Silly Polly Beast - Unique Survival Horror

The indie horror scene has no shortage of unique, dynamic, or interesting games. Late 2024's Sorry We're Closed combined light dating-sim elements and level-based forays with traditional survival horror elements, creating a memorable experience that utilized a fierce pop-art style backed by soft, irreverent Catholic imagery. In early 2024, Hollowbody delivered a traditional survival horror atmosphere with gorgeous cyberpunk design and familiar elements.

Silly Polly Beast aimed to be different, placing its survival horror aspirations on the back burner to create a more frenetic experience replete with difficulty and intrigue.

From the start, Silly Polly Beast is different. Traditional survival horror archetypes, such as stealth and resource management, are here. The game's unique combat sessions feel more like Hades than Silent Hill, as the player directs Polly through hordes of enemies, using various weapons to destroy them. Constant shifts in gameplay and perspective keep things fresh, even when the combat starts to lose its luster near the end of the game.

As the sole survivor of a catastrophe that destroyed her orphanage, unlucky Polly finds herself in the underworld, where she must contend with deranged spirits and strange comrades, slowly becoming a monster herself as she faces her past traumas. The story remains fresh and interesting until the end, focusing on Polly's survivor's guilt, the unique pathologies of those who haunt her, and her traumatic experiences as a young orphan.

Platforming segments, combat, side-scrolling levels, and even on-rails hallway skateboarding sessions break up the gameplay, as Polly must use everything available to her to survive the cruelties of the demonic plane. Ritualistic segments require puzzle-type ingenuity that blends the aggressive combat with level-based player awareness. One segment is entirely two-dimensional, with Polly traveling back and forth through an increasingly ruined building as she solves puzzles and finds clues pointing to the truth of her past. All the while, new skateboards, masks, and weapon sare available to unlock, adding both cosmetic flair and deadly necessity.

At roughly 7-9 hours, depending on your mileage, Silly Polly Beast may be the most interesting survival horror title I've played since Signalis. While certain segments are overly frustrating, even on lower difficulties, the experience is so unique that the presentation alone makes this title from Anji Games and Top Hat Studios stand out amongst its many contemporaries.

The story and atmosphere carry Silly Polly Beast even as the combat becomes repetitive, though I found myself craving more of the lore and the world right as the story came to a close. Multiple endings and various choices encourage replayability, and there is enough meat here to hook any serious survival horror fan. Sweet, stylish, and terrifying, Silly Polly Beast is available on Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X, and GOG.