Fears to Fathom Episode 3 - Carson House]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HymTtPhY7mg/mqdefault.jpg)
![They're INSIDE MY HOUSE [Fears to Fathom Episode 3 - Carson House]](/img/tr.png)
![Most disturbing horror game of the year? [Bloodwash]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/O3USeDps27Q/mqdefault.jpg)
You can tell when John is enjoying a game because he gets really obsessive about 100 percent completing it.
I have to confess, I was secretly (and perhaps unreasonably) hoping that after the game's intro John would appear in grumpy muppet form and would just start playing the game and commentating, never addressing the fact that he's a puppet.
That would be video if the year honestly
Please someone make this edit
I love the classic RE John saying "I'm gunna get organized" with an immediate cut to an immaculate inventory.
The babbling in this game over long periods of time is a unique horror.
Literally.
for introvert, yes
Honestly I didn't find it that bad. By the end of that first area with a billion of them I had tuned them out. I actually found it more unnerving during certain parts that are deathly silent, and from the number of jump scares in silent areas I think the game knows it.
@@neardarkroad1347 No, for people who have enough fun in life without needing to hear the inane babbling of others.
@@user-os7ec4dm8x nah. for introverts
I like how the world seems to be a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" type setting where puppets (instead of cartoons) just go about and nobody seems surprised to see or talk about them.
Yeah, it reminds me of WFRR (especially with the dynamic between pissy Gordon and Ricky lol) and this one SCP that kind of treated living kids show puppets as a known thing lol/actors like everyone else. It was kind of hilariously delightful.
Mel Brooks said you can't do a parody of something you hate, and I feel like this is a great example. The creators clearly have respect for the source material and are having fun with the concept of it becoming deadly cynical without being cynical themselves. It's hugely refreshing.
Norm Mcdonald said something similar to this when he talked about SNL doing parodies of Trump.
I think there’s a difference their in that satire is just making fun but parody is steeped in love you can have satire cause it’s just taking the piss
@@TiiAye Nah, you're just making up that difference. Satire can make use of parody and parody can work through satire. In fact, parody is often defined the same way satire is.
@@GreeneyedApethe word you're all looking for is "pastiche".
isnt Invincible made by creators who didnt like how superheroes were portrayed in media?
i'm so glad "sincerely, evil" made a return 😂 one of my fave recurring jokes
Same, I was happy to hear it too! 😁
I was falling asleep during that part but that joke woke me up again
I love that reference so much😂
One of my favs too! Always excited when I hear it in another one of his videos
ikr, I lost my shit 🤣🤣🤣
I love that John forced his way through the very first Norman and got the gun immediately. The expected path is to avoid the first few muppets (because you have no weapon) which leads to the wrench. Then you can use the wrench to get through the muppets to the next areas (like where the gun is).
That seems difficult considering how unreliable the wrench can be about direct hits. 😬
True. The wrench seems like a VERY close combat weapon, a bit too close
Fun fact: The text John reads off the wall in the beginning is from the Confessions of St. Augustine. It's a really famous Christian philisophical autobiography about St. Augustine's sinful youth before finding God and like contemplating the nature of the soul. Fun stuff in a children's TV studio!
🤓
Oh that’s pretty cool thanks for the info
And it makes a lot of sense when you get to the end
Szymanski's Christianity is a big part of his identity and he put a lot of not particularly subtle religious messaging into his game. The Confessions is honestly one of the more subtle nods. I'm not saying this as a criticism or anything, just an aspect of the game I haven't seen many people talk about.
@@GolemCC interesting, I came away feeling the game was pretty secular because I see the concepts of neighbors and friendship as universal, but now I know why I felt vague familiarity with The Confessions quote because I studied it in a religious lit class in college. I think it's a great pick because as I recall St Augustine was willing to interrogate and reflect on his faith
Hey John!! Sorry if it's been mentioned before but a RUclipsr, Sagan Hawkes, released a video essay on mascot horror and credited you for coming up with the name "mascot horror"! It's a very interesting video if you haven't seen it yet.
Got a link then? Wud be nice to have a link
@@cherrydragon3120just search the creators name and “mascot horror”, not that hard. Not everything needs a link.
@@cherrydragon3120Or you could just look it up.
@@cherrydragon3120not that hard to just look up 'sagan hawkes mascot horror'
You know its a special month when John casually uploads 10 hours of footage in 2 weeks
He seems to be in a great mood, too. Cool to see after all the crap he’s been through lately.
@@fountgarde Frankly, I think looking at that bébé's cheeks would make even Oscar the Grouch (speaking of Sesame Street) break into a grin. Plus Kimmy's doing awesomely! Everything's coming up roses in the Wolfe household - he deserves all the happiness there is. 💕🥰
Right after having a baby. John is a superhero
I too like to see the mass amounts of horror content poured in
I love how this game is a parody of mascot horror while also improving upon it and doing better. It fixes the "mascot horror walking sim/collectathon" issue by actually having gameplay with puzzles and combat, which although simple is really all that's needed in a genre where gameplay normally seems to be behind marketability, visuals and "deepest lore". It also avoids the "powered by dead children" schtick we've seen a million times since FNAF and says something surprisingly poignant in that it wasn't the evil of the company that brought it down, but the cynicism of the world that destroyed it.
Yes! You really nailed my thoughts on this, especially the refreshing take on them not being evil. I love how you put it: the cynicism of the world made them get shut down, not being evil puppets that started killing people. It made the ending surprisingly wholesome and rewarding in ways other games haven’t touched.
Thats a interesting and well thought review about the game
John: Yes, the sock puppet is voiced by Arlo.
Me: Who?
John: And no, I don’t know who that is.
Me: That’s very helpful, thank you.
My experience was more like:
John: I got hundreds of comments last time telling me that he is voiced by Arlo. So yes, it's voiced by Arlo, I acknowledge it.
Me: I have no idea who that is.
John: And no, I don't know who he is.
Me: Okay I won't worry about it then.
@@GAEULsbn that’s a thing?!?!
@@GAEULsbni will ty :)
@@GAEULsbn
I honestly was going bonkers to try and figure out who’s voice it was and why it matched so well with it being a puppet. I eventually just Googled it and was like ‘Omg, it fricking Arlo! I’m freaking subbed to that guy, how did I not realize it was him?!’
Oh, is it the guy with the blue Grover puppet? @@GAEULsbn
I think this game could have benefited from more enemy variety mechanically speaking. The puppets are aesthetically distinct enemies but they never feel any different in combat. it would be cool to see them behave differently or have unique weaknesses. I think that could add a lot more depth to the combat. Maybe a certain enemy is really tough to deal with so you save your tape to use on them. Some enemies could be better dispatched with the shotgun while others require precision with the pistol.
Yeah lots of these indie horrors love to indulge in their "puzzles" or item collecting, forgetting that combat is also an important aspect even in horror games. Resident Evil series get it right.
I thought so too
The amount of HP they have varies, if that helps.
@@selty But for a gun that might not reliably always hit the mark, it's a little hard to differentiate between stronger enemies sponging up more ammo vs. a not-very-good gun that just sometimes forces you to shoot more
@@lindsfreey9080 Nah, it's definitely more HP in some enemies, specially George that sometimes isn't getting one-shot by the shotgun.
The fantastic inventory system, the insane amount of voice lines the characters have, the quality voice acting, the attention to details both big and small, decent variety of enemies, the unique details that didn't need to be there (each map you look at fitting the theme in its styling), the maps themselves feeling unique, the sound effects, the puzzles being both simple but require a bit of thought, having very easy to see and remember locked doors, secrets abound, and the fair amount of quality of life features. This game honestly has it all and for a "mascot horror game" is leagues above the rest. I can only hope they keep the quality or improve from here.
Well indigo park is coming but it won’t be anything special. The game is made by a college student who knows very little about coding. He has only one game experience. The game will be in chapters. But at least it has an excuse if its not good. At least we know it’s a passion project more of.
It's so nice to see a mascot game that doesn't exist purely for merch purposes.
Fnaf fangames:
I never had a problem with mascot games and merchandise. We all gotta make money. As long as I liked playing the games, that's what matters to me. It's why I never got too bothered by Bendy and stuff (Poppy on the other hand).
Now this though? This is some really solid stuff that I honestly do hope they do a little merchandising for because they reeeeally deserve it for a job well done. I wouldn't mind owning one of these guys or reading a tie in book.
I’m still playing it myself, but I can totally see the care that went into creating this - far past just thinking “oooh, the $$$ we can make on stuffed animals”.
I'd say one night at flumpty's was one of the better fnaf clones/mascot horror games. Purely because that was ment to be a joke
It would be really interesting to see John's opinion on Bramble: The Mountain King... 26:32 26:43 26:51
I like that the resident neighborhood doesnt have evil in it.
That's because it's a friendly resident neighborhood :)
My brother, who is 7 and is special needs, absolutely loves this game play through. It’s the only thing he’s been watching for a week. Anytime he gets tv or iPad time, he asks me to turn it on. He simply just calls it “The Game.” He gets really stoked every time it’s turned on, and I think he’s single-handedly added 10k views to this video.
4 hour video with no midrolls, as usual John gives us such a gift!! thanks for all the uploads even with how busy you and Jimmy are with the kiddo!!
Jimmy, lol
John is 15/10 for no midrolls ever.
@@fountgarde I love watching JimmyJims - truly one of my favorite RUclipsrs!
@@redisthecoolestcolour I got midroll ads on this video
@@urhexgirl Really? That's so weird, John doesn't do midrolls. I don't think he's ever done them.
You did actually lose a bullet when Gordon shot at Ricky. Which makes me wonder if the scene is any different if the player has no ammunition.
Gordon just points his gun at Ricky and he ducks anyway
@@TheNo1pencil ah, makes sense. Thanks for the info!
@@TheNo1pencil yo thats cool
Your summary at the end is basically how I felt too. It was a high production game, great graphics, voice acting, SFX, puzzles, etc.. It just became a first person puzzle game with no horror or suspense. It doesn't take long for the puppets to completely become a non-threatening enemy, they're more of just slight annoyances. And yea, I agree just more could've been done with it.
It wasn’t supposed to be horror really
@@mydogghost the description of the game on Steam literally describes it as, "survival horror adventure".
@@samwisegamgee1243 because it has jump scares It’s classied as horror. The creator said it was survival like game with muppet theming not mascot horror
@@samwisegamgee1243 Steam descriptions are always stupid so you shouldn't take them into consideration.
@@jeanduresau I thought the game devs/publishers write the descriptions?
I love that Gordon is fully capable of leaving when he learns about the evil puppets, he just chooses not to. What a guy (affectionate)
you get a secret ending by doing so actually
I'm so glad John got the true ending. I really loved how heartfelt Gordon's journey was in the game. Thank you for the great playthrough John.
@@NahidFrolloYou just get a lame ending where he just says he wondered what happened to the studio for a while before he eventually just forgot about it. Its pretty unfulfilling to try to help you want to find the better ending.
Liliana needs to go to anger management class, that girl got some demons
I'm like 99% sure the bomb on the golden statues was meant to teach the player how to use it against the green puppet/the curtain boss, aka literally the dodongo cave thing John mentioned lmao
You, continuously walking past that coin at 2:48:00 over and over saying you found everything was killing me lol😂
to be fair, it’s one of the only areas with stuff on the ground, AND it’s the smallest item in the game. i missed it on my first two sweeps of that room.
@okayyollie you're not wrong. It's the the humour that almost every time he said I picked up everything, the coin was on screen. And that he also mentioned q few other times "its always a coin." Not at all judging him. Just my personal frustration seeing it, and not being able to say "look down" 😅
While maybe not worth a full replay, the unlockable harder difficulties do provide a lot more of the chaos you talk about. Things like a puppet exploding into a massive group of them to gang up on you, and statues coming to life and persuing you. It's really helping spice up my replays.
P.S. the accuracy of the weapon was not user error. It definitely has a huge spread, and it was my biggest complaint of the game
Statues coming to life?? 😱😱
i knew I wasn't crazy i remember seeing the puppet group glitch and the dev made it into an actual feature! i didn't know about the statues though.
That's actually disappointing. That kind if stuff should have happened in the first playthrough.
Even watching it felt a bit samey.
My good boy dog died last night and I couldn't sleep well tonight. Memories of his sweet face haunts me constantly and it hurts so bad. Thanks for posting. It'll help in keeping me distracted for a while.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I lost my pup a few weeks ago. It’s a living nightmare but soon the memories will be fond ones. Just gotta get through the rough stuff first.
[bringing tea, cookies, and huggles] Sending comfort from one pet owner to another. My favorite saying: "Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them and filling an emptiness we didn’t ever know we had."
Thank you for the kind words both of you. Everywhere I look reminds me of the memories we shared: playing fetch, hide and seek, tag your it and even him trying to nibble on my pen and notebook as I tried to study. I am using distractions because I have cried for hours and still when I think I'm too dehydrated to cry, the tears burst out. He melted his way into my frosty heart so I guess it was a given that water would be shed when he had to go. But damn.
I'm so so sorry. I was just there - lost my boy Kiptyn suddenly on April 28th. I'm sure he was there wherever they are now to tell your doggo a really silly joke when he arrived! Try to think of and talk about all the good memories, but don't be afraid to let out your emotions. Keep pushing through, it will get better slowly. 💛
I know that it was cheesy and yadda yadda, but the end bits to this game really resonated with me.
I grew up on Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood and Sesame Street and those shows taught me really important and valuable lessons, both moral and social. The fact that one of those shows is gone and the other is now only accessible to children in more financially able households (it's no longer on a non-cable channel) sincerely pains me. You'd be surprised how much a kid can learn from a giant talking bird puppet, lol. They really were the light in a dark world for a LOT of kids; whether it be war or living in a home where it was a struggle to make ends meet.
I dunno. Just something that uh....really hit me.
I watched a Sesame Street documentary recently (Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street) and it was really interesting. I live in the UK so didn't know it was just on cable now in the US, apparently it was originally created to help teach preschool to poor inner city children so that sucks. The guy who plays Big Bird says he sees him as a child, so he asks the questions children would ask. This game was such a loving homage, I really enjoyed it.
This game was a massive surprise for me. I didn’t expect what it was, and it was so wonderful. I’ve already played through it 3 times
"Flowers... and ooh, duct tape! That'll be nice for later."
Now there's a sentence you don't want to hear when getting ready for a date.
Well, depends are we talking the first date or like the tenth? 😂
I love that John still does the "sincerely, Evil." at the end of edgy notes.
4 hours with no ads. You're great, John. thanks for sticking to your principles.
This was probably the best "mascot game" I've seen. You can tell a lot of love went into making it. I enjoyed it enough to watch John play it for 4 hours.
From one dad to another, good luck John! :)
🤗 d'aww, that got me right in the feels.
That's real Nito
._.@@abyssalwolf
nice
2:01:26 Seeing a stage curtain sucking in and then spitting out bodies of "dead" actors seems like the most cynical allegory for the film industry ever ...
I’m playing this myself, so I don’t want to spoil anything but I just HAVE to watch the beginning of your play through. YOU make games so much more enjoyable, even ones I have finished and played multiple times - I still come back to watch your commentary and snarky remarks. Thrilled you are tackling MFN this week!!!
Friendship with Guys ended, now Everybody is my best friend
Playing this with a new baby! Thank you so much John. The aim was definitely was wild on the guns. I hope you, Kimmy, and CK are all doing well and that CK is letting you get more sleep at night.
This game had a lot of delightful Roger Rabbit movie vibes to me. It's quite impressive. In my humble opinion.
This is how I'd imagine a well made modern Roger Rabbit game to look and feel like.
Thanks! Always love your commentary
1:16:15 - "Can't beat that entertainment quality now can you" -- In fI'ull seriousness, you're right! I love hearing you talk about where you're gonna go next (but the mocking "and then I'm gonna go there" makes me laugh lmao), it keeps me engaged and immersed, and I love your casual conversational tone. I've had a rough day and this kind of thing is perfect to unwind with --- thanks for the quality content, it's comfort food for the soul!
2:25:24 - "Why did it fail. Okay that sounds kinda harsh. Why did the show....... bomb." Killed me on sight.
2:29:19 - "It makes my little gamer brain tingle a little bit" EXTREMELY RELATABLE.
Saving the last hour for after work tomorrow but this has been so thoroughly enjoyable to watch so far! A really refreshing take on mascot horror
I love that it's YOU the player teaching the muppets life lessons. Opposite of how it is on the show
i just wanna say I really appreciate John for letting us see the intro cinematic before saying hi. For a lot of people this is our first time seeing the game so its nice that he cares about our enjoyment of not only his lets play but the game itself. This isnt anything new with John's videos but I just wanted to point it out as little things like this make John one of my favourite youtubers. I doubt he'll see this comment but I just want to say thank you for always being genuine and for spoiling us so much with hours long videos. You rock.
When I was looking for a horror playthrough RUclipsr a while back I chose John because a) he isn't really annoying and b) he doesn't speak during cut scenes and reads out notes he finds (the voices are a bonus lol)
@@Mulbert yeah i love how he doesnt scream super loud at jumpscares or feel like he needs to act a certain way to make it "entertaining" I love watching his playthroughs at night before sleeping because theyre always so chill. I agree with the voices lol especially that infamous note saying Death X 1000 haha
I remember in the comments of your demo gameplay, people were theorizing on why Gordon doesn’t react to the puppets walking around on their own. I think most people assumed the demo just started partway through so he wasn’t surprised anymore so it was kind of weird that it’s…not even addressed?
There also seemed to be less (or at least different world building) in the demo that showed the outside world was unfriendly. Interesting that they took a war direction with it.
Anyway! A fun play through to watch. I died a bit when you threw the punctuation into the statue, I was worried it was a single item now lost forever but then you got more
It is addressed. It’s accepted within the world that the puppets are sentient and are treated like children.
I found your channel because of your paranormal response videos, binged those, and decided to check out your game play vids. I love them! I'm not a gamer, but your commentary and savvy are so entertaining - i love turning these on now in the evenings to relax!
2:09:05 I actually went back a bit before the scene, and you did actually lose a bullet, went from 26 to 25, thats great attention to detail game lol, but also screw you for taking ammo away xD
I'm so glad to see a playthrough of this by you! I've really been loving this game and love seeing how people play differently as well as their views on it.
The artstyle of this game is so charming and I'd love to see more of these characters, and (minor spoilers) I really enjoy the mix of horror and corniness of The UNFriendly Neighborhood, that feels like a setting MOST "kids shows but DISTURBING" type of games would've used for the entire runtime instead of the characters being used for an actual story of depression/building emotional walls between each other.
An awesome playthrough from you as always :>
I'm so happy that you made a video for this game. I was hoping you would.
Something I realized in this video is that your english is really good to understand, even if you speed read notes. I didn't need to read along like I need to do with some other RUclipsrs.
(English is not my first language)
This game is like running away from extroverts
Can really tell how enjoyable this game is for you John! If only most other mascot horror games can actually prioritize their quality like this one before merchandising. The creators really shows how much they love this subject and the parody itself delivers.
2:47:38 It was the token on the floor. Those damn tokens.
And yes, shooting Ricky during the cutscene does consume a bullet. You went from 26 to 25. I thought the attention to detail there was pretty cool.
This game was refreshing I gotta say. The puppets were funny and I loved your initial reactions with a lot of the things the puppets were saying 😆. The re map set up, going through doors and inventory was well done. Loved how they went about setting it up though like you mentioned John, they should have taken advantage of the chaotic atmosphere more. Adding more random encounters and random things that happened. I actually wouldn't have minded if they even threw a random classic re "going through the door" jump scare encounter where you're forced back into the room and have to fight multiple puppets. Adding that element would have made the game better and made it more unpredictable (keeping the suspense up). A good way to go about that could have been to introduce the "bad neighbors" periodically earlier on. The "bad neighbors" could throw things off by having negative/psychotic things to say and behaving much differently than the "normal neighbors" (Maybe randomly ambushing the players or chasing players threw doors and being much harder to take down. Would have liked that more than the tanky puppet in the trench coat. An upgrade system would have been awesome too, like you mentioned. Especially since there was a lot of back tracking, they could have incorporated that to make that whole process even more fun/rewarding with the coins. Having more weapons and being upgradable would have given more use for the blue tool box too I feel. Where you could keep regular items in the red tool box and weapons in the blue one. If the game had those added to it then I feel it would def be a 10/10 for me. Though overall they did a great job, like you said John. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what they put out next!
The muppets dialogue is hilarious, Thanks again John for the amazing content. Hope you and your family are doing well and are adjusting to the new lil one.
OMG yes! thank you so much, John! I know you're probably busy with your baby, but thank you for uploading so much theses days! Hope you have a wonderful day with CK and Kimmy!
This game has very good production value and, as a muppet fan, I appreciate how lovingly satirical the dialogue and notes are. With that said, it feels a lot more like an adventure puzzle game than a survival horror game. After you fight a few rooms of them, the enemies become more of a casual hindrance to your progress than scary stalkers who create tension for you. Regardless, still a fantastic game in its own right.
The neverending, overlapping rambling from the enemies was the real horror, honestly. That'd be my one big criticism. Maybe it's just me but that kind of constant word repetition and overlapping voices drives me a little bonkers.
to be faiiiiirrrr, there are 3 higher difficulty options aside from normal, if you want it to be more than an adventure game.
@@dotcomgamingd5564 For me, that would slide the enemies from casual, fun hindrances to into annoying little shits, not make anything scarier.
Agreed. I think I could have actually been interesting if it was consciously chosen when, how and which puppets babbled. It could have added a lot to the ambiance in creepiness and humour but it turned into just an annoying barrier of noise that would make you want to leave the area asap
I think the unfriendly neighborhood section could have been better utilized to change up the gameplay a bit and revive the horror elements. It would have been cool to see the corruption on the modern society from tv reflected more in the puppets with them being secluded and quiet like ricky mentions at the tower about the city rather than continuing to be noisy. This might be a stretch but maybe you walk into a room and some puppets are arguing with each other it leads to puppet hands getting disconnected through fighting and now you have puppet hands crawling and leaping after you as a new type of enemy or just puppets with weapons. Room wise they could have had a graveyard set or something that was originally used to teach kids how to deal with grief and to be there for others but now its abandoned and spooky. Idk I just feel like a few spazzing puppets chasing and the boss isn't as crazy as it could have went.
Outlast, RE4, Jim Henson, and Bioshock have a child and John Wolfe adopts them for four hours. 😎
1:52:56 John doing a Ben Shapiro voice for the critic after the Barbie nonsense is 15/10
For the briefest of moments, when it was showing the various different TV shows and the slow, ominous pan towards the window, my brain went "Oh wow John's created a really detailed new opening for his videos!"
EDIT: Also "glowering" is the second way you tried. Like "ow" or "now".
One of the things you can tell about John is he's a BIG reader, he's got a massive vocabulary, knows a lot of other words and can sometimes struggle with pronunciation because he's only ever read them, not heard them so I love when people help out readers by gently pointing them to the right way to say it. Personal struggles: macabre (still say mac-kay-bray sometimes), sepulchre (not a clue) and hyperbole (hi-per-boll).
@@redisthecoolestcoloursepulchre is pronounced like seh-pull-ker (ker as in the same sound at the end the acher, like an acher of land)
@@beingmegucaissuffering.5326 You are the hero I don't deserve. Thank you.
@@redisthecoolestcolour as a big reader myself, with a degree in library science and working in a library, it can always be a bit embarrassing to admit that you don't know how to pronounce a certain word. But I so appreciate people who gently correct and inform, AND people who aren't afraid to admit that they struggle like I do! (Today, I pronounced "Sisyphean" out loud wrong but was met with "Yeah idk how to pronounce that either")
@@Hiparu "Full of Sisyphean tasks" or "Pyrrhic victory" is how I describe my days at work. 😂 I'm proud of being part of the "not knowing how to pronounce it, but liking the definition anyway" club
“Expose yo’self to hoit and dangya” will forever live rent free in my head now
This game had one of the coolest lore drops on their website and I’m so excited to watch you play this
really? what was it?
@@klaudisoit was an ARG (I think you call it) they had a bunch of things to find on the game website. Game theory live has a video on it. It was about the house Norman lives in I believe
Not sure if John realizes later but if someone wants to play this, you CAN knock them out with just the wrench. It has pretty good reach, just keep backing up and swinging.
I am glad that he called himself out for the "Hi everybody" intro. About spit my drink out, but we all good now.
This video coming out today has really brightened my mood. I've been looking forward to this since you played the demo. But really I want to sincerely thank you for this video I've just been having the worst week and your videos always manage to help me through the tough times.❤❤❤
Arlo is a Video game commentary/review channel that mostly talks about Nintendo and Nintendo Adjacent properties, He only appears on screen as a blue puppet similar to sesame street character
That was fun I really enjoyed it this and Killer Frequency are my two favorite games of the year so far
Somehow I didn't know Jello was involved in this project. Great video, John, I love how much content it has. Also, I think hearing the puppets non-stop talking can be very stressful.
i've been chipping away at this video over my lunch breaks for the last week, which is the first time i've done that for a longplay in a few months now ? i've been having trouble staying focused on them lately, but this one was so fun to watch and i'm so glad you kept returning to green clear the rooms on the map lol that would have driven me crazy too. i also 1000% agree with the comment that this game's aesthetic was what hello neighbor tried to do. ALSOOO was surprised by the undertones of the game? the background context of a post-war world and gordon himself being a veteran and darkness vs light as a metaphor for desolation vs hope, and ricky's speech about the light sometimes being frightening bc even though it's a source of warmth and hope, it also illuminates the bad things. idk i walked into this one not really expecting much, but the message hit smth in me. especially that scene in the movie theater, that had me tearing up for reasons. and on that note, i'm glad you did go the extra steps to help the puppets, i haven't seen any of the other alternate endings yet but i like the one that you went with tbh!! thank you for the video i'll be thinking about this for a few days now
Casually five hours of John playing. Such a gift to watch after a day of work
Congrats to you & Kim! 👶🏻🍼
I say “Glowering” as in a healthy “glow” 🤷🏻♀️
"Sincerely, Evil", great call back!
Who would have thought that a Muppet horror game would scratch that classic Resident Evil itch? Itchy. Tasty. Friendly.
Really impressed with the level design and music / sound cues in this game. Every part felt like a distinct experience. So much of this game is optional. I love that you can choose to take care of the studio at the end (or not, which I think might be more true to Gordon's grumpy side).
I don't think I fully understand the story though, or the world in which the game is set. These puppets have always been sentient? Are there other, non-MFN puppets out in the world, or are these ones unique? Is their creation important or remarkable? I was hopeful the "Final Letter" would tie it all together. But maybe that's me being a sucker for this exact premise - nostalgia, sentient puppets, the potential evils of television, the effect of TV and video on kids, grumpy old guys "just doing their job" who turn out to be giant teddy bears - and demanding more detail than is necessary.
Thanks, John and Max! Really fun video.
The puppets being alive is practically for you to determined why which is why there is not direct answer. It’s for to think whatever you want to think.
@@mydogghost I really dislike "choose your own filling for this plot hole" but I get what you mean, and like I said, maybe I'm asking for unnecessary details
Man, I didn't realize that this was made by two of the Szymanski brothers, that's WILD.
Also, John Szymanski's other game of note is Kyle is Famous which is a CYOA that is quite wild.
Edit: That spoof of "Saturn Devouring His Son" is peak comedy
A couple minutes into the video and the UI and Menus feel so clean! Love it
I like that the main character's name is Gordon, it's only fitting for the evil Sesame Street theme
Bro 4:08:27 I feel called out, this is literally me or I’ll watch multiple people play the game until I know everything that you possibly could know.
I like that you said Hi everybody. You sound happy and it rubs off bro
I remember your feelings on mascot horror. Im glad to see you give MFN a go❤
I was worried you wrote this one off so glad to see it uploaded.
So happy you uploaded this! I’ve been looking forward to the release of the full game and watching you play.
John never disappoints
I'm so glad you played this game, John, even with the difficulties in presenting it as a Let's Play. I'm grateful how you take the time to explore, allow cutscenes to play out without speaking over them, and read files and even seemingly "unimportant" scenery. I also appreciate how you edit around backtracking etc while still presenting the game smoothly. Honestly that's the only complaint I have about the game based on live streams I've watched of it: a little too much backtracking and I kinda wish the pacing were tightened up a tad, but THAT is a personal preference
All the best to you, Kimmy, and CK!
I enjoyed the H E L L out of this! Love the RE framework and the mascot horror coat o' paint they splashed on it, it's very fun and it does scratch that RE itch in my brain (I have the same obsession with checking the map areas obsessively for items, I'm so glad John does too lol) in a very satisfying way... kinda like they dropped a new RE game out of nowhere. I could tell within the first hour that this was going to be something I'd come back and rewatch every so often, and it's a definite now. Loved the ending John went with, the Mr Rogers reference was so cute!
Man, this game is charming as heck.
The ending boss fight song really slaps. Gonna need that one.
Love the music climbing up the antenna. It's so Resi
@@redisthecoolestcolour Yesss. So even the ending song/boss fight has Resident Evil vibes. I love it.
@@rumdiculous7990 Someone needs to edit the bit in Village where Ethan is talking with Evelyn with the antenna music from MFN. I bet it fits perfectly
Thanks for playing! Just finished the vid. Appreciate you getting as many secrets as you could - I'm stumped by that slot machine type puzzle, too. The thing I really enjoyed about this game was how you could interact with a few of the bigger puppets. It would have been sort of cool if all of the puppets, like Norman and Leliana, had something you could find and hold out while one of them is running at you, and they would stop attacking and enjoy the item or whatever. I guess kinda like the monster in Amnesia: The Bunker lol. Maybe they don't all need cutscenes but it would help sell the "Yes" ending a little more if we could see that all of the puppets just like, forgot themselves or something during the shut down, and that Gordon helped them remember/re-find themselves.
I was oddly intrigued by the little Vietnam war-esque subplot that they had and how Gordon was obviously affected by it, but it didn't seem to have too much actual bearing on the story. Maybe just shorthand for how well Gordon's able to aim a gun? Or just proof on how "unfriendly" the world has become. Speaking of, they absolutely could have gone harder with the "Unfriendly Neighborhood" and made that the House Beneviento of the game. Obviously it would have been way sillier but it would have been fun to see them play up the sinister.
Great playthrough!
Homestly also being a completionist myself, noticing the tokens on the floor of the cinema and the inspection area in the reels room John barely touched is leaving me CRAZY
The "sincerely, evil" nod at 3:21:11 absolutely sent me
Being able to suplex the puppets would have been glorious!
I love the longer vids, I can watch them while I'm at work during my downtime or for the weekend I cuddle on the couch with my dog.
Thanks Max for revealing the secrets of John's playthroughs.
I don't know why but seeing the cardboard prescription pills on the cartoony kitchen counter really hit me.
Let's go!!! I've been waiting for this since John played the demo. I'm still working my way through Killer Frequency, but I am beyond stoked for this!
I understand the felling of wanting more/different things out of the gameplay, but i kinda like the simplicity of the mechanics, to go along with the overall story and world they created.
Today is my day off work, I have good coffee, snacks and a 4 hour John Wolfe video. Let the relaxation and laughter begin
Perfectly timed with my dinner. Thanks John!
Well it 2 hours to early for me so if you could switch it up john🙃
@@orreongman your dinner lasts 4 hours?
Slow eater?
describe taste
@@adamgarner4149 exquisite
That was really fun! Thank you for playing, John!
I didn’t watch anyone play this just so I could watch John play it!
3:13:27 I'm convinced is a Michael Scott vasectomy, which makes me very happy haha.
Love the video John! The length is really great, but what makes it especially great is the "snide" commentary when you return. It's a bit hard to come with anything concrete to comment about, because your videos are great. I get that you might feel like the repetition doesn't make for great content "And now I'm gonna do this, and then I'm gonna do that", but I think it does. It's entertaining enough and then your personality and perspective is what really makes the videos fun, like when you correct yourself when you say "WE're gonna" because you're doing all the work and we're just watching. Idk what others have said about it, but I have no problem with the "referring to the editor" jokes either. They're funny!
As for the game. I think the babbling would've made me insane if I played with headphones. I'm also so used to indie horror games being so lore and horror heavy with notes all but explicitly saying stuff like "the founder sacrificed his wife to Cthulhu and now there are eldritch horrors living in the muppets", that I was left almost confused as to what was the deal with the muppets. But I think a comment further down summed it up well as the universe being a "Who framed Roger Rabbit" style world where sentient non-human tv characters is apparently an every day occurrence. That said I'm glad they didn't lean in to the horrors of war angle more than they did.
All the muppets speaking at once reminds me of that audio that replicates what it’s like having schizophrenia.