It’s hard to forgive someone. It’s even harder to forgive yourself. Whenever one is guilty of a terrible sin it’s easy to hide from the truth, letting the shame eat at them like cancer. This is a concept that Rime developers Tequila Works attempt to highlight in Gylt, a survival horror game that owes just as much to Coraline as it does Alan Wake.
Set in an old mining town, Gylt tells the tale of Sally and her plight to find out what happened to her missing cousin, Emily. We control Sally, where after putting up fliers across town we’re chased on our bike by bullies, causing us to careen off the road and crash. Forced to take a mountain lift home things go from bad to worse when the lift crosses a dimensional barrier into a dark and twisted version of the town. With no living soul in sight and with monsters roaming streets and corridors torn asunder by an apparent earthquake, we have no choice but to move forward in the hope of finding a way back. It doesn’t take long before we also realize that Emily has been trapped here too; it’s up to us to get both back to the safety of the real world and to heal their broken relationship.
While there are lore bits scattered throughout the adventure that clue us into the story of the town and why this parallel world exists, the central narrative is about mending the relationship with Emily, who hates her cousin for treating her poorly in front of other kids from school. It’s a novel premise that doesn’t hold up when most of the game is about Emily, a child, running towards monsters and death just to get away from Sally. We save her enemies and even bosses and she just hightails it because she hates us. I understand what the game is trying to do, but it could execute it differently to make logical sense. In fact, I would prefer if there was no real parallel world and the entire game was in Sally’s subconscious from the bike crash.
We’re given a flashlight to deal with the monsters; focusing the beam on enemy weak spots or sneaking up to deliver an instant stealth kill are all we can do until later in the game, when a fire extinguisher becomes available to freeze and slow them down. Even with the addition of the extinguisher combat remains unenjoyable due to how easy and basic it is. It is so lackluster that I opted to do a pacifist run on my playthrough, simply because the stealth mechanics are more fleshed out and having to think of each scenario as a puzzle was more rewarding. While there are bosses that must be dealt with that change the pacing a bit, they aren’t all that exciting or difficult. I unlocked a trophy for beating one without taking damage and I had barely been paying attention during the fight.
Puzzles fare a bit better, though not by much. The flashlight can be used to charge panels that activate mechanisms, as well as lure enemies, and the extinguisher not only opens up paths previously blocked by fire but also freezes electrified puddles of water to allow us to cross them. While there are other uses which I won’t spoil and other basic puzzle concepts like pushing blocks, ladders and more besides, nothing takes much thought and therefore lacks a sense of reward.
While Gylt has similarities to a film like Coraline in regards to the story and a dream-like world mirroring our own, I feel that it takes more from it in regards to the visuals. While not using stop-motion animation like in the movie, the game implements a style that fits somewhere between dollish and realism in a way that is dark and unique all the same. The graphics on display, while unassuming on a technical level, are in fact the best quality in the game.
Gylt is one of those games that’s incredibly basic on the gameplay front, but where there are still enough moments of fun that would warrant an overall recommendation because it’s short and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Or, that would be the result if the game’s story worked in the end. As it stands one shouldn’t feel too guilty for passing on a purchase.
This review is based on a copy of the game purchased by the reviewer.
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