Platform: PC

Developer: Scott Cawthon 

Publisher: Scott Cawthon 

Release Date: June 27th 2018 

Genre:  Survival Horror, Point and Click

Nerd Rating:  8 / 10

Reviewed by Rhutsczar

*Maniacal laughter*

You thought it was over…didn’t you? Just because the developer says that it is the final game in the original saga doesn’t mean it actually is. While a custom night has become a staple addition since the original Five Nights at Freddy’s, we have yet to see anything this ridiculous in the franchise so far. Are you ready for what may be the most important game in the franchise for wrapping up loose ends? Come join us in this fresh hell we have fallen into in Ultimate Custom Night.

Why don’t we have a glass of lemonade and talk about life?

Since Ultimate Custom Night essentially serves its place as a Five Nights at Freddy’s sandbox mode, there isn’t any actual guided story for the player to follow…at least not on the surface. The game’s interface is simple, no cut-scenes or really a base menu of any kind, so it actually adds to the illusion that this is just a sandbox. For many non-dedicated players who just want to try a FNaF game and decided to start with the newest, that is exactly what it is. However, Ultimate Custom Night offers more explanation about the saga than we thought we needed, as if Scott is actually meaning for this to be the end.

I won’t be doing a massive deep-dive into the lore hidden around Ultimate Custom Night, as I might as just direct you over to MatPat’s “The Game Theorists” for that, but I’ll skate just along the top of the iceberg. Through various in-game clues it was figured out that Ultimate Custom Night was framed around the franchise’s primary antagonist, William Afton, suffering and being tormented by his creations in a deep ring of Hell. That is why even the not real nightmare variations of the main cast are included in this game as well, none of them exist in the main reality. Ultimate Custom Night as well as the “Five Nights at Freddy’s: Survival Logbook” have also answered many of the lingering questions from the main saga, but that is a deep-dive for those who really want to know.

Fire can’t get rid of us that easily.

Now that we have just a handful of lore bits out of the way, let’s take a look at that massive roster. Since it is Ultimate Custom Night, we have the opportunity to select from fifty of Scott’s demented creations. While we see the familiar characters: Freddy, Foxy, Chica, and Bonnie; we are treated to many different variations of the four from various entries in the saga. There are definitely a few “out-there” choices that make us question Scott’s motives such as Old Man Consequences (FNaF World), Helpy and Trash and the Gang (Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator) just to name a few. Just think, if you play your cards right and do your research, you can snag a high(ish) score without fighting anyone who kills you.

Now for the real meat and potatoes, with so many different characters, how is gameplay affected? Well, if you are familiar with the core concepts of the main Five Nights at Freddy’s games, then you won’t be led astray here. Each character in Ultimate Custom Night runs by a single set of rules in order to combat them. There are a few basics, such as monitoring doors/vents and monitors…those are the easy ones. Toy Freddie has to be my least favorite character in the game. His rule is you have to find him in his room and essentially play an old school version of Five Nights at Freddy’s and make sure he isn’t jump scared; otherwise he gets treated to an instant death. There are a number of characters that you can actually lump together and defeat with only one set of rules, you just have to figure out the combination. If you need just an idea of how chaotic Ultimate Custom Night is, just follow to this clip where I encountered multiple secret animatronics rumored to only show up on 50/20 mode (I was at 26/20).

Too many different bears with different yet stylish hats.

Now fans familiar with the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise will tell you that every custom night is difficult. Despite this already assumed difficulty, none of the previous custom nights hold a candle to Ultimate Custom Night. While you can reach reasonably high if you know which characters to select (again see MatPat’s playthrough above for an idea) you are going to be banging your head against the wall once you hit your end point. Completing Ultimate Custom Night is definitely a labor of love, as very few have completed it. For example, I’ve been playing it since launch and I can’t even pass 30/20 mode, let alone 50/20 mode. You can check out the list for the first twenty players to complete Ultimate Custom Night collected by the game’s creator, Scott Cawthon himself here.

Luckily if you want to fight against a difficult preset of animatronics, there are plenty of challenges available for you. These presets have returned in Ultimate Custom Night with sixteen different combinations for the player to master. This time, instead of focusing on a massive variety of characters, each challenge is a part of a three-level set that increases in difficulty. While this does add plenty of preset difficulties, it does cut back on the freedom to pick and choose your battle. These challenges are definitely a solid practice for preparing your senses and reactions for 50/20 mode, I’ll give it that.

While the Five Nights at Freddy’s fan base has always been loyal and vocal, Ultimate Custom Night whipped them into a frenzy.  Right on Day One loyal FnaF fans willingly dived head first into the madness that Ultimate Custom Night had become, trying to be the first to complete it. On the other hand, plenty of fans had decided to take a bit of a leisurely route, striving to discover what the game was hiding. For example…why do we now have a series of cut-scenes detaining the “High School Years of Toy Chica”? What initially was thought to be a joke, turned into a massive entry in the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise.

Hey, I know my “Fandom” exists  <3<3<3

I’m going to be blunt here, you must have been living under a rock in the deepest part of the ocean to not even heard of Five Nights at Freddy’s. This is definitely a franchise that everyone loves to hate. However, Ultimate Custom Night is a fantastic entry for seasoned players and a strong test for new players willing to embrace the madness. With addictive gameplay and plenty of lore to satisfy any player who decides to meet Afton in Hell, Ultimate Custom Night is the sandbox that we didn’t know we wanted.