Sister Location: FNAF's Disastrous Masterpiece

[@acehilmz]

i think sister location saved fnaf. one of the complaints at the time about that the series was that the game formula was too repetitive. it was such a fresh change, new game play, new faces and some of the most interesting designs we had ever seen. the game itself is not the best, however it changed the series for the best and boosted the hype. scott hated fnaf world, so i think he would have hated to end the series that way.

[@THGMR-ox7sd]

And people hate SL because of that

[@Toby-Draven]

Couldn't have said it better myself

[@_somestuff]

The only things I hate about SL is night 4 and the lore connections (I'd rather have it happen years in the future without the Afton crap). Otherwise, yea, it's quite noice.

[@moonl1314]

I really love the ennard bossfight atmospherically

[@ultmateragnarok8376]

@@_somestuff To be fair, we have yet to really know if it did happen before or after everything. I'd lean towards it being after the first two games since the general theory most people accept is that William apparently made this whole animatronic line for mass killing and harvesting of children _before_ the first games' locations were so active. It might even happen after 3, but that's a much bigger time gap - really the only confirmation is that it's before FFPS, just because of, y'know, the characters in it.

[@Sleepy_Melodiess]

To be fair sister location is my favorite one, i really love everything about it, the characters, scenarios, atmosphete, context, events, story. And yeah! It's completely understandable to dislike it, it's flaws can define if you are into it or not. I wouldn't say SL sucks, but obviously not for everyone

[@captainled4025]

I agree sister location is my second favorite fnaf game right behind fnaf 2

[@angelvu]

Yes!!! The biggest factor for me was the atmosphere!!! I was on edge and spooked throughout the entire game just crawling around even though I’ve watched people play it a dozen times lol

[@z3rox969]

agreed! i absolutely love sister location, just not from a gameplay standpoint

[@timewarpdrive77]

How is that being fair?

[@ellielovegood6307]

I agree completely

[@double0f755]

my problem with Sister location is just a big cutscene with a bunch of quick-time events, once you watch Markiplier play it, you've had the full experience

[@thesearethereasonsiwanttod8702]

I agree so much it’s like minecraft story mode, it’s good once and that’s it

[@JohnDoe-si8pq]

Playing is usually always a better experience than watching. Even with this game.

[@SillyArcade]

@@thesearethereasonsiwanttod8702 at least minecraft story mode has a few branching paths in each chapter, sister location has one in it's entirity. 100 likes lets go gamers 👊😎🤜

[@EndertheDragon0922]

In my opinion, I don’t think every game _has_ to be replayable. Yes, it’s great if it is, but some games simply set out to tell a story. Sister Location was not designed to be replayable, unlike its custom night, and I think that’s ok.

[@double0f755]

@@EndertheDragon0922 I would agree with you, but it is so frustrating to get through the gameplay into the story, for instance, how you have check points instead of just restarting the puzzle you were on, night 1 is super slow, because its just a cutscene with you pressing some buttons, and night 4. And I don't feel compelled to do all that just to get the same outcome and same events markiplier got when I watched his videos

[@punusername3445]

I will say this, i love sister location for what it is, and it's a shame we never got to see expansions on it's aesthetic and theme (being normal games or fan games) i really don't get "sci-fi" vibes from it, always felt like those old 80's shows about the future-

[@muddashucka9743]

"... always felt like those old 80's shows about the future" So, sci-fi

[@vm_duc]

@@muddashucka9743 it's retrofuturistic.

[@Blembus]

"I dont get sci-fi vibes" Describes Sci-fi vibes

[@punusername3445]

@@Blembus I'm talking like, in the world that is what the people who made the robots were trying to achieve, like, trying to design the mascots to actually look like robots, people often say it's sci fi because of the entirety of it, i just think whoever designed the Fun Times were just trying to emulate that style and not that the whole thing is sci fi. Much like those 80s shows designed stuff to look futuristic yet weren't actually living in the future.

[@muddashucka9743]

@@vm_duc *so it's sci-fi*

[@The1CactusGhost]

I find it interesting that you were the only person to connect Scrap Baby with the springlock suit in Sister Location. That phrase alone made me rethink some stuff I thought I knew about Fnaf lore. Aside from that this review hit all the points. The game had great atmosphere, jumpscares, story, and music (Venta Black OST is underrated) but strains in terms of gameplay aside from Custom Night. I think the unique changes in Sister Location gave new substance to the Fnaf genera but replaced the "game" part with story. Main nights aside from Night 4 could've been slightly altered or extended, Night 5 especially to give off that old Fnaf style without sacrificing the story. Good job on this review. You will go far.

[@ultmateragnarok8376]

A lot of FNaF has that effect. You can think quite a lot of things, but one suggestion, theory, or perhaps a whole piece of evidence might shake your ideas to their core. It's something that annoys me a good bit, because of how many people accept popular theories as fact due to just word-of-mouth from people who watched this theory video or that theory video. That's not to say big theories weren't retconned into and out of the lore all the time, but still, people really like to do that. Even now it's happening with the proliferation of Mike Schmidt and Michael Afton being the same person in the upcoming movie, which even in the games was never confirmed (or even particularly suggested, since the main argument for it is the 'odor' thing which.. that whole location smelled horrible for a lot of reasons).

[@cattheshredder]

I was always under the impression it was a funtime Chica. Many have remarked the shape of the face is similar. Not to mention the white color scheme and the unsolved "chicas Party world". Mat pat said Chica must have belonged to a different company and was bought out. Makes sense to me.

[@cattheshredder]

@@ultmateragnarok8376 the guard is fired for "odor" and " tampering with animatronics. It's basically Mike or William. A big reason Mike is supposedly attacked is bc Mike looks very similar to William and they both take security guard positions. The guard obviously isn't in it for the measly pay

[@starryeyedmavis]

might be biased because its the game that introduced me to the series in the first place. but seriously the atmosphere, the story, the characters, the game did it amazingly, sure theres quite some flaws but in an overall view of it, its such a good game. people blame it for a lot of flaws the series as a whole has, even though they existed before the game. its really over-hated and im glad a lot of people like it. it's so well made and my favorite game ever. scott did a fantastic job with it.

[@duck_duck_goose]

Right. Like every game has a flaw. It’s normal. But I feel SL opened a whole new door to the series. And I’m not saying the other first games suck, but if you think about it, it’s 4 games that follow the same formula. But I’d say they fixed that by atmosphere

[@sillyphyllic]

Same here :3

[@kashe7285]

i do think the gameplay is pretty lacking but i just can’t bring myself to dislike it. i love it so much. from an artistic perspective and story perspective, it’s sincerely one of my favorite fnaf games. the character designs are incredible and the atmosphere was new and refreshing, yet still creepy and unsettling. story-wise, it finally gave life to the characters we’d been following for so long. it gave these characters voices, personalities, motives, and intrigue. william, michael and elizabeth were not truly compelling characters before SL, they were hardly characters at all. i will always love sister location for bringing the aftons to life and making the lore what it is today, i think that’s so often overlooked when people discuss this game.

[@mouthwaterin]

THIS

[@Spacekingofearth]

IMO thinking about FNAF games as *games* is generally upsetting for some reason. Its a story, a story about tragedy and loss. Long story short FNAF SL was probably a lore dump game which impacted the actual gameplay itself. Its lore filled, it gives us so much more to work with that the other games didnt supply. But I think the focus on the story impacted the gameplay as it didn’t leave much room for the actual gameplay itself. All in All I think its a great game, a massive improve,ent from others as he mentioned. The storytelling was spot on, but the game itself needs work. Again, like he said, it looses its magic when you play it through. Sometimes its hard to remember this isn’t a book, its a game.

[@minervoionni36]

8:01 The “made the series too sci-fi” argument doesn’t just apply to the game’s atmosphere, I think. It’s about the addition of Remnant and complete tarnish of William Afton’s presence. Sister Location had such a massive impact on both established *and* future story, and it’s honestly just been going downhill since.

[@PineappleDealer37]

From what I understand remnant is not a weird substance which makes your souls stay after death. Remnant, to my understanding is just haunted metal given a name. About the "sci fi" thing this game shown us one thing - in fnaf universe technology depends on the person. William being rich has these advanced robots and retrofuturistic machines in the past meanwhile phonedude in 2023 has not much more than a bunch of monitors and Henry even further in the future has a old computer. The "sci fi" in sister location seems to be like a nuclear reactor control panel - has a lot of buttons, but only 2 are useful.

[@minervoionni36]

@@PineappleDealer37 Yeah Remnant isn’t what keeps the souls, it’s like a liquid substance made by the souls trapped in the suits combined with the metal And I think it’s really boring Also the thing you said about the technology depending on the person has like, nothing to do with what I’m saying I don’t actually care that SL has a sci-fi atmosphere, hell I love it, I think SL looks great. The problem I have is how the sci-fi was inserted into the story

[@PineappleDealer37]

@@minervoionni36 I don't think remnant is really a liquid. I mean, iirc remnant is just haunted metal. Either that, or haunted metal being heated up to elastic state without freeing the souls. About the sci fi... I don't really think this is so much sci-fi. It's more of a nuclear reactor control panel. It's not so much sci-fi as it just has a lot of buttons. KZbinr called 'Ponguj' has a pretty good videos about both of these subjects (as well as many more and his videos are much more grounded than of some people), tho his videos are in polish with English subtitles.

[@ActualAlien_]

@@PineappleDealer37 Also, was FNAF 2 not sci-fi? Y'know... the one with animatronics made out of shiny plastic that had facial recognition

[@PineappleDealer37]

@@ActualAlien_ I doubt they actually had the facial recognition. This seems to be one of many, many lies of phone guy. This may have been excuse to why the robots acted strange for the restaurant.

[@as4180]

I'm not really involved with the fnaf community, so I've been able to form my own opinions in a sort of vacuum. I started watching other people's fnaf content very recently. I find it very interesting that everyone has such wildly different opinions on their favorite games and which ones they think are the best. Usually in fandom there's a sort of consensus, but not so much here lmao Also justice for Ballora and Funtime Foxy. They're some of my favorites and they got absorbed into the hivemind too soon. 😔

[@soomi5667]

Definitely will watch this later or after the premiere. Honestly, I love sister location tbh. Though I really do get the criticisms on the game ngl. It feels like a game that doesn’t have a lot of replayability and maybe a set of things that could’ve been added in? but at the same time- I love it. The story, music, atmosphere, and knowing we play as the only living kid of rabbit man is really cool!

[@ElZik3r]

I love all fnaf games tbh, but i do have to say, out of all games, Sister Location gave us a lot of lore when it came out. (Also, SL's OST is one of my favorites in the franchise, like, why tf is watch your 6 so goddamm beautiful 💀)

[@EthanTheHorrorFreakLol]

nah fr the music is so... nostalgic already and just. i can't even explain. the ost makes me feel so many certain ways and nothing could ever make me feel the way it makes me feel.

[@acrazyrabbit1980]

EYYY IT'S MY POSTER! thx alot for using it in the thumbnail dude

[@onlookerofthings6029]

The advanced animatronics aren't why Sister Location gets called too sci-fi. It adds illusion discs and Remnant and they make Afton more like a mad scientist than a serial killer (in my opinion at least). Time traveling ballpits, Faz-goo, they all started from Sister Location's tone shift

[@jinxmybeloved6930]

no the time travelling ballpit stuff is just bullshit,remnants and stuff are cool soft sci-fi explanations for in game events

[@bugonboris6681]

Oh dear! You're right! This is all ridiculous!

[@oddgirl423]

Sister location is my favourite Fnaf game. And for many reasons: • The *animatronics* have an incredible design. In my opinion, the best ones. They look more advanced and modern than the glamrock ones xd • The best *moments* : The most *suspense* moments are in the breaker room, when freddy is fixed, and ballora's room. And the *iconic* ones, it's the secret room (Ennard's boss fight) and when he gets to Michael's room. Unfortunately, they're not canon. Not forgetting Michael's speech • "Scifi": I think giving a scientific explanation to the Paranormal was the best thing that could have happened. Honestly, I would have liked to see William have more of a "mad scientist" concept than just "I'm JeAlouS of mY bEst frieNd"... • *Characters* : Characters like Ennard (who is one of my favourites ones) is wasted. Honestly, they could have been a new danger to Fazbear's employees and people, but it didn't happen... Circus baby was hardly seen. We didn't feel like she was a physical threat. Which is a shame. Only in fnaf 6 with that claw, with which, it was the same one that caught her... Insane And funtime freddy scares me, he sounds like a psycho clown lol

[@cawsomeaolin]

Ok

[@honeycrispsnail4032]

@@cawsomeaolin i really don’t like the sci-fi aspect of this game. i liked the ambiguity of the paranormal parts of this game, and adding the complicated and unbelievable science to the lore just made everything messy, in my opinion. not that haunted animatronics and souls coming back to torment people is believable, but it kind of reminds me of an urban legend type thing. i don’t know, i guess it comes down to opinions, but i think everything was better when you just didn’t really know why the animatronics came to life other than children died and got stuffed into them.

[@cawsomeaolin]

@@honeycrispsnail4032 me too

[@alanmoon2448]

same here!.

[@maddiek1314]

Sister location felt scary to me in a way I hadn’t experienced since fnaf 1, and haven’t really felt since. I can’t put my finger on exactly WHY that is, my best guess is just how dark both these games are (as in the lighting) and how this obscures the animatronics from full view. Ballora and Funtime foxy crawling around in the room with you actually gives me goosebumps, and their jumpscares GET me. Getting out of that dark elevator and having to crawl through a dark vent when you know what lies just outside freaks me out. I feel like no animatronic designs have fully captured the creepiness of the original fnaf animatronics, not even the vr remakes, but sister location got close

[@UnluckySuperstition]

I think sister location is an instance of an established franchise changing things up to done in the right way. It's (at least to me) the closest game in the franchise to a purely story driven narrative adventure (where the story was prioritized over gameplay and replayability) but I personally really like that because both the voice acting, the new lore and mysteries established, and the overall miserable atmosphere of impending doom makes it a good story. It feels a lot more... Realistic in a sense, because instead of being like previous games where you're a guard that has two large doors or an office to hide in and defend yourself like in the other games, instead you have a complete fabrication of safety. You're essentially a glorified and underpaid handy man that's being forced to go into dangerous areas completely exposed and defenseless to deal with the problems presented, you have no true defense at all after leaving the main lobby with the shock buttons (which get disabled by either baby or the other animatronics anyway)- other than the reliance on your own intuition, and listening skills (and Baby's 'help' later on). The secret dialogue where you can go back into baby's office area and hide under the desk for her to start talking to you again was really interesting and I personally loved how the VA expressed the story. And the game used it's most frustrating elements of dying and having to redo entire sections, just to pull the rug out from under players and piss them off only to realize shortly after it was a fake out. (That doesn't necessarily justify the frustrating long winded Foxy section being the way it is, but it was nice that they willingly used an aspect of the game they knew was frustrating to actively continue the story) I think the extra night where you defy baby's directions was also a very good addition as it gives the people who exclusively loved the first two games gameplay system a treat for prodding around the game, and one last scare with Enard breaking into your house to get you anyway (so.. no good endings _/(0-0)\_ ) Anyway, as a viewer who finds the games and the story really interesting but has never played the games myself, that's just my take on it. And again, voice acting means everything if you have it in a game, of it's good, it can compensate and add a lot to a story or a game, if it's bad- it most definitely detracts and it can detract alot or ruin an experience if it's bad enough. Sister location had _reqlly_ good voice acting. And I truly believe that if the VAs were actually bad, Sister location would be significantly worse off, if not disregarded entirely.

[@Sir_GrimReaper]

FNAF SL IS REALISTIC??? Oh ok, sure. 💀💀💀

[@UnluckySuperstition]

@@Sir_GrimReaper I don't think I meant it in the way that you're thinking. Obviously the entire franchise is a fantastical unreal story, but SL felt like a more realistic representation of, well... Work? Labor? Corporation behavior? A mix of it I guess. I guess sister location feels like a more realistic representation of bad labor practices and company negligence compared to the first two (every FNAF game contains it though, it's like a canonized thing that Fazbear Co. Is greedy, shady and cost cutting to a supreme degree). After all, having massive security doors that utilize an inane amount of energy just to protect a singular (underpaid and easily replaceable) security guard (who's job is traditionally meant to go around their workplace and.. look for intruders and apprehend them, as far as I'm aware anyway) is kind of fantastical- especially sense Fazbear corporation is again, canonically incredibly greedy, cost corner cutting and regulation skirting- probably not even truly complying with regulated bare minimums of worker and sanitary safety measures. I guess in sister location without having the security doors and a truly safe space to be in while your at your job, no proper defences, on top of all the consistent verbal reprimanding and verbal semi-sleights and failures from the company voice robot guy (word pad not working, consistently stating things will be deducted from _your_ paycheck even if it's posed as a gift or benefit from the company to you - i.e. butter basket, etc.), and the company itself just being shady and treating everything as disposable and replaceable, or disregarding obvious incidents or problems. Only to then actually go 'home' and sit around watching TV and probably feeling miserable about what tomorrow holds, It's just, it _feels_ particularly _realistic_, if you know what I mean. And yeah the other games obviously have the same kind of things going on, company negligence, cost cutting, weird regulation skirting and obviously, worker endangerment/manslaughter. It just feels different somehow, not in a bad 'this sucks' kind of way, but just a generally different feeling.

[@Sir_GrimReaper]

@@UnluckySuperstition you do realize that michael just went in there by request of his father, right? He wasn't getting paid at all, infact the fnaf sl place was built by william, not fazbear, i don't remember him getting a paycheck in none of the endings, realistic in the only way he's safe is inside a whole room with a whole probably bullet proof windows, also with 2 controllers that have buttons for lighting a room and giving a "controlled shock" to animatronics that somehow we're created at the same period of time as the springlock suits. The only thing realistic in this game is the Michael's shadow in the mirror in one of the endings since it's a png of rick astley.

[@NYCTOSEE]

@@Sir_GrimReaperThey misinterpreted the story, yes, but their point is still valid. It gives you a look at the BS the workers of this money grubbing establishment have to go through. The system still treats you as if you’re an employee, so you get to see what an actual employee deals with. (Getting the secret ending starting with “Due to the secretive nature of the contents of this room, you can not leave until 6AM, but rest assured you will be promptly saved by workers, fired, and sent home.”, the whole “This will be deducted from your pay” etc. The system recognizes you as a worker, not “William Afton’s son sent here to uncover a mystery”.

[@Sir_GrimReaper]

@@NYCTOSEE of course it wouldn't recognize him a william's son sent there to uncover a mistery i don't think you know how incredibly specific that is, and that since the place is made for workers only and not for visit it probably confused michael as a worker instead.

[@ryanprower4246]

From what I understand, the reason people consider the game to too far into sci-fi here is because of how they tried to make possession into a science with the Scalable Creation of Ulterior Presence device stored and used in the Scooping Room.

[@trancebunnysunny]

pure aesthetics makes this game amazing for me, i enjoy it personally, so it’s nice to see some people like it :]

[@hityo7488]

Man, that thumbnail is hypnotizingly amazing

[@icreatethingzz]

I honestly find Sister Location's change in mechanics and structure really fun. I know some people won't like it for that exact reason, but to each their own.

[@nasapeepo6418]

i get why some people dislike SL but to me, i feel like it’s on the nose for what the series needed upon it’s release. To me, the inclusion of the nights being different from one another was AMAZING i loved the voice acting too, i think it moved along the story so well. I loved the slow decent into madness as you progress through the week. Leon did fantastic on the OST and i would say that it’s probably my favorite part of the game as a whole, encapsulating the vibe of the story and game perfectly. I liked how there were both 8bit cutscenes and animated ones, and the inclusion of custom night following the same formula as the original 4 games was a great drawback for people who missed that aspect of fnaf.

[@hannahlee1740]

We all got tired of pointing out security breaches many, hilarious, faults so we had to move on momentarily, don’t worry the DLC (probably) comes out soon😂 Side note: the earth was also blessed with my arrival on Dec 10th! I’ve only ever found one other person that shares my birthday! Happy late birthday my dude!

[@0Xmoon_pandaX0]

I love FNaF SL so much, personally I thought it was amazing, it introduced us to not just new gameplay, but a more in depth look to the afton family

[@midgematic8659]

Sister Location is my favorite FNAF game when it comes to art and the lore it added to the franchise, though its a good youtuber game, not really a good game for individual play and replay. But I love love LOVE the Funtimes and their mechanisms. Baby’s claw and her catching Elizabeth is absolutely captivating on a lore standpoint, and I think Baby is iconic as a fnaf character. I get why people dont like it but it stays as an A to S tier for me, right next to the the original

[@libby_lue]

Its official, OZONE VIDEO ESSAY PHASE GO

[@OzoneYT]

it's not a phase

[@libby_lue]

@@OzoneYT Damn, SUPER poggers

[@childeofepickness]

@@OzoneYT heck yeah

[@childeofepickness]

ayo is that a ghost and pals pfp I see???????

[@libby_lue]

@@childeofepickness Yes

[@reubenfromow4854]

I feel like the “creep through the room” mechanic was one that could have been easily revisited. Perhaps in a future game the gameplay might involve a bit where you need to transition from the office to fix something in the pizzeria and need to walk through a dark room surrounded by animatronics?

[@Eterco]

I'm glad we got Sister Location for the sole reason that the piano solo of Demolition Inevitable is chillingly good

[@canislunaticus]

Tbh the reason I dislike sister location is because thats when we started getting into the territory of where FNAF becomes increasingly less and less beliavable. what made the old games beliavable is that it's more rooted in reality, also it's so much more scary when you're stuck in one room, all helpless.

[@thehuman2cs715]

I'm honestly really not a fan of how this game changed Afton's characterization, turning him into a mad scientist instead of a murderer, which just makes him much less imposing and interesting

[@SOULular]

Excited to see this! SL has always had a mixed impression on me, so I'm willing to hear a second opinion!

[@divineshrek3307]

It's one of the scariest experiences the first time around, it's when you look deeply into that you find A LOT of its flaws. . .

[@burtonthegrape9217]

my problem with it is it made William into a mad scientist and made FNAF overall not nearly as scary as it should be.

[@littlerayoflemons]

While I don’t like Sister Location much, I do believe it was a necessary game. The introduction of voice acting, the new mechanics, it was a lot of entirely new things put into one game. New mechanics and features that would follow into other games.

[@kaiz4569]

FNAF SL was the turning into the next chapter for the series: with the introduction of the newer technology, the resurgence of Afton and also acts as a game to provide the link between the books and the games (I know the books have their own canon while the games have their own, but it establishes the rules of the FNAF reality). I don’t hate SL but I also don’t like it, it doesn’t treat itself like a game, but more of a lore heavy intro to the new phase

[@ConjurintHorror]

I love Sister Location's soundtracks, voice actors, and Baby and how she manipulates. Also the trailer as well.

[@CorpigPlays]

To be honest Sister Location is my favourite FNaF game as it’s also nostalgic and I remember the hype and seeing the trailer for the game 😂

[@kittykat1791]

Game-play-wise I think Sister Location is my favorite. Having each night be unique breaks it up so you are not just going through the same motions every night, it's not muscle memory it's a new challenge. And it's terrifying. I still have a visceral fear reaction to Ballora's music box. I also love the balance of humor and horror, Scott hit it perfectly in this one. The storytelling is well done--characters, plot, and the way it tricks you between nights as you mention, and the voice acting is great. But I do agree with the argument that the scifi part of the story is not what I wanted to see in FNAF. That said, it wasn't too far for me in Sister Location itself, I could see it as a unique case that these animatronics just happened to be very advanced, and their personalities are still explained by souls and not just programming. I could accept remnant as a way of "scientifically" explaining souls and William's desire to study the dead as a motivation for doing some of what he did, but it was at the limit for me, I didn't want the series to go any further into scifi. And now is has continued and gone too far in some cases, but those issues are in the novels, some of the short stories, and newer games like Help Wanted and Security Breach.

[@MagicianStevey]

Sister location was my third every fnaf game I ever played, but I never found it scary. It was always too annoying to beat and always not scary most of the time. The jumpscares are some of the best in the games so far, but some parts such as there ennard ending or THE ENTIRETY OF NIGHTS 3, 4, AND 5. I usually play fnaf games for being scared, but it didn’t really happen that much. Especially night 4. The game was scary, don’t get me wrong, but it just was a lot weaker than anything else. It’s not bad, but it’s not good either.

[@justanrandomperson9192]

0:06 my man just put Ultimate Custom Night and Help Wanted in "don't really care" what an crazy opinion

[@ForsakenSandpaper]

everyone thinks fnaf 4 is a child nightmare after brain damage, but now it's just a mr.beast challenge.

[@jsj0520]

Enard’s boss fight music during the 5th night is so good. I’ve un-ironically listened to an hour long version of it multiple times because it is oddly relaxing.

[@Chronically_Bored]

I think SL made it too sci-fi not in terms of design and in game gameplay, but rather in lore. Let me explain ; Up until SL the fnaf story was a lot closer to an urban legend, something you would actually hear or read IRL about an old children's entertainment place, a creepypasta almost. It was simply a deranged killer, the paranormal activity of the spirits of his victims, and the last moments of his kid who, in a twist of karma, is dying from an accident related to his murder tool. It had a very down to earth(?) vibe, a kind of story you could see small kids reading off the internet and fully believing. Then SL came in, added whatever remnant (and later... Agony?? Put a question mark on that since its currently a book only thing), gave the killer a name, (though i suppose thats better attributed to the books) added insane technology like illusion chips and technology that simply doesn't and cannot exist in our time, insane twists which solidly take it off the believable-to-young-kids creepypasta/urban legend genre (like bigfoot, or loch ness, or 3 am being the paranormal hour) and straight to genuine high fantasy. Of course, whether you like this shift or not is up to personal taste, but I believe a lot of people, who has followed fnaf spesifically for that urban legend feel with a tragic tone, that is believable if you take away the hauntings (a serial killer who uses his own child restaurant as a bait for his victims to get away with it is far from the most outlandish murderer story out there) felt a bit put out by the sudden and _aggressive_ shift in tone, me included. I dont know, its just that suddenly changing afton from a nameless guy who's just a killer with a penchant for luring kids to a tech genius who's ridiculously far ahead of his time who's building kid serial killing machines that fly under the public eye to hunt kids for soul energy was too jarring for me and took a lot of the eerie "this could have been a real person" vibe out. Of course, personal opinions differ and all that, but i think you can understand why some people think SL made a very jarring shift to sci fi and dislike or even hate that fact. I'm in the camp of "dislike, but not to the extent i can no longer enjoy the franchise."

[@hide02]

I always describe the original 4 games as something of a murder mystery vibe. There was a lot of ambiguity to the overall story, and like you said it was somewhat believable. The change really killed a lot of interest I had in actually trying to put the story together, but like you, I didn't dislike it enough that I could no longer like the series.

[@TrixAreForKicks]

This. This is it It started to become too much. I loved the scary mystery and the believability. Then it just became magic for the lack of a better word

[@mikkicarr5717]

yeah i agree with this. I like the mystery the original 3 games had, how it could be a real urban legend and how it wasnt too overcomplicated, with the right balance of detail and mystery. giving all the characters backstories and motives kind of ruins this. Purple guy goes from a random killer that could be anyone to some kind of weird mad scientist? i hated that, made the whole thing feel cheesy and far less creepy.

[@kinnelyuwu5771]

Sister Location walked so Pizzaria Simulator and UCN could run into a wall and clip out of bounds by jumping when getting into Glamrock Freddy

[@circusbabysgallerysl]

I was 9 years old when FNAF SL was announced, what I saw back then was truly, different to me, in a positiv way, the whole era was magical to me, the songs, the build up to its release, the bad sfm models, the predictions, theories. And then when the game came out, say what you will, I LOVED IT. I think most of FNAF SL's hate stems from people wanting to agree on something and not thinking for themselves, sure the game mechanics were underwhelming (except Funtime Foxy...) and the characters were severaly underutilized, but I feel the game was still special and stands out in the franchise as something special, and it will forever hold a special place in my heart.

[@Sleeper_6875]

Sister location really was the turning point from the 1-4 dream theory era to the sister location-UCN era of the Aftons

[@mrmalos4194]

i dont hate sister location itself, just what it brought after. a big problem i have with sister location itself tho is that i wish alot of scripted events werent scripted and could randomly happen anytime, would have made the game better.

[@IDsFantasy]

I agree with a lot of this to be honest. I can't speak to the gameplay since I haven't played it myself, but all in all Sister Location is a really cool game. The way the sound design is done is so effective and it sends chills down my spine, and the story is so interesting. It makes me kinda sad that a lot of people don't like it now, but I'm glad there are people who still do Excellent work as usual. Keep it up :D

[@freshavocado6528]

SL has been my fav since it came out not only from a gameplay perspective (i think its rlly neat how scott changed up the repetitive gameplay) but also from a lore and aesthetical pov. The animatronic designs are my absolute fav from the whole franchise and the overall futuristic look is REALLY pretty imo. The voice acting and soundtrack also rlly seal the deal

[@soomi5667]

( Ok so.. actually did watch some of the premiere LOL )Also please make a video on SL’s soundtrack! I don’t think a lot of lot of people talk about it in essay-like formats. And I would love to hear what you think Ozone.

[@davidkonevky7372]

I personally liked the lack of gameplay much more. After all, most people came to this game for the lore and the theories, and SL totally delivers with great dialogue and a creative story. Embracing the storytelling side of fnaf was a good idea on Scott's part since most people don't even buy the games and just watch the gameplays.

[@debhebert8113]

BROOO I remember being there for the 1,000 subscriber!!! You’ve come so far my friend!!! Congratulations! Happy (late) birthday!!!!

[@EthanTheHorrorFreakLol]

it'll forever be my favorite fnaf game with fnaf 4 and others, but i do agree that i see a LOT of spots for improvement, or how things could've been made differently, been replaced, or whatever. but, it's scott's decision, and it's very unique, it'd be weird to imagine the game not being like this.

[@maxxbmd]

Dude, I loved Sister Location. Easily one of my favorite settings in the entire series

[@Sclaraidus]

Personally, Sister Location was my favorite game in the whole series. But that's probably because I never played it. I just watched other people play and theorize about it on KZbin, so I never experienced the gameplay, likely the weakest part of the game, for myself. I only experienced the atmosphere, story, and other people's reactions. It feels much less like a game and more like an interactive movie, which is probably why I had a better time watching others play it. At least now I understand why others hate it so much lol

[@fluffiddy6515]

Pre-Nerf Launch Night 4 was the hardest thing ever

[@jackcobden8097]

You should definitely make a video discussing the use of music in this game. I’d love to see it. (Also congrats on 20k)

[@paigebwhen3026]

This game fully got me interested in fnaf. It holds a special place in my heart.

[@KSNWreal]

you are defiantly right about the replayabilty of the game holding it back, the other games in the series either have multiple endings or are pure chaos, while one play through of SL and youve pretty much seen it all

[@EyyEyeNerd]

I see Sister Location as a fantastic example of a game-movie hybrid! I feel like the hate it gets comes mostly from people coming in expecting a proper game game

[@nikodemjelonek8420]

the thought of german funtime freddy is haunting

[@lebendigesgespenst7669]

I find that sister location is a great fnaf experience filled with the introduction of many great ideas… but 1) it isn’t really a fnaf game. Or at least it wasn’t until that update which added the full mode in the secret room. That kind of saved it but even then the bulk of the game is still just a set of one offs that, despite how cool they are, feel a little wasted because they could’ve built on each other into a coherent fnaf gameplay loop 2) A lot of the ideas introduced in Sister Location are, imho, better utilized in future games/projects than they are here. They’re a bit shallow in this game.

[@Azverial]

duDe i LOVE sister location. ennard and funtime freddy are by far some of my absolute favorite animatronic designs, not to mention the fact that i love the industrial underground facility vibe!

[@queefcheif9306]

sister location is what fnaf needed at the time, but dam is the extra night the only replayable part of the game

[@smirkyshadow4152]

I feel like although it's a very weak entry, it did completely save the fnaf franchise. It's definitely not very replayable, but it's pretty enjoyable for a first playthrough, and was perfectly honed and designed to be able to make good youtube content for. I feel like it also built on the lore (specifically the books) fairly well.

[@vycanismelodis]

it should have been longer. night 2 was amazing. the rest are a bit short but have potential

[@aalrightperson2789]

I love the character designs, they look super cool but the game made Afton into from a menacing killer to a mad scientist which kinda ruined him and the future story for me

[@puppiekit]

Honestly the one thing about SL I can't stand is the aesthetic. I hate the shiny robotic sterilized vibe. The thing about the OG fnaf that worked at least imo was the aesthetic. It was dark, dirty, rough, grimy. The animatronics resembled something more realistic, they were ugly and creepy, it awakened memories of seeing actual old 80s animatronics as a child. And although I was never scared of them growing up, just that sense of familiarity and recognition added to the horror for me. I remember watching fbaf gameplay when it first came out and feeling like I've been to the restaurant before. Scott genuinely captured the childhood pizzeria vibe perfectly. Everything after SL simply does not feel the same way. The lore doesn't hit as good without the original aesthetic. It disconnects you from that sense of reality and familiarity, which makes things less scary. I stopped being creeped out by FNAF the moment SL came out.

[@pxviii]

i like SL for its story and just the atmosphere, personally i think that it saved fnaf at the time by going into more sci-fi because we did need something a little different. i love how the nights are different instead of what we have seen in the other games back then. there are a lot of people who love SL but it’s understandable it’s not for everybody

[@pablobogopablogames2270]

man, i gotta tell ya something... ...you are just GREAT at making documentary style fnaf videos! maybe we could discuss about what do you have in mind for the net one and i could give suggestions?

[@trionhd7223]

I personally love the Designs, Atmosphere and Story but I do agree the gameplay could have Been a little better. It's my second favourite FnaF game, yet the fun really comes from Night 2-3 and the custom night. After you know the Story/game, it can become rather boring to replay.

[@circleception3916]

You should totally do a full cover of fnaf work. It’s lowkey my fav fnaf game and I feel people don’t give it a chance. Like on its own it’s so good

[@Competitive_Bid_]

I honestly wonder what a movie adaptation of this game could be like!

[@zedinred2886]

I distinctly remember a patch releasing quite quickly that made the springlock night much easier than it was on launch. It was enough that you could tell which KZbinrs played it before and after the patch without looking very hard. I never personally played it pre patch myself so I can’t 100% say how different it was.

[@Nahte1000]

Bro, your videos are AMAZING. The way you put it just makes me wanna keep watching

[@space_bound]

wouldn't it make more sense if it was designed to be that every night you perform maintenance on the animatronics and then do a classic fnaf style gameplay where your actions during the matinence phase would affect things like who's active during the office section. Or the opposite where you do the office fnaf style gameplay and then perform maintenance on the animatronics when they deactivate during certain hours and all the crazy stuff happen. It could be justified by saying that the player signed up for both even though they only needed to do one part (night shift security or the mechanics) or say that the people who hired the player were short handed and needed you to do some extra work before or after shift depending on which way you spin this, where they'll have to work on the animatronics. This would allow for the originally designed story beats and moments to still function but also allow for replay-ability since actions made in ehtier parts of the shift would allow for interesting experimentation on what you can do. Feel free to take this idea, I likely wouldn't be able to make a game with this idea in mind so to anyone feeling up to it you have my permission to take this and run with it.

[@kaijuslayer3334]

Sister Location lives in my mind as the beginning of the fall in FNAF that would eventually culminate into the disaster lore wise and gameplay wise that was Security Breach. It redefined the tone and standard of the series that would eventually lead to it.

[@demondoggo2768]

I disagree with the notion that sister location " wasn't too sci-fi " - as seen throughout the series scott isn't too good with scaling his technology to the time-frame the games take place in, FNAF 1 is meant to be in the 90s for example yet the security guards have what's more or less a smart tablet connected to the cameras. while there's always been inconsistancies between the games if I'm not mistaken security breach takes place between 4 - 2 and this tech is way above what would have been possible in the 70s & 80s and the entire underground pizzera ( tell me that doesn't sound way too advanced for the 80s ) just has this high-tech science look to it especially with the blue lighting and clean look of everything - it feels like jumping the shark design wise.

[@confusedfey9192]

Sister location was my second favorite fnaf game growing up. The first being fnaf 2. I remember seeing the trailer for ballora's song in middle school and being obsessed with it

[@JacksonsMainAcc]

Great video! The really cool unique thumbnail caught my eye!

[@SlamDunkPyro]

The gameplay is a bit oof but I love the visuals, change of formula and especially the voice acting. This game is the start of Kellen Goff getting great mileage out of voicing fnaf characters and I love it for that since I love his voice work alongside the other animatronics’

[@miles1357]

did we ever find out what happens to michael afton after ennard leaves his body in the sister location custom night cutscenes?

[@MetroAndroid]

Imo, Sister Location is the peak of FNAF. Circus Baby's dialogue and voice is the best.

[@thespacers9433]

I love your theory of the spring lock mask being used by scrap baby. The way the inside of the mask fits the way the face scrap baby uses is almost identical

[@NHR_Music]

The game is good. It went different compared to the others. It was a fun era of FNAF before Pizza Sim and UCN. I remember watching all kinds of streams regarding the extra custom night and being amazed at the Springtrap and Michael Afton reveal. Good times.

[@piczuppa4147]

As a kid when I first saw sister location i felt strange because it was so different from the other four gamesand for a while i ignored it but when I warched some video about it i immediatly fell in love with the aesthetics, the animatronics, the futuristic atmosphere and the story. I think that the gameplay could been done better because after a while it becomes too easy. But i think that scott noticed it and it was the main reason for why he did the costum night which have a much more fun gameplay!!!!

[@LLOYDKUNFOREVER]

It's great in a narrative sense and is a massive flex to what Scott has become in a storyteller and game developer sense. But in having all these cool ambitious ideas and wanting to have its loop being more autonomy in minigames, it botches some of the replayability the others had and the feeling I'm experiencing seperate nights instead of one big night.

[@PGF1892]

Imagine if the sister location minigames from the main game were actually after night minigames? And then the main night minigames were office like defense sections in the control module. Kinda like Jolly 3 Phase 1?

[@eljaminlatour6633]

And speaking of story, people get confused with where it's placed in the timeline. In FNAF, Michael Afton hides his identity with an alter ego known as Mike Schmidt and he worked in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, then in the end of custom night, he got fired for altering the animatronics behavior implying that he altered them before back in the private room at Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental at Sister Location, and odor, because he's know a rotting corpse that's still alive due to the remnant from the scooping room. And if that's true, then Fritz Smith could be Michael Afton, but it's not confirmed yet.

[@Snakepit_Media]

I adore sister location for the story it tells, it's a large interactive cutscene of a story and I love it, it's so fun

[@Sopsy_Hallow]

I don't get people saying that "remnant" made it too 'sci-fi', since it's essentially a made-up term for "haunted electronics/metal" like that's all it is, it is, canonically, William coining a term for the haunted stuff because it being haunted makes it act differently. (same deal for agony) But i do see the "illusion disc" complaint for it being sci-fi Also, saying the gameplay is like a powerpoint or whatever comparisons people use hold no weight when you realise that it also applies to all the other fnaf games made in clickteam fusion, especially ironic when other games had far less variety in gameplay. Sure, the gameplay is a little lacking but it's not any worse than other fnaf games PS i disagree that the centre control room or w/e its called is not gameplay. it is still gameplay even if it exists mostly for tone and building suspense

[@alexrivers8163]

I think the "i will put you back together" line actually means the crying childs family....it's not that he's gonna make the crying child whole again. It's promising the family will come back together. I believe the SL animatronics were williams first attempts at doing that very thing. That's why he sent Mike there he wanted him to get killed and haunt an animatronic under aftons control ,but instead elizabeth decided to stage an escape plan ,and also allowed her big brother to possess his own body instead of an animatronic by instead hiding themselves within his corpse instead of stuffing him in a suit. They used him as a suit which bypasses the rituals need to possess an animatronic. He like the other souls residing in his guts possessed himself. Sounds silly, but FNAF runs on goosebumps logic anyways. I think that this failure informed his next task, and henry knowing what afton was trying to do called the family together at Pizza Place and then burned them down once they arrived, however they survived as we see due to baby having multiple copies of herself thanks to her father, and Afton had backups as well. Alternative costumes he could wear in effect that's what we see when he first arrives as well, a new suit, as Scott said the change in design had lore relevance. I think this is that lore relevance. Afton has in effect created horcruxes of himself ,and backups upon backups which is why he's so confident in saying "I always come back." Just like Charlie in the fourth closet series Afton planned ahead once he knew what he had to do. I don't think it was a plan from the start he just stumbled upon remnant, and took the opportunity to experiment with it and THEN started his plans. At some point I believe the marionettes soul, Charlie, possessed one of Elizabeths more human appearing models, and took on the persona of vanessa perhaps through the robots programming perhaps just an act. Vanny isn't Vanessas twin she's a duplicate that ACTUALLY has elizabeth within her. This is why the two are being studied in isolation from one another by different psychiatrists. Same person being piloted by a different will ,but both experiencing difficulties of their own. The smaller child character we hear is the girl in the DLC ,and she is going to be one of elizabeths child robot bodies. Elizabeth is operating multiple copies of herself all at once. Perhaps when she was a child she was a good person so that's why she's the player character in the DLC.

[@Youmu_Konpaku_]

FNaF SL is the peak of FNaF animations so even with just that i can justify it's existence as one of the most important FNaF game

[@erickamakeeaina1649]

I think that of the 'Classic 7' Sister location is the best. It is something that manages to utilize both the horror and dark comedy of the series and mix them wonderfully. And helped push more focus on the story.

[@Hazel0rth3Light]

I like how for sister location it's like fnaf 2 where there are old & new faces to the story. Especially how it has us play in the present version of Mike, while allowing us to dive deep down into the past around the year 1983; while understanding that the Funtimes were actually made around the time the springs were, based on how we have to survive in a springlock suit during night 4. In conclusion, I believe Sister location is a fun, scary, & decent game to play. I also would like to point out that the trilogy books actually have helped hint the next game, not just through clues like Circus Baby's pizza world that has a 7'2 inch clown as the mascot; along with a fox, and a bear. Although Ballora, the minrenas and BonBon weren't teased in the trilogy books, it was mainly because the game was in progress of being made.

[@Trigger__Happy]

Holy shite I CANNOT believe it’s been six years since Sister Location was released. Feels more like 3 years ago. I genuinely needed to take a moment when I heard him say it’s been nearly six at the start

[@LeafHasLeft]

Sister location has always been the most important fnaf game in my opinion. It brought the serise into a different light making the game play different and giving it a story that anyone could enjoy not just those of us who are willing to watch every game theory and dawko video about the LORE.

[@kaibird542]

My main gripe about SL is Baby. As a character, she’s been entirely superfluous- she seemed to be an attempted second try at a Golden Freddy-ish antagonist, and it just did NOT work. Her motives make zero sense, too. Her plan was to leave the bunker and… then what? Was she just planning to live as Ennard the rest of her existence?? And somehow she got WORSE in Pizzeria Simulator. Weak character with weak motivations who has a weak influence on the story. Everything she did could have also been done by Cassidy if we’re to believe the Cassidy theory

[@emiliomurkmere]

i adore sister location. possibly, it's from nostalgia of watching youtubers play it when i was little. but i think it holds up---i just bought it to play myself today and so far ive had a lot of fun with it. im especially excited to play the custom night since most of the animatronics in it arent in ucn or are only available from deedee putting them in (which makes no sense to me; i should be able to pick out of all of the animatronics in the code)

[@JojoTheVulture]

Sister Location WAS supposed to be a linear story. Fnaf 4 was supposed to be the last traditional style game and sister location is supposed to be more of a spinoff in terms of gameplay

[@catdownthestreet]

Sister Location is actually one of my favorite FNAF games, and it’s not just because it’s the only one I’ve gotten to play I remember being in middle school, with my very first chromebook, and seeing Sister Location in the webstore. I downloaded it immediately, and started to play. I was a huge fan of horror games and I’d had my first introduction to the indie game universe around the time I first played. But I don’t think I ever could’ve expected how utterly terrifying playing SL with absolutely no experience with the gameplay before then. I was so terrified of the Bidybabs, and I never did manage to beat that area with Funtime Freddy after that. I can say that I absolutely loved the experience- but I will never, EVER play another FNAF game again. Sister Location scared me too much for that, and this is coming from the person who plays psychological and survival horror games religiously. The game doesn’t really fit in with other FNAF titles, and that’s okay, because it’s still very well done. I think the only complaint I have is that I am a baby and I cried when I got jumpscared or when I could hear an animatronic coming to bite my face off. Random side note: my absolute favorite FNAF game is Pizzeria Simulator! Never played it, but hoping to someday.