Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted - REVIEW [Nintendo Switch]

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted was originally created as the seventh installment in the popular series, only this time, it was released for the VR, as the name suggests. As of May 21, 2020, it has been ported to the Nintendo Switch, becoming more obtainable to the masses. Available for $29.99 on the Nintendo Store, today we’re going to figure out just how well it translates to this non-VR option.

PLOT
The game begins on a roller coaster through a dark tunnel, where the narrator introduces the game as “The Freddy Fazbear Virtual Experience,” created by the fictional company “Fazbear Entertainment” as an attempt to regain public favor after a series of lawsuits and disasters at their assorted locations, but are now known as urban legends. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted is a collection of 50 different mini-games, where the player will complete various tasks in the numerous locations mentioned in the introduction.

These mini-games are organized by their corresponding origin game (the previous installments in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series), and in order of difficulty. Throughout these mini-games, the player should also be searching for hidden coins and cassette tapes. The coins unlock virtual toys, but the cassette tapes open up a whole lot more: Audio logs from a game developer within the company.

GAMEPLAY
The decision to port Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted – originally for VR systems available on the Oculus Rift, Steam, and the PSVR – to the Nintendo Switch is a gamechanger. Controls that were originally intended to be used by motion controls, and the ability to turn your head quickly to check for any sign of danger, impact the final result of this game.

While the graphics are detailed, and we’ve never seen these frightening characters so up close and personal, we’ve also never seen them better. We definitely can’t argue that these graphics are the best we’ve seen in the series so far. The audio is just as up to par, helping to create some great jumpscares throughout the entire game.

PROS
Having the large amounts of mini-games, both based on originals and some brand new concepts, is plenty enough reason to play this game, especially if you’re already a fan of this series. Fans of jumpscares will definitely get a kick out of this, especially as the levels range in difficulty and the amount of scares.

Existing fans of the series will continue to learn more about the Five Nights at Freddy’s lore, and with three alternate endings to the game as a whole, gives players even more reason to continue playing in order to find every prize, every reward, and get closer to learning the truth.

CONS
While there definitely are some great positives to note, we also have to mention the not-so-good parts. Having never played this as originally intended on the VR, we cannot compare the two. However, having the reminders from the narrator about this being a “virtual experience,” as we play on the Switch, definitely makes us wonder “what could’ve been,” and what we’re missing out on.

The controls are not user friendly by default, although you can switch the sensitivity. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted definitely plays a game created for the VR, and being ported onto the Switch, translates more as a point-and-click.

As somewhat of a more minor point, there was a recurring issue in our playthrough where the game would lag right before a big jumpscare, which ultimately just alerted us as what was to come – effectively, ruining the jumpscare. I’m not entirely sure if this is an issue in the original version on the VR, or if it only exists on the Nintendo Switch port, but it definitely changed the game after we learned the trick.

VERDICT
All-in-all, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted is an enjoyable game for fans of horror and jumpscares. Though for the price of $29.99 on the Nintendo Store, I personally would recommend to wait for a sale, or to play it as originally intended on a VR system if possible.