9/12/2023 0 Comments Gylt![]() ![]() It's ultimately a somewhat basic survival story, with players given tasks, stealth missions, and environmental puzzles that must be solved to advance the plot. There's a little genuine challenge in GYLT outside of the inherent tension of exploration in a horror game, and this ends up leaving it less frightening and memorable as a result. However, the game's focus on not being too disturbing or difficult ends up undercutting itself, as the challenges aren't that hard, and outright outrunning threats when exposed remains a viable option for much of the game. ![]() It's reminiscent of the combat in something like Silent Hill, where the characters' failings come across as a deliberate design choice to reinforce the tension of encounters. It fits within the game's already-established mechanics of exploring darkened hallways with nothing but a flashlight for protection and is a clever way to avoid some of the more questionable aspects of providing a young girl with a lethal weapon. Although they're dangerous enough to offer a real threat to Sally, players eventually find ways to use her flashlight and fire extinguishers as weapons to overwhelm and even destroy them. The game's neatest tweaks on the mechanics come with the ways players can combat the creatures. The monsters themselves aren't too frightening or grisly, but they add to the game's overall atmosphere of child-friendly horror. Gylt's gameplay is fairly straightforward horror survival, tasking players with exploring dangerous areas and avoiding enemies. The plot is fine enough, if a little underbaked to accommodate the younger players whom the game was clearly designed for. It's effectively a Silent Hill-style adventure for younger audiences, exposing the main character's lingering dark history with a desperate attempt to survive a spooky scenario. The slightly cartoonish art style helps to underscore its youthful perspective. Sally and Emily's relationship slowly unfolds across the game, revealing a surprisingly heartfelt and somber adolescent story. Now that could very well be due to the pre-launch reviewer period, but reporting what I know in home internet conditions (102 Megabits per second), Stadia is more than capable of running this low-key tale.From a storytelling perspective, the short but to-the-point GYLT is mainly focused on its titular emotion and the impact it has on its central character. ![]() Even running on the Pixel the game controlled well with a controller (you need to plug it in at this time, so have a holder/attachment ready), and I saw very little in the way of visual bugs or frameskips. I had the chance to test out Gylt running on a PC, a Google Pixel 3a, and a ChromeCast (the latter is the preferred method). It’s weird to think of how a game “runs” on Stadia, since it’s not technically hardware, but it is a new delivery system. That’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. 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. ![]()
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