Sally Face

Sally Face is a horror adventure game played from a third person perspective (TPP). Game was developed and published by Steve Gabry, an independent creator who founded a one-man studio Portable Moose. The author previously worked, among other things, as creative director on Crowman & Wolfboy from Wither Studios. He started working on Sally Face in early 2015, creating every aspect of the gameplay (from mechanics to sound effects) himself. Initially, it was a side job he indulged in in his spare time, but by the end of 2016 he had fully dedicated himself to the project.

Plot

The main character, Sal Fisher, wakes up in a hospital room. His face is covered with bloody bandages, there is semi-darkness all around, and the phone rings. The boy picks up the phone. The person speaking to him assures him that everything is going to be all right. After the conversation ends, Sal finds a way out of the room. Making his way through one corridor after another, the protagonist finally comes to an open space. There is a crowd of people dressed in dark, and under a tree further down lies a dog, which the boy talks to for a while. Suddenly the dog and the people vanish into thin air, leaving only the tomb, which the protagonist decides to enter. Having wandered around inside the tomb, the boy finally comes to a room hiding a terrible sight - his dead mother.

It turns out that it was only a dream, which Sal reported to the psychiatrist. After hearing the story, the man starts asking him about a certain incident. The protagonist recalls the moment when he moved with his father to a new place - a mysterious apartment building full of suspicious individuals.

Mechanics

The game Sally Face is made up of five episodes, in which the player learns about subsequent events from different periods of the main character's life. The game is played from a third person perspective (TPP), and the player usually takes on the role of Sal Fisher, nicknamed Sally Face by some. In the first chapters, most of the story is presented in the form of flashbacks recounted by the protagonist to either a psychiatrist or other interested parties. The last episode, however, shows the events unfolding in real time.

The main task of the player is to search the locations and enter into dialogues with the characters present in them. In order to obtain certain information or a specific item, the protagonist sometimes has to help other characters achieve their goals - advise on the choice of music, the theme of a party, etc. While exploring rooms, the player can also interact with certain objects, and sometimes solving puzzles is required to progress to the next stage of the game.

The game world is made up of two realities - the one inhabited by humans and the one occupied by the souls of the dead. To make contact with the other side, the player has to use one of the special devices. At the beginning of the game it's a Gear Boy - after using it in the right room the player can talk to the soul trapped in that place.

The game also introduces arcade elements, among other things, a platform game which the player must complete in order to discover information helpful in better understanding the history of the penthouse. In later episodes the player also has to defeat a certain number of enemies or one of the bosses. Sometimes, for this purpose, he uses the guitar - another item that facilitates contact with the paranormal world.

Technical aspects

Although Sally Face is a mash-up of various artistic styles, it mostly features simple 2D graphics. The main and most distinctive style of the game was based on, among other things, cartoons that aired on the Nickelodeon (now Nicktoons) TV channel in the 1990s. The locations are dingy and some of the characters presented are downright disgusting. In addition, the game also features pixel art and 3D sequences. Especially the last episode can be considered as an artistic achievement of the author. Steve Gabry is also responsible for the soundtrack.