{"id":194,"date":"2021-03-08T05:13:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T05:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/?p=194"},"modified":"2021-03-08T05:13:37","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T05:13:37","slug":"savior-or-false-shepherd-bendy-and-the-ink-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/08\/savior-or-false-shepherd-bendy-and-the-ink-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"Savior or False Shepherd: Bendy and the Ink Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This article originally ran under a different banner\/website in November of 2018 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HEAR YE!!!\u00a0 HEAR YE!!!\u00a0 It does not excite me to be in front of all of you today.\u00a0 I am aware that my opinion I am presenting will not be popular.\u00a0 I truly wish I enjoyed this game more.\u00a0 I had high hopes for Bendy and the Ink Machine<\/em>, but alas, my expectations weren\u2019t met.\u00a0 Some of you will strongly disagree with me.\u00a0 Some of you will say I demand too much.\u00a0 Some of you say I will never be satisfied.\u00a0 All these statements are probably true, but please hear me out.\u00a0 I see so much potential in Bendy and the Ink Machine<\/em> only for it to be thrown away with lacking gameplay.\u00a0 I know many of you will be ready to throw rotten fruit at me, but save your tomatoes until you hear why I didn\u2019t enjoy the famed Bendy and the Ink Machine<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now for starters, I will not say everything in Bendy and the Ink Machine<\/em> is awful.\u00a0 Quite the contrary.\u00a0 The story revolving around an art studio expanding so rapidly to the point where fusing their creation to a demon is the only way to save the company is very genius.\u00a0 You play as Henry, a former employee returning after thirty years after your former partner asks you to come to the old workshop as he something to show you.\u00a0 You get the sense of a tragedy that spiraled out of control as you travel deeper and deeper into the ruined studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people have come to know Bendy and the Ink Machine <\/em>through its unique art style.\u00a0 One would assume the 1920 cartoon art style would detract from the horror element behind Bendy and the Ink Machine<\/em>, but I believe it only helps create an unsettling atmosphere I crave.\u00a0 I recall entering a room that looked down on a recording studio.\u00a0 The studio was filled with cutouts of the game\u2019s mascot, Bendy.\u00a0 I entered the studio to find the same cutout missing from the studio. \u00a0 I looked up to see those cutouts staring down at me.\u00a0 While there was no evidence of anyone moving them, I can\u2019t deny the fear rippling down my spine.\u00a0 Many moments throughout Bendy and the Ink Machine<\/em> had me frozen in fear, I feel as though those moments had only occurred due to the strong story and captivating art design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The gameplay, unfortunately, does not complement the artwork or story.\u00a0 The gameplay can be divided up into three elements: puzzles, combat, and stealth.\u00a0 The puzzles were the strongest of the three.\u00a0 Many of the puzzles consisted of finding valves to drain ink blocking the way or, retrieve ink blobs to use in a special machine to craft items you need.\u00a0 I was never bothered by these puzzles as they fit with the game\u2019s story.\u00a0 I especially liked the crafting blobs of ink into various pipe shapes to drain ink-blocking my path. Unfortunately, not every chapter was equipped with good puzzles.\u00a0 I am sure many of you heard of the famed Chapter 3 fetch quests.\u00a0 Your supposed ally Alice Angel keeps sending you on repetitive fetch quests.\u00a0 Go get five gears, go get five valve cores, go get three ink blobs.\u00a0 It is nauseating and uninspired.\u00a0 My memories of these puzzles will always be tainted with the thought of me rolling my eyes at another Alice fetch quest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now combat in horror games is always a delicate balance.\u00a0 Make the player too powerful, and your monster becomes unthreatening; too weak, and your player\u2019s frustration grows.\u00a0 Usually, these games find the right balance by making the character not as skilled in combat as John Wick or Jason Bourne.\u00a0 Leon Kennedy, from Resident Evil 4<\/em>, is a great example.\u00a0 Sure, he has good aim, but he has to stop and plant his feet before taking a shot.\u00a0 With an enemy barreling down on you while stuck in place, a flight or fight kicks in as you gauge whether to move or shoot.\u00a0 While Henry is able to pick up and use weapons, he is not the best with them, only having a basic swing in his arsenal.\u00a0 While this swing is perfectly effective in dealing with one or two enemies like the Bertrum Piedmont or Brute Boris boss fights, any swarm of three or more enemies leads to a quick and frustrating death.\u00a0 Numerous chapters throw you into these situations where you try to fight multiple enemies, die, and respawn.\u00a0 Repeat the process over and over again.\u00a0 While there is no punishment for dying over and over, it greatly devalues the terrifying nature of the enemies and just makes them more of a nuisance than a threat.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The enemies continue to be a nuisance when you are forced to sneak around them in an Outlast <\/em>style.\u00a0 Every so often you’re thrown into a maze, forced to find certain objects while avoiding enemies like the Butcher Gang or the Projectionist.\u00a0 These minions will slowly shamble around the maze and more often than not, I found myself keeping a few footsteps behind them.\u00a0 If one was to ever spot me, I could always duck into an Outlast <\/em>style locker the game has hanging around.\u00a0 From time to time, the game\u2019s main antagonist, Bendy, can decide to materialize himself in the same room you were occupying and you can also use these lockers to hide.\u00a0 While a good idea on paper, you can have a minion or Bendy chasing hot on your heels, but the second you get into a locker, the minion willfully forgets you and wander off.\u00a0 They could be so close they could stain your clothes with ink, but the second your in the locker, you’re like a kid at school in the \u201csafe zone\u201d during a game of tag.\u00a0 If I ever tried to pull that trick in Outlast,<\/em> your pursuer would yank you out the locker and force you to do the stealth properly.\u00a0 It just rings hollow when your main antagonist sees you enter the locker and can\u2019t do anything about it. \u00a0 Bendy and the Ink Machine\u2019s <\/em>lack of teeth completely undermines the atmosphere the story and artwork worked hard to create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Overall the gameplay is very inconsistent.\u00a0 While each part has its own issue, I think all the issues stem from Bendy and the Ink Machine<\/em> being an episodic title.\u00a0 Each chapter always seems to be drastically steering away from the criticism the last chapter received.\u00a0 They followed up Chapter 2 by making Chapter 3 longer with repetitive fetch quests.\u00a0 They responded to the repetitive fetch quest by adding more boss fights and frustrating stealth sections in Chapter 4.\u00a0 Finally, they added more frustrating combat in Chapter 5.\u00a0 Now some might think that the dev team wasn\u2019t looking at feedback and made those corrections on their own accord, but the radios in the game say otherwise.\u00a0 Throughout chapter 2 to 5, you can find some radios playing piano versions of fan-made songs by DA Games, Random Encounters, JT Music and Lauren Synger.\u00a0 Now, don\u2019t get me wrong, I do enjoy those songs, but there is something pretentious about using fan-made songs about your game in your game.\u00a0 It\u2019s like you know the fan will lose their mind when they hear those songs.\u00a0 It also says to me, the dev team is almost too close with the fanbase, and with that in mind, I can\u2019t help but feel they made changes to gameplay to please the fans.\u00a0 Leading to inconsistent focus from chapter to chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now, I know this game has its fanbase and probably won\u2019t be as critical of the title as I am.\u00a0 That is perfectly fine.\u00a0 Trust me, when I say I can see all the great things this game is trying to do.\u00a0 I will always remember playing pool with an eyeball in Chapter 2 or the Bertrum Piedmont boss fight in Chapter 4, but the fact Bendy and the Ink Machine <\/em>can\u2019t keep the same note makes me unable to enjoy the title as much as others have.\u00a0 That saddens me cause I do see the potential this game had.\u00a0 I can tell you right now, the devs behind this game are on my list of development teams to watch out for.\u00a0 I truly believe if they were able to produce a full title over an episodic one, it could truly be a masterpiece.\u00a0 If a non-episodic game can come from the success of Bendy and the Ink Machine<\/em>, it will all be worth it in my mind, and I will be certainly first in line to purchase it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article originally ran under a different banner\/website in November of 2018 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy. HEAR YE!!!\u00a0 HEAR YE!!!\u00a0 It does not excite me to be in front of all of you today.\u00a0 I am aware that my opinion I am presenting will not… Continue reading Savior or False Shepherd: Bendy and the Ink Machine<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions\/203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}