I love Hylics.
Hylics is a look into an abstract world of pixels and clay. It’s described by the creator, Mason Lindroth, as “[...]a recreational program with light JRPG elements.” That it certainly is!
You play as Wayne, a guy with a moon shaped head, and you’re tasked with defeating Gibby, the King of the Moon. Along the way you meet Dedusmuln, an archeologist from the city, Somsnosa, your long-time friend, and Pongorma, Greatest of the Dread Knights, and they become part of your crew (party). Most of the text (minus some of the main characters’ dialogue) in the game is semi-randomly generated, often including a lot of fancy words that I don’t know the definition of.
It’s often lumped into the “RPG Maker Horror” category with games like Yume Nikki, Lisa: The Painful, and OFF, but it’s not really a horror. It does have some elements that are somewhat disturbing (such as enemy/NPC designs and certain areas) but it’s not really enough to constitute the ‘horror’ label. Admittedly though, I did get paranoid for the first hour I played. The world Wayne lives in is strange and unfamiliar, and the random dialogue from NPCs doesn’t help in any way.
The music really stands out to me. Lindroth uses a combination of acoustic and electric guitars, various pianos and synthesizers, and even a theremin to create an eclectic score. When I know I can’t focus without something instrumental in the background, I like to play the full game album and loop it. (By the way, the songs that play on my homepage are all from this game!)
A couple years after the release of the original, Lindroth announced Hylics 2, which would be made in Unity and featured music from Chuck Salamone. A lot of fans of the original were worried because they liked Lindroth’s music and were uncomfortable with the soundtrack being composed by someone who they didn’t know. However, Salamone is an absolutely wonderful composer and did an awesome job (this is an objective fact btw).
Hylics 2 differs from the original because it is 3-dimensional, and features a lot more content. There’s new mechanics, like slapping, jumping, and rolling/dodging, as well as a platformer minigame and a first-person dungeon crawler.
You, playing as Wayne again (although it is revealed that Wayne is a species and not an individual, so he might not be the same one) are tasked with stopping Gibby’s followers from resurrecting him. You reunite with Dedusmuln, Somsnosa, and Pongorma again to accomplish this. The main characters and NPCs have a lot more to say, but this time it’s normal(ish) speech, and it’s implied that the strange dialogue from Hylics 1 was Gibby’s doing (as when our heroes eventually fail, the world falls into the randomly generated chaos once again).
More thoughts on...
Wayne
Somsnosa
Dedusmuln
Pongorma
Salamone has released two albums (featuring Lindroth) meant to musically expand on the world of Hylics. The first, “Moonage Lobotomy,” is an instrumental EP with four songs representing each of the main cast. The second, “Absent Moon,” is a rock opera/concept album that functions as a sequel to the events of Hylics 2, detailing characters’ actions and ambitions with Wayne and Gibby gone. Also, Lindroth has teased a new Hylics game that has yet to be released, and I am so unimaginably stoked.
Mason Lindroth is a phenomenal artist with a distinct and incredible style. The way he blends pixel art, 3D models, and traditional clay sculpts fascinates me and I consider him to be one of my main inspirations as an artist. I’ve sculpted a lot of Hylics fanart (most of which I’ve never posted online) both because I want to practice making pieces like his and because I just love the games so much.
(Click the above images to be taken to their respective store pages. Game images are linked to Itch.io, Steam links are here: Hylics/Hylics 2. Albums are free to listen to, because Bandcamp rules.)
