There are some games out there that are easy-breezy to get through. One such game is Sayonara Wild Hearts, where you start low in a deep depression, and end up pulling yourself up and together. The quick gameplay and gorgeous music make it an easily replayable game that might start as a tough pill to swallow but eventually will go down like a spoon of sugar.
And then are games like GYLT.
GYLT is a gorgeous game that is a short adventure, but the content goes down hard, and it’s all very relatable. It’s a journey through the tattered soul of a girl named Sally, who has and is experiencing trauma in her life. And this isn’t just video game trauma, it’s very real-world trauma that most of us have experienced at one point or another and in various doses. And the good devs at Tequila Works do a fantastic job of how they treat all of it within their game.
So, sit back, relax, and consider facing your fears.
Somber story
The story of GYLT starts with Sally. She is a young girl that lives in Maine and is plagued by bullies and carrying the guilt of her cousin’s disappearance. One day, while she is fleeing from a group of bullies, she finds herself forced to take a mountain lift that transports her to an odd and terrifying version of her hometown of Bethelwood. Instead of finding sanctuary and safety, she finds that this version of Bethelwood is full of fears, monsters, and what appears to be her cousin.
The story of GYLT is thick with terror and realism. The character of Sally, played by Dora Dolphin, looks like she carries an emotional burden with her everywhere, as well as a large dose of desperation. Through her dialogue, her actions, and her verbal concerns, you can see this character truly has a lot on her plate to deal with all at once. It’s sad seeing it play out in the game, where Sally revisits familiar places, like a local school and arcade, and is constantly chased down by the monsters she carries with her every moment. This narrative works well with the gameplay and creates the right number of emotions that go along with the story. And the story is powerful. You can see that the moment that Sally steps onto the scene and starts her internal, desperate dialogue about not giving up on her cousin.
The story and world built for Sally are as effective as the gameplay, which is a huge plus when you’re trying to get your players to feel what your main character is going through and to make the moments impactful. Huge kudos to the devs for putting together a good story that has a great main character driving it all.
Story aside, how about some gameplay?
GYLT-y gameplay as charged
As Sally traverses her fears and emotional hauntings, the gameplay goes with it all. Led by stealth groundwork, Sally must get through areas of this messed-up Bethelwood in hopes of saving her cousin from the monsters that populate the town. What’s off-beat hilarious about this gameplay and story is that it reminded me of Redfall, where you’re trapped in this tiny town trying to ward off baddies that are scattered everywhere. Stealth was a good chunk of gameplay for that game and so goes the story of Sally and her plight. Unlike Redfall, this game feels complete in its design and is driven by purpose.
Getting back to GYLT, the game begins with Sally simply trying to avoid monsters in a school where she sees her cousin. To get around the monsters, Sally is equipped with her wits and the occasional soda can (for throwing as a distraction, not as a weapon). In this beginning part of the game, you’re mainly figuring out puzzles and finding passageways to circumvent monster interaction, and essentially just trying to get Sally to figure out her bearings and situation. If Sally is seen by a monster, then it’s a stamina-limited run to safety…or death. This type of gameplay builds up uneasy tension that complements Sally’s story that is unfolding. It works nearly perfectly with the story.
Now, as Sally progresses and the world of Bethelwood expands outside of the school system, the monsters get more dangerous and Sally starts to pick up new techniques to take care of them, though no technique is easily pulled off perfectly. The first major step in the gameplay arsenal is a flashlight that can burn yellow spots from the monsters to help hurt and eventually dissolve them into nothingness. It’s almost as if Sally is shining a light on her fears and burning them out of the way. It’s resourceful, but with every new enemy that has new ways to terrorize Sally, it quickly becomes a secondary solution that sits behind the first and best gameplay mechanic which is Sally’s stealthy-ness. That isn’t a bad mechanic to use as your main, especially since burning the beings with light depends on battery durability. This is like some child-like Resident Evil game where you must conserve your ammo or otherwise avoid being seen. It works incredibly well.
Beyond stealth and innocent weapons of mass destruction, the gameplay also has a healthy dose of puzzles that snuggle right in with the gameplay design. Unlike Resident Evil, where you’re given a good amount of time to figure out a solution to something, the impending and overwhelming sense of danger around every corner is thick within GYLT’s gameplay and pushes down on you hard while you’re trying to juggle a puzzle solution. You don’t have a lot of time to be out in the open and figure out how to open a door, or gate, or take down technology to proceed. Again, just like Redfall where baddies are constantly present, this game makes sure that you never feel an ounce of comfort, even when puzzles are at the forefront. All this uneasiness points back to a story setup and execution that is properly done. It feeds into every aspect of the gameplay, puzzles, and monsters, and you just can’t seem to stay comfortable along the journey. It’s pure bliss for those who enjoy games like these.
As for the baddies, good God, they can be frightening as hell. The worst of the worst for me was a mid-boss that resided in an old, destroyed arcade. Sally must slowly step around monsters looking for her in this broken-down arcade room (featuring a gaming carpet and a healthy dose of neon). Batteries are limited for the flashlight and health items, inhalers, are equally in short supply. Instantly, regardless of how you enter the premises, it’s still a tough road to cross to get through and then out of the complex, only to come face-to-face with a giant monster that has spotlight eyes. Guess what you must keep out of? You got that right, the light, and there are multiple ways Sally can move to get out of this arcade and away from this spotlight monster. The creepy factor of this mid-boss mixed with the overabundance of tension created for the moment is so overwhelming and effective that it sends this gameplay upward in entertainment value. Sure, it’s sad, and it’s horrifying, plus you know what this entire journey is about, but it’s nonetheless creepy fun that is more meaningful than most triple AAA experiences. It works well, and, again, dances beautifully with the story.
Overall, GYLT offers up a variety of gameplay mechanics, design, and execution that work from beginning to end. It also plays within the world that Tequila Works built for it and doesn’t stray at all outside its boundaries. The gameplay is tightly knit with the story, and it couldn’t be better. Now, having said that there are moments where the gameplay can get frustrating.
The biggest small road bump I hit with this game is aiming for the flashlight. GYLT is built in a third-person view, which means aiming straight can be a frustrating affair. I think I missed most arms, heads, and legs of enemies to burn them into oblivion than I care to admit. Maybe that was by design from the devs, but regardless it was frustrating at times. The crux of my frustration was knowing that the flashlight battery was finite and my bad aim was unnecessarily using up ammo. Thankfully, the game does allow you to die, quickly come back to the scene, and try again. That’s a blessing, but that doesn’t help the aiming issue. It’s the third-person view that gums up the aiming. But I’m glad it isn’t first-person, as I don’t think it would have worked as well with the story. Anyway, a small complaint that I’m sure others won’t care about or possibly experience.
Let’s move into presentation.
Unreal Unreal
As more and more devs dive into Unreal Engine 5, more and more current-generation titles are showing off their peacock feathers. GYLT is a gorgeous game that emits emotion through good character models and well-designed creepy environments. The devs used UE well enough for the story they were trying to tell. It looks good. While I’m not enormously crazy about some of the monsters, the big important ones shine beautifully with this engine (see spotlight bad guy for details). You’ll find plenty of small details like Sally’s worn-out look on her face, and some ray tracing moments, such as Sally’s reflection on certain environments that shine through as you play. It’s a gorgeous game, folks.
To complement the graphics, the acting and the dialogue are done well. Sally seems sincere in her plight to save her cousin. Enemies and unsettling ghost-like creatures do a good job of building the tension and uneasiness of the world through their words and sounds. All the acting, sounds, and music pull together to make this quite a production. It’s impressive and it helps sell Sally’s situation. Kudos to the writers, actors, and sound people who brought this A/V experience to life to become a fabulous gaming experience. Sad, but fabulous.
On that note, let’s wrap this review up.
Conclusion
GYLT from Tequila Works is a heavy game to bear. Its story is overwhelmingly sad, relatable, and impactful. The gameplay is built to complement the story and the devs did a great job of pulling those two pieces together. This game isn’t for the faint of heart and it will certainly get you in the feels, but the journey is worth the emotional risk.
