Demo Talk: The Joy Of Creation Remake — FNAF Horror Reborn
August 3, 2024
Five Nights At Freddy's is celebrating its 10-year anniversary on August 8th of this year. Aside from the anniversary making everyone feel old, it's going to be super content-filled; the week leading up to the 8th will have new releases and announcements every single day.
It's hard to be invested in everything related to FNAF these days as there's so much out there, but one thing in particular stood out from the schedule released regarding the week of events: a demo of the The Joy of Creation remake getting released. The name alone holds so much weight — it was impossible to not want to play it. So we did. And here are our thoughts.
Five Nights At Freddy's Like You've Never Seen It Before
Immediately, you get the sensation that this remake is more visually polished than anything previously released within the FNAF franchise. I totally understand that this is more of a fan game than an official title, but it's really hard to not notice the difference. That's not meant to throw shade at any of the FNAF games, by the way. It's more about how impressively realistic the horror is in this The Joy of Creation remake. I suppose the original title made a name for itself for the exact same reason so maybe I shouldn't be so surprised...
The realism is used to great effect. Combined with the audio and the gameplay, tension builds up quickly and naturally. Just within 5 minutes of playing, you'll feel anxiety in a way you've probably not felt before in Five Nights at Freddy's. Opening the window or the doors and being greeted by pitch darkness doesn't exactly make you feel safe at any time. There's also a lot of stress that comes with not knowing how exactly everything works at first. Any time wasted feels like too much time. That feeling only gets reinforced as you start seeing the rest of the animatronics. The Joy of Creation is horror at its strongest. At least, in the atmosphere sense.
Wide Audience, Niche Gameplay
Generally, I would say that Five Nights At Freddy's is pretty easy to get into, gameplay-wise. The fan games, not so much, as they care a whole lot less about easing players into the game. The Joy of Creation (and the remake, by extension) is definitely guilty of this. On the outside, it may just seem like a darker spin on the FNAF formula, but it's more like an intensified version of the genre. This game is for people who really like FNAF. That's very obvious when playing through the demo.
Now, I don't necessarily mean to say that the gameplay is highly obtuse and unintuitive. It kinda is, but it's more about how every single mechanic is very clearly inspired by the FNAF games but taken to another level. At its core, it is a game of time management and quick decision-making. There are a lot of different things you need to tend to; however, things will never go perfectly. Your camera can lose its feed. Your flashlight can lose its charge. Chica can pop in and force you to rummage through all the drawers in the room. It's a lot to handle. I really don't blame anyone who finds this demo to be too much.
It's a great thing that this is a demo then. If you like it, you can wait for the full release with great anticipation. If you don't like it, well, it does no harm to you at all. It's also important to remember that this doesn't fully reflect what The Joy of Creation remake will be like. This is but a taste of that experience. Just one chapter in a grander story. It's definitely too early to write anything off.
The Joy of Creation remake will be releasing in 2025. Do make sure to check the demo out.
