The popularity of Friday Night Funkin’ has been sudden and so huge that it’s already considered one of the best titles in the rhythm genre. The game’s simple premise has allowed fans of all types to engage in it and the number of players has steadily increased as a result.
Still, there are many who don’t have an idea what the game is about, with these prospective players needing a list of points to consider before checking Friday Night Funkin’ out. All things considered, there are a number of things that you need to know before playing the game in order to judge if it really is for you.
Updated September 9th, 2021 by Russ Boswell:Friday Night Funkin' has continued to explode onto the scene, with modders growing its library of content by leaps and bounds each day. It wasn't long ago that many curious people were starting to ask "what is Friday Night Funkin'?" Now the title has ballooned so much that the original developers have taken to Kickstarter in order to gather funds to release a complete, retail version of the game. The Kickstarter for Friday Night Funkin' far surpassed what the developers hoped to get and now players are anxiously awaiting any news regarding the future release. The following article has been updated to give players better information on the Friday Night Funkin' Kickstarter project.
13 The Game Can Only Be Played On PC
It’s not likely to find the game among the notable PC titles for 2020 though Friday Night Funkin’ was released in that year. That’s mainly because the title has experienced a surge coming into 2021, with many now wondering if it’s available on other platforms.
The truth is that this is not the case, as the game is still only a PC exclusive. On the flip side, getting the title shouldn’t be too difficult since the platforms needed are simple, with these being the browsers on Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.
12 It's Similar To Dance Dance Revolution
Many will remember Dance Dance Revolution for being one of the more memorable PS1 games. While Friday Night Funkin' is related to music rather than dancing, the mechanics of both games are similar, in that players need to concentrate on the directions.
These are displayed onscreen and need to be tackled quickly in order to have a rhythm with which to complete the notes. So, those who have played Dance Dance Revolution will have an easier time understanding the controls while those who are even aware of the game will understand how it should apply to Friday Night Funkin'.
11 There Is A Free Play Mode And A Story Mode
It’s not mandatory for players to engage in the full experience of Friday Night Funkin’ if they don’t want to. The game can be played at your own leisure, whether your preference is to engage in the story or just play exhibition style.
These are separated by story mode and free play mode, where the basic style is still the same but the free play mode eliminates the need for a sequence and allows players to choose whatever songs they want.
10 The Story Is About A Boy Impressing His Date
The game is presented in an extremely simplistic manner so players shouldn’t expect any true romantic mechanics. However, what should be noted is that Friday Night Funkin’ does have a story in which the goal is to overcome obstacles for the main character to date his love interest.
The protagonist is simply known as “Boyfriend” who has to convince “Girlfriend's” parents that he is up to the task of dating her. In order to prevent this from happening, Girlfriend’s father hires several characters to stop Boyfriend from getting to his daughter.
9 It Has A Short Runtime
Those who are about to check the game out need to know that it will be over before you know it. That’s because even the combined story mode’s runtime barely reaches an hour, and even that’s possible only if you play very conservatively.
The way to prolong the playthrough of Friday Night Funkin’ is through repetition, as the game takes on exhibition style as well. As far as the core story is concerned, the game is very small in this regard and won’t last long.
8 The Intention Is To Mirror The Opponent's Pattern Of Notes
The songs are definitely not at the level of the famed Nintendo soundtracks but the game makes them fun anyway. That’s mainly due to the satisfaction of hitting the right notes, with this being possible only by mimicking the pattern of the opponent.
In a way, it’s like a rap battle or a beatbox challenge, in that responding to the opponent is the main part of the challenge. Onscreen, the distinguishing factor between the player and opponent is the difference in the delivery of the notes.
7 There Are Seven Levels
Within the game, the levels are known as “weeks,” with there being seven of these to play. It doesn’t take much time to get through them, although it is important to note that the weeks get more and more complex the further a player gets into them.
There’s never just one song within a week as the game makes sure that players get to play at least three of these. The themes of the songs are also always relevant to the story of the week in question.
6 The Soundtrack Is Available To Stream
The game’s soundtrack was prepared exclusively for itself by Kawai Sprite and has proven to be extremely popular. More often than not, those that engage in Friday Night Funkin’ end up becoming fans of the songs available.
For this reason, the soundtrack has been made available for streaming on the platforms Bandcamp and Spotify. This means those that enjoy the songs in the game don’t need to actually play it to listen to them due to the streaming option.
5 The Game Has Been Actively Modded
Any game that sees a PC release and ends up being popular is certain to join the list of modded titles. Friday Night Funkin’ can be found in different versions as a result, with the modding community making heavy use of it.
One of the versions features Parappa the Rapper who’s an extremely popular icon of the rhythm genre himself. There are plenty of other mods available that offer a different onscreen style for Friday Night Funkin’ and most of these are worth a shot.
4 The Original Release Is Only A Demo
Many have noted the game’s similarities to Sega games for its short runtime, and it can be confusing to distinguish between the full title and the demo. The easiest way to understand the difference is by checking out the songs available.
The demo has been expanded to include more weeks but it still doesn’t have as many songs, with the only two songs available within a level. In fact, the full version of Friday Night Funkin’ only released on April 18, 2021, meaning the versions before it fall under the demo.
3 There Might Be A Full Game One Day
It's amazing how much Friday Night Funkin' exploded onto the scene after players began flooding Youtube and Twitch with gameplay videos, analysis, and challenges. Once the modding community got ahold of things, the popularity only continued to grow and it's wild how well-known Friday Night Funkin' became in just a few short months.
This spike in popularity didn't go unnoticed by the original developers, who took to Kickstarter to help raise funds in the hopes of releasing a full version of the title. Backers absolutely crushed the goals to help bring the project to life, raising over 2.4 million dollars to fund the project. This development money will allow the creators to bring their true vision to life.
2 The Finished Game Would Feature A Lot Of Upgrades
The Kickstarter project helped to outline some of what the developers want to do and see with a retail version of Friday Night Funkin' and some of the additions sound very promising. For one, they plan to add a two-player mode, which will allow rhythm-hungry gamers to duke it out with one another in FNF's rap-battle-style battleground. There will be cutscenes that add to the storyline, giving players a better glimpse at Boyfriend, Girlfriend, and the colorful cast of characters already implemented. Those that want to get competitive will find a Leaderboard and the developers also want to add some really good Mod Support for the rapidly growing community. Best of all, they plan to add 20 additional weeks for a total of 60 extra songs.
1 Players May See New Mechanics In The Full Game
The most enticing part about the possibility that a full game will release in the future is that developers plan to add additional mechanics to the release. At its core, Friday Night Funkin' is just a rhythm game where players push a series of four buttons in time with the music. The creators want to push the envelope a bit and apparently had some mechanics that they wanted to introduce earlier but never had the ability or means to. Some dedicated Modders have added some interesting mechanics like dodging, swap notes, and other clever tricks. It will be interesting to see if the developers look to any of these ideas for inspiration.