The fifth chapter for Poppy’s playtime finally released this week after a long year of awaiting the thought to be the final chapter of the series.
We carry on from the end of the 4th chapter, where we find ourselves pursued by the first antagonist of the series Huggy Wuggy, where we’re now in the domains of the prototype the labs, as we delve deeper into the factory uncovering the new horrors that await us.
What made this chapter exciting was that not only did we explore the deeper and darker parts of the factory but we also finally saw how horrifying the prototype is, after years worth of build-up and mystery surrounding him.
Graphically it was great, the atmosphere and tension was as good as ever, and it had a few terrifying moments, though I have to admit I was quite underwhelmed by how scary it actually was. Considering the trailer and the chapter was hinted to be centered around the prototype, I did expect to see him more and in general for it to be a much scarier experience.
Make sure you have your thinking caps on for this chapter...
The past chapters were quite heavily story focused, we actively seeked out notes and tapes to actually learn more about the narrative and the backstory behind characters. This applies specifically from chapters two to four, the first one is an exception of course since it was the first one and just a small taster for what was yet to come.
Surprisingly the latest chapter strayed away from this and instead felt more puzzle driven which I noticed after around an hour of playing, simply because there was a puzzle around every ten minutes. Now more puzzles and less story isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I did still somewhat enjoy the gameplay despite this but it did feel like a constant switch between “solve this puzzle” and “run away”, which pretty much summed up 80% of the game. Luckily though, most puzzles were fairly straightforward and could be solved within a few minutes, I actually had more issues with the chase sequences particularly towards the end of the game.
With that said, whilst it had the most puzzles out of any other chapter and definitely the most complex, the new hands introduced, the pressure and conductive hands added a lot more variety and made the puzzles a lot more enjoyable in general. That meant that new types were added, though the power poles we’ve seen in all of the previous ones still made a few appearances.
Chase scenes are a common occurrence in the series so it’s no surprise that there are quite a few in chapter five, most of them involving trying to escape the ever persistent Huggy. There actually felt like a lot more chase segments too compared to the other chapters, which emphasizes my point on how most of the game consisted of chase and puzzle sections.
It may not of been the scariest, but it was most certainly the darkest installment of the series.
Something the past chapters have successfully achieved at is instilling fear effectively, whether it’s through tense chase sequences, subtle appearances of antagonists or even just the naturally eerie atmosphere they had, none of them ever left you feeling calm.
In comes chapter five, which I found had none of those aspects to make it truly terrifying. Whilst yes it did have chase sequences, a lot of them mind you and an extremely horrifying antagonist in the prototype, it just didn’t feel…scary.
I rarely felt uneasy when walking through the labs or when running away from Huggy for the fourth time. Simply because he’s just not as scary, the more you encounter an antagonist the less effective they are in terms of stirring up tension and fear, which is what I really think was the case here. The atmosphere also felt quite non-existent at times, this was primarily due to the fact that most of the game was heavily puzzle focused which as you can imagine doesn’t scream “horror”.
I really think if it wasn’t for the prototype and how horrifying his design is, it would’ve been one of the least scariest in the series. It’s a shame we didn’t see much of him either apart from a chase sequence towards the end which was probably the best part of the game, he felt like the saving grace for this chapter even if he only appeared towards the last segments of the game.
Despite that, I think this was the darkest chapter by a pretty wide margin, and this was because of the section where you have to collect Huggy’s memories. We got to see his backstory and understand why he’s so aggressive and violent which honestly is understandable, seeing how the toys were treated and basically brainwashed was extremely cruel and we can only think of how horrifying it must have been to go through that process. The thought alone makes me shiver, which is exactly why I thought that section was so effective in making us feel uncomfortable.
Ms Gracie who appeared throughout that segment and in some tapes and notes also contributed to that a lot. I found her to be very creepy and sadistic when watching the short films in the rooms clearly made to brainwash the children to accept their new forms as toys.
New faces didn’t stick around for too long and were overshadowed by past characters for the majority of the game.
We were introduced to a few new characters in this chapter, the first of which being Giblet and Chum Chompkins who had the same dynamics as Poppy and Kissy. I don’t think they really had that much of an impact on the chapter, we didn’t really see them both much apart from the beginning of the chapter, whilst Giblet was with us just before the credits rolled I did expect the two to have a much bigger involvement than they did, though we definitely should see more of them in the future.
Lily of course was the last new face to be introduced to us, and like the other two I mentioned she wasn’t present long apart from the last segment of the game, but I do think we saw enough of her behaviour and personality for her to actually have an impact on the game. She was very unhinged and creepy and I do wish we saw more of her because I think she died way too quickly, unlike Yarnaby in the previous chapter who also acted as a secondary antagonist and didn’t have a backstory at all, I didn’t really care when he died since he didn’t have much to offer as a character, but I really wish Lily was fleshed out more or just survived a little longer.
If she was present throughout the whole game I think she would’ve been a lot more effective as an antagonist which is exactly why I think Catnap is one of the best in the series. In my opinion an antagonist which is present the whole game and silently stalks you is a lot more horrifying than one that just kind of has no hesitation showing themselves and dies quickly.
Whilst new faces appeared they were overshadowed by characters reappearing from previous chapters, with the most notable one being Huggy. Kissy and Poppy reappeared which isn’t a shock because we all kind of expected it, and of course who could forget the prototype. The main antagonist who we’ve been aware of and seen briefly since chapter two, who I guess you could count as new since it was our first actual confrontation with him. The Doctor also made a return too, another character we assumed to be dead that we’ll have one final showdown with.
What I really don’t want Mob Entertainment to do is constantly bring back old characters who we thought died. Towards the end of the game we see the Prototype attack Huggy and Kissy and by the looks of it kill them, I do hope that their stories there finally came to a conclusion. I don’t think they have much else to offer anymore and seeing them return again would just feel pointless, especially since it’s a chance for the characters we rarely saw this chapter to actually involve themselves and have an impact on the story in the next chapter, even if it’s small.
