Line #26 YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddys4


1	[[WMG:[[center:[-''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' '''[[YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddys Main YMMV Page]]'''\
2	'''''Games:''''' ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddys1'' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddys2'' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddys3'' \| '''''Five Nights at Freddy's 4''''' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddysWorld'' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation'' \| ''YMMV/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator'' \| ''YMMV/UltimateCustomNight'' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddysVRHelpWanted'' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddysARSpecialDelivery'' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach''\
3	'''''Novels:''''' ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheSilverEyes'' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheTwistedOnes'' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheFourthCloset'' \| ''YMMV/FiveNightsAtFreddysFazbearFrights''-]]]]]
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5	* AlasPoorScrappy: While by no means hated by the community, people felt rather sorry for [[DiscOneFinalBoss Toy]] [[SuperiorSuccessor Fred]][[FatBastard dy]] when it was confirmed that he would not be in [[HalloweenEpisode the Halloween Edition.]]
6	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
7	** Quite literally. The minigames in-between nights focus on a child called the Crying Child, but whether this is the protagonist of the nights themselves is up for debate, with the other most common option being his brother. This is to say nothing about the very popular fan theory that the brother is Michael Afton and the Crying Child is his ambiguously-named brother.
8	** [[spoiler: The game is usually interpreted as either the child stuck in a dying dream as he dies from his injuries, or his brother having a guilt-induced nightmare over what he did to his brother. This was seemingly partially resolved in 2023, when ''[[Literature/FiveNightsAtFreddysFazbearFrights Tales from the Pizzaplex]]'' confirmed that the game is actually set in an experimental chamber where Afton would torture kidnapped children, with the animatronics being hallucinations; however, it's left unclear who exactly the protagonist is.]]
9	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
10	** The mini-game where the child [[spoiler:is locked in the Parts room, with several animatronic heads]]. We are never given an explanation for this, who locked him in (it's implied to be the brother), what day or time it is, and it doesn't add anything to our comprehension.
11	** Smaller versions of Mangle's pieces randomly laying around in the kiddo's house. There's no buildup to it whatsoever, and is never acknowledged later. The Halloween update [[spoiler:gave us a Nightmare Mangle, though]].
12	* BrokenBase: The jumpscares being extremely loud is one of the biggest points of contention surrounding the game. Defenders cite the loud jumpscares combined with the game requiring you to listen closely as creating a hellishly stressful experience that makes the game the scariest in the series. Detractors hate them for being a cheap way to make the game artificially scary and make playing the a chore since the game simultaneously requires and punishes listening closely, with turning the volume up [[SensoryAbuse not being an option]]. This latter opinion is even the case for people who otherwise find the game's NothingIsScarier horror and emphasis on eerie silence and breathing to be some of the best in the series, even arguing that the game would have been remembered as one of the most effective horror games had it not been for the cheap jumpscares.
13	* TheChrisCarterEffect: Has been accused of this by some of the fanbase. Many were hoping that the fourth (and at the time, last) game in the "[=FNAF=]" series would at least answer one or two burning questions surrounding the lore, like the Purple Guy's identity or the infamous Bite of '87. Instead, people were left even MORE confused than ever. [[spoiler:Scott announcing he wouldn't open the box]] didn't help at all, alongside the Halloween update being PaletteSwaps and not much else.
14	* CreepyAwesome: The Nightmare animatronics look ''damn'' cool, but still more or less horrifying.
15	* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: The Box, as one [=YouTube=] comment says:
16	-->The box has become a metaphor for us as a community. Scott states how almost all of the lore for FNAF 1 - 3 has been found and when FNAF 4 came, the community looked too hard for easter eggs and misinterpreted the information given in plain sight. Because we as a community can not as a whole settle on events (I.E. the Bite of '87 OR the bite of '83) the community refuses to set on specific beliefs. And so because of this, the story isn't being figured out as it should, which is why the locks will remain, forever. Until we can all agree, the box will never be opened.
17	* FanDislikedExplanation:
18	** After the game's release, Scott had planned to allow a means of opening the mysterious box at the end of the game, which he claimed had "all the pieces [of the story] put together," but went back on those plans to avoid having it be one of these. Given later clues on his website heavily implied [[spoiler:the series was AllJustADream (as opposed to only the fourth, which had already been established as an extended NightmareSequence)]], the fans weren't too keen on this possibility. Notably, the next few games in the franchise completely ignore this twist, if it ''was'' what Scott had in mind all along.
19	** The near-confirmation in 2023 that the [[spoiler:the game is set in an experimental torture chamber for children kidnapped by William Afton, with the animatronics being hallucinations brought about by a hallucinogenic gas. Although it had already been foreshadowed in ''[[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation Sister Location]]'' nearly 6 years prior, and many a fan was simply happy to have a clear-cut resolution to the game's story, many others felt that this explanation was unnecessarily complicated and robbed the gameplay segments of their emotional importance, especially when contrasted with the two prevailing explanations (the nights being either the Bite Victim's dying hallucinations or the Brother's guilt-ridden nightmares). To say nothing about the alteration of William's character from a serial killer to a [[Franchise/{{Saw}} Jigsaw]]-esque torturer.]]
20	* {{Fanon}}:
21	** Early on, some fans liked the idea of the child from ''4'' being [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys1 Mike Schmidt's]] son due to [[GenerationXerox obvious]] [[LikeFatherLikeSon reasons]].
22	** Since the ''Sister Location'' DLC,, it's been almost universally accepted by the fanbase that the older brother is Michael Afton (William Afton/Purple Guy's son).
23	* LoveToHate: The {{jerkass}} older brother, at least for the first five mini-games. He may have [[spoiler:apologized after Night 6]], but he's directly responsible for [[spoiler:the Bite of '83]] and likes to terrorize the protagonist on a regular basis. No DracoInLeatherPants for him.
24	* NarmCharm: The Nightmare Animatronics have very over the top horror designs that can come across as ridiculous compared to the more mundane UncannyValley designs of the other animatronics across the series. However in-game the ParanoiaFuel they present (especially Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica relying on an easy to miss audio cue to know if it’s safe to use the flashlight), the extremely loud JumpScare you get for failing, and the context behind them haunting the Child’s nightmares makes the Nightmare Animatronics genuinely terrifying.
25	* OneSceneWonder: There are around 5 kids that show up in the Night 3 minigame, and show up nowhere else in the game. The most popular of these kids is the girl in pigtails, mostly due to being decent theory material at the time and has gotten shipped with the Child for some reason ([[ShipsThatPassInTheNight despite their only interaction being her scaring the brunette with a rumor and laughing at his fears]]).
26	* PortingDisaster:
27	** While all of the games in the series have had a problem with frame-rate drop in their mobile ports due to the limited power of most phones/tablets, it is ''especially'' noticeable in this game due to the constant movement and running around you have to utilize as opposed to flipping through an array of static camera screens with the only animation being on the animatronics' kill screens. A subdued version of this trope, to be sure, but still a hassle.
28	** In addition, this game also eschews the story related minigames that take place between nights, a la ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3'' (the latter still has the Toy Animatronic minigames, but without the Purple Guy ones it loses a lot of the context). Normally this wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for the fact that the story is ''only'' told through those minigames since you don't have someone calling you every night and talking to you like the last three. To say this has caused a bit of TheyChangedItNowItSucks reactions would be an understatement.
29	* ScrappyMechanic:
30	** Before the v1.01 patch that increased the breathing volume to much higher levels, many people disliked the crucial game mechanic of having to listen for breathing to know an animatronic is nearby in the hallways, in order to close the door and wait for them to leave. It was previously very troublesome for the hearing impaired, and a fair amount of [[LetsPlay Let's Players]] who were shown during gameplay videos to not actually be able to hear anything no matter how long they waited for the breathing to appear, due to the actual noises being rather inaudible if one didn't intently listen to it. Previously the only solution was to turn the volume up, [[EarRape which would only cause more problems if players were given the noisy jumpscare anyway]].
31	** [[spoiler: Nightmare Fredbear and Nightmare both laugh to signal that they aren’t in the halls and are either on the bed or in the closet. The issue is that the laugh can sometimes be a fake out and there is no way to tell if the laugh was real or fake from the laugh alone. While there are ways a fake laugh can be distinguished (such as footsteps still being heard after a laugh) there will be times where it is impossible to tell if a laugh is real or fake. While it is possible to check the bed, closet, and the hallway Fredbear’s footsteps were last heard in on Night 5 and 6, Nightmare is much less forgiving and a fake laugh on Night 7 or especially 20/20/20/20 can make survival a game of luck rather than skill.]]
32	* SequelDifficultySpike: After a rather easy third game, this new installment cranks the difficulty back up to the hardest game in the series. Surviving requires a combination of patience, listening for subtle audio cues, and managing Nightmare Freddy and, if you don’t stop him from entering, Nightmare Foxy with death being certain if you slip up. [[spoiler:Night 5 and beyond introduce Nightmare Fredbear/Nightmare who are both highly aggressive and difficult to counter animatronics that can attack from both hallways, the bed, and the closet.]]
33	* SpiritualLicensee: A young protagonist survives nightmare creatures, and loses sleep because they're hunted by said creatures. [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet The references were, evidently, not just for show.]]
34	* {{Squick}}: Many people have this reaction to the Nightmare animatronics. Averted in terms of Plushtrap.
35	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
36	** An odd case of this. One of the things that made the series unique was its mundane-looking animatronics as the monsters in the series, which is decidedly different from most horror villains/monsters. Upon this game's announcement and release, many have complained about the Nightmares looking like generic horror villains, to the point [[{{Narm}} it feels that Scott was trying too hard to make them scary]] and, in the process, just made them too generic to BE scary to some. In other words, they changed it and made it suck [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks by making the new animatronics look too similar to other horror monsters out there]].
37	** Nightmare Balloon Boy can be this to some, due to his NonStandardCharacterDesign among the Nightmares and his minor role in the games' timeline, whereas the rest of the Halloween Edition animatronics were non-canon.
38	* UglyCute: Plushtrap is a FunSize plushie version of Springtrap, the third game's antagonist which was already pretty monstrous to begin with. But, just look at him. Isn't he adorable?
39	* ViewerGenderConfusion: One of the Older Brother's friends, the one in the Chica mask, is just as often assumed as a girl (specifically the {{Tomboy}}ish OneOfTheBoys kind) as that one as a boy, [[VillainousCrossdresser it probably has something to do with the Chica mask]].

Context YMMV / FiveNightsAtFreddys4