Alert: Spoilers Ahead
Sally Face is an indie horror game that came out August 16, 2016 created by Steve Gabry. The developer used the game as an outlet as he was going through hardships during the first episode’s development. Steve Gabry created this game as a solo developer, who experienced the loss of a family member, funding issues, and more during its creation. The game grew quickly in popularity as popular gamers like Gloom, Laurenzside, jacksepticeye, and more showed interest in the game. Sally Face takes place in a quiet, creepy town called Nockfel County. Sally Face, the main character, ends up in a horrifying accident that cost the life of his mother and part of his face. Growing up he had to get multiple surgeries and eventually got a prosthetic mask to hide the injury. Living in Nockfell County at the Addison Apartments, Sally Face begins exploring his new home and meeting his interesting neighbors.
Sally Face is an indie horror game that came out August 16, 2016 created by Steve Gabry. The developer used the game as an outlet as he was going through hardships during the first episode’s development. Steve Gabry created this game as a solo developer, who experienced the loss of a family member, funding issues, and more during its creation. The game grew quickly in popularity as popular gamers like Gloom, Laurenzside, jacksepticeye, and more showed interest in the game. Sally Face takes place in a quiet, creepy town called Nockfel County. Sally Face, the main character, ends up in a horrifying accident that cost the life of his mother and part of his face. Growing up he had to get multiple surgeries and eventually got a prosthetic mask to hide the injury. Living in Nockfell County at the Addison Apartments, Sally Face begins exploring his new home and meeting his interesting neighbors.
Throughout the story, Sally gains more friends: Ashley, Todd, Chug, Neil, and Maple, who become interested in the paranormal functions of the Addison Apartments. Sally finds a way to communicate with the spirits and even more evil entities within the walls. The more digging they do, the darker things get for the group. Incident after incident, the party of teens uncovers more about the sick town and the people behind everything. From questionable bologna ingredients and unsolved murder cases to ghostly powers, Sally and his friends go through hell to save Nockfell. But where can we truly begin?
Sally Face was never able to have a normal life. With the death of his mother and facial injury, Sally dealt with a rocky start in his childhood. When he moved to Nockfell, he encountered a lot of endeavors which often placed him and his friends in danger. In high school, Sally, Larry, Ashley, and Todd found out the school’s bologna is made of skin from the missing children in the neighborhood supplied by their teacher, Mrs. Packerton. Sally Face, with the help of Todd, made a communicator to talk to ghosts using Sally’s video game system, after the murder of his neighbor, wanting to find her killer and hearing the stories of other ghouls inside the walls. Strings of murders also occur in the town and the party of friends find themselves getting to the bottom of everything. They discover an obscure dungeon with creepy statues that resemble evil spirits implying it's the base of a cult. Called the Devourers of God, the cult had plans to bring a demon into the physical plane no matter what through the spread of the red-eyes. This dungeon resembles a game that Sally was able to play on his gearboy and find dark messages around the area. Eventually, their plans fall apart as Sal kills the green mass that has possessed the owner of the apartment, Mr. Addison, since he was younger. Mr. Addison then convinces Sal he has to kill everyone in the apartments to end the “infestation” once and for all. Sal’s murder spree causes his arrest and later false execution having yet to put an end to the cult. Yet, even in the afterlife, they are able to successfully end the cult’s activity.
With Sal’s murder rampage through the building, does this make him an anti-hero? To the other characters in the video game, they think he’s simply gone mad, even his own friend Ashley who experienced everything with him. No matter how much he tries to explain anything, no one believes him, especially without solid evidence of the paranormal. However, Sally Face can be seen as the anti-hero of his own story. Being able to see the lives of the young teens, we see the ups and downs of Nockfell County and the efforts Sally and his group have made to save the town. From the beginning, Sally didn't like the feeling it gave him, specifically the apartments. Sal had pure intentions of saving Nockfell and would have anything to do just that. Yes, it is true that Sal mass murdered those he cared for or lived with for most of his life; however, he did what he had to so he could protect the rest of the town and cut off the cult’s plan. Sally suffered the consequences of his actions earning a death sentence. With a lack of understanding, he was deemed insane and a villain by the town even though he stopped the cult's plans; but only temporarily. Even when that held him back from completely stopping the cult, he helped in its defeat through the afterlife with the help of Ashley and Larry. The townspeople of Nockfell county automatically see Sally as a cold-hearted killer; however, time and time again he was questioned about the murders and why he did them. He’s explained the paranormal happenings and the murders that occurred before he arrived at the apartment.
Altogether, even as he’s considered the protagonist/villain of the lore, Sally Face is truly an anti-hero and the main character. The true villains of his storyline are the cult and its leader imposing doom and darkness on the world, maybe the universe if they succeeded. Sally Face ended up saving his town through the afterlife even though he committed an immoral gesture to do so. Sally Face is my favorite horror game and the developer’s story behind it makes it ten times better than the plot is naturally. The unsuspecting turns, dark lore, and cryptic meanings truly make the gameplay exciting and surreal.
