History VideoGame / MyFriendlyNeighborhood

* AnAesop: A couple, despite the mostly straightforward story:
** Trauma and heartbreak are an undeniable part of life, but they shouldn't rule us, or force us to ignore them.
** Forgetting and ignoring the bright side of life can make you also forget the good and close you off.
** Cruelty and kindness are taught by the people in the world around us.
** While there is darkness in some people, there's also light.
** Although it's important to be aware of the harshness of life, you shouldn't let it affect your outlook on life or let it envelop you. The world isn't as awful as the media presents it and you should be nice to each other because you'll never know what the other person is going through. Every person has the power to better the lives of themselves and those around them.
** Although it can be distressing and depressing to see certain events and stories in the media, you can't just shut them out because you don't like them or force others to live in blissful ignorance. People do need to be aware of current issues, no matter how uncomfortable it makes them.

** Good endings: [[spoiler:Despite disabling the antenna, Gordon can choose to accept Ricky's offer to assist in running the studio and discreetly help the puppets restart their show for a while before departing, only to spend his days wondering how they are doing without him ('''One More Season'''). If he [[GoldenEnding went out of his way to help certain characters]] throughout his quest, then he's fired for his actions and ends up sticking with the puppets for good. He finds happiness in this, comparing the effects of ''My Friendly Neighborhood'' on the city to a sunrise leading people to their homes ('''Morning''')]]

** Gordon doesn't seem too phased about the puppets being alive or that a sock puppet is teleporting through the whole building to give him advice, without any sign of a puppeteer. At most he complains about the puppets attacking him, but even when he does it's only said with mild annoyance and not with the utter terror you'd expect in this situation.

* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:When Gordon falls into the ''Unfriendly'' Neighborhood, he finds himself face to face with a hideous merged together puppet that's more aggressive than the other puppets combined]].

** Speaking of that story, other Mascot Horror games would be making the reason why the puppets are crazy some big thing. Some ancient supernatural threat, trapped dead children's souls, evil possession, some super scary magical event, them being monsters made from hell... [[spoiler:''My Friendly Neighborhood'' instead tosses it all out the window in favor or a more grounded, and genuinely heartfelt angle. The puppets got abandoned by the humans in the studio when the show ended, and with no supervision to stop them, they turned on the TV to see what the human world was like. And then they would be exposed to the harsh truths and horrors of reality, war, corruption, and death, which was simply too much for them to handle. In fact, them being alive isn't given a supernatural explanation either; in true [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]] fashion, living puppets are just seen as normal in this world.]]

** Speaking of that story, other Mascot Horror games would be making the reason why the puppets are crazy some big thing. Some ancient supernatural threat, trapped dead children's souls, evil possession, some super scary magical event, them being monsters made from hell... [[spoiler:"My Friendly Neighborhood" instead tosses it all out the window in favor or a more grounded, and genuinely heartfelt angle. The puppets got abandoned by the humans in the studio when the show ended, and with no supervision to stop them, they turned on the TV to see what the human world was like. And then they would be exposed to the harsh truths and horrors of reality, war, corruption, and death, which was simply too much for them to handle. In fact, them being alive isn't given a supernatural explanation either; in true [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]] fashion, living puppets are just seen as normal in this world.]]

** Speaking of that story, other Mascot Horror games would be making the reason why the puppets are crazy some big thing. Some ancient supernatural threat, trapped dead children's souls, evil possession, some super scary magical event, them being monsters made from hell... [[spoiler:My Friendly Neighborhood instead tosses it all out the window in favor or a more grounded, and genuinely heartfelt angle. The puppets got abandoned by the humans in the studio when the show ended, and with no supervision to stop them, they turned on the TV to see what the human world was like. And then they would be exposed to the harsh truths and horrors of reality, war, corruption, and death, which was simply too much for them to handle. In fact, them being alive isn't given a supernatural explanation either; in true [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]] fashion, living puppets are just seen as normal in this world.]]

** The game outright subverts the "hidden lore" angle of these games through [[spoiler: there being none at all. The story is actually quite straight forward and isn't trying to be super cryptic and vague. the newspaper articles you find during the game simply flesh the story out instead of being the only source of it.]]
** Speaking of that story, other Mascot Horror games would be making the reason why the puppets are crazy some big thing. Some ancient supernatural threat, trapped dead children's souls, evil possession, some super scary magical event, them being monsters made from hell... [[spoiler: 'My Friendly Neighborhood instead tosses it all out the window in favor or a more grounded, and genuinely heartfelt angle. The puppets got abandoned by the humans in the studio when the show ended, and with no supervision to stop them, they turned on the TV to see what the human world was like. Where they would be exposed to the harsh truths and horrors of reality, war, corruption, death, and it was simply too much for them to handle. In fact, them being alive isn't given a supernatural explanation either; in true [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]] fashion, living puppets are just seen as normal in this world.]]
** Gordon himself is a large deconstruction of the protagonists of these kinds of games. Not only is he a grown adult in his 40s, he has a pretty defined backstory that influences his behaviour. [[spoiler: He's a veteran of the War, and his surly attitude is a result of the terrors he went through. The path to the good ending is about Gordon learning to love the bright side of his life again, through helping the puppets and becoming a parental figure to them.]]