Hylics. A rev.

BEYOND THIS WINDOW FRAME, A PHANTASMAGORIC TABLEAU UNFOLDS. AND WHATNOT.

Published by Mason Lindroth in the year of 2015, Hylics is a game created in RPG Maker. At first glance, it really seems to be just that. However, Hylics is special. Very much so. While it surely is a game in which you simply push buttons to control a character’s actions, it is also an experience. An artistic experience, at that; undeniably so, regardless of what feeling it might leave you with after completion. For most, it’s confusion. For some, it’s satisfaction. For me, it’s inspiration.

The most striking feature of Hylics is undoubtedly its visual appearance. That being said, it may not come as a surprise that Hylics is frequently shrugged off as a simulation for what it’s like to take recreational drugs. An LSD simulator of some kind, if you will. Some reviews go as far as to claim that Hylics is nothing but a short, visual representation of what it’s like to be under the influence. Fair enough. But we already have a game with the proud title LSD: Dream Emulator, released for the PlayStation. And this one dates as far back as 1998.

This means that that sort of title cannot be given to Hylics after all. So, where do we place Hylics then? Sure, on the surface, it may seem like Lindroth has tried to make a game that looks and feels like microwaving your brain. Which leads to the question: What the fuck is Hylics all about anyway?

It must be said that deciphering Hylics is like deciphering a 5 year old’s crayon painting, that’s pinned to the fridge. A lot of it is nonsensical, abstract and far from human comprehension, yet it is also unquestionably personal.

Hylics follows a yellow guy named Wayne with a crescent-shaped head. He sports a black leather jacket and golly! – does he have a lot of cockroaches in his bathroom! But that’s not all. With an obtainable warm burrito in his toilet (the other ones you stumble upon mid-game are often frozen), and an equally yellow cat in his living room, Wayne begins his adventure by… leaving the house. Throughout the game you’ll encounter several NPCs (who speak in randomly generated text), juice boxes, enemies and – most notably – Wayne’s friends, who become helpful party members.

And what other great activities can be done with friends, other than… that’s right, killing the fucking moon. To be more precise, killing the moon-tyrant Gibby. But do not get the wrong idea; in the world of Hylics, overthrowing a tyrant is anything but an epic tale of bloodshed and misery. Instead, it’s more of a relaxing vacation. To kill the moon, that is. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The party consists of four beings in total; Wayne, Dedusmuln, Somsnosa and Pongorma. Dedusmuln, cheerful and enthusiastic in their behaviour, is an archaeologist that is most fascinated by paper cups and water coolers. They’re artefacts, after all. Somsnosa is a blue humanoid, who can extract power from bugs. She’s pretty good at that. Lastly, Pongorma is a humanoid knight, who can be found in a vault, waiting for somebody to finally fight him. Oh, and did I mention that the characters are also a band, sort of? That’s nice.

Between exploration and some turn-based combat encounters, there’s not much more to do gameplay-wise. Interestingly, dying in the game is more of a reward, than a punishment. Upon death, Wayne’s crew will be transported to the Afterlife. It has a couch, talking fish and, of course, a water cooler. Most remarkably though, it also has a meat grinder. For what, you ask?

To grind the meat you’ve collected from enemies and convert it into flesh. The flesh is the value of health each character has, ergo the health bar. Essentially, that means that the more enemies you kill, the more meat you find, the more meat you grind, the more flesh you’ll acquire, the stronger Wayne’s party becomes. Seems about right. Later in Hylics 2, the currency of the game is represented by bones –another morbid, yet amusing item. The fact that corporeal elements of the human body serve as practical tools in this game, strongly supports the theory that Hylics might represent a world that is post-human. Post-apocalyptic. Hear me out.

Hylics offers insight into a world that has outgrown humanity. Only leftovers of human physi- cality prove as useful. Even the inhabitants of the world only faintly resemble hu- mans; Wayne and Somsnosa seem most human corpo- reality-wise, therefore their designs are most compre- hensible to the player. On the other hand, Dedusmuln and Pongorma appear as more abstract, further away from what we view as humanly comprehensible. And because Hylics’ world is post-human, the fascination towards small, human remains persists.

This could explain why an item, such as the paper cup, is regarded as an artefact and why juice boxes are so valuable to improve your party’s health. Because those tiny items have survived the test of time. Did we, human beings, though? Absolutely not. It is this interpretation, which might help us, the players, understand why Hylics seems so nonsensical to us. Because it’s not about us.

Visually, Hylics is a feast for the senses. It has often been described as an interactive album cover, and for good reason. This game excels in the visual department, more so than any other game does. The digitalized clay textures and pastel colour schemes not only catch your attention, but also keep you glued to the screen, absorbing the eye candy like a sponge.

Lindroth fabricates abstract, hypnotic shapes that spring from a dreamy, rich imagination. Every hand animation in-battle, every step of a character, accompanied by a mesmerising soundtrack, create dazzling and often humorously charming images.

Furthermore, Lindroth is capable of creating vast, surreal environments and memorable character designs and animations. His recent production snippets on his social media channels are even better proof of that. The designs and personalities of the characters are simultaneously distinct and memorable, yet also vague enough, to leave room for the player’s interpretation. Though that might be unintentional, it still is

an immensely difficult paradox to achieve. Moreover, it is remarkable how Lindroth manages to combine contrasts between bubbly and bright moments mid-game and uncanny, ambient instances. While the sections City and House evoke a sense of psychedelic joy and relaxation, the Hall of Deadly Statues establishes a rather melancholic, if not dreadful atmosphere.

This also counts for Hylics 2’s sections Waynehouse and New Muldul, and TV Island and Sage’s Labyrinth. The successful combination of these contrasting ambiences is what makes this clay-world all the richer. And it only goes up from here: Hylics built a fertile ground for the fruits of its sequel, in which the transition from a 2D environment to a 3D one makes all of Lindroth’s creations stand out even more.

With the help of Chuck Salamone’s musical expertise, Hylics’ sequel is nothing short of an atmospheric gem. But that’s a topic for another time.

I cannot stress enough how big the impor tance of games such as Hylics (and RPG Maker Games in general) is. Hylics may just be one of the million games on the market, but its significance for the art world is enormous. And to me personally, it’s one of, if not the most inspiring projects out there. In an age where the heavy influence of capitalism on art creates more harmful hegemony than variety, Hylics still dares to be its own thing.

It is peculiar and curious, bright and frightening, fascinating to some and somewhat disturbing to many. But overall it’s personal. Every nook and cranny of this work is oozing with personality and leaking with dedication and love towards artistic expression. It’s sentimental – in my eyes at least. Lindroth’s project does not require a bigger premise than “If you hate the moon, I guess.” in order to be inspiring. And damn, how inspiring that is.

by Sofia Miller