I don't get it why the game is called "GYLT", but then there is no real exploration of guilt. Yes, Sally, our protagonist, is supposed to feel guilty, because her younger cousin Emily was bullied, and Sally, at least, did not try to stop it. There was even one instance, which can be seen as Sally bullying Emily herself. Not really, but she still was not nice, and the context makes the situation worse. Problem is, that I do not think Sally feels that guilt. Or at least the game does not try to express it properly.
My main problem with the story is that most if it is told through short notes, with the notes not even causing reaction from Sally, even when they are from Emily. There are some cutscenes, of course (very few), and there are moments, when Sally thinks out-loud, but they are very brief, and most of them are about Sally contemplating her own situation. There are a few thoughts wondering how Emily was surviving in this world, but I think there was maybe one time, when she was thinking about Emily's life before disappearance.
There is also not that much in the environment, that would prompt her to think, that this world is even related to Emily's state. There are things that players may notice, and make assumptions from, yes, but Sally herself is mostly unaffected by those things. She does not question mannequins that seem to portray acts of bullying. And, to be honest, I would not think much of them myself, either, because... How would I know that this world was created by Emily's psyche? Maybe it was some other bullying victim? Or maybe it's created by lots of people's fears?
Which is kind of true, by the way. If you read notes, you will learn a very tiny bit about this place, and that it's related to some miners losing their minds to a mountain's hunger or something. It's confusing as heck, and does not explain a lot of things. But even if they did, these notes would diverge a normal person away from the bullying which happened in real life, because they imply, that weird stuff has been happening here for a very long time.
But even aside from that, this world did not try to "teach" Sally anything either way. Yes, she was not actively helping Emily before, but she was a child. Yes, 4 years older than Emily, but still a child. Thus she may not have seen actual bullying (since difference in age, they are definitely not in the same class), and even if she did, it looks like she maybe witnessed some name-calling, but not physical bullying. Even with that one instance, when she did not behave nicely... Yeah, she should feel bad about it, but should she feel guilty? Especially, when it's not even a focus of her journey, and she was actively trying to find Emily even after everyone else gave up?
Which brings me to the endings. Don't worry, I am not spoiling much. There is not much of a story here either way, even though I've already written this many words, and it's obvious from the start, that you either save Emily or not. Which is, for some reason, a choice. Yes, you can be a... "Bad person" and choose to use a ticket for Sally, abandoning Emily. Because, apparently, someone blamed and bullied Sally after Emily's disappearance. This is told only in 1 specific ending, and the only proof of that is that some boys chased her in the very beginning of the game. This does not make sense to me from narrative perspective.
The other 2 endings are fine, though. If you do not collect all of the collectibles the only other choice would be to save Emily, and that choice makes sense even as is, but if Sally did feel any kind of guilt - it would make sense even better. And the other one is just a proper happy ending. That is, if you accept the nonsense about the ticket requirement.
The old man says that a ticket is required to get to and from this world, but... How did Emily get there without one then? Or did she have a ticket, but lost it? What about rules in some establishments (and even countries), that children under certain age get a free ride? Why not use that as a loophole, if that's even required? But another thing that I disliked is that old man. There was a cutscene closer to the end, that felt as if everything as if all responsibility for saving Emily was put on her sister. Not on an adult, but on on a child. Yes, there is, technically, an explanation for that (if you can deduce it from very little information), but it still felt very wrong. It felt like it missed the mark.
Bullying is a very important topic. Very sensitive as well. Using a game to teach about it - great. Making it a survival horror - even better, since it gets the opportunity to share experiences in a unique way. But I do not think this game did it. Or, at least, I do not think it did it in a way, that would actually affect people, despite the warning at the start of the game.
And it's not that the game itself is bad. Visually it's quite good, gameplay is nice. Alan Wake for kids, essentially. Last section of the game was quite good, when "weapons" were gradually removed from you, and then there was this chase with the camera looking from the monster's mouth. That one looked pretty cool. There were a few annoyances, like HDR is atrocious, you need to use 2 different buttons to close books, action prompts require very precise positioning in some places, at least... But those are quite minor. I really can't think of any major flaws in gameplay.
But the plot is supposed to be the core of this game, and... You can even miss like 75% of it, if not more. Technically, none of the books are mandatory. Well, maybe one. Yes, you don't need to backtrack that much to collect everything, but still. And even if you do collect everything, it does not improve impact that much. Could have been so much more. But I guess no one wanted to invest much into a game originally meant for Stadia... So I cannot recommend it. At a big discount - maybe. At full price - nah.
