Take a look at this scene. If I told you this was from a mascot horror game, what would you say is going on here?

You'd probably think that this is a child's TV show gone wrong. These puppets came to life and got the show shut down for killing people.

Maybe there's even the souls of kids trapped inside there,

desperately trying to get out. I gotta be honest, that was my initial assumption when the demo for

my friendly neighborhood first released last year. But what have I told you that none of that is true? That while this game is indeed a battle of good against evil, the good isn't that of innocent children, and the evil isn't some corporate experiment gone wrong. Instead, it's a battle over your soul. Just not in the way that you'd typically expect. I'm going to Hello internet. Welcome to Game Theory. It's finally time to talk about the newest neighbor to move into the crowded street of mascot horror, my friendly neighborhood.

Despite this game's colorful child-like appearance, to say that this is just your typical cookie cutter indie horror game would be a massive disservice, especially when

Garten of Ban Pan exists.

My friendly neighborhood has itself a real focus on nostalgic gaming elements, limited save

tokens, inventory management, interesting and complicated puzzles, secret endings, cheat codes, speed running

and free cam modes, and best of all, we actually get to fight back for once.

Yeah, your eyes don't deceive you here, friends.

That right there is a gun-f firing letters back at the villains who are chasing you around.

Now if only I could take this thing into poppy playtime, I could finally give Huggy a piece

in my mind.

There really is something for everyone in this game, and that includes my little corner of the internet because you guys know that where there's mascot horror there's also bound to be some deep and rich lore.

The basic premise is that my friendly neighborhood was a children's TV program back in the day that featured happy-go-lucky puppets living in a fictional city block learning lessons about what it meant to be a good neighbor. In short, it was a mash-up of Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers neighborhood.

Sadly, the show got cancelled and eventually disappeared from the airwaves.

However, one night the TV tower on top of the studio begins broadcasting episodes again,

interrupting your normal TV lineup, and so it's up to us.

Plan is disgruntled repairman Gordon to climb to the top of the tower and shut off the broadcast once and for all

before it interrupts any of our precious TV time.

But as you'd expect, exploring an old abandoned building from childhood,

...