Okay. Hm. System wise I can’t talk much to it, since the last time I looked it was a straight PbtA hack. I think it’s still strongly influenced that way. I also think it’s misguided copywriting rooted in the assumption that nobody actually likes game systems. I saw the “fades into the background” stuff as well and didn’t pay much attention.

Setting wise, I can only speak to the earlier editions (I was involved with 2e and freelanced for Target AB). The short version is that Kult is about achieving enlightenment despite reality’s best efforts to keep you jailed by your perceptions. Some folks are victimized by this (think traditional horror) while others seek it out (think Clive Barker). There are times when you see reality as it really is, which is this infinite fallen haunted city, or Gaia, or the Inferno. Layers of perception, and the Really Awful Shit pays you no mind if you pay it no mind. But once you can see through, game on.

It’s Gnostic and Kaballah and a mishmash of western occult traditions. It is also aggressively not Lovecraftian. Although Cthulhu fans are singularly talented at bending fucking everything into Cthulhu, so whatever.

Play wise, in the original game, stuff you did “during adventures” would push your perception between two poles: full-dark and full-light. Yes, this is a sanity mechanic with all its problematic mental health issues. But you can also get way way saner, pushing past 0 into the other end of the spectrum, and that also will unlock your inner divinity (see Gnosticism above). That is so core to Kult that I can’t imagine them leaving it behind in this edition. But I don’t know for sure!

The vibe was much more Barker/Kafka body horror + paranoia than any other horror game of its time. Chandler’s Dread is in this zip code too. There is a cosmic horror element to it but it’s inverted Lovecraft: rather than the universe being vast and uncaring, it’s vast and cares entirely too much.

Mikael Andersson​​​ mentioned to me that Kult triggered the satanic rpg scare in Scandinavia, and that the subject matter and art direction made a pretty compelling case!