The Goodhearted Horror of GYLT (2019 Game)
Director: David Canela Lagunas
Played on: PC
Audience: Teens+ (frightening atmosphere with a couple of jump scares; thematic elements; mild violence; limited crass and profane language said in text)
Partaking in survival horror is always a risk for me, not merely because of how scary it can be but because it almost never satisfies me in the end.
The genre was pioneered by Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil, and Silent Hill in the 90s; the middle one I especially admire for its place in gaming history, even if its gore puts me off from playing it myself. The most notable survival horrors I have played are The Last of Us (2013) and Alan Wake (2010), although I didn’t actually beat the former because it eventually broke my disgust tolerance, leading me to watch the ending on Youtube.
Despite Last having some of the most brilliantly realized characters I’ve seen in any video game, its concluding nihilism angered me so much that the fact it got such critical acclaim almost ruined video games for me when I played it in 2016 (so naturally, I felt like laughing maniacally when its sequel got serious backlash). Alan Wake’s ending wasn’t outright nihilistic, but it was still cynical.
For once, though, I’ve been shown that there can be hope in this genre through this review’s former exclusive for the now-defunct Google Stadia service.
Given its endearing child lead, I initially thought Gylt would aim to be a baby’s first survival horror. But then, the profanity is strong in a couple of journal entries we find around the town… The monsters with upside down faces are freaky… The walking mannequins that taunt us in little girl voices are really freaky… The shrieks from protagonist Sally’s cousin Emily when she gets psychologically tortured by images on a movie screen are downright upsetting!
That’s certainly not to say I disliked Gylt for being darker than I expected. I rather enjoyed its puzzles, stealth, and unique combat using flashlights and fire extinguishers. And what should have really tipped me off that it would be darker is how it warns about its bullying subject matter every time we start.
In this world, bullies are a given to one extent or another. The vast majority of bullying I've experienced is from online strangers, and it's not even a common occurrence. And yet, the injustice of the situation can really wound me, especially when they blame it all on you when you try to call them out. So as much as you want bullies to meet justice, there’s no use engaging with them.
Here, Emily ends up in the nightmare world we explore in an attempt to escape school bullies, and even when Sally’s main goal is to find her cousin, harassment from those same bullies pushes her in that direction. Making matters worse, allusions to bullying are everywhere in this waking nightmare, whether they’re depicted through doodles on the walls or through mannequins posed to depict such situations. (This game really wants us to hate mannequins.)
Each time we get a step closer to Emily, she pushes us back, and it isn’t until we find her journals hidden throughout the town where we realize she sees us also as a bully for not standing up for her or being there for her through abusive times—the title referring to Sally’s guilt at this revelation.
Like with Silent Hill, we’re ultimately given multiple choices of endings, two of which have dour tradeoffs, and alas, we can’t get the best ending unless we’ve searched the whole town for all the inhabitants who met their fates there, now turned to stone. It’s interesting to learn the accompanying lore, but it hurts replay value for me to go out of my way to find the extras to get the best ending every time. And even then, what should have made this ending cathartic happens in voiceover with the visuals focused on other happenings.
Still, while the best ending here is a bit flubbed like in other survival horrors I’ve played, it’s flubbed with its heart in the right place.
Amid all of its creepiness and suspense, Gylt emphasizes the importance of kindness towards fellow human beings, and for that, I can recommend it for those looking for spooky thrills. It’s even helped me appreciate The Last of Us a little more knowing where Gylt’s monster distraction mechanics have been used before, even if such mechanics have revived bad memories.