SOTM is Fine and That Might be a Problem

It's now been a few months since Secret of the Mimic released. I originally wanted to write about this game as soon as it came out, but I decided it would be better to hold off for a while until all the hype and emotions calm down. Initially I felt very positive about SOTM and I still do to a large extent, but with a bit more time and a clearer mind, I'm seeing some problems. So, here are my thoughts.

I'm not going to go into too much detail on what the game is about or why it might possibly be the best FNAF game. Yes, I do think the game is good, that's not what I want to counter here. If you haven't played it and want to have a chance of understanding what I'm yapping on about here, I recommend watching this amazing video by Phisnom on YouTube that explains everything about the game and why it's good. I repeat many of the same points Phisnom makes in his video, so it's helpful for understanding where I'm coming from.

SOTM was a conventionally good game; it had a compelling story, well written characters, enjoyable gameplay, pretty environments and unlike the past few FNAF games, it was actually a bit scary (no classic FNAF level scary but made me jump a few times). It was still a bit buggy and unoptimized at times, which is something we have unfortunatelly learned to expect from Steel Wool games, though it was nowhere near as bad as Security Breach (seriously by a very long shot).

And I think that's where its largest problem lies. If we go back to the afformentioned Security Breach for a moment, that game can be best summed up by the term shitshow. It had no story, or, depending on how you look at it, 7 simultaneous stories that contradicted each other. The characters were meh, none of them had any real depth or engaging story behind them (they were mostly just stereotypes). The gameplay was ass or downright annoying. The environments sometimes looked cute and well decorated, but most other times felt massive and empty. Oh and the bugs, no other way to put it, this game was (and still is) such a fucking shitshow. Possibly one of the worst games of all time (made by like a decently sized studio) in terms of stability, optimization and just overall ability to work as intended. I couldn't even begin to describe everything that is wrong with SB without turning this into a 30 page thesis on game design, so if you're curious simply watch one of the countless videos online that documents just how broken it is.

Anyway, so what do I mean when I say the problem with SOTM is that SB is a buggy mess? SOTM fixed basically every gripe that most people had with Security Breach, I even heard people calling SOTM "the Security Breach we always wanted but never got". Isn't that a good thing for our new Mimic game? Well, in general, yes, but there is something more specific happening here.

You see, SOTM is a good game, but it's not anything groundbreaking or unheard of. Sure, it brings some neat concepts to the table, but at heart it is simply a well executed mascot horror, sneak and survive game; nothing extraoridnary. A better Poppy Playtime if you will (Poppy Playtime fans would kill me for this comparison, and I possibly might too).

Security Breach is very unlike SOTM in this way, but like in the bad way, as in it is extraoridnary, unique in its awfulness.

SB was so bad... the problem is, it actually became good.

You know how sometimes when a thing is so, so bad, stupid, cringe or insane, that it actually becomes funny? Yeah, people still realize it's bad, but that is what makes the thing good. It becomes a parody of itself, a meme. Sometimes it can take time for people to rediscover this thing as a hidden gem, other times it's almost instant. This "thing" can be anything; movies, TV shows, YouTube videos, songs or... well, video games.

I feel that is exactly what happened to Security Breach. It became a parody of itself. It is so broken it's hilarious. There are people today who will call SB their favorite FNAF game, not because of how great of a game it was, but exactly the opposite. They had so much fun with it because it is such a mess. I mean even nowadays people are still inventing new fun ways to play the game; I recently discovered such a thing as Secutity Breach geoguessr exists (it's exactly what it sounds).

What I'm trying to say is, Security Breach, despite being a shitshow, found a special place in many people's hearts precisely for being so uniquely bad. And that is the problem with SOTM. It falls in this uncomfortable middle-zone where it's not incredible enough to be memorable, but it's also not comically broken enough to be... you know, memorable. It's no Outlast or Amnesia (or even the original FNAF 1), but it's also no... Security Breach. It's just alright (to be fair I would say it is more than "alright" but yeah, not groundbreaking).

And like, this isn't a critisism of Steel Wool for not making the next Outlast or whatever. They had a tough time with their games; SB was obviously awful, the Ruin DLC for SB was very mid, Help Wanted 1 and 2 were fine but not really big mainline entries. Secret of the Mimic is the first game where I feel they've been truly able to show their potential, and I applaud them for it.

I think it just shows making a memorable game isn't merely about making good game design decisions, checking all the boxes on a game design checklist. The game needs to have something of its own, something special that makes it stand out from the rest, whether that is having exceptionally great gameplay or a uniquely dark story or, well, just being a buggy mess people can break in funny ways (SB). SOTM had a little bit of all of these but not enough of either one to make it huge hit.

Just to be clear, I'm not calling on Steel Wool to make their games more buggy for the memes. I would much prefer if they went the opposite route, making games that are remembered for their quality, not awfulness. I think SOTM is an indication that they are taking the better path, it's just that SOTM itself is an awkward stop along that path, where the game isn't yet so good it's memorable, but it also isn't newhere near as bad as SB to become a meme. I'm hoping this awkward middle space they find themselves in right now doesn't deter them from making good games in the future.

And in the meantime I want to express my my support for Steel Wool. It's actally crazy because before SOTM came out I was almost convinced Steel Wool is incapable of making good games, or that they just don't care, but now I feel like I am their #1 defender (#1 Steel Wool hater to #1 Steel Wool fan is a crazy arc but it is what it is). They have clearly proven they can make good games, now they just need to lock the fuck in and continue this trend.

Thank you for reading this rant! Feel free to check back from time to time to see if I haven't posted anything new.