“There is no beauty without eyes to enjoy it; likewise, there is no ugliness and deformity.” – Dejan Stojanovic
Overview
Sally Face is a disturbing point-and-click horror adventure game that follows a young boy with a prosthetic face. Players must delve into his tragic past to unravel sinister mysteries and try to make sense of the supernatural events that are occurring. The game consists of 5 episodes released between 2016 and 2019.
Developer: Portable Moose
Released: 14th December 2016
Price: £9.99 – £12.48
Narrative
This game sees players take on the role of Sal Fisher, a.k.a. Sally Face, a nickname originally given to him by bullies after a childhood tragedy left him having to wear a mask. The game begins when Sal is a teenager and follows him through to early adulthood as players progress through the five episodes of the game.
Each episode of Sally Face consists of its own story. For example, in episode one, there is a murder to investigate, there’s some suspicious bologna to look into in episode three, and in episode two, Sally Face must search for and converse with ghosts to uncover the truth about his friend Larry. However, it soon becomes clear that there is a dark overarching narrative that ties all of the separate incidents, investigations, and characters together. Players will encounter supernatural events, cults, trauma, and death, as well as friendship, love, and heroism in this disturbing coming-of-age tale.
Most of Sally Face is set in Addison Apartments in Nockfell, where Sal lives (at least initially) with his dad. There are, however, a host of other settings to explore, such as the local school, the hospital, the townhouse where Sal later lives with his friends, and a graveyard. This provides a good amount of variety to complement the increasing familiarity of the main setting.
Sally Face introduces the player to a wide range of characters, including Sal’s closest friends, Larry, Todd, and Ashley, Sal’s father, and the various eclectic residents of Addison Apartments. Even those with relatively brief appearances offer distinct personalities or interesting pasts, helping to create a very immersive and believable game world, despite the supernatural goings on.
The narrative is told in a variety of ways, most prominently via dialogue, but also through found objects such as letters, but also the visual elements and through the gameplay itself. Sally Face boasts highly satisfying narrative design. The shorter stories within each episode provide a sense of progression and accomplishment, whilst the main narrative offers more complexity with its surprising twists and turns, well-implemented shock tactics, and the slowly-revealed cohesion between individual events. There are some spine-chilling moments, alongside upsetting incidents, and Sally Face is powerfully emotive at times, with the ability to be both heartwarming and heart-wrenching.
Gameplay
Sally Face consists mainly of point-and-click style mechanics, though it needs either keyboard-only or controller input, rather than using a mouse. Players can side-scroll through a variety of environments, collecting items and utilising Sal’s inventory to solve puzzles and progress the narrative. These puzzles are typical of the genre and are implemented well. The puzzles are logical and satisfying to solve, and although thorough exploration is required, there is no excessive back-and-forth between different scenes. There are also a number of non-inventory-based puzzles, such as combination locks and map decoders, which provide some enjoyable diversity and extra challenge.
Additional mechanics, such as item collection, switching between characters, minigames, and using a Gear Boy to detect and converse with ghosts, are a lot of fun and elevate Sally Face as an overall experience and also aid the storytelling. The gameplay is rewarding and enjoyable, working in tandem with the other elements of the game, such as the aesthetic and the narrative. The mechanical aspects of the experience feel important and productive, increasing the player’s sense of immersion without detracting or distracting from the story, which is the most integral part of Sally Face.
Styling
Sally Face uses a hand-drawn cartoon art style; the characters consist of slightly sketchy line art, whilst the scenery and backgrounds have a cleaner look. The colour palette is somewhat muted but colourful enough to maintain and fit with the cartoon aesthetic. The more gruesome elements, such as the gore, are drawn particularly well and can be quite unsettling. Lighting is used minimally but to great effect, with eerie red or green lights and dark, prominent shadows.
A great soundtrack accompanies Sally Face, mostly favouring rock, metal, and grunge genres with some discordance. The music suits the characters and setting and helps with overall world-building. There are also some calmer, and often melancholy tracks that are used to help build more emotive scenes.
Summary
Sally Face is a brilliant example of a point-and-click adventure, and after nearly a decade since episode one was released, it has garnered something of a cult status. Its dark, often gruesome narrative, depicted in a distinct cartoon-like art style, as well as the moody metal soundtrack, and engaging gameplay, all work together perfectly to create a unique and satisfying experience. The contrast between the game’s most harrowing moments and the more uplifting ones is just part of what makes the experience so impactful. I wholeheartedly enjoyed Sally Face and highly recommend it to fans of the genre or those with a taste for the macabre and supernatural. My only regret is not playing it sooner.
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