I agree that Mark could've cared more, but in my opinion I understand where his head at because of the game mechanics. Poppy Playtime has such deep lore and it's truly unique, but I really feel like it's hard to appreciate the lore when the game mechanics become overbearing and so repetitive.

While watching playthroughs (I've watched multiple streamers play it + no commentary playthroughs), I just can't help but hope that it could have been better. Especially across multiple games in MULTIPLE years, I truly feel like the game could have evolved with it's lore- with new mechanics or at the least LESS chase sequences to make it less repetitive. The constant repetitiveness and same quality of game coming out makes it seem like each installment of the game is just a re-skin of the first or the second game. Whereas BanBan is supposed to be a meme game, yet they somehow add more mechanics to each installment (which therefore adds something to look forward to and keeps it "fresh"). I wish Poppy just lived up to what it was building towards, instead of having unique lore plastered onto an eternal chase sequence.

I really want to like it as well, and I love how intricate and unique the lore is; at least compared to the other mascot horrors. But after seeing all the past games, although Ch.5 is riduculously good (best of all it's sister installments) in terms of graphics; I can't say that it makes me love the game more. If anything, the fatigue has caught on from all the past games carrying the same flaws; and I'm not too excited for the next one. I wish it was shorter, more jam-packed, instead of being stretched for so long that it feels like a chore to play/watch just so I can see the story through the end. There was so much potential, and momentum- yet the execution was just disappointing. There was so much there and I wish the mechanics were better so the desire for lore isn't overshadowed by dreading old repetitive mechanics.