YMMV / Mr. Hopp's Playhouse 3

• Adorkable: Ruby's adoration of her grandma, Esther, throughout the game is quite endearing, especially after she witnesses her taking down all the shadow creatures in the way.
  Esther: Well done, Ruby. You really are my little gem.
  Ruby: [Beat] Nana?! [quickly glomps Esther] I can't believe it!
  Esther: [gently hugs Ruby back] It's so good to see you again, dear.
• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • When Esther discovers a certain red room, she laments on how she's trying to forget about that place and felt abandoned by whoever lived there as well as being mistreated while growing up there. Is she referring to the manor's matrons, especially Miss Beverley, or her foster parents who presumably adopted her sometime after the events of the second game?
  • The reason why Esther's biological father, Arthur, drops her off to Blacklands Manor's Orphanage. Is it because he can't handle taking care of her all by himself after Faith passes away, or is it because he wants to fulfil her wish to keep Esther safe by dropping her there?
• Awesome Music: Fly, the final boss theme of the game where Ascended Esther comforts the Entity in a direct showdown for the final time, unexpectedly goes hard, with rock music of all things.
• Complete Monster: See here.
• Continuity Lock-Out: Downplayed. While you can play the game normally just fine as it recaps most events of the previous two games, you might need to play the second game at minimum in order to get a better understanding on plenty of its plot points, especially regarding the returning Isabelle and her feud with Esther.
• Funny Moments: Before their confrontation with one of the Entity's minions, this dialogue occurs between Esther and Ruby.
  Ruby: Nana, I just want all of us to go home.
  Esther: I know... and I will make sure of it.
  Ruby: And things to go back to normal, like you being really old.
  Esther: ...I know you meant well with that comment.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Apparently Esther is not the only elder who took over literal Hell itself after passing away.
• Tainted by the Preview: The 3D models have been criticized by plenty of fans as soon as they were shown, with most saying they look like those of a PS1 game (and not in a good way).
• That One Level: 4C is quite infamous for being the most tedious level to complete, let alone collecting all the gems there. You need to traverse through a maze where a demonic jester stalks you around to kill you whenever you're not looking at him, indicated with his bell noises when he moves. The problem is, said jester can pass through walls and the maze itself is quite cramped, and on top of that, the 3 gems within said maze are scattered far from each other. Not to mention that it's difficult to move around the maze and focus the camera on the jester at the same time. So by the time you finally complete the maze, you might end up hating carnivals as much as Ruby does.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Unlike the previous game, there's no alternate boss or scenario for the bad ending route, which could be so much more by either including a battle against the Entity manipulating Ruby, who holds a grudge against Esther, or Isabelle who is absent from any boss battles. Instead, it gets cut short by Ruby abruptly returning to the real world with the last medallion and the game just ends there.
• Underused Game Mechanic: Zig-Zagged. Similarly to the previous games, you can crouch to hide behind an object from the incoming threats and this game does give the move more utilities outside of that function. But given the more actionized nature of the gameplay, the only times you required to crouch are in the sewer level where you have to avoid being seen by Miss Bo after the chase sequence, dodging occasional obstacles in the hallways, and to pick up shattered glass on the bathroom floor, which the game doesn't tell you to do.
• The Woobie: Both girls somehow manage to suffer further than their last outings.
  • Even after passing away, Esther doesn't get to rest in peace as her soul ends up imprisoned in the Underworld for around more than six months until Ruby comes and frees her. And as you dive into her backstory, it's revealed that she has abandonment issues as she grew up in the orphanage without the love of her parents, which is not helped with how she feel neglected by her adoptees. Not only that, at the climax of the game, she has to face her beloved granddaughter being manipulated by the Entity and later get hurt by him, which by that point, she just snaps.
  • Even after saves herself from Mr. Hopp's terror in the first game, Ruby's life doesn't get any easier as she ends up dropping out of school to avoid her friends' mockery regarding her story about the cursed doll and now lives alone as an orphan with her aunt, still hurt by her grandma's passing. If that's not enough, Mr. Hopp returns once more and just drags her into the Underworld. All this cumulated with the Entity taking advantage of her situation and manipulating her to go against her grandmother. And when Ruby eventually realizes his trick and defies the Entity, she gets smacked across the room for her trouble.

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