8/24/2023 0 Comments GyltThat’s kind of a Tequila Works signature, for what it’s worth. From a narrative standpoint Gylt doesn’t offer up a lot of revelatory material: instead preferring a slow burn as the story mostly serves as a way to move you from place to place as it quietly ponders your situation. Some are more effective than others, offering up lingering dread rather than jump scares, or better enemy placements that make for more engaging stealth gameplay. How much fun (or emotional quotient) you get out of it is completely dependent on the area itself. It’s got collectibles and light puzzler-boss battles. It has the classic action-adventure “move this object around to the right spot” brain teasers. There’s locations to scour for keys to open doors. Much of it is guided - either through some tense linear scenes or story sequences - and the rest is structured as a series of light puzzles. You know the drill for these types of games by now. The former theme is best reinforced by the item base, one of which is an inhaler that restores health, or soda cans that can be used to distract said baddies. You know, Cthulian eyeball tendrils, creepy creatures, things of that nature. We essentially get two stories: one is grounded in reality and deals with the very troubling life of Sally and Emily, and the other is a macabre mix of horror genre stylings of the “T-for-Teen” variety. It’s a good message for kids and adults, but there are less scares for the latter.What begins as a tale about a bullied girl searching for another lost child slowly descends into madness, as shadow creatures (both literal and allegorical) pop up to wreak havoc on our headstrong hero Sally. Those games are actually scary though, and it feels less like Gylt is trying to spook you than to scare you straight, implicating even nice kids in the harm done if they don’t stick up for their friends who are being bullied. Taking in each new environment is a lot of fun, as objects like arcade cabinets and school lockers are rendered in a stylish way that’s akin to popular titles like Little Nightmares and Inside. Their world is dangerous, but in a kid-friendly way - at least, older kid-friendly - that feels more Halloween night than all-out horror. Sally and Emily wouldn’t look out of place in a stop-motion animated film like James and the Giant Peach (though they most remind me of the kids from the Puffs Tissues commercials). ![]() It helps that the art style is just right for this kind of double-A game. I’ve always found it immensely satisfying to get introduced to a space and then explore until it makes sense, finding keys, unlocking doors, and grabbing useful items, and Gylt is that kind of game. Each area is spatially coherent, with a map that starts black and fills in each room with color as you explore it. I get it intellectually, but I much prefer Gylt’s approach. Its geography is ever changing, using the player’s inability to get a grip on where they even are as another vector for horror. That series, though occasionally good, represents a lot of my frustrations with modern horror games. ![]() ![]() After reviewing Layers of Fear last month, I found Gylt incredibly refreshing. And the exploration is a breath of fresh air.
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