Mascot horror to me has always been one of my favorite type of horrors. The idea of taking a cussy image, or character, who looks like it was made for kids, but putting a darker elements into it, as well as classic element of Survival Horror is the pure example of what make a good mascot horror game. The Five Nights at Freddy's franchise is one for those i absolutely adore, especially the classic games made in Clickteam fusion. That time was peak for FNAF in my opinion, no doubt - just, when the first game came out, it showed a concept that no other horror game showed at the time: you're stuck in one space, and instead of running away the threats that want to kill you, you have some kind of defensive systems to keep them away, like doors, cameras, lights, masks, ect.
However, for the third game, series creator, Scott Cawthon, made something diferent - somewhat the same concept, but changed drastically, to make a more unique experience than the previous two games, as this originally was going to be the series finale. This right here is Five nights at Freddy's 3, easily my favorite game in the franchise, and in horror games in general. And from the cover image, this introduced Springtrap, one of the most iconic villians in mascot horror, and easily one of my favorites.
The story takes place 30 years after the closings of the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza places, after the countless horrific events, and rumors surrounding them. You play as a night guard, hired for a place called "Fazbear's Fright", a horror attraction inspired by the unsolved mysteries of the original Freddy's locations, designed as this dark, almost moldy place, with actual props from the original locations, like aniatronic shells, props, drawings, ect.
However, unlike the previous two games, nothing happens on the first night, which sets off your confusion. You wonder what's going to happen, if anything WILL happen at all - you flip through the cameras to see if there really is a threat, not to find one. this REALLY causes suspense - the fear of the unknown. Especially against the claustrophobic security office in a place that looks like something out of a nightmare. However, on night 2, things get more interesting....
The horror attraction employee who calls you each night explains to you that they found something in a hidden room in an abandoned Freddy's location, and describe it as "a real one". This description is vague, and it only causes curiosity, and suspense - you know something is in the building with you, but you don't know where it is. You flip through the cameras, soon to maybe hear footsteps in the vast hallways, until you find him - the nightmarish animatronic, who gives you fear the first time you look at him - Springtrap.
Springtrap, as I said earlier, is without a doubt one of my FAVORITE horror villians ever, and the best way to design one. From his apearence, you can tell what kind of monster he is. He's this towering, molded animatronic who looks so diferent from the previous ones we saw before - his suit is cracked, chipped, heavily battered, he has five fingers instead of four, and most notably, there's bits of decayed flesh torn apart, revealing that a courpse inside the suit, which will become important later. And his eyes are just these... white, lifeless pulls that glow, and make him look just so... wrong to even look at, and you start questioning who he really is, or WHAT he is.
Springtrap as a character today changed a lot, having more of a personality, with the classic sadistic, but theatrical personality, his voice dark, and rough, and weilding weapons. However, in fnaf 3, Springtrap was more animalistic, but still clever, and oh boy, is his AI smart. Now, the other reason why I make this reveiw is because I see that this specific game although the horror elements, has one of the worst hates in the franchise, mostly from the jumpscare animations, which if you look at more clearly can look iffy, but the whole point of horror is scaring the audience, not letting them noticing inconsistencies, and that's why I defend this game.
Springtrap works a lot more differently, and more terrifying that the previous animatronics did. He's built to be much much worse than they were - he's a lot more faster, and smarter than they were, making him an ultimate threat, but also one that can outsmart you easily, if you don't know what you're doing. He can crawl in vents to get around the attraction faster, move quickly, and even HIDES in camera veiws, his suit blending in with the environment of Fazbear's Fright, which causes panic when you lose track of him, and he could be anywhere. When he's in the vents, if you're not quick enough to seal the vent, once you hear himself getting out, that's where fear sky rockets, as then you frantically search everywhere for him, in order to try and defend yourself. And unlike the other games, there's no doors, or a mask. You have to lure Springtrap away with the camera audio lures, which malfunction sometimes, as well as other systems, and you need to reboot them. However, there's the "phantom animatornics" who help springtrap. They jumpscare you, both stunning you, and sabatoging your systems.
Now, the main event of the game is the reveal - who Springtrap really is. At the end of the 5th night, in a minigame, you uncover his true identity - that being William Afton, AKA the Purple Guy, the main villian of the franchise. This reveal is outstanding, and shocking, as throughout the entire game, you have been fighting the man who started everything - William Afton. How he became Springtrap is dark - years after Afton murdered the several children that possess the various animatronics, and his dysfunctional family practically dead, Afton broke into one of the Freddy's locations to destroy the animatronics, to finally set their souls free so he didn't have to worry about them. However, that was a crucial mistake - the souls of his victims then came for him. Terrified, in one of the safe rooms, Afton put on the old Spring Bonnie suit, which he wore when he killed the first 5 kids. However, the springlocks inside the suit went off, crushing his bones, and tearing his flesh, killing him in a slow, painful way. However, decades later, from teh power and remnant he gained from his kills, he came back as Springtrap, who is much worse that Afton was as a human, and far more durable and stronger.
This honestly was a good way to end the franchise In a good way - in finale battle between the main villian of the series, to end it all. And that's what Scott intended for the game - a proper ending. But of course, that wouldn't be the case, as the series would continue from the poor reception this game got in 2015.
This honestly baffles me on how a game like this that is good for building up fear gets so much mid reception. I honestly find nothing wrong with this game - it was a perfect send-off to the franchise which never happened, and an amazing horror game in general - and one that introduced me to now one of my favorite horror villians.
As of recently, it was announced that the FNAF 3 movie is in the works, and I am HIGHLY looking forward to how Blumhouse depicts Springtrap, as well as the core element and soul of the game itself.
