i goon to alice angel

boring as hell

Bendy and the Ink Machine is a welcome addition to the "Neighborlike" genre. It blends stealth, exploration, and environmental storytelling in a uniquely stylized, ink-drenched world. Its retro cartoon aesthetic and unsettling atmosphere make it stand out in a sea of indie horror titles.

The Ink Demon represents artistic obsession gone wrong. It showcases how one man's unchecked ambition and exploitation of others led to the creation of an otherworldly demon that has taken the form of the game's titular mascot. The game carries a clear message: art without soul is a monster. This sentiment echoes concerns about the modern art landscape, which is unfortunately plagued by soulless AI-generated art.

The story also dabbles in meta-commentary on the current animation industry with how Joey Drew is obsessed with keeping his creations alive and relevant to a modern audience instead of just allowing his golden age animations fade away gracefully. This really pokes at the question whether or not it is sometimes better to allow a product to die than to fit a modern market which it no longer serves.

Unfortunately, my experience wasn't without issues:

The soup can mechanic felt largely pointless during my playthrough. With the game’s healing-over-time system, I never found a real need to use them, which made the mechanic feel like an afterthought rather than a meaningful part of the gameplay.

The Boris boss fight was bugged during my playthrough—he moved in slow motion and refused to interact with the cart, forcing multiple resets to finally progress. It broke immersion and added some frustration to an otherwise engaging chapter.

Still, despite these hiccups, Bendy delivers a memorable and creatively designed horror experience that’s well worth playing, especially for fans of games like Hello Neighbor and Resident Evil.