A nightmare is brewing somewhere down on Sesame Street. That's the central premise of My Friendly Neighborhood, and it's a surprisingly well-executed trip down to a place that should feel familiar to anyone who steps foot in it.

You play Gordon, a repairman sent to put a stop to a rogue signal coming from the old lot for the once prominent TV show, the titular My Friendly Neighborhood. Things quickly go off the rails, and you find yourself being attacked by the felt-covered locals of this once-happy berg. From there, we get to the central loop of the game: Resident Evil on Sesame Street. It works surprisingly well, given its bizarre premise.

It doesn't all come together the way you'd like, but it does deliver a puzzle-filled, slightly nightmarish experience filled with secrets galore and a well-toned atmosphere. In fact, if the game was just about exploring and solving puzzles while avoiding the denizens that want to hug you to death, the game would probably fare a lot better. It's the combat here that drags the game down.

I don't know if it was budget or the creativity not bleeding through, but the combat here is atrocious. It's not that the enemies are difficult; it's that nothing here feels good to use. The wrench is a fine weapon, but it's nullified by the fact that it's useless if you accidentally step too close. You'll either end up swinging from a distance until it connects, or the enemies will push through your swing and grab you anyway. As for the guns, it's clear they wanted to be creative, but they just don't feel satisfying to use. Aiming is a crapshoot, and the enemies can move so fast that a miss will get you grabbed. Sure, it may wrack up the tension a bit, but it doesn't feel like you're missing because you're a bad shot, but rather because aiming is an issue. This is slightly mitigated by bigger guns, but the problem of it simply not being fun persists.

The puzzles and exploring feel much better, but again, it's just taking the Spencer Mansion and replacing it with an old TV studio. Despite this, the game works and unravels at a good pace. I did a single playthrough, and I know there were more corners to explore, puzzles to solve, and distraught puppets to help. By the time I reached the end, I was ready to wrap up, but I knew I'd gladly play this again down the road.

As I played, I did find myself questioning who this game's target audience was. It's not scary enough to please a crowd that regularly consumes horror, and it's too complicated for a younger audience that's mostly played Five Nights. At best, I could see this game bridging the gap for kids who have aged out of the younger skewing games but who maybe aren't ready to dive into the more gore-soaked and intense waters of adult horror just yet. Even then I don't think this would be scary enough for a younger crowd who are looking to test the deep end of horror.

If you're a die-hard horror fan who can't resist the bizarre premise, then I recommend this game despite its flaws. The combat is choppy, and it's rarely truly scary, but the puzzles and exploration are solid given that they rely so heavily on the Resident Evil franchise. It's a derivative but solid little game that wears its influences proudly, even if it doesn't add anything new to the genre it's aping.