http://dbd.game/killswitch
The Animatronic - initial thoughts
As I understand, this expansion is based on the film universe and not the video game fnaf universe. So I'll leave that side of the debate be.
I know it's probably a little late in the development cycle to change - but I don't fully understand why the Animatronic basically gets the Huntress's axe to throw as an ability. It doesn't seem very.. fnaf. You could have made a combination of the Knight and Nemesis here where other Animatronics would be roaming (like Nemesis zombies) and then they can be commanded/summoned (like with the Knight), just as an example.
I am a bit disappointed by the Mori. Lore wise William Afton should be trying to stick the survivors into a springlock suit to kill them (and hide the bodies). I'm not quite sure he is using Endo equipped with buzzsaws as a mori.
The security door implementation is fun, if looking a little clunky just propped up by the entity. The transition through the set piece to another door does seem a little slow gameplay wise.
These are just my own thoughts and opinions.
I myself, as i'm sure much of the community, would love to see other animatrnic skins from the series/movie verse. There are a lot of possibilites here for Legendary skins for other killers also.. I hope there is going to be AT LEAST a Foxy skin for Blight - charging accross the map.
Comments
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I have moved this to PTB feedback and suggestions.
Please remove if necessary.
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I didn’t super enjoy the axe to begin with since it seemed out of place as well, but I doubt they can change it at this point (and I’m not sure what they could change it into at this point to keep the same interactions of being able to grab or disable cams).
I agree with the mori and security doors. The mori just feels off, I was expecting a classic suit stuffing or even a springlock failure but instead we got some random saw-looking ass trap? It’s just not interesting looking and plenty of the other killers have significantly more gorey or brutal mori’s.
The security doors (once they fix the LOS issue with it), I can’t see any survivor using at all. It’s just not worthwhile. The cams are usually in awkward spots, it’s going to take longer than you probably expect to find Springtrap and during that time he could just step out of view, disable the camera, or even just walk up to you without you knowing. It just makes more sense to avoid him like any other killer and use some aura perks to figure out where he is.The teleporting aspect of the doors is nice, but it’s hard to know what door to use (meaning more time spent vulnerable figuring it out) with the risk of being instantly grabbed. I don’t think this needs to change, but it needs to be noted that many aren’t going to use it because it’s too risky.
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Yeah, I don't have any ideas for the killer ability either. Perhaps the use of different suits, offering different abilities for eachof the four main animatronics? That would be fresh. Maybe an ability like Dredge when the "power goes out", and all you can hear is the Freddy Fazbear laughter and the music box playing Toreador March?
It would have been VERY interesting if they transformed the killer basement into THE security room - all doors transport you here, or you can go here to transport to any other door. When you transport it alerts the killer. This would have added an interesting new dynamic to the game when this killer is present and would encourage the use of basement centric perks in the meta potentially.
Edit: I suppose some of those ideas above are moving away from the movie universe and are more in-line with the FNAF series asa whole.
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Hey, I really appreciate your well-thought-out take you raised a lot of points that I think many in the community share, especially around expectations versus what we got in this chapter.
You're absolutely right that this version of the Animatronic seems more rooted in the FNAF movie universe than the original game lore, and that definitely impacts how the power and aesthetics were designed. I imagine that licensing limitations and creative direction from Blumhouse or Scott Cawthon may have steered the devs away from some of the more “game-accurate” or lore-heavy mechanics like springlock suits or roaming animatronics.
That said, I agree that throwing an axe-like projectile doesn’t feel super on-brand for FNAF. It’s functional from a gameplay standpoint, sure, but in terms of horror identity and immersion? It kind of misses the mark. Your idea of blending Knight and Nemesis mechanics to create a roaming animatronic patrol system sounds way more thematic and could’ve created some seriously tense map control. Maybe something like that just wasn’t feasible performance-wise, but it's a great "what if."
As for the Mori — yeah, I feel you. Afton shoving someone into a suit (complete with springlock failure) would’ve been brutal, iconic, and deeply in-line with FNAF lore. Instead, we got something a bit more generic and flashy. Not bad, just… not as meaningful as it could have been.
Still, I think the security door mechanic is at least a creative attempt to channel the FNAF vibe of containment and claustrophobia, even if, as you said, it looks a little awkward and could use some polish.
And yes I 100% agree that this chapter is a prime opportunity for Legendary Skins. Foxy as Blight would be perfection. Fast, erratic, terrifying. There’s so much potential here to keep both FNAF fans and DBD fans hyped.
Let’s hope BHVR listens to feedback, because with a bit of tuning, this chapter could evolve into something really special, especially if they lean harder into FNAF's unique flavor in future updates or cosmetics.
Thanks again for your post, great discussion.
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Thanks for the pointers! Yeah, it's easy for us lot outside of the development cycle to point and umm and aaah about what-ifs and could-bes.
We don't know, or do know, how fragile licensing agreements between different studios can be.
We also don't know the technical limitations of the gaming engine, though we now know it can handle 8 survivors and 2 killers absolutely fine! The same goes for AI pathfinding in custom games.
I do hope they don't have a process behind the scenes of: "we have these blank killer designs ready to go for when a studio contacts us wanting to collab". And then just try to make something fit best with what they can. I really don't think that is the case.
But I do hope they take some of the comments from the community on board with this one, as it's been a long requested collab and it should be thematically on point.
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The axe is soo stupid. is not lore accurate in the slightest and just makes him all the more op. He is truly a 3 in 1 killer. he has stealth, range, and teleportation all in 1. Completely ruined the game on the survivor side of things. you cannot go into a game without being obliviated by him. Id go as far to say most op killer ever introduced into dbd.
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