Granny

Oj grało się za dzieciaka, oj tak

It is arguable to me whether or not the Granny games are truly horror games. As with any horror game, the more you play it and learn its mechanics, the less scary it becomes. This is only amplified in Granny's case with its charming- but rather ♥♥♥♥♥- visuals. This means that in the case of the Granny series, I see them more as strategy games. Everything in the original game promotes strategy and skill, and even if later entries add complexities, the original core remains. I've written this review after completing both Granny 1 and Granny 2 on extreme, as to pin down the factors to use in evaluation of each game in the franchise, and my reviews are based on playing on the games' highest difficulties available. I've settled on the following 3 factors I think are key for fair & fun strategic gameplay: 1. Agency - The existence of player choice(s) and a gameplay dynamic to learn that is fun amidst the other two factors. 2. Mastery - The existence of reasonable skill floors and ceilings, priority for skill over luck within the game's design. Clear & well designed mechanics that make it easy for players to reflect on their mistakes. 3. Tool Providence - The existence of mechanics that enable the player to enact their agency satisfyingly, reliably and in creative, discoverable ways. With my criteria out of the way, here's my breakdown of Granny 1: Agency: The map design is very interconnected with plentiful hiding spots, shortcuts and escape routes. This paired with needing to lure Granny around to commit to your intended routing and choose what items and escape is best to attempt for a run, provides ample choice to the player. This dynamic is almost entirely skill-based, and the methods you can use to manipulate Granny around the house are extremely reliable and satisfying, making the cat-and-mouse dynamic fun and plentiful with skills to learn toward mastery. Mastery: Granny acts with predictable and fair patterns, making the game easy to learn and admittedly easy to master too. Most challenge the player will experience is learning how to influence Granny on extreme mode. Once figured out, the skill ceiling doesn't get much higher unless a player resorts to fan-made game modes. However, it is worth mentioning that even those game modes- of which are truly brutal- are all still fair and reliable to complete with enough skill, solely because of how well designed the game's map and dynamic with Granny is within the core gameplay loop. Granny 1's only luck factors include the item pre-sets every run and Granny's bear traps. However, the bear traps are both predictable and evadable, so bad luck doesn't begin to create artificial difficulty. In addition to this, the item pre-sets can be learnt and planned around, so there's skill in optimising runs for different pre-sets and playing more efficiently. Furthermore, the aforementioned map design enables the player to safely travel anywhere with enough skill and strategy when doing so. As such, no item pre-set, including the harder ones, are ever unfair. Granny 1 has an extremely simple dynamic, being that if the player makes noise, Granny will go directly to the source. If she sees the player directly, she will go directly to the player. As such, learning what mistakes were made in the event of a loss is extremely easy and based in the player's skill, since it's usually a poor luring decision, reckless traversal or tackling a puzzle without a viable strategy. Tool Providence: The sole mechanic that enables the player's agency is the sound mechanic, whereby Granny becomes a fair and predictable threat because the player can build strategy around luring her. On top of this, you can also remove Granny temporarily with weapons, but these become less and less useful as the difficulty mode increases, nor are they necessitated against Granny herself. The sound mechanic is very consistent and reliable, making it satisfying and not tedious. In addition to this, the game's movement is snappy and whilst some hitboxes are slightly unpredictable, you can still work around them or even use them to your advantage. Being one of the only areas Granny 1 can be argued to falter in, many of the high-level strategies are unintuitive. For example, her line of sight is deceptively terrible, allowing you to- in some cases- walk directly beside her without being caught or seen. Aside from this, the game teaches you to lure her with sound and stay out of sight, so most other strategies are in line with this and you can even come up with your own less common ones the more you understand Granny's quirks. My Conclusion? The takeaway from this game is that all three factors of fun and fair strategic gameplay, complement each other to allow the player to be in complete control at all times, whilst still providing reasonable challenge and strategy. Mainly, this is due to the functionality of Granny herself, and the way the game allows you to interact with her. Never, when playing this game, will the player ever experience an unfair death that they couldn't have avoided with some better strategy or choice. It has luck factors, but all of its luck can be tempered by skill. This is non-negotiable for a strategy game to have to be considered well designed, and I truly believe Granny 1 is a masterclass for this. Since I think it's so perfect, I have less to say for this entry than Granny 2 and potentially Granny 3 when I get around to playing that entry soon. It's just a good game.

Este juego es una maravilla a pesar de ser algo viejo sigue siendo Peak, lo recomiendo bastante muy entretenido 🔥

Hi

very fun once you stop being scared of that old bxtch

classic

Mierda de juego casi muero en la vida real :P