The fifth, but not final, chapter of the popular mascot horror game Poppy Playtime has released. Following the events of the previous chapters, you now find yourself deeper than ever in the depth of the Playtime facility, the Prototype hot on your trail.

But how does it hold up to the other chapters? Is your time with Giblet worth investing in? Should you even bother with Lilly? Or is this a chapter you could safely skip this time around?

While I reference some characters or ideas, this review is almost entirely spoiler free, read on without fear.

Playtime, Refined

Developers Mob Entertainment know what they’re doing at this point. They’ve learned what works well and what doesn’t and they’ve clearly spent time refining those ideas in Chapter 5. The environments look as well-made as ever, the pacing is just right to keep you engaged without overwhelming or boring you, the character designs and performances are subtle but solid. Best of all, they’ve really tuned into how to tell the player what to do without having to actually tell them.

Sometimes that’s achieved by having little stars on interactable objects in Lilly’s house, or by utilizing the UV light mechanic, or even just a cleverly positioned window or light. Regardless, it’s very commendable how well they can convey intention or information without relying on text, UI, or other more obvious prompts.

The Lore, The Marrier

There’s a lot to unpack in Chapter 5. Some of it built on the urgent plot regarding the Prototype, and some more of it provided new context to established characters (mostly just Huggy). Most of it is expansive in nature, though, building on the greater world at play with new aspects of Playtime, new characters, and so on. Half of what makes Poppy Playtime so memorable is the world they’ve built, and the developers did an excellent job providing even more lore and story to engage with. At least.. mostly.

What Was The Point To Those?

While the story was easy enough to follow, not everything presented in Chapter 5 seemed to matter, or even have a proper place. This is most noticeably seen with the Wrongside Outimals. They’re the first thing we see with the chapter, and they’re given enough pomp to seem like they’ll be an important part of the chapter’s story. But… They weren’t. Aside from being collectables and a minor inconvenience enemy in the beginning, they served almost no purpose to the story. Perhaps they were introduced purely to follow the gimmick of having a new toy commercial at the start. Another example is the tree sap gimmick. The goo does play into some of the greater lore, but its existence felt more like an out of place set piece than something we will have to address. All in all, these ideas felt glossed over and forgotten.

More Of The Same

For the most part, Poppy Playtime Chapter 5 doesn’t do much wrong. The developers have learned from past chapters, refining their processes and designs. The puzzles are just the right level of intuitiveness, the challenges are interesting and varied, and it’s overall well paced. They make good use of the world and narrative they’ve built and have a clear creative vision for the story and characters.

But this is still the fifth time we’re doing this. Perhaps it’s a flaw of the chapter-based release method, but there’s a certain formula that we couldn’t help but notice. You encounter a dangerous toy, then you introduce a couple of new characters/toys, you ally with someone, then someone dies. Sometimes it’s one of the allies, sometimes it’s one of the enemies you met, usually it’s both.

This framework is making each chapter feel a bit repetitive. We admit that the character we expected to die/betray us wasn’t the one that ended up doing so, but there’s still another chapter ahead of us.

Cut To The Chase

The most frustrating part of Chapter 5 is, unfortunately, something engrained in the Playtime formula since the game’s initial release: Chase scenes. Whether that’s running from Huggy down a series of vents and tunnels (again) or escaping the life size playhouse of a new character, the game throws fast paced escape sequences at you, with a single mistake resulting in death, and thus another try.

This was particularly egregious with Lilly, where your escape route was repeatedly blocked off. The game does little to redirect your attention toward the new route. And with few precious seconds to look around, this resulted in multiple deaths in the same place, followed by another confusing block, multiple deaths, and repeat.

The problem with chase scenes is that they’re essentially extended jumpscares. They prolong the feeling of fright for as long as the chase continues. Except when you already expect it, the fear goes away. After your third or fourth try, the fright becomes frustration.

Is It Worth It?

Frankly speaking, you’re probably already in it for the long haul now. While some folks might jump between chapters as they see fit, most anyone playing Chapter 1-4 are going to play 5, 6, and whatever else is planned for the game. So how do you call a single specific chapter “worth it?”

Well, frankly speaking, It is. We may have spent some time nitpicking some of the smaller details, but the gameplay itself is solid and enjoyable, the settings were interesting and the story beats were engaging. It won’t make a ton of sense if you haven’t played the past chapters, but that’s to be expected. Meanwhile, they build on the established story well, providing both key information about the greater plot as well as committing plenty of time and space to ‘non-essential’ lore and story via Gracie and Lilly.

If you’ve been enjoying Poppy Playtime up until this point, then Chapter 5 won’t disappoint. We’ve enjoyed our time, even if it didn’t exactly wow us. What imperfections it had were overall minor. All in all, we recommend.