#ashsstuff

I'll admit it's quite fun!! I think a lot of that stems from the more simplistic gameplay of it and its cast of characters, but I've been enjoying myself quite a bit regardless lol

In regards to this piece, I'm quite used to rendering out pieces fully with very in-depth shading and such and wanted to try something different for a change, focusing my efforts more on how the character is actually drawn rather than the rendering process. And admittedly, it was pretty darn fun!!

..I suppose this probably would’ve been a better post to make back in April when the game turned 4 years old. I felt sentimental though!! Leave me be!!

I can’t say I’m entirely too familiar with FNF and whatever orbits it. I had a brief stint with it back a few years ago where I spoofed around with the modding side of things with a few of my friends at the time, but nothing truly out of the box, per say..

..Which makes it weird that I’m so familiar with this specific, niche fangame that had such a (tragically) short lifespan.

FNF Free Download (or FD, which I’ll be referring to it as from this point) was an fangame for FNF that in short took each element of the game, whether that be its characters, story, music and whatnot and spun it on its head, resulting in this beautifully weird game I’ve been head over heels for for the past few years.

The game follows Dude and Lady, parodying Boyfriend and Girlfriend, and their various mishaps through their town and set of characters, with a surprisingly complex (and admittedly out there at points) story backing it. It was unfortunately canned back in 2024, leaving its story only 60% realized, but what’s there is still a fun little experience regardless.

I probably couldn’t definitively put my finger on what makes the game so good if you sat me down and told me to; I could probably go on about its cast of characters, music, story and whatever.. ..But if I had to give an answer, I think the biggest thing it has taught me whenever I look it at compared to the likes of its game of origin is probably how you can carve out your own thing from a pre-existing mold, and that’s something that has mattered to me so much as a creative as I’ve grown and refined my own skills. It’s a beautiful thing that such a simple little fan project that spoofs on a DDR knockoff enthralled me with its world and characters to the extent that it did, despite how simple it was in retrospect.

I think a lot of that comes down to the story that ties every entry in story mode together as it definitely takes up the main meat of the game, and to this day I’m still heartbroken it ended for good on a cliff-hanger, even if what happens after has been in the public’s knowhow for a while now.

Hell, I even made a cosplay of Weeknd 3’s Buddy for a short con I was invited to in a spir of the moment decision, back when I was getting into making them. It was my very first experience with that sorta thing and I loved it!!

While the game's fire doesn't really spark as much as it used to, I still feel it's definitely left it's mark on me and a few other people that I still hold very dearly. I'm glad I'm able to talk about it somewhere, at least.

Happy 4 years!