Now, when it came to Fnaf 1, I was expecting it to be a one hit wonder, Fnaf 2 surprised me. I was, however, expecting a third Five Nights At Freddy's game. My excitement was through the roof and so were my friends as well. We would talk for hours about Five Nights At Freddy's 3 and what it could be. One of us suggested that we would be exploring Fazbear Entertainment Warehouse and it would be free roam. One of us suggested that we would be Mike back at the old pizzeria and we would see Fredbear. I know what I wanted, a game all about Fredbear's Family Diner. I was invested in it after hearing about it in the second game, even if it was for a split second. It interested the hell out of me.

And then Fnaf 3 came out on December 23rd, 2014-

Okay, okay. Enough of the funny "Fnaf 3 Fanmade" jokes. But I won't lie, I fell for this bigtime. I was one of the people who sent an email to Scott talking about Fnaf 3. It was then changed to The Return To Freddy's blah blah blah. To say my love for TRTF is small would be an understatement, I love that series a lot for some personal reasons that I won't get into. Onto the actual Fnaf 3.

After the fake Fnaf 3 was renamed, I sat and waited for the real Fnaf 3, checking Scottgames every night before I went to bed. I honestly annoyed my parents with it because I was so pumped for Fnaf 3. Then, it happened.

This single teaser made me realize that my dreams were coming true, Five Nights At Freddy's 3 is real. I was jumping for joy that day, I told my friends all about it and we were all looking at it in the Library computers with wonder, theorizing away on what this could mean. Eventually, more teasers dropped. These were my favorite teasers back then, and while they aren't my favorite now, they still mean a lot to me.

Yeah, I thought this was Fredbear lol. He was too much in the dark and I just wanted to see what Fredbear actually looked like. I wasn't disappointed in Springtrap though, because boy do I love Springtrap.

I believed Hybrid theory yeah. What about it? I also believed that we would actually see the giant three in the game... I was a stupid ten year old kid lol.

I was screaming, literally, SCREAMING Purple Guy at my friends house when we saw this teaser. Best sleepover ever. I thought we would be playing as Purple Guy honestly. Kinda wish we did play as the actual Purple Guy (we do play as A purple guy eventually, but not THE purple guy).

Thought this was the coolest map ever, was praising Scott for making a bunch of hallways like the dumbass I was lol.

I was the only BB fan so yes, I was hyped when I saw Phantom BB. Glad that he was brought back honestly. Wish the series did more with him.

Thought this was a teaser for nightmare sequences and these were the nightmare animatronics lol. The actual nightmares would be for the next game.

I can't believe Freddy lost his tophat, may just fucking cry.

WHERE DID IT GO HUH?!

These were all the teasers. I don't really talk much about trailers, but Fnaf 3's trailer is my second favorite Fnaf trailer of all. It's so good.

https://youtu.be/hdHlIy0W4uU?si=6M1ItdE1MG67ty2U

MMMMMM, I LOVE IT!

This game has left me in the same way I feel about Fnaf 2, but I had a lot more hype going into this, and I honestly prefer this over Fnaf 2. It has it's problems that I will be getting into, but I still like it for what it is, and especially the atmosphere and story of the game really hit it out of the ballpark for me.

The Gameplay:

I love hot dogs (I am not zooming in I'm lazy).

Welcome to your office, not as spacious as Fnaf 2 but this is where you are for the next couple o nights. Welcome to Fazbear's Fright, the horror attraction. This quaint little joint has you with a camera system that can look at the vents, allow you to seal the vents, and play an audio on any of the cameras. You also have a maintenance panel that will allow you to reset any of the systems that go offline, or resetting them all at once, which takes longer to do. I don't think this is all necessarily bad. It's when you throw in the big bad and his little buddies is when it becomes a problem. But even then, all you need to worry about is the big bad if you know how the little buddies work. Speaking of which:

The Phantom Animatronics:

The Phantoms, I'm sort of going to talk a bit about their designs in this section because I feel the last review was kinda bloated with that section, so I'm going to morph the designs into the gameplay section and just ramble about them a bit. They are basically recolored models that Scott used, with some slight edits to them. It is a bit disappointing, but it is what it is. I think the Phantoms are neat design wise... gameplay wise... let's talk about em.

Phantom Freddy:

Phantom Freddy will be moving from the right side of your office to the left. Keep your camera up or he will duck down and enter your office, jumpscaring you and making your screen go in and out of darkness, reset the ventilation to resume your normal duties. He's missing a leg but the image cuts it off, honestly interesting design because of the leg alone, outside of that, it's just W. Golden Freddy but recolored.

Phantom Chica:

Phantom Chica will be at Camera 7 and will sometimes appear on the arcade monitor. If you stare at her long enough, you will eventually be jumpscared by her when you go over to the other side of the office, causing your ventilation to go to whack very quickly. Reset your ventilation and get things back into proper working order. It's just... Fnaf 1 Chica. Nothing special, it's the only Fnaf 1 design out of the Phantoms, which is weird.

Phantom Foxy:

Appearing on the box with the Toy Animatronic heads in them, Phantom Foxy can randomly spawn at any point when you put down the camera panel, pull the camera back up again to send him away, otherwise you will be jumpscared and he will do the same thing as the other two Phantoms. He's missing his arm which is cool, but he's just Withered Foxy outside of that. It's funny that Withered Foxy's hook is in the box of toys when it should be Classic Foxy's, but I digress.

Phantom Balloon Boy:

Has a chance to appear on any camera after toggling the map or pulling your camera back up, it only works if you are on that said camera after you pull it up/toggle the map. Just close the camera and reopen it to get rid of him, otherwise he will do the exact same thing are you seeing a pattern here? Similar to Chica, it's just Balloon Boy, nothing special about him sadly. I do like his jumpscare and how his jaw kinda extends, wonder how that works.

Phantom Puppet:

Phantom Puppet will be at Camera 8, if you look over at Camera 8 long enough while The Puppet is in that camera, Phantom Puppet will appear and force you from using the cameras and maintenance panel as a loud sound plays. He also messes up your ventilation but doesn't jumpscare you, finally, some variety! It's just The Puppet however in terms of design, I do like how you can barely see the mask, makes her more creepy imo.

Phantom Mangle:

For some ungodly reason, she's not in the extras menu and I don't know why. Anyway, he is actually the most interesting Phantom in terms of mechanics. She will appear in Camera 4 occasionally and if you stare at him long enough, she will appear outside your window and play a loud static sound, disabling your audio. Reset your audio and go back to luring the main attraction. I can't get a good look at them because Scott is weird like that.

Now, for some reason as well, none of the Phantoms disable the camera. I don't know why, you have most of them disable the ventilation, you have one of them disable the audio, where is the one that disables the camera? This was a weird decision but I guess it's because you really needed the camera in order to deal with the man himself.

SPRINGTRAP:

The man, the myth, the legend. Springtrap is the main antagonist of Five Nights At Freddy's 3... and literally all of my problems when it comes to Fnaf 3. Basically, Springtrap can go around the entire location by walking, or can go into the vents that lead directly to your office. Play the audio to lure him around the location and seal the vents if he tries to get into them. As much as I love this design and the story of the character, I do not like this guy's AI. You can either win by doing absolutely nothing, or he can instantly fuck up your run just by existing. Springtrap can basically just mess up your run while you are repairing the audio just because you didn't seal a vent or because he moved around too fast.

Sure, people have cracked Fnaf 3 and know of the AI and how to deal with it, but your average joe schmoe like me struggled on Night 6 because of Springtrap. He basically kept fucking me over when I was repairing the audio because he was just moving too fast, I almost died at five am on my latest attempt because I was busy repairing the audio. Like my guy Springtrap, relax. Despite all of this, I do like Springtrap, he acts as a final boss of the game. But my god, he can really fuck you over if you don't clutch up. Something I did forget to mention is that if the ventilation is going whack, Springtrap can create a clone of himself that basically can trick you into luring the wrong one. How fun! Keep the ventilation and all of your other systems in line, you will need them to deal with Springtrap himself. He's meant to be a final boss of the trilogy, which I do like a little bit, but at the same time, it just comes off as more frustrating than intimidating.

Ambiance and Atmosphere:

Gone is basically everything I hated about the atmosphere of Fnaf 2 and in comes this feeling of dread that I like. The ambiance that plays when Springtrap gets close or when Phantom Freddy walks by always fills you with this sense of dread. Also, while not the first time noises from the animatronics are heard, Springtrap's alpaca noises slowed down to be incoherent as he walks around the building always gave me chills back when Fnaf 3 first released. I was one of those people who did believe he was saying "Help Me", like a child was in that suit and desperately trying to escape. This was a theory I thought of before I found out who was truly in the suit. I like the atmosphere of Fnaf 3 for the most part, but just like Fnaf 2, the droning sound can be a bit annoying.

If you basically let Springtrap get too close to your office, you basically can keep him in camera 1 for the best of your abilities, but as you are doing this, that noise will always be playing. It can be pretty loud, so it can get annoying real fast. I don't think it is as bad as Fnaf 2's because it doesn't play as soon as a character goes into their attack phase (I.e Toy Bonnie near the vent but not fully in the vent), it plays when Springtrap is close enough, and even then, it starts off quiet when he is still fairly far away (I.e Camera 5). So it can be a bit annoying, but I don't find it to be too bad.

Jumpscares:

Let's not beat around the bush here, the jumpscares of Fnaf 3... aren't that scary.

I will say, there are some stand out ones like Phantom Freddy and Phantom Foxy, and if you are a first time player, Phantom Balloon Boy can be scary. But for the most part, they just aren't scary, not all the Phantoms even jumpscare you anyway.

For some reason, the Phantoms have this weird affect whenever they jumpscare you of their face going white for a second as the game cuts to the red alarm blaring, signifying that the ventilation is down and needs to be reset.

Now, let's get the elephant out of the way: Springtrap's Jumpscares.

Look at them, they're kinda mid right? For the record, I don't think they are all too bad, but compared to the others in the series, and even the Phantom animatronics, these jumpscares just aren't that good. The first game had jumpscares where they were moving their mouths and were all animated. Fnaf 2 had them lunging at you, both of these were pretty scary. But here, Springtrap just kinda... checks in on you and asks if you're doing okay. What also doesn't help, is honestly just the weird jumpscare scream. It sounds like someone's throat tearing, or just the tearing of paper in general. It sounds like something tearing, dialed up to twelve decibels to scare you. I just don't think the jumpscares work for this game, for the most part at least. I do like Phantom Freddy and Foxy's jumpscares, even if Foxy's is just sort of reused from Fnaf 2 but edited so that you see him bend down and then attack (at least I think he bends down).

Yeah, he bends down briefly, the more you know.

The Story:

What many people consider to be the true ending to the franchise and honestly, I can't really blame them for the most part. Sure, I very much like the story of later games, especially when they decided to expand upon the characters like Purple Guy and the Missing Kids, giving them names and such, but Fnaf 3 honestly has the perfect ending to a simple story.

You play as an unknown security guard, coming back for another night to work at the theme park attraction known as Fazbear's Fright, a horror attraction featuring actual relics from a bygone era and the unsolved mysteries of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Sounds simple right? Your first night is simply a tutorial night, but the second night is when Springtrap and the Phantoms are introduced. The Phantoms are not really expanded upon sadly, but Springtrap is. As you progress through the game, you get minigames each night, that have you follow a purple bear. People would know that this is Shadow Freddy. I never really expanded upon him in Fnaf 2 because I didn't really cover Easter Eggs all that much, but the Shadows have rare chances of appearing in Fnaf 2, and that was that. They get slightly expanded upon here in Fnaf 3.

You play as Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy throughout the minigames each night, following Shadow Freddy to a room that you cannot enter. Trying to enter the room results in an error and trying to exit the room results in The Purple Guy destroying the animatronic (or you can just wait and Purple Guy will come from the ether and kill you). As you play through the actual game, you hear the phone calls, or well, archived recordings of Phone Guy talking about your new career as a performer/entertainer for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. He goes over two Springlock suits: Fredbear and Spring Bonnie. Springlocks help the animatronic basically become a wearable costume through some good ol fashion technology. Highly advanced stuff, but the sad news is that you could die if you just breathe on these things wrong. Which leads us to the final minigame. You play as one of the ghost children, and you finally get to go into that room you were denied entering for four nights in a row. There, you find Purple Guy, scared out of his mind. You chase him around the room and he runs to put on a Golden Rabbit suit.

He puts it on and starts laughing... and then, it happens.

The Purple Guy dies, trapped in the suit he used to lure the children. From this point, you would think that would be it. But, nope, you get the bad ending.

Tragic huh?

How do you get the good ending? Well, if you explore the minigame map, you can find secrets that lead you to secret minigames by clicking around the cameras or office. BB's Air Adventure, Mangle's Quest, Chica's Party, Stage 01, an unnamed minigame with Shadow Bonnie, and Happiest Day. All of these are about getting cake and delivering them to the children who had their lives taken from them. Giving them cake and helping them find their way to the Happiest Day, where you play as the child that possesses The Puppet, giving cake to the Golden Freddy kid and finally, setting everyone free, giving you the good ending.

Somber, warm, and a perfect end to a simple trilogy story. With that said, there is still more. You have the oppurtunity to play Night 6, and once that is beaten, you find out that the Horror Attraction burns to the ground, signifying the end. Even brightening it up shows Springtrap laying on his side.

It was over, the children are free and the murderer is killed after being trapped in his own prison. Of course, I feel that there is a better ending to this, but story for another day... really.

Closing Thoughts:

Five Nights At Freddy's 3 represents an end to a trilogy, and a time where everyone thought the series was over. I remember distinctively crying when I saw the Good Ending screen, knowing that I did something right. Playing Fnaf 3 again, while I have my problems with it, made me appreciate it a lot more than I already did. It ends off a very simple story. Springtrap has a kickass design but pretty whack AI. The phantoms are kinda boring but they do their job for this game, and that's all that matters in the end. Younger me thought that this was truly the end to Fnaf's story, and I really hope nothing would ruin it.

And then Fnaf 4 came out and this was the part I started loosing hope in the series until Sister Location.

FNAF 4 REVIEW COMING WHENEVER I HAVE THE COURAGE TO GET THROUGH THAT GAME, DEAR LORD SOME THINGS SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT FORGOTTEN... for now.