FNAF Secret of the Mimic - Review

I've been a big FNAF fan for a while, and after the disaster that was Security Breach -the previous FNAF game by Steel Wool- I was hoping for a course correction from the studio.

In some ways it is, but the series continues to stray further from the magic the first games had.

Let's start by making a short recap of the issues Security Breach had, to have a better frame of reference.

SB was very obviously waaay too large in scope for the abilities of the studio. The Pizzaplex was MASSIVE, and you felt it in the file sizes, the load times, and most importantly, the optimization.

The size of the Pizzaplex leads to another issue : how do you transform the very static gameplay of classic FNAF point-and-click games to a 3D environment where you're allowed to move wherever you want?

Answer : You throw away the innovative and stress-inducing gameplay that made the first games so intense, and you make a classic hide-and-seek "chase" game, where the animatronics have an AI that allows them to roam around, see you, and pursue you.

In theory, this allows for intense stealth cat-and-mouse gameplay, similar to classics like Resident Evil 2, Outlast, or Alien: Isolation.

In practice, the size of the Pizzaplex and the very basic AI means that it's very easy to lose the animatronics and just keep moving on without them on your tail.

How do you keep the danger and intensity? The answer, and the most damning game design decision of the entire game : The animatronics can teleport.

This decision makes every single arena in SB an absolute pain to go through.

It makes the fights unfair, and slows gameplay to a crawl. It breaks the immersion, and lifts the veil on the mechanics of the game, which immediately makes it less scary.

This isn't the only issue with the game, but it is the biggest one, and I was curious how they were going to adress it in SotM.

The good news : they did adress it, and the game is significantly more pleasant to play through as a result. It's not the pinnacle of game design, but it's a start.

Firstly, the game is a lot smaller in scope, which allows it to be a LOT more polished.

Every area feels unique and way more focused, with a remarkable level design throughout the entire game.
The Mimic, the titular antagonist of the game, also has a couple of improvements to its AI over the animatronics of Security Breach.

The reduced scope also means that the arenas are smaller, which removes the need for the Mimic to teleport. The fights are thus more immersive and scarier in general, especially coupled with the mechanic that allows the Mimic to inhabit ANY of the animatronics in the arena.

This is by far the coolest feature of the Mimic, which makes it a shame that it's not used that much in the game.

The coolest arena for me was the Workshop, where this mechanic is most used, and I wish there were more occasions for it to show up.

I also wish its AI was a little more agressive. It felt a little too easy to lose it by just running around a corner.

Other than those nitpicks, the Mimic is a net improvement over the animatronics of SB.

The set pieces, which were the best part of SB, are still present and just as impressive. The Big Top sequence was great, and The Molten Dolly chase was a highlight of the game.

Other miscelleanous remarks :

- Environments and ambiance are top notch
- OST is great
- Good optional content
- Voice acting is impressive (Andy Field is still one of the best things to happen to the FNAF franchise)
- Tiger Rock is a great bossfight, even if I nearly pissed myself in fear during it
- Innovative inventory system

Now... for the negative.

While SotM does improve a lot on the many faults of SB, it's... still not a FNAF game.

If anything, it feels a LOT more like a Poppy Playtime chapter than an entry in the FNAF franchise.
The setting (toy factory), the chases, the puzzles...

A lot in SotM feels lifted directly from Poppy Playtime.

Which is not inherently a bad thing, Poppy IS a great game to copy (at least the early chapters), but it just does not capture the same magic the original games had. If I wanted to play Poppy, I'd just play poppy, I come to FNAF to play FNAF.

SotM is not a bad game, but I just don't think it's for me, especially at 40$ for 6 hours of gameplay

While there is some replayability, it feels very artificial, since the only way to get the hidden ending is to start a NG+ and replay the ENTIRE GAME, all for one single collectible that is only available in NG+.

Also, the "hide in locker until the killer goes away" gameplay that has been so present in the last 15 years of horror games is becoming incredibly stale at this point.

Too often the gameplay slowed to a crawl while I waited in locker for the Mimic to move on. Once I just stopped using the lockers altogether, the gameplay became a lot more fun, but it also kinda became "how well can you trick the AI" instead of feeling like an intense chase, which broke even more of the fragile immersion.