Bendy and the Ink Machine

Cool Style, not That Scary.
Quick and simple review here, not much else needed: not that scary, but very neat and unique art style, still fun in 2021.

I think Bendy and the Ink Machine is why we need a neutral rating on steam.
Yes, this game is good, but there are several really blatant flaws that really hold it back from achieving its true potential. I write this review as someone who passionately enjoyed the game, but also wanted to see more from it.
Firstly, the good. Bendy and the Ink Machine has an incredible art direction. The entire game is designed to look like a 1930s cartoon, without sacrificing things like sound design and graphical fidelity. The art style of this game absolutely sucked me in from the start, and I consider it one of the primary reasons I played the whole way through.
Secondly, the sound design is damn near perfect. Everything from the music to the sound effects to the little details sound brilliant. The music is catchy and adds brilliantly to the atmosphere.
Lastly, the story. While the story definitely could have used some more care in the second and third chapters, the 4th and 5th chapters were well paced and decently written.
And now the parts i'm not so enthusiastic about.
I feel that Bendy and the Ink Machine to some degree squandered the potential it had with its practically perfect atmosphere by pursuing the horror genre a little too much.
What do i mean by that?
The game, simply put, isn't scary. It's cheap. The game relies mostly on jumpscares to freak you out, and this has never worked for me. Enemies, while beautifully visually designed, are total pushovers. Most will go down in a couple of hits, so they present no real threat. There is a section in the final chapter where you and some companions must fight a huge number of these enemies, and I had no trouble with this section either. Combat in horror must be hectic, difficult tactical and most of all, I must feel threatened by the enemies. None of this was the case. You can simply walk backwards and hit until the thing in front of you is dead.
There are some sections where you do not have weapons, but the enemies present more of an annoyance than they do a threat.
Next up, objectives. I found many of the objectives in the game very easy to cheese. I think perhaps the inclusion of the elevator as a way to get around was a bad choice, as I was able to bypass a number of threats this way. I think the objectives could be better done by simply removing the elevator as a viable option, and making combat significantly more difficult.
I personally really enjoyed my time with this game, it gave me vibes of bioshock in a good way, but falls apart when you remember that bioshock turned more into an action game towards its middle and end levels. I think the developers would benefit from taking some of those ideas to heart.
I can really see the effort and love put into this game, and it really impressed me, but I think it has a long way to go before realising its potential.
To summarize:
+ Brilliant Audio and Visual design.
+ Well written, intriguing story.
+ Spot on perfect atmosphere.
+ Brilliant concept.
- Over reliance on jumpscares.
- Enemies aren't threatening enough.
- Objectives are too easy to bypass.
- Traversal of the map is too easy in places, allowing bypassing of threats.
Overall a positive experience, but it has many caveats that hold it back. I hope if they make another game, the developers learn from their mistakes and do their best to improve. I will be keeping my eye on them.

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☐ Kids
☑ Everyone
☐ Casual players
☐ Pro players
☐ Tryhard players
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☐ Potato
☐ Really bad
☐ Bad
☐ OK
☑ Good
☐ Beautiful
☐ Masterpiece
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☐ 90' PC
☐ Minimum
☑ Medium
☐ Fast
☐ High end
☐ NASA computer
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☐ Full price
☑ Wait for sale
☐ Average
☐ Refund it if you can
☐ Don't do it
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☐ You just need 2 arms
☑ Ez
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Hard (first few hours)
☐ Dark Souls
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☐ Really short ( 0 - 2 hours)
☑ Short ( 2 - 8 hours)
☐ Few hours ( 8 - 12 hours)
☐ Long ( 12+ hours)
☐ Endless
=== ===
☐ It doesn't have
☐ Still better than Twilight
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Fantastic
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☐ Game itself is one big BUG
☐ Bugs destroying the game
☑ Lot of bugs
☐ Few Bugs
☐ You can use them for speedrun
☐Nothing
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Multiplayer: NO
Singleplayer: YES
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☑ Not from this World
☐ Good
☐ Average
☐ Bad
☐ Unplayable
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☑ Yes
☐ No
☐ If you really really like

good horror game, pretty much what you would get if bioshock and cuphead had a baby.

Bendy and the Ink Machine is a first-person survival horror video game. With that said, I really wanted to get into this game, but kept postponing it because I don't like spooky games and the whole setting, menu music and lack of it at the beginning of the game left me with an eerie feeling. Eventually I played it my cousin on call to tell me where the jumpscares and spooky stuff were, but it wasn't so bad, I'm just a chicken! XD
You play as Henry Stein, a retired animator who comes back to an abandoned studio at request of Joey Drew, his former employer. As you progress through the game, you discover the secrets of Joey Drew Studios while trying to escape from its demons. When you finish the game, you unlock the Archives (a museum of the game), and when I stepped into Henry's place, the game won me over.
You can tell there's a lot of work and heart put into it (and there was probably more content intended for it), every detail is crafted and placed there to fully submerge you into Joey Drew Studios and the birth of animation. I thought it was really cool that once you dig a little bit, you find out it's a nod not at Disney, but at Fleischer Studios.
Overall, you should really give it a try. It's not very challenging (unless you're hunting those achievements, then it's a bit infuriating, mainly in chapter 3 and one in 5), but the plot and characters are interesting (and the voice acting is just *chefs kiss*), the whole atmosphere of the game is worth it.
P.S.: I thought it was a problem with my computer, but apparently more people have issues with the save files. I reccommend you finish each chapter (or the whole game) in one go so you don't risk losing progress while the devs don't fix this.
~*~*~*~
Storytelling: ★★★★☆
Characters: ★★★★☆
Setting: ★★★★★
Soundtrack: ★★★★☆
Gameplay:★★★☆☆
Graphics: ★★★☆☆
Challenge: ★★☆☆☆
Enjoyment: ★★★★☆

+Game looks beautiful
+Good Lighting
+Good Story
+Lots and lots of secrets
-Fandom full of 9 yr olds.
-Boring jumpscares
-Sometimes feels like a chore
Still pretty fun game though.

This game is overall scary, and it actually made me fall out of my seat once. I would recommend this to other gamers.