Warning: spoilers regarding the first and second game will be unmarked!
The final chapter of Mr. Hopp. note
"You cannot escape this. This is not the end. I will come back! And you will play with us. I will stitch you two back together, so I can rip you apart all over again!"
—The Entity
Mr. Hopp's Playhouse 3 is a Sequel to the original Mr. Hopp's Playhouse. It's notable for being the first game in the series that utilized in 3D. And unlike previous games, the gameplay is partly inspired by Dark Deception.
Six months after the events of the first game, little Ruby is seemingly safe from Mr. Hopp's grasp with the exception of her family being taken by him... until he decides to come back. After a close encounter with him and she ends up dragged into the underworld in the process, now Ruby must find her way out as she teams up with another trapped young girl, who happens to be her late grandmother, Esther.
It was released on March 18th, 2023, being delayed from its original release date of Halloween 2022. The teaser can be seen here
while the official trailers are here and here.
The Steam page for the game can be found here.
Mr. Hopp's Playhouse 3 contains examples of:
- 11th-Hour Superpower: The true ending has Esther use the power of The Six to become Ascended Esther, an angelic being capable of facing off against The Entity.
- Acid Pool: Some room feature green pools which can hurt your player character. In the first boss room, you need to open the pool by solving the puzzle to kill the ogre.
- Actionized Sequel: Compared to the previous games, there's less stealth involved and more emphasis on puzzle solving, exploration and light combat elements.
- All There in the Manual: Not only do the dark totems that are scattered throughout the game serve as quick recaps for the previous two games, but they also help to clarify plenty of things that were left ambiguous, such as the fate of The Entity and Isabelle after their defeat at the end the second game.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: On the flashback sequences, you get to briefly take control of Faith and Arthur, who are the parents of Esther.
- Anti-Frustration Features: The gem indicator will inform when you collected all the gems in a level.
- Art Shift:
- While the game is presented in 3D, the cutscenes use stylized 2D animation blended with 3D backgrounds similarly to The New Girl short.
- During the flashback sequences, the characters are shown with 2D sprites similar to the previous games while using 3D backgrounds.
- Badass in Distress: It is revealed that Esther's soul has been imprisoned in the underworld after passing away by the Entity years after being defeated by her, and Ruby, who so happens to be dragged into it, has to break her free.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Much like in the second game, the Entity and Isabelle serve as the main antagonists.
- Bittersweet Ending: The true ending is treated as such and likely an inevitable one. After Esther finishes off the Entity for good, Ruby is finally able to return home and reunites with her parents in the surface world. But Esther decides to stay behind in the Underworld as its new ruler to keep the souls there in check, since she's already dead in the first place. However, she promises to always watch over Ruby and her family before they separate.Ruby: Goodbye Nana...
- Be Careful What You Wish For: As shown by her monologue intro, Ruby wishes to hear her grandma call her "my little gem" again and tell her that everything was going to be okay, one more time. While it does come true, it takes her getting Dragged Off to Hell to reunite with Esther again.
- Bolivian Army Ending: After Esther settles in the underworld, she is last seen about to face a swarm of hostile souls coming her way, and she appears confident, ready to fight them with her new angelic power.
- Book Ends:
- At the start of the game, Ruby wishes she could hear her grandma Esther call her "my little gem" again and tell her that everything is okay after everything she's been through one more time. Not only does Esther get to call Ruby that nickname once more when she reunites with her in the underworld, but she also tells her that everything is okay before expressing her intentions to stay in the underworld as its new ruler before Ruby returns home.
- When Ruby discovers Esther for the first time in a while, she appears to be unconscious during her imprisonment, which prompts the former to free her. At the climax of the game, Ruby ends up unconscious after being smacked by the Entity, which leads Esther to return the favor by healing her wounds after dealing with the Entity.
- In the previous game, Esther traverses the Underworld for the first time to rescue the manor's residents after obtaining The Six. Come the third game, not only does she end up getting dragged there yet again after passing away, but Esther also decides to stay in the Underworld as its new ruler after defeating the Entity for good.
- Call-Back: At the end of the game, Esther tells Ruby that "everything is okay now", similar to how she did at the end of the second game to her friends, Molly and Isaac, after she rescued them alongside the rest of the Blacklands Manor's residents.
- Continuity Nod:
- The previous games' true endings where Ruby burned her own house down to take down Mr. Hopp and Esther's first journey into the underworld to rescue the Blacklands Manor's residents and defeat the Entity with "the six" medallions respectively are addressed and taken as canon to this game's storyline.
- When Esther discovers her old room in the orphanage, a piece of Isaac and Molly's dialogue from The New Girl short is used while she is trying to recall the place.Isaac: Do you think Miss Beverley ever smiles?
Molly: Only when a puppy is in danger. Can we go play now?!
- Chekhov's Gun: The gems that are scattered throughout the underworld. The first dark totem vaguely mentions that each of them contain the sliver energy of The Six, which serves as a hint to collect them all in addition of Esther referring Ruby as "my little gem". And in the true ending, they are indirectly used as a power source to fuel Esther's transformation into Ascended Esther.
- De-aged in Death: Esther died as an elderly woman due to Mr. Hopp causing her mental state to deteriorate. It is revealed that Esther was eternally damned in the underworld, and has gone back to her youthful 12 year old self that was seen in the second game.
- Dead to Begin With: Esther remains dead, but her soul is revealed to be imprisoned in the underworld after passing away, giving her an appearance of her younger self. After being freed by Ruby who's so happen to be dragged into it, it's up to Esther to guide her to safety and get her out of there.
- Decoy Protagonist: The game starts with Ruby’s narration and the player controlling her, but after finding Esther early on, control is given predominantly to her. Ruby does still get a couple of solo sections, but so does Esther. With the exception of the chase sequence with Mr. Hopp, Esther is being controlled any time the pair are together, and she is the one entirely in control for the ending of the game; focus is not split evenly.
- Down the Drain: One section in the underworld features a sewer level as Ruby need to sneak past the shadow creatures and flee from Miss Bo. Water flowing across the halls through sewer grates can be seen in several places.
- Downer Beginning: Things didn't go so well for Ruby after the events of the first game. She is mocked by her friends as some crazy killer after she tells them of her encounter with Mr. Hopps and that she burned her own house down in order to take him down. The bullying got so bad that she had to drop out of school, and she now lives alone with her aunt. Oh, and Mr. Hopp is back and drags her into the underworld...
- Easter Egg: Similar to the second game, you can discover hidden rooms decorated with plenty of references to obtain the collectable items like plushies and the game's posters within by solving puzzles.
- In the first room, there's a flippable spinning post placed in a greenery area with a checkered wall.
- In the second room, it's decorated with purple brick walls as well as a sweater and a lone flower placed there.
- In the third room, A straw hat, katana blades and a bunch of oranges are stored there.
- In the fourth room, it's panelled with blue colors and stores plenty of teal steel blocks.
- In the eighth room, a lone green pipe placed on top of a brick platform is hidden there.
- In the ninth room, the wall is covered with binary rains.
- Gotta Catch Them All: Similar to its inspiration, you collect gems scattered throughout the level. And while it's optional to grab them all to complete a level, it's required to get the true ending.
- Grand Finale:
Word of God has stated that the story will likely end with this game. - Have We Met?: On their first encounter in a while, Esther is shocked to see Ruby in the underworld after the latter frees her from her imprisonment while Ruby doesn't recognize Esther as a young girl. Fortunately, Ruby manage to recognize Esther rather quickly after the first chase with Mr. Hopp.Esther: Ah, thank you. (gasp) Ruby?!
Ruby: How do you know my name? Who are you?
Esther: Ruby, it's me! I'm—
[Mr. Hopp's music box jingles suddenly plays in the background] - The Heavy: Once again, Mr. Hopp, Miss Bo and Mr. Stripes serve as more active threats throughout the game compared to their master.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler:
- The Entity, the true mastermind behind the Three Curses and the real villain of the series, is shown upfront and takes a bigger role in this game despite its presence and involvement with the dolls being hidden in the second game until its endgame.
- The fact that the game takes place in the Underworld could be seen as this given that the location is hidden until the true final chapter in the second game and can only be accessed after collecting all six medallions.
- Played With regarding Isabelle's role as the secondary antagonist. While her true nature is hidden in the second game until its branching climax, this game doesn't address her prior disguise as Dee.
- Multiple Endings: Two, a true and bad ending depending on how many gems the player collected in each level that has them. Ruby is kidnapped by The Entity, who tries to turn her against her grandmother by pointing out how Ruby got Mr. Hopp from her. When Esther makes it to them, she is grabbed by The Entity, and Ruby is revealed to have one of The Six medallions around her neck. Esther points out how The Entity forced her to give Ruby the cursed doll, which causes the Entity to prepare to finish Esther off. Afterwards, one of two things happen:
- Bad Ending: If the player didn't collect all the gems in said levels, the medallion's power warps Ruby away from the underworld, and Esther is left behind to The Entity's lack of mercy. We then see a drawing of a sad Ruby with a dark scribble over her head...
- True Ending: If the player manages to collect all the gems in the game, Ruby throws her medallion to Esther before getting badly wounded by The Entity. This enrages Esther to the point that she uses The Six to become the angelic Ascended Esther to defeat The Entity once and for all. After the battle, Esther heals Ruby and prepares to send her home, telling her that The Entity's demise means she will have to take their place to keep the souls in the underworld in check. As a swarm of hostile souls emerge from the darkness, Esther smiles with confidence and spreads her wings, ready to face them. We then see a drawing of a happy Ruby and her family, with Ascended Esther watching over them.
- Offscreen Afterlife: Despite the Underworld being shown upfront in the previous game as well being presented exactly like it was early on when Ruby makes her first arrival there, the place largely resembles Blacklands Manor instead with the occasional different areas thrown here and there such as a sewer and nursery. One of the dark totems notes that this is deliberately designed by the Entity as a reminder to Esther that she cannot be freed from his terror.
- Older Than They Look: Despite already having been an elder before passing away, Esther's appearance reverts back to her younger self during her imprisonment in the underworld.
- Parental Abandonment: Esther's backstory is explored further in this game and it's revealed that she was dropped to Blacklands Manor Orphanage by her father, Arthur due to her mother, Faith passed away after giving birth to her.
- Revenge: The game's plot involves the Entity getting revenge on Esther for imprisoning him in the past by trapping her alongside Ruby and her family in the underworld to make them suffer.
- Sequel Hook: While the story has been wrapped up for both Esther and Ruby, Isabelle is still on the loose after she sent the three curses to dispose the former and likely will return for vengeance. Tellingly enough, The Stinger shows her face to confirm this.
- Shout-Out:
- After her first encounter with Isabelle in a while, the latter throws Esther into a little game against Mr. Hopp with the mechanic that's eerily similar to Five Nights at Freddy's.
- If the connection between The Six and the Chaos Emeralds in the previous game isn't apparent enough, it's taken further here by having Esther using them to transform into Ascended Esther and fighting the Entity in an aerial, pivoting battle to rock music, exactly like the Super Sonic fights that tend to serve as final bosses in 3D Sonic games.
- The game shows Esther being Dead to Begin With as she reverts to her younger look despite being much older, and by the end of it, she is enforced to take the Entity's place as the new ruler of the underworld after defeating him for good. Sound familiar to you?
- Third Is 3D: The third game in the series made the jump to 3D.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the second game, Esther is simply an Action Survivor who is still rather anxious about the threats around her surroundings and trying to constantly convince herself that it's just a nightmare. By the time of the this game, she's already an Experienced Protagonist who mostly doesn't faze in front of her adversaries and gets better at using the medallions individually. And that's not even mentioning her transformation into Ascended Esther.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: The returning element from the previous games is here. And this time, it involves additional combat controls for Ascended Esther on the final fight against The Entity.
- Video Game 3D Leap: Unlike the previous games, which used 2D sprites, this game uses 3D models.
- You Kill It, You Bought It: Enforced. By defeating the Entity for good, Esther has to take his place as the ruler of the Underworld to keep the souls there in check. Therefore, she decides to stay in there before sending Ruby and her family back to the surface world.
- Esther: I will watch over all of you. Always.
