My Friendly Neighborhood
Review
Back On The Air
by Camrin Santchi
reviewed on PC
Looks Can be Deceiving
Horror games have been around for a long time, and can often be divided into separate subgenres. For example, the survival horror genre that was popularized by Resident Evil in 1996. Although not the first game to have these mechanics, it quickly overshadowed most predecessors and created an emphasis on trying to avoid combat in favor of hiding from enemies, solving puzzles, and other environmental mechanics.
Mascot horror, meanwhile, was popularized by the absolute explosion of Five Nights at Freddy's in 2014, which depicted something family friendly in a horror context - in the case of FNAF it was animatronics at a pizza restaurant, but with its incredible popularity mascot horror was the genre of the mid-2010s.
My Friendly Neighborhood is a marriage of these two horror subgenres, a first person shooter originally released in 2023 (with a new console release that came out in July 2025) where the protagonist has to explore a setting filled with environmental puzzles like finding keys or cranks in order to progress further. The 'monsters' aren’t anything like zombies or even possessed animatronics - instead they're sentient, felt puppets, the stars of the cancelled TV show My Friendly Neighborhood. The in-universe show came back on air recently, which is why the curmudgeonly protagonist Gordon, was sent to turn off the tower.
Amusingly enough, Gordon doesn't really have a reaction to the members of the neighborhood- it seems sentient puppets are just something that exist in the world of My Friendly Neighborhood, meaning that his real reaction tends to be in regards to how seemingly hostile they are to his presence.
Fight, Flight, or Felt?
Gordon working his way through the studio has limited options for dealing with the Neighbors. His initial armament is a mere pipe wrench (which combined with many of the setpieces within My Friendly Neighborhood gives this reviewer some minor Bioshock vibes in the best ways), and with ammo limited especially in higher difficulties this weapon becomes a reliable tool to fall back on when trying to save ammunition for larger threats or other spaces that may make melee difficult.
Retreating is a viable option in My Friendly Neighborhood as well, with a worthwhile strategy being baiting the Neighbors to chase you so you can skirt around them. That being said, if you down them via wrench or other means they won't stay down for long, the only way to guarantee that would be to use rolls of duct tape scattered around so that they would be unable to get back up.
This is likely a good time to bring up a mechanic this reviewer both loves and loathes in equal measure about My Friendly Neighborhood - resource management. Limited inventory space is a key feature in survival horror, forcing players to decide what items to take with them versus what to leave behind in a safe room. Limited resource add stress, suspense, and create an atmosphere that is appealing to gamers that enjoy the horror genre. One mechanic in particular revolves around the safe rooms. Within these, players can use tokens found throughout the game to heal or save, meaning that even saving your game can be a tense and suspenseful decision due to the limited resources to work with. This works great as a mechanic to build pressure on the player and make you feel weighing the choices between healing up, saving, or saving your tokens for later.
Not Your Classic Mascot Horror
Something refreshing about My Friendly Neighborhood is that it doesn't fall into the same traps and tropes of a lot of mascot horror games that are trying to ride the wave of popularity formed by Five Nights at Freddy's. While befitting the genre as a suspenseful, horror take on a beloved childhood property, throughout the story of the game it does a lot with the tropes at hand rather than following them blindly. My Friendly Neighborhood is a deconstruction of the horror and corruption inherent in the subgenre, and tries to do something different within itself.
The survivor horror elements within My Friendly Neighborhood also work to this effect of playing with the concepts of mascot horror. The vast majority of mascot horror puts players in a situation where fighting back is difficult if not impossible, with avoidance being the name of the game, so taking the fight to the felted fiends of My Friendly Neighborhood is a completely different take that creates a refreshing spin.
Up And Down, All Around
If there are any particular complaints for My Friendly Neighborhood, it comes with the trappings of the genres it's within- namely there being a lot of backtracking through previously explored areas in order to solve puzzles, head to new areas, or whatever else. This is a tradition within survival horror, traversing through places you have previously been to see how far you've come, how far you might still have to go, and in some cases emphasize changes in the game's environment. This isn’t terrible and doesn't do much to take away from the entertainment of My Friendly Neighborhood, but it can feel a little tedious after a while of repeating the process.
Welcome to the Neighborhood
In all, My Friendly Neighborhood is a fun take on both survival and mascot horror gaming that provides interesting challenges in inventory management, puzzle solving, and finding the best ways to deal with threats as they come. The game does feature a lot of backtracking especially around the middle, but the varied environments based on different sets for the show as well as other portions of the studio make for an altogether enjoyable time, especially for fans of the genre. If you hadn't played My Friendly Neighborhood upon it's original release two years ago, now is a perfect time to join the neighborhood.
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8.8
fun score
Pros
A challenging but fun take on both survival and mascot horror elements
Cons
Lots of backtracking, particularly near the middle of the game
