Are the VR FNaF Games Good?

 

    show part of other video that says something about vr* Well, here we are.

        While I was editing the previous video, I purchased a vr headset. I wanted to include these games in that video but didn’t have enough time to include them. Sure, I could’ve played them in flat mode but considering they weren’t originally developed to be played that way, it wouldn’t have felt right. Now that I’ve played them in vr, let's go over how good they are.

HELP WANTED 1

Help Wanted released on May 28, 2019 and was developer Steel Wool’s first game for the series. Given they were primarily a VR studio, it made sense for them to develop this game, although how Scott found them is unknown because they were pretty small at the time, only having 3 games out before this. This game also had a weird controversy where Steel Wool was using fan made assets in promotional material, but obviously in the final game everything is made by them or Scott.

The game’s premise is really interesting: You’re a beta tester for Fazbear Entertainment’s upcoming VR experience that is supposed to help clean up their image after a rogue indie developer made games about the mishappenings at Freddy’s restaurants. However, given that Fazbear Entertainment is behind this game, nothing goes to plan. The in-universe developers, Silver Parasol Games, were working on the game as usual, until they were given circuit boards to scan in. One of these boards had a part of Springtrap’s soul on it, and he was reborn into the game as Glitchtrap. Eventually this animatronic takes over one of the developers, named Jeremy, and is implied to have driven him to suicide. During the game’s development, Cassette Girl records audio logs to warn the next development team of this. Glitchtrap attaches itself to these logs, since they’re in a very secure part of the game’s files so they can’t be found easily, and therefore is unable to be deleted. She then fragments the tapes in order to mitigate the animatronic, but leaves one final message detailing her plan to destroy it entirely: Collect the logs, let it merge with your mind and flush the memory using a button on the monitor. If you succeed, you’ll be locked in a room with a metallic door with a keyhole and bloody handprints. Once the keyhole opens, Glitchtrap appears and disappears into darkness, signifying its escape. Throughout the game you can see Glitchtrap getting closer to the player, with it turning into a plush after the merge. It also mimics the very first words we hear from Cassette Girl, those being “Hello? Can you hear me?” which I find very fascinating. 

In terms of gameplay, this game is mostly recreations, with them taking up about 60% of the total game. These are very faithful recreations too, with them mostly being the best way to play these games. I’m conflicted on this though, because on one hand these games are still fun and I find them more engaging than before, but on the other I wish there was more originality to it. I know why this game is made to be mostly recreations but part of me wishes they changed things a bit more, but it’s fine as is. Once you complete every game in a given section, you’ll be given access to the blacklight versions, which acts as a hard mode of sorts. These typically include having a higher AI level and changing the visuals, which feels a bit disappointing to say the least. I wish they took the chance to change the games more but I guess it fits more for them to be made the way they currently are.

Starting at the hub, this is where you’ll select your gamemode by using the monitor in front of you. You have a few buttons on the desk below you, one to take you to the prize corner and the other replays the title sequence. There is a showtime button here but it’s nonfunctional. Flipping the switch to your left transports you to the blacklight version of the hub, where you can access hard mode versions of each minigame. It’s in this version of the hub that you can access the room with all the tapes in it, provided you’ve found any. It also plays a different music track and has different visuals, which I really like. You can go to the prize counter to see what prizes you’ve gathered, whether it’s through collecting coins or completing minigames. Finally, once you complete the final level in the game you get access to a gallery, allowing you to view every animatronic and rotate their models. The hub does feel a bit empty, especially compared to what comes later, but it’s very functional. The atmosphere of it is also really well done, something I think this game exceeds at. The most interesting thing about it is seeing Glitchtrap slowly progressing towards you, with it eventually becoming a marketable plushie. It doesn’t do more than what’s needed and that’s perfectly okay.

Going over the games themselves, FNaF 1 is probably the best and most warranted of the recreations. My primary complaints with this game were the lacking camera system and lengthy nights. Help Wanted fixes both of these problems on top of making it more immersive by being a vr game. The nights are only about 5 minutes long which LARGELY improves the pacing, added on to the fact you can use the cameras without draining your power and it feels like there’s an actual game to be played! Incredible, I know. It still falls into the same pitfalls as the original with things being a little slow at the start and even though the camera system is more usable now, it still doesn’t serve much of a purpose outside of Foxy and Freddy. Something that is neat is that you can see Bonnie and Chica passing your doors if you turn the light on at the right time. Getting to see these animatronics move in real time is really neat too, it feels like there’s more personality to these robots than before. They even kept in the little things like Foxy’s song and Freddy’s laugh and they surprisingly kept in the robot groaning from Bonnie and Chica, which I didn’t expect at all given how the game works. Sadly though, they removed the robot talking from the hall corner cams, truly a sad day to be a guy that likes audio. The atmosphere is well preserved and feels suffocating at times. It’s obviously a lot more immersive given the fact you’re in the office but I think steel wool translated everything beautifully. This is also one of the few games to have the blacklight mode change the general gameplay in a minor way, with your doors and lights occasionally glitching out before Freddy arrives at your door. It’s an interesting concept but pretty lacking in terms of shaking things up and making it hard outside of just raising the AI levels. Despite that, I still find this version of FNaF 1 to be the definitive way to play it and I can’t imagine playing the original version anymore.

FNaF 2 is largely similar to its original incarnation, with it being very faithfully recreated in 3D. Although for some reason the withered animatronics were added in a post-launch update, which is really strange. They’re completely absent apart from their blacklight night aptly named “Withereds”, which is the only night to feature a difficulty slider for some strange reason. The music box also restarts the song every single time you press the button, which is a super annoying bug. I really don’t know how that ended up happening but it becomes a bit ear grating to hear the first few notes of that song for the entire night. I think the environmental spacing is a lot better this time, with the office feeling a lot smaller than it did in the original. It's still not claustrophobic like the FNaF 1 office but it being shrunk down a tiny bit and being made a bit darker definitely helps the immersion a bit more, added onto it being a VR experience. The night length is the same as the first game, being about 5 minutes, which also helps the pacing a lot as the original’s were 7 minutes(!!). The game is also less random than its original version, meaning Toy Bonnie is no longer a menace to society. Outside of the aforementioned lever for the withered night, the black light modes are just a visual change with higher AI levels, which is sadly a common theme throughout the entire game. I actually think the toys look a lot better here than they did originally, mostly due to the darker lighting. They look a lot less plasticy than before, which is a nice change. For the most part I find this version to be the best way to play FNaF 2 if you don’t mind your ears falling off halfway through the game.

FNaF 3 is very much the same story as the previous two games, a very faithful 3D recreation of the original game. In terms of spacing, you’re basically confined to this little corner of the office, meanwhile it still feels like you’re in the full size FNaF 3 office. The repair monitor is always available, meaning the entire challenge of the original game is completely thrown out the window. I know I didn’t really like the original game all that much, and part of it was the constant repairs needed in later nights, but this now has the opposite extreme where it’s so easy to just spam reboot all and keep springtrap at the other end of the building it’s become kinda boring. The most stressful game reduced to just sitting there for 5 minutes hitting one button, we’ve really evolved. On the bright side, this also means you have constant access to both the main cams and the vent cams, all you have to do to change your view is interact with their respective panel. I actually really like this change, it’s a lot easier to swap your view. Although because of this the very few phantoms that remain are a lot stricter on their timing, with them being the real challenge of the night. This mostly applies to Phantom BB and Mangle, as their swap timers are a lot less generous than the original. Phantom Foxy and Freddy are very easy to ignore. You can also light up the vent to your right, although it feels more like a novelty since it really only illuminates your imminent doom. It is pretty funny though, so it gets a pass. Similar to the previous game, the blacklight mode is just a visual change, with it being the most interesting since it references the original ending of the game with the building on fire, now featuring png fire. This isn’t really related to gameplay but something about Springtrap looks… off compared to the original. I can't really pinpoint why but he just looks a lot goofier this time. It’s weird because he’s the only animatronic I feel this way towards across both games. This is the most side grade one of these recreations feels, which is really strange cause going into it I expected this to be my favorite way to play this game. On one hand I like that my suffering is heavily mitigated because I do not like this game but on the other, any semblance of challenge has been removed which makes it even more boring.

Next up is Dark Rooms, which starts with the biggest skill issue for me: Fun with Plushtrap and Nightmare BB. Both of these are basically ripped straight out of FNaF 4, so of course I don’t like them very much. They might be easier in vr thanks to the audio but I’m still not very good at them. Next up is our first original minigame: Plushbabies!!!! YIPPEE!!! You’re in a dark room and armed with a flashlight with one objective: Shine your light on the plushbabies before they get you. These little shits have haunted my dreams ever since I played this game and I love it. The minigame itself is pretty fun once you get the hang of it but is insanely stressful at the same time. Your light only recharges when it's off so the best way to play it is to just occasionally flash the spawn locations, only keeping it on if there’s a plushbaby there. After this there’s a recreation of the funtime auditorium segment from sister location, which–yet again–feels no different than the original version of this. This section has some of the better blacklight modes this time, with Plushtrap’s shrinking the player. BB’s night still shrinks the player but also adds in a million balloons so it’s even harder to see. Plushbaby’s night has the best change ever with every plush being a plushbaby, adding even more nightmare fuel. It’s a lot harder to discern what is a real plushbaby and what isn’t, adding more stress to the situation. It’s a really well made challenge and feels like a good remix of the level to actually be hard outside of just upping AI levels. Finally, Funtime Foxy’s night just floods the room with a gajillion animatronics to make it harder, a fair way to make it harder but it can also be a bit frustrating at times.

Parts and Service is where you’ll head after conquering the dark rooms and these might be my favorite minigames in the game. You’re put right in front of the killer death robots and have to fix them in some way, with the difficulty ramping up as you go down the list. Bonnie needs his guitar recalibrated, which you do by removing his eyes in a certain order, pressing buttons on his head and hitting the blinking light. I like that it’s very obvious which string is out of tune, although it can be kind of hard to hear if you’re speeding through the level since Hand Unit will still be running his loud mouth during the sequence. Luckily you can replay it if you missed it, so that’s nice. Chica needs to be decontaminated since she’s been attracting bugs. You open her face plate, hit her with the chemispray, reattach her arm and finally eat a slice of pizza. At the very end, her cupcake will run off the plate, forcing you to catch it. It reminds me a bit of Bon-Bon from night 3 of Sister Location, except I can actually catch the cupcake more reliably. Freddy stole some kid’s hat and it’s up to you to retrieve it. While you’re retrieving the hat you check and make sure nothing else got put in Freddy, so you open his chest by pulling his bowtie. After you remove the watch, you can remove his music box so you can retrieve the shoe behind it. Next, you’re supposed to put the music box back in but unfortunately for Freddy, you were just having yourself some nice exotic butters before this so you drop his music box and he gets pissed. But he also isn’t picky with what music box he has, so just grab a replacement and put it back in nice and slowly. Afterwards, you get to boop his nose and you’re done. Foxy is the most stressful of the bunch, as you need to keep a constant eye on him. After you put his head back on, you get to fool around in the drawers until you find the correct fuses to put on him. After the fuses are in, you just need to find his eye and you’re done. The blacklight levels are all the same with the exception of Foxy, who’s fuses will flash different colors, making it even harder to replace them. His eye is also a solid color now, meaning it’s a bit harder to find the correct eye. Bonnie’s room is just covered in a blacklight (as expected), Chica is the same but now her cupcake is the nightmare variant and the chemispray breaks down after the first use and Freddy has an entire room change where you’ll be put in a room surrounded by static screens. The entire level is in grayscale with a lot of floating items around and Freddy is completely black with his eyes and teeth glowing. The blacklight modes are kinda hit or miss, but I still enjoy them a lot.

Moving forward, next up is Vent Repair. I’d say these are my favorite to do after P&S simply because they’re unique to HW and also really fun. Mangle’s vent repair is very simple, you do a task in the 3 vents surrounding you one at a time while fending off Mangle. It’s a bit basic but for an introduction level I think it’s fine. Ennard’s level is where the real meat lies for this section, as it’s a fairly long level. The first level of tasks you have to do involve you tracing wires and hitting buttons in a particular order, with it getting harder as you go, eventually having you trace wires in a room with the power blinking. Next up, you have to solve a gear puzzle while fending off Ennard. You have to move gears around the 3 vents in order to progress, with your goal being to get all gears on the same side. Afterwards you’ll be lowered down to the final set of puzzles, where you have to redirect the steam through pipes by rotating them in the correct order. Finally, you’ll be lowered to the boiler room where you’ll press a button and the room starts exploding as you leave. The blacklight modes shake up the games pretty well too, with Mangle’s forcing all 3 vents open and having a 2nd Mangle threaten the player, along with the usual visual change. Ennard’s, however, probably changes the game the most out of any other blacklight mode, with the level being upside down. In the breaker room section, there’s a bunch of broken down animatronics making the wires harder to trace, and it even has Springtrap crawling towards you on the 2nd panel. Sadly the next sections are the same besides being upside down, but the ending is changed. After you push the final button, Ennard leaps at the player and sinks the elevator as opposed to just burning like he did in the normal mode. It’s a small thing that has no effect on gameplay but I think it’s really neat. I wish they continued the trend of changing the level more but I’m still happy with what we got, I just wish this was the standard for the blacklight modes.

Finally, we end off with Night Terrors, which loosely recreates the 5th night of FNaF 4. The first night is against Funtime Freddy, where he approaches from either hall and will jumpscare you if you don’t close the door on him. Bon-Bon acts independent from him, but his jumpscare does not end your run. Bonnet will appear randomly in your bedroom, forcing you to shine your light on her or she will jumpscare you, however it’s also non-lethal. If she appears at the closet, you have a small amount of time to run there and shut the door before Funtime Freddy jumpscares you. Nightmarionne’s night is basically the same from FNaF 4 with the addition of the tentacles coming from the ceiling and bed. Otherwise, it’s a rinse and repeat of running to each door and checking if he’s there or not, then closing when he is. Circus Baby’s night is actually pretty different, with you hiding in the closet and having to shut the door when she approaches. Don’t leave it closed for too long however, as the plushbabies will get mad and jumpscare you if you do. Nightmare Fredbear’s mode is the exact same as the original game, so there’s not a lot for me to say here. It’s a version of FNaF 4 that is scarier than the original, although much of that can be attributed to it being in VR.

The blacklight version of Night Terrors is special, because instead of being barely-changed versions of the minigames, it’s actually a different level entirely: Pizza Party. This is a maze level where you travel through various locales of the series, with your main goal being to end up at the backstage of FNaF 1. You have to be fairly quick, as most rooms will have an active threat and if you revisit a room too many times you will get jumpscared. It’s a pretty long level that can get confusing to navigate at times. All the places have a bunch of warnings everywhere and seeing parts of these games that you never got to see before is really interesting. When you get to the end, you’ll see Glitchtrap beckoning you to the stage. Following them will reveal that you’ve been stuffed into the Freddy suit, performing on stage as Glitchtrap dances around the hub area. There is another ending here though, where if you look to the right you’ll see an open door with snow pouring through it. Going here will take you outside, showing the under construction Pizza Plex, with a billboard that says coming soon. It’s small but I really like this area, something about the mood of it just feels good. This is the final level in the game, with it only unlocking once every other level has been completed.

Overall, Help Wanted 1 is definitely a good game but to quote the funny guy from squid games: I’ve played these games before. There is a certain novelty of having these games in VR that still persists even as of writing this but I still feel conflicted on my feelings on this game. It’s definitely one of my favorites in the series but I also wish it was done differently. I definitely see myself engaging with this game more than the originals because of the actual effort needed by the player, as well the game being a lot scarier. Thankfully, Steel Wool would answer my cry for help as they’d release a DLC that fixes my problems with the base game.

CURSE OF DREADBEAR

Curse of Dreadbear is a DLC that was released for Help Wanted on October 23rd, 2019 and is a small but worthwhile DLC. It’s accessed through a candy pale in the main hub, complete with its own title screen. Once you load into the halloween hub, you’re greeted with the usual monitor to select your minigames, with most of them being unlocked at the start. The overall structure is the same as before, with there being 3 sections and 10 minigames total. The blacklight switch is present but outside of changing the hub’s visuals and being used for a couple easter eggs, appears to do nothing.

Starting off with Afraid of the Dark, the first level is a well beloved level: Plushkin Patch. It’s the sequel to plushbaby we didn’t know we needed. It’s very similar to the original level, with the plushbabies wearing masks of the FNaF characters, which is very cute to see. Next up is Pirate Ride, which is an on-rails shooter where you try to get a high enough score to not get sent to Davy Jones's locker by Foxy. It’s a really fun minigame and you can even go on a secret path if you shoot the cardboard cutouts of helpy that can show up. FInally, the section ends with Corn Maze, which is very self explanatory. You’re tasked with finding a key to exit the maze while Grimm Foxy chases you down. You can hide in cardboard cutouts when he spots you. If you collect all 4 keys, a 5th one will spawn. Grab this key and head back to where you started. The cellar door will open and lead you to a new room, where the vanny mask lies. Once you grab it, you can go back to the main hub and put the mask on, allowing you to communicate with the Glitchtrap plush. It’s a pretty neat game with a cool secret but I just don’t find it fun.

Next up is Spooky Mansion, which starts off pretty spooky with Hallway. This minigame is basically hallway sim 2019, with you having to be careful of animatronics coming out of the doors to either side of you. Foxy will also spawn in front of you occasionally and you have to wait for the hall to be dark before you proceed or else he’ll jumpscare you. Eventually, Nightmare Freddy will spawn and begin moving towards you, basically forcing you to progress and only stop when necessary. Once you reach the end of the level you’ll enter the FNaF 4 bedroom and the minigame will end. Now that you’ve sufficiently scared yourself, how about building an abomination? That’s where Build-A-Mangle comes in, allowing you to create the animatronic of your dreams- er, Fazbear’s dreams. You’ll see a bunch of parts on the screens in front of you and you have to grab them from the conveyors, while shocking the Freddles. This minigame caught me off guard at first because I thought you only needed what was displayed on the monitors, but in reality you can throw in any part that’s been displayed at any point, not just what’s on your screen. You have to get 70% or more to win, and it’s pretty fun once I understood that little quirk. Next up is Trick or Treat, where you have to deduce who shows up at your door and put on the appropriate mask. If you fail, you won’t get any candy, which is no good. Occasionally Mangle will show up and you have to put on his mask to make her go away, or else she’ll kill you. I also really enjoy this minigame, it’s fun looking around like a maniac trying to figure out who’s where and what mask to put on. Finally, we end off with a minigame where you have to create a brain for Dreadbear. It reminds me a bit of parts and service from the base game, which is a good thing. You have to paint each section of the brain, get it to a certain size and get it to output a certain frequency. Occasionally your power will go out and you only get 4 restarts before Dreadbear kills you. Once you’ve given him a brain, you’ve won.

Finally, the DLC ends off with Danger! Keep Out! and it might be my favorite section in this dlc. It’s FNaF 1 again, which I would have a problem with, however they fixed the issue with the camera system. The gameplay loop involves looking at the animatronics through the cameras as usual, but the major changes are that your doors no longer work and instead you have to track the animatronics down and flash them to make them temporarily disappear. Using a flash takes 20% of your power, and you have to pull the lever next to your monitor to reset the power, which takes around 10 seconds, meaning you have to plan your flashes and restarts very carefully on the later nights in order to not screw yourself. Night 1 starts fairly standard with just Bonnie and Chica active in order to help you get used to the changes. Night 2 introduces Foxy, who works a bit differently. If he gets out of Pirate’s Cove it’s an instant game over, no matter how much durability your doors have. You have to wait for him to leave his curtain fully in order to reset him, making your job a little more stressful than the previous night. Night 3 adds dreadbear, who also adds even more stress to the night. Flashing him doesn’t make him disappear like the previous animatronics, instead it will only stun him for a short while. He’s very hard to see on the cameras and you have to wait for his eyes to glow. If he gets to your door, he gets one hit before he kills you. This is the level of changes that I would’ve liked to see in the base game blacklight modes, taking an existing gameplay formula and twisting it entirely while still keeping the identity of the mode.

Curse of Dreadbear is definitely a worthwhile DLC, with it having some of the most fun minigames in the game. My only real complaint is that there’s only 10 levels with no blacklight variants despite the switch being there. It’s really a shame, although thankfully this DLC would lay the foundation for the next VR game, but we’d have to wait a few years for that.

HELP WANTED 2

Help Wanted 2 was released on December 14th, 2023 and is the 2nd VR game in the FNaF franchise. It features roughly the same amount of minigames as the previous game–not counting dlc–and set out to have more original minigames, with very few recreations.

This game’s premise is one I’m still unsure of, but I think the game’s purpose is an in-universe training game for upcoming Fazbear Technicians. It’s a lot vaguer than the previous and I think it suffers for that exact reason. There’s no hidden audio tapes to listen to and piece things together or anything similar to Glitchtrap approaching the player throughout the game.

The gameplay follows in the same vein as Curse of Dreadbear, with there only being one folder in the game that recreates previous experiences. It’s a lot of original minigames that have multiple difficulties, which is a little disappointing given they didn’t have to stick to a formula but they’re still fun. Once you complete 15 minigames, you’ll be given the fazwrench, allowing you to complete the puzzle in the hub. After this you can deactivate the mask inhibitor, meaning that the hub you’ve been in this entire time has been an illusion created by your mask. I wish I had recorded my reaction to this because it was a super cool moment for me and probably the most memorable one of the entire game. This is how you unlock the hard mode levels, similar to the blacklight switch from the previous game. I’d say these hard modes are better done on average, with them mostly introducing new mechanics and having more substantial aesthetic changes. My only complaint is that I wish there were more unique minigames.

Starting off at the hub, it’s a lot bigger than the previous game’s, with you having multiple teleport locations. You start off in front of a monitor with a bunch of folders and this is where you select your minigames. There are 6 sections for you to select minigames from, with a pretty varied selection at the start. There’s a gallery directly ahead of the player, with you unlocking more models to view as you progress through the game. You have a couple of teleport spots that only exist initially for you to grab the coins there, which serve a different purpose this time around. There’s no prize counter, instead everything you unlock from playing the game is placed around the hub. I think this is a really neat idea because it adds a sense of progression to the hub instead of just having one element change over time like before. Once you shut the mask inhibitor down, you can take the mask off and visit the ruined version of the hub, which I think has a better atmosphere for a horror game. There’s no prizes here but you can teleport to Candy Cadet, and this is where you use the coins. This is very reminiscent of ruin, where he tells you a story that’s related to the current predicament.

The first game folder, Staff Only, is a pretty basic but solid start. It starts off with Cold Storage, which is very much a tutorial level. You’re in a freezer where you have to dethaw Glamrock Freddy in order to free a cake that’s trapped in his stomach hatch. You have a small table in front of you full of tools that you need to use, including a temperature gun, battery replacements and stamps with various shapes. Once you thaw the ice on him, you can replace the batteries and need to keep the battery on your right cold but not too cold. Afterwards, you can remove Freddy’s eyes and press a button in his jaw. This pops his chest off, and after you press a glowing red button, you have to cool his joints and grab the cake. Finally, put the secondary cake in his stomach hatch and you’re all done. It’s similar to P&S where it’s a pretty fast level to complete once you know how it works, with it being among the faster minigames to farm for prizes. Next up is First Aid, which is one of my favorite minigames out of this section. Helpy is on the spinning table in front of the player and has various issues that you need to fix. There’s a lot of these and in the interest of not dragging out this script longer than I already have, I’m not gonna list all of them but there’s a lot here. Every tool at your station has a purpose and there’s a little scanner that can tell you what tools you need for each injury. You also have to put a mask on helpy so you don’t alert the enemy, as they’re attracted to sound. After you give helpy candy 3 times, the minigame ends. The second version of this adds new problems as well as advertisements like pizza sim. Fizzy Faz is up next and the first night is very basic as it is the tutorial. You have to make the drink specified on your screen and only have room for 3 errors. There’s not a lot going on, making it harder to revisit. The 2nd night adds in a new flavor, makes drinks a bit larger and makes you give your staff bots breaks. When the button on your camera flashes yellow, you need to give the staff bot a break or they’ll transform into their nightmare counterpart and show up at your window, forcing you to push the red lockdown button, which halts production for a short while.

The rest of the levels are only accessed by taking the mask off, and we start off with a new iteration of first aid. It’s pretty similar to the previous, with aesthetic changes and adding more tasks for the player to perform. Scrap Baby also moves a lot faster, meaning you have less time to react to her. Fizzy Faz night 3 is more of the same, but adding in a staff bot that will occasionally ask you to make a different drink than what’s on your screen, with failing to complete it counting as a failure. You can also finally use the double time button, which is very handy. Night 4 adds in the expired mechanic, where if one of your ingredients gets maxed out the entire batch goes bad and you have to dump all of it. This night also introduces Glamrock Chica, who will occasionally shut down one of the staff bots and make her way to the office if you have to dump your ingredients. In order to keep her at bay you have to discard ingredients through the tube you send your drinks to. Night 5 is basically the same but harder, now with the occasional extra orders becoming mandatory to complete, otherwise you’ll get jumpscared and you’ll have to restart. Finally, the section ends with Endo Warehouse, where you have to match cards to teach the endo how to act properly. While you do this, a bunch of endos will start approaching you, forcing you to flash them with the camera next to you. There’s 5 total rounds and each round introduces more cards. A pretty fun minigame but one I don’t see myself revisiting often.

 Next up is the backstage section, which starts off with Arts and Crafts: Daycare. In this minigame you’ll need to paint a picture, make a paper pal, and end with painting a paper pal. You’ll need to use the dart gun to select pieces for sun to grab, with you having a rope to cycle through the pieces. There is a time limit but I didn’t notice it most of the time if I’m being honest. Moon is also present if you shoot the bulbs but this is fairly easy to avoid, with him only jumpscaring you if you hit them 3 times. Next is Salon: Staff Bot Makeover, where you have to make all the staff bots look pretty. There’s a screen to your right that shows what you need to use on each staff bot, with a plethora of accessories to your left. If you fail, the staff bots get really angry and stare at you with red eyes, although you only need to give 3 bots a makeover to end the game without dying. The normal levels end off with Salon: Glam Makeover, which is basically the same with you needing to give a makeover to Glamrock Roxy 3 times to win. The setup is largely the same, but it adds the twist that you need to keep a constant eye on her or she’ll get angry, eventually leading to a jumpscare.

The hard mode starts off with Salon: Roxy Repair, which outside of making heavy aesthetic changes, plays largely the same. Roxy will occasionally become very aggressive and can only be calmed by using the Roxy Talky on the desk to your right. At the end of the minigame you give Roxy her faceplate that she has in ruin, which is a neat detail. We end off with Arts and Crafts: Loft which, again, is very similar to the previous game. The minigame takes place in a different area entirely, with insanely dark lighting. The time limit is completely removed, with it being replaced by Moon being an active threat that you need to flash with your light to keep at bay. You also need to use this light, which has a very poor battery life, to see what parts you need to work on your paper pal, making it a very delicate balancing act of charging the light and using it to ward off Moon.

The next game folder is Food Prep, which is uncannily accurate to the Food Service Experience™. I don’t know who at Steel Wool has worked food service but as somebody who currently works it: Why would you hurt me this way? I come here for funny games and scares, not to relive my everyday hell. We start off working at El Chip’s where you have to make a bunch of orders as they pop up on your screen. You have 3 components to an order that can be selected at any time: The drinks, buffet trays and main food items. The morning and noon rush will always have two items, with the afternoon and evening rush having 3 items. Food items can also have sauces that you need to add, with those being guac, nacho cheese and hot sauce. If you don’t keep up the pace, the head chef bot will jumpscare you. The timer only adds on to the stress that already exists from seeing a line form and the staff bots occasionally slamming their hands on the table and degrading the player, again very accurate to the Food Service Experience™. Everytime you fail an order you will typically have to start the whole thing over again, so be careful and make sure you get everything right. The next hell that they put you through is Pizza Pizza Pizza, which is a similar concept but with different food items that require different steps. You still have to serve drinks, but now you have to serve fries, pizza and pizzaritos. This minigame is also a lot more punishing, with just one mistake being enough to end your run. Each rush adds one item to the order, with it starting at 2 and ending at 4. The difficulty step is really odd because the next minigame isn’t as punishing, but I guess the devs want you to suffer.

The hard move level is Fazbar Theater, with the most amount of things to serve and the most amount of items per order. The drinks are still here, but now they have the ability to be turned into blendees. There’s a shelf of candy, a popcorn machine and an area for the food items from the first minigame, with the top of the machine having pretzels. There’s only one order at a time and you’re given a pretty generous timer, with the timer also resetting after each order. There are endos here but they’re pretty easy to ward off. Occasionally Chica will show up near a machine and you have to look at her to get her to go away. This might be the easiest of the 3, which is weird considering it’s supposed to be the hard mode. The timer is super generous and the main threats are pretty easy to ward off. But hey, I won’t complain about it being easier because the stress of the other games was more than enough.

Next up is Fazcade, which starts us off with Bonk a’ Bon. You bonk a bon. It’s as simple as that. You don’t bonk helpy because his name isn’t bon. You bonk the plushbaby because of the trauma from hw1. Moving forward, DJ Music Time: Beginner is a minigame where you get to be a dj with dj music man. You’re shown a screen and have to replicate the screen with the buttons and knobs in front of you. You can replay the prompt but you have limited uses of this, so it’s best to just remember what the prompt was. The advanced version adds in the little mini music men, where you have to flash them with the camera to get them to go away. Other than that, the minigame is extended to 5 rounds with less time. The next minigame is Bonnie Bowl, which is a fairly standard bowling minigame. Every 2 frames will introduce some kind of threat, with the options being a plushbaby, the giant bonnie head moving towards you, moon showing up or the monty obstacles showing up. Round 10 will always have the same threats, with a plushbaby and moon. There’s nothing else to really say, it is just a bowling minigame. I like it. Now we move onto Fazerblast, which is the most varied of the minigames so far because each instance is a different course. This first level is very basic, with a lot of objects that are very easy to hit. There’s not any real obstacles. The 2nd level introduces the balls that you have to throw, and I could never get the hang of these. The physics on them just feel really weird to me so I typically just avoided using them unless I needed to. It takes on a western theme, with the main set piece being the train sequence. Eventually the plushbaby will be unleashed and you have to shoot it when you hear it giggle. Or you can chuck balls at it, I’m not your boss.

The hard modes start off with Bonk a’ Bon: Bonus Round. It’s the same as before but there’s a pair of eyes that only serve to make you waste time by hitting it, as it does nothing. During the last round, there’s a glitchtrap plushie that if hit, will cause the machine to break down and force you to repair it before playing. DJ Music Man: Pro is the final level with dj music man and is the hardest of the bunch, as you have the shortest amount of time and an additional visual to add. Fazerblast: FNaF 1 is a fazerblast course inspired by fnaf 1 and I think it’s a really fun idea. You go through the fnaf 1 pizzeria, shooting targets and popping balloons until you get to the office, where you have to shut the doors when the animatronics show up. If you don’t they’ll jumpscare you, blocking you from getting points for a short time. The section ends with Fazerblast: FNaF 2 and it’s largely the same premise, except that you start in the office and get to play FNaF 2 with lasers and balls. There’s an additional screen on both sides of you, acting as the vents. Balloon versions of the animatronics will show up here, and it took me a while to realize that I was supposed to shoot them with the dart gun. If you fail to stop any of the animatronics that show up in your office, or fail to keep the music box wound, you’ll get jumpscared and be unable to earn points for a short time. The dreadbear meter to your left is always stuck at the same spot, so don’t use it as a gauge for how good you’re doing.

The next section is ticket booth, which starts with carousel, in which you have to repair it while watching out for moon. You need to replace the broken fuses, put in new dials and grab a new circuit board to replace the old one. Once you’ve done all 3 steps, you just have to survive for 60 seconds and then you’ll win. It’s fairly simple but it’s pretty fun. Next up is Capt. Foxy’s Log Ride, which is a sequel to the pirate ride from dreadbear. The course is a lot longer this time and it even retains the secret paths like before and they’re more relevant than just being a fun little secret, but that’s for a bit later. Finally, the hard mode is the carousel again, with a few changes. You have to fix the fuses’ wiring with the solder gun, along with an additional dial and circuit board to replace. It’s a little disappointing as a hard mode but it’s fine.

Finally, we end off with the sister location section. This section is special because it’s the only time that this game aims to recreate previous experiences, but also the scariest that this game gets. I didn’t really mention it that much before but this game is a lot less scary than the previous ones, and I think it's a shame because it’s part of the reason I still love the first game and one of the reasons I feel conflicted about this one. The fear of the first game is something that is really missing, and I’m glad this section went back to that, even if only for a little. Sister Location is also a game that I felt was underutilized previously, with it having a lot of potential to pull from and I’m glad it’s being done some justice. We start off in Ballora Gallery, which is a lot better than the original version. You have to manually crawl through the space, but Ballora is an actual threat this time. In normal SL, you could just tap w to progress, meaning that Ballora was nothing more than a distraction for the player. However this time, she will stop you from progressing every so often and she even has her minireenas close in on you, laughing once they’ve made contact. Their laughs will alert Ballora to your location, so you have to actively make sure there’s not any near you and throw them away as soon as possible. The constant Ballora appearances can get a bit annoying given how predictable they become but I’d prefer it over the original anyday. Next up is Breaker Room, which is by far the scariest minigame in my opinion. You have to pull levers to reset the breakers, with some of them requiring two levers to be pulled at the same time. You have to ward off Funtime Freddy with the megaphone, similar to the tape from the original game. You can even see a little cassette tape on the megaphone, what a cute little detail. You know you’ve pushed Freddy back when you see his pupils turn blue and flash while pointing the megaphone directly at him. It’s pretty stressful and I enjoy the tension of it, although it does make it a bit easier than the previous version since you can basically always ward him off. Finally, the normal mode ends with the Ennard segment from Night 5 of the original. I’m not kidding when I say this either, it’s just the Ennard section but ported to vr. It’s a lot more forgiving on the power, mostly because the camera doesn’t take any, but other than that it’s no different. You have two monitors, with the cameras on the right side appearing on the right monitor and the left cameras appearing on the left. It’s a neat little thing, that you have to look at different monitors. When Ennard approaches the office, you’ll have a very obvious sound que and he’ll do a walkup to your door, giving you time to close it before he arrives. He’ll bang on the door but won’t leave instantly, forcing you to wait a couple seconds. A general complaint I have about this area are the buttons. The camera and door buttons feel nice and responsive to press, but the vent button feels super jank. I don’t know why it wants to be difficult to press despite the other buttons being flawless. This has led to my death a few times and it feels unfair everytime.

The hard modes are a tad disappointing because it’s just the custom nights, with the one exception being a harder version of the breaker room. Funtime Freddy gets replaced with Yenndo, who’s harder to see and a lot more aggressive. Other than that, there’s nothing really different, which is again a shame. Next is the Puppet Master mode of the private room, where you have to deal with Ballora, the minireenas and Bidybab. Ballora acts like she did in the original custom night, although she can now be seen on the cameras unlike before. The minireenas will drain your power supply, as well as covering your door buttons, making you take them off before you’re able to press them. The bidybabs also drain power, but can attack from the vent in front of you and this is pretty unfun with how unresponsive the vent button is alongside the minireenas covering them. Next up is Funtime Gang, which is probably the easiest of the private room sections. Funtime Freddy will throw Bon-Bon at the player from either door or the vent, with Bon-Bon having a wind up animation before attacking, allowing the player some time before they have to shut the door. Funtime Foxy works very similar to the original mode, with the twist that they can run to either door, meaning you have to keep an eye on the hallways to find out where they’re coming from. Finally, Funtime Chica gets added and she’ll approach your office in pursuit of her cupcake. You have to keep it away from her or else she’ll become a lot more of a pain in the ass to deal with, with her acting like HW1’s version of FNaF1 Freddy, where she’ll approach your door and never leave. Thankfully you can prevent this by switching the cupcake around when she gets too close, making for a fun minigame of keep away. Finally, this section ends with the job interview mode, which–much like real life–is the most stressful of the bunch. Instead of the usual gameplay cadence, you’re being tested by Circus Baby, with the lights being out and your only constant tool being the flashlight. Baby puts you through 3 “jobs” in any given order, with the worst one being flashlight tag. This is just HW1 plushbabies all over again. Who at Steel Wool has an obsession with these things? They need a raise because it’s a very easy way to increase the stress levels but also why must you hurt me this way? Another job is red light green light, where the red light is the flashlight and the green light is the darkness. One plushbaby spawns at first, with another spawning shortly after, and the last one spawning shortly after that. You can just spin in a half circle to keep them at bay and it works pretty well, making this probably the easiest of the 3. The final job is hide and seek, where you have to track down the plushbabies on the cameras and give them a shock. I don’t find them hard to find but I’m also locked in on finding them every time because of how much I want them to be gone so maybe that’s just a me thing. Once you're done, Baby will approach the office and give you ice cream. Thankfully it’s not a trap and she doesn’t scoop you, letting you actually eat it.

But we’re not done with this game yet, because there’s 3 total endings for the player to achieve. The first one is the standard ending you’ll get by completing all the minigames. Throughout the game, you’ll get a prize box on the stage in front of you, with this appearing 6 times. Inside each box is a FazForce figure and you’ll place them on a display to the left. Once you collect all of them, they’ll combine into one figure and you’ll get ripped out of your vanny mask into the real world, facing a charge station from security breach. A bunch of nightmare staff bots will pop out and attack the player, then the view cuts to the mask bot from ruin handing the vanny mask to Cassy. It’s a fairly standard ending that I don’t know the full implications of because this game’s story feels nonexistent to me. The 2nd hidden ending is a lot cooler and awesome. Those familiar with the game will notice I skipped over a minigame in the fazcade section, and that wasn’t a mistake. There’s a hidden 5th Fazerblast minigame that you can only unlock through special conditions. In the first 3 Fazerblast games, there’s a rocket ship you must shoot near the end of the levels and in the 4th one, you must get a score of at least 7000. Achieving these goals will end with the attraction going up in flames, and Fazerblast: FNaF 3 being unlocked. This minigame will see you having to destroy a puppet version of Springtrap, with you needing to fend off a plushbaby while breaking the puppet apart. Once you break it apart, a mysterious hand will appear and award you a plush. There are 6 of these total, and you need to find them all for the secret ending. One of them can be obtained from Fizzy Faz night 3, where you need to pour the can of sodaroni into the cup, then pour one of each ingredient in. Then put the place on lockdown and submit the drink to obtain the plush. Another one is found in the log ride, where you have to take the alternate helpy paths and shoot this blue star. Shoot all the stars and you’ll be taken to a new room where you’ll be awarded the plush. The next plush is found in the fazbear theater, where you need to trash each chica-themed item to obtain the plush. Another plush can be found in the puppet master mode of the private room, where you need to open a usually-locked drawer and type in 1983 to obtain this plush. The final plush is found during the tilt round of the second bonk a’ bon game, where you need to plug in the code backwards to obtain the plush. After this, Mystic Hippo will have a glitched token for you to take to the princess quest machine, where you get to play Princess Quest IV. Playing this game is a little weird in vr but once you get to the end of it, the princess will appear in the room with the player. Attacking the player will load a proper vr version of princess quest, with you traveling through the level as if you were the princess, which is a really cool minigame. The game ends with you entering the SL elevator and ending up in a claw machine. There’s a giant Vanny looking in through the glass and Moon will approach the player, requesting the plushie you just obtained moments before entering the elevator. Afterwards, Vanny will crush Glitchtrap and walk away, ending the game. This is a pretty cool ending and the scale of the claw machine is really massive, with it probably being the biggest area they’ve made for either game.

That would be it, but a post-launch update added a bit more additional content for the game. First is a new plush you can unlock for the hub by entering “1979” in the same keypad in the private room. This unlocks the tiger rock plush, which sits near the gallery. Speaking of, this also unlocks a new model for the gallery: The Mimic. If you throw something at it, it’ll open the double doors on the left side of the area, leading you to a brand new area. In this room you’ll be met with a box for you to unwind. Once you unwind it, a jigsaw puzzle will appear. There are 12 pieces scattered throughout the game, and once you collect all 12 you can complete the puzzle and afterwards, a big building will appear in front of you. There will be a code that you can read, and by taking the mask off you’ll see a van by the desk. Input this code on the van and the van will drive off with the activated MXES machine. After this, the credits will roll and Jackie’s model will be added to the gallery. This acts as a teaser for the next game, Secret of the Mimic, which I think is really cool.

If I had complicated feelings about the first game, then I don’t know how I’d describe my thoughts about this one. This section ended up being more “recappy” than intended, but that’s because this game is just laid out super weird. I feel I don’t have as much room for discussing my thoughts because of the super weird, piece-meal like progression. This game also lacked in everything but the gameplay department, which is a super weird downgrade from the first game. I also just find it super weird that we didn’t get more pizza sim content. It–alongside SL–felt like prime candidates to be translated into VR, but we did get a 3D model of the fruit punch clown so I can forgive their sins this time. Hopefully a potential Help Wanted 3 can fix my problems with these games.

CLOSING

Overall, I believe these games are absolutely worth playing, despite my complicated feelings towards them. Part of me is glad they didn’t make it into the previous video because it probably never would’ve come out given how long it already took to make. I’d also love to give a HUGE shout out to facebook, because oh my god I have never seen a piece of technology fail as hard as this headset has failed me during the production of this video. Numerous crashes and weird moments like this random teleport from the headset “losing tracking” in my fully lit room. Absolutely incredible piece of technology that makes me never wanna work with vr ever again. But for now, I’d like to thank you all for watching, stay hydrated and I’ll see you next time.

 

    video link: https://youtu.be/Vaq8m4JkOl4?si=ytUa8jR0yuTwO3Kc 

 

    short director's commentary: oh boy where do i even begin with this. this video went through some issues. not as bad as tfs, but it's almost certainly up there. from the vr software hard crashing my pc numerous times, the vr software breaking itself and me suffering a pretty bad concussion halfway through production, i went through a lot in the month and a half between this video and the previous one. i was initially really worried about this video performing well (despite the fact i have very low expectations for myself) and during editing i wasn't really feeling great about it but was in too deep to quit or rewrite. obviously nowadays i'm very proud of this video, even if i think i could've done a lot better. it was worth all the issues i ran into and it only fueled my passion for this hobby more.

word count: 10,000
video length: 43:40