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In a tweet by Yuri Stern, one of the developers of the two man team rose-engine along with Barbara Wittmann of Signalis. They remark how "I wish people would be more open to letting others figure out for themselves how their ending made them feel. Instead of telling a streamer "you got the best ending!", maybe you can ask "did you think this was an interesting conclusion?" And they can decide if they liked it or not" Their comment was in response to how some players classify conclusions as absolutes for true, bad, good, etc.

Stern’s answer caught my attention and I admit throughout my time playing games with multiple outcomes in the finale. I realize I am guilty of this too. And yet, this establishes a thought-provoking notion to provide clarification, evidence, and reasoning, beyond simple claims. Player interpretation differs for each individual. Classified as neither good, bad, or in between. It simply is. Consensus can say comparable beginnings, middle, and end. And yet, we conjure causes to describe something that can be difficult or perhaps easy to comprehend. In my attempt to understand everything throughout my playthrough, I’ve come to see it as a Lovecraftian Sci-Fi blended with Survival Horror. Reputable individuals have noted inspiration, references, and homages to King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. The Festival by H.P. Lovecraft. Evangelion by Hideaki Anno, Stanley Kubrick, Resident Evil & Silent Hill franchise Et al. To me, include Nier and Prey(2017). With a dash of Studio Shaft’s techniques. And while I haven’t read/watched/played some of those homages they harken too. A considerable amount of careful effort to not create a reference-filled fiesta akin to Ready Player One. Plenty of satisfying content and unique properties, enough to stand on its own.

You control Elster, a [Redacted] in search of someone important to her. This is her journey after her ship crashes onto an unknown planet. She doesn’t start with much, but a sufficient tutorial resides to grant a fighting chance. Make no mistake, this isn’t a game you run away from consistently. You. Can. Fight. Back. From a top-down 2.5D perspective. Lengthwise, the game took me over nine hours to complete and I didn’t have any major/minor bugs or crashes. Ran smoothly notwithstanding looking akin to a Playstation One game. An aesthetic remarkably familiar to our past of CRTs, floppy discs, and VCRs with unfamiliar technology. A retro-tech meets dystopian surrealism. An unforgiving world, which I became horrified to learn about and lost myself in admiring the art. The color red is used prominently, like in similar games: Scarlet Nexus and Astral Chain for blue, yet it doesn’t detract from the overall presentation. A pleasant strength tied to supplementary elements the game displays to the player. The retro style succeeds in its favor since you’ll be walking, running, and fighting through broken old corridors sometimes in derelict space stations and facilities. The soundtrack has some nice tunes, but you’re usually dealing with silence or at the very least oppressive atmosphere that can be ethereal. Some tracks lend to an ambiance with static to varying degrees of echoes of various sounds you wouldn’t expect like crashing waves, slow piano tracks, and even a tiny smidge of synth. Oddly enough, an inconsistent/consistent rhythm and tempo permeates; some may find grating to hear and will switch into the opposite range and become somehow ‘relaxing’ to listen. The dual nature of melancholic and comforting generates an intriguing dichotomy. Ultimately, the whole soundtrack is decent, though I wish for more variety to bring ‘life’ to the moment-to-moment scenes. Granted, I think this was a deliberate decision by the composers 1000 Eyes & Cicada Sirens to construct a suffocating pressure to incite ‘space hell.’ And I can’t help, but begrudgingly praise the decision to do so. It works!?

The combat felt very tight, responsive and didn’t suffocate me constantly. For several moments I would have despaired, but a handy walkthrough and some tips kept my spirits up! One could even take advantage of Steam’s new note-taking feature to remember critical material! Accessible during in-game and when you exit. So you don’t always have to keep the program on. Combat when shooting could’ve been tweaked a little to make it more accurate. Considering how the enemies' artificial intelligence acts and how we can’t be experts in hitting shots 100% of the time. I can forgive this slight. Certainly not a dealbreaker, but make sure to watch out for your ammo, aim well, and trust in your gut the bullets will fly through. Healing is painless and not complicated. Intermittent yet equitable drops of supplies to recuperate, so you're not left struggling if you carefully check your stock and surroundings. Heck, you can even combine components to make weapons use different ammo, healing, and key items to save slots since you only have six in your inventory to hold. Aiming isn’t even the main bread and butter. Melee weaponry serves as an acceptable tool to fight baddies. You can attain a stun rod to down enemies then kick them to unconsciousness, and push them freely when you need to gain some distance. Hell, you can even burn them when they fall. Cause boy oh boy these nightmarish creatures(I’ll spare you the imagery) can stand up once more! Thankfully, they don’t return to life or should I say unlife heh within a short time. Probably a decent length passes before you realize your foe is ready for round 2.

Outside of combat. I found worldbuilding to be richly rewarding and added substance to the environmental storytelling. I was craving to know more about the inhabitants, the government, the leaders, technology, etc. So much depth and breadth in going the full nine yards where I know about the whole history of nations, the background of citizens and military soldiers of a strict hierarchy during a tumultuous time. Missions and roles for each [R$%#%$#@] unit and even enemies are spared no expense in displaying how they came to be. Chekhov's Gun tickles nearly every reach imaginable and in effect shines so hard, even in the darkest moments. I constantly read countless lore notes in the form of classified documents, redacted information, diaries, and even propaganda posters! No shortage of information almost to the point of overload, however, Barbara and Yuri have emerged with a balanced tightrope to not overgorge the player while not slipping morsels of info. Proportionally, to induce a sense of curiosity to know more, nagging at the far reaches of your brain to check every room for more data to consume. One cool feature in the form of an archive in the menu, you can access anytime. No need to backtrack to the origin of papers. Thereby, making recollections of pertinent details at the press of a button, straightforward.

The puzzles are solid. Used to great effect to tie into the lore whenever possible. Some examples are lockpicking, numerical password combinations and structural obstacles that could hinder your progression. So retracing your steps for an important piece is advisable to progress. There are extras, but I'll refrain from listing them. Best as a surprise. I found the inclusion of them to be welcoming. Didn’t overstay, while having plentiful time for me to seek answers/clues. Some solutions are more obscure than the rest. Though, for the most part, all of them I felt were fitting, and the hints satisfactory to figure out the solution. Careful precision to not go rage-inducing while not making it too easy for newcomers and veterans. Remember it's okay to fail some puzzles and return with a clearer mind.

Likable NPCs. They're personable, relatable, and offer intriguing perspectives during my playthrough. They complement Elster, by acting as foils. With their objectives at large and didn’t detract at all from their sheer presence. I was content, I am not alone all the time knowing comrades are nearby, who are bravely keeping on despite the horrific nightmares, and even more where I’ll refrain from stating, but suffice it say I was sad to see. A dangerous atmosphere prevails and the mood can become bleak in the blink of an eye. Not to the extent that I became leery. While it may seem dangerous due to the unnatural air and presence. These NPCs 'helped' me on my journey and for that, I am grateful for their company but also their dialog. Conversations revealed vital pieces to tying what happened on the planet and what threads they could link to the plot.

The horror elements are not, at least to me, horrific to the point I was disgusted or vomitable. Didn’t see major jump scares to remove my soul from my body, and I am incredibly grateful this didn't occur. Constant jump scares can cheapen the experience if not done well in my opinion. Again balance is integral and the devs have managed to produce a nice gameplay loop of exploration, scavenging, combat, reading lore, drip-feeding you cutscenes, and solving puzzles to be as painless as possible while still creating enough difficulty for a challenge.

Speaking of the story. I’m a bit mixed on. And this isn’t to say it is a bad thing at all. Think of my mixed feelings as neither positive nor negative, but food for thought I'll outline. In aspects, the game tries to impart to the player. I felt the execution was fragmented. It’s not clear what is shown to be definitive or literal to assert a conclusion on which I can base my facts and evidence. This may sound confusing. And I apologize if I’m not making sense. To clarify, you have to build the ‘narrative’ so to speak. This is fine in theory and there is a thread to follow. But sometimes the writing can be somewhat obscure along with puzzling. This pains me greatly since I couldn’t get enough of the worldbuilding. In the end, I was left with a ‘hmmm’ on the execution. Certainly, games like the Souls series are similar in environmental storytelling. Not so much on the beats of the plot to bridge together, but the world itself you piece towards to understand in your eyes what the story could be.

I wish the inventory limit of six expanded as you progressed further. Like up to eight. I didn’t find it too troublesome to turn back to my storage chest to unload my stuff. Yet, this exhibits a constant chore since I want to collect everything in nooks and crannies only for me to check the nearest save room to remove them. This isn’t a big deal. I could just run past enemies, right? True. Elster does have the capability. The issue is when I am running, some enemies will come alive to attack. After I already defeated them. Making traversal to new areas a slightly tedious to do, since I must retreat and precious supplies may be utilized. This is exacerbated when I have to redo this method again when I need more space for key objects to progress. A solution I was ruminating; having separate slots for crucial items. Like, say a flashlight or gun. As accessories.

Lore papers could’ve been more definitive as vague as I could put it. In doing so, the given knowledge would become stronger to grasp. Some notes are clear-cut to comprehend, but these ties could've been linked to creating a tighter cohesion in interpreting the plot. We are given an ample amount of lore to draw our conclusions. This is fine in theory and I’ve seen examples amongst my peers that resonated more with them. So the execution worked. For me, however, I’m stuck in the middle of a hallway facing a door of “greatness” and behind me, a door says “Not greatness.” I wonder if the devs could’ve made some threads easier to digest and distinguish. An alternative drip to gently feed the player. Admittedly, this is my personal preference and should not be taken as a common critique of the game. Individuals aside from me have rated the game highly which is fair. And I have seen the inverse side too. So where do I land? Sweats nervously In between those spectrum's sadly enough. There is a solid vision the two-man development studio established and they walk a tightrope in balancing narrative ties through the gameplay and cutscenes with a red Chekov’s gun to use every tie imaginable to draw players and I can say it prevails with some stumbles. I’m not sure if this is a method of drawing everyone to understand completely what the developers try to impart by the time the end credits roll. Nonetheless, I am unsure if this is a title that could vibe with you until a session of play. And in that respect, makes this incredibly challenging to quantify against the entirety of what the game offers.

Speaking of the ending. And again, no spoiler territory. I think easier alternatives were possible to attempt other outcomes. I got one of them and after checking out the rest, I couldn’t help but conclude the requirements are obscure for players to know. I had to research guides and see how technical the wire can run. Won’t delve into the exact details, but suffice it to say, I surmise avenues are within reach making the process less burdensome if the devs were to patch it. Though I doubt they would. Whether or not, newcomers know multiple resolutions. Before I forget, please go on Youtube for the rest, if you were unsatisfied with the one you got. Just a gentle reminder. One of them is so convoluted the community cooperated to discover the hidden requirements. Sszz127 from the Signalis subreddit was the first to discover clues leading to it as far as I know.

I'm sad to report how strenuous it is to depict my proper feelings in describing how much the title appeals to me against the concerns I stated earlier. A variable slow-burn, that may catch those who don’t mind it. Others may find it not as resonating. Besides the regular praise, I see fellow reviewers and fellow peers of mine who call it “a masterpiece, a return to modern survival horror, one to watch out for and more.” Wonderful seeing high acclaim regarding the game in their manner and I find gratifying content is an enjoyable affair. Equally as those who offer a differing perspective from the norm with evidence. I am at a crossroads where I’m not sure. To discern if it’s a must-play for fans of the genre due to my lacking experience in the department. I’ve only played Metro 2033, The Evil Within series, Bloodborne, Omori, etc. So I’m not an expert. If this can appeal to a newcomer. One could even take advantage of Steam’s two-hour refund policy to see if it appeals to you. And if it doesn’t, no shame in refunding. For me, I was hooked after the first hour.

I believe Signalis may provide newcomers with a unique mileage that might vary experience and value. For horror fans and for those who are not used to it like me. I love the worldbuilding and how retro-tech merges wonderfully with the dystopian sci-fi era. The lifeless music at various points forge an almost oppressive atmosphere that is both melancholy and comforting. The combat is balanced to the extent that I wasn't quite a female Rambo, but someone like Ellen Ripley(Aliens) and Leeloo(Fifth Element). Elster perseveres despite adversity. Has no crazy powers nor impressive intellect to bedazzle us at every turn. She simply is a [redacted]. And I like that. Gameplay elements like puzzling solving were fun and tied nicely with the environmental storytelling. Terror aspects turned out to be not too scary or overdone in a manner I found tiresome to see. A genuine effort by rose-engine to keep them challenging and fair in such a way I still endeavored to keep going. Regardless of my struggles, and food for thought, a cool hidden gem exists. Moreover, I echo what Stern posits about not classifying endings as absolutes and asking yourself how the game made you feel and why? Whether at the end of your journey, you conceive some semblance to share beyond the scope of classifying it in categories. Then by all means, please do so. Your voice is appreciated. There is beauty to find out if Your experience left you something meaningful or not.

7.7/10

Additional Material I couldn’t fit in this review, but may prove useful for those who played the game already:
Source for twitter link by Yuri Stern
Signalis Index - Theory, Lore, Commentary, Symbolism, Reference, Music, Decipher, Data-mining, Unsolved questions and more
Steam Guide on endings with Authors Plot Interpretation - Major spoilers
A Literalist view of Signalis - Major spoilers
A Non-Literalist View of Signalis - Major Spoilers
A Youtuber’s take on Signalis - Warning major spoilers
Camera Perspective mod
Final stats of my playthrough
My thoughts on the ending/s of Signalis
^Major spoilers throughout. Only click if you finished the game.

Note: If any links are down please let me know and I’ll try and correct that.
7-30-23 - Note - Added a Non-Literalist View of Signalis and added further clarification on the Signalis Index link.
11-29-23 - Edited first opening paragraph with correct pronouns. 99% of text still intact and largely unchanged.

You writhe beneath my skin
Born of ailing flesh and love
My thoughts, consumed by your sorrow.

Waking nightmares plague me, endless
A slow rotting miracle plucked from time,
You are all that I love, everything I fear
And all the entanglement festering between

For want of fair chances,
I stared into your abyss
As I've done for many before

And in return, you tore out my heart,
Impaled my eyes with your scarlet terror
Invaded the privacy of solitude,
And plunged your iron claws into my very soul.

You interrupt my nights.
My days, occupied by you
You are inescapable, yet...

For all your malignance,
Burrowed under flesh
and boiling blood,

I refuse
to let
go




Signalis bores its hooks into my skull, carving grooves into my brain where my psychoses pool. There’s something to be said for its reliance on the narrative language of anime and survival horror, but whether it’s derivative or iterative is a moot point. These beats that ring familiar are sores that Signalis splits open with a sadist’s pleasure. I could sit here and rattle off references, the obvious calls that permeate the body of the work, but where does that get you? Where does that get any of us, other than a cognizant “if you know you know” stranglehold? The language of Signalis isn’t concerned with simply being “Space Resident Evil”, or “Utena by way of Evangelion”. Much like the doomed Penrose, the referential nature of Signalis is, in itself, a repetitious time loop. It is not a work of references, it is its references.

I bolt awake, and Signalis presses on the nerve center that kick started my love of horror. 2008, in front of a bombed-out Gamecube, Jill Valentine tinkers though a puzzle box called the Spenser mansion. 2022, I bumblefuck through the escape room that is Sierpinski S-23.

Another restless night, another stab into my brain. 2012, my first pangs of personalized gender misanthropy at the hands of Asuka Langley Sohryu and Rei Ayanami, the brilliant shine of sapphic love reflected by Utena and Anthy. A decade later, the hate has faded and its place remains remorse for the past, regret for the now as the signature flashes of light and text flicker, as LSTR-512 and Ariane waltz in their final moments.

Again, interrupted sleep prevails. October, last year, the clattering of keys clicked out a cacophonous rhythm as I parse out a write up for Illbleed, a game that set ablaze the dying candle that was my love for gaming, for horror as a whole. Now, after a global rotation, I return to Signalis in the same spot, a love for writing, for fear, for gaming, for love itself, rekindled after a seasonal stagnation.

To try to put definitive words to Signalis seems contradictory to the way the game is delivered, indirect and symbolic in a way anathemic to thematic deduction. In it, I saw the spark of life relight my passion, and I enacted swift death to the tyrant, critical analysis. I could brandish lofty terms, of this having flawless gameplay, immersive writing, a memorable soundtrack, or any other terms I would gladly throw around about games that I will forget in a week. It’s not perfect. I don’t want it to be perfect: It’s for me. I don’t need it to be anything more than what it means to me, and what it means is that I think I love games again.

I awaken once more from broken sleep.

It’s 2014. I’m sitting with someone who, at the time, was my closest friend. We’re huddled around a laptop deep into the night, burning through works that would come to reflect what matters to me in games.

It’s tonight. I’m on call with someone I love. I’m huddled over a keyboard, burning through a write-up of a work that redefines what matters to me in games.

Play Signalis. You probably won’t get what I got out of it. That’s a good thing; it means there’s going to be something else out there that gives you the same feelings that this gave me. For now, I can push you to try a game I view as my personal perfection.

The phantom, exterior like fish eggs,
interior like suicide wrist-rags,
I could exercise you, this could be your phys-ed,
cheat on your man homie AGHHH I tried to sneak through the door, man! Can't make it, can't make it, the shit's stuck! Outta my way son! DOOR STUCK! DOOR STUCK! Please! I beg you! We're dead! You're a g-g-genuine dick sucker! boom

Actual masterpiece shit. Much like last year's Unmetal, a microstudio throwback game has swooped in and stolen my heart right before GOTY season. This is a beautiful, gloriously-realized survival horror experience that pays homage to and even improves upon its all-time classic predecessors while still being incredibly unique all the same.

There is so much to love here, it's like a game tailor-made for me - where to even begin? The gorgeous artistic design? The enigmatic, surreal, heartbreaking storyline? The best horror game puzzles I've solved in countless years? The way it plays with perspective and genre expectations? I wish the inventory limit was bigger, because that is absolutely going to be a sticking point for many people, but the occasional tedium barely even fazed me. I finished my first playthrough, then went right back in on the hardest difficulty to see the secret ending and get the rest of the achievements. I never do that.

After years of games promising to be the "new Silent Hill" and seeing Konami pimp out the SH2 remake to Bloober Team of all people, I'd grown jaded... but no more. This is the new Silent Hill. The spirit of our favorite games will always live on in the hearts and minds of dedicated indie developers.

that sure did remind me of a lot of other things i could be watching/playing instead


Signalis is a classic survival-scifi horror game like Silent Hill or Resident Evil from the PS1-era with anime like aesthetic with enough ideas to stand on it's own feets. It's full of mysteries and the story is great and feels like a fever dream. So it wasn't easy to understand. You play the Replika Elster, who is trying to fulfill her promise. The gameplay consists of solving puzzles and fighting nightmarish creatures. Most of the puzzles are great, here and there I had my problems because the game explains almost nothing. Also the 6 equipment slots felt a little bit restrictive and this was the biggest reason why I had to backtrack a lot because I had to put my stuff into a storage to have enough space for numerous puzzle pieces. This might be a little bit nitpicky but the door prompts sometimes didn't appear which resulted in me getting my ass kicked from the monsters I tried to run away from. I liked the story even though it's hard to follow and I wasn't really sure what was happening. The anime graphic style is great and fits really well, the level design is also great and the boss-fights are surprisingly fun and the good soundtrack helps to build a strong atmosphere. Signalis is one of my favorite Indie games of this year. This game probably also has the best fakeout in video game history. I don't wanna say more, just play it yourself.

I'm happy that an indie developer from my home country gets some attention. Great game, can't wait to see more from rose-engine


It was two hours into this game when I fired my first bullet, directed at the first boss. Considering how most horror leans towards loud action instead of quiet dread, I was initially impressed, but it slowly dawned on me how terrible the implications truly were. The gameplay of survival horror is about managing resources: you weigh the convenience of a neutralized threat against the danger of an empty magazine, and consider alternatives like taking damage to run past, or circumnavigating the threat in other ways. In my entire playthrough, I only killed a single common enemy, as it blocked a narrow hallway with no alternative routes. So, that avenue of decision making, and thusly, gameplay, didn’t exist for me. I could walk into any room, and if enemies were laid out in a troublesome way, I could walk out and back in until they loaded into spots which presented no challenge. It seems like a cheesy strategy, but the game provided a survival-horror framework which is meant to focus on intelligent usage of resources. So, bypassing every room without challenge isn’t a decision that I made to go against the design, it’s the opposite: it’s the default optimal choice within the framework. With no pressure to make new decisions, there was no engagement. Verbalizing that perspective helped explain my boredom with Signalis’ gameplay, but it also explained my complete lack of interest in the presentation. Did they make save points throw up a screaming red screen because it was atmospheric, or because it’s what Silent Hill did? Did they make the soundtrack a cacophonous industrial grind because it fit the setting, or because it’s what Akira Yamaoka did? Was the idea to make bold new decisions, or go with the framework? Genre-defining fundamentals like fixed camera angles are one thing, but title-defining personality is another, and much of what’s meant to make this game unique is taken from genre templates. To be fair, it does have some original ideas and nuances to its presentation, but if the way you find that uniqueness is by locating keys to open doors to find boxes which contain keys to open doors with boxes with keys, it just isn’t worth it. You’re mindlessly stepping through the patterns of a game which defined too much of its personality by following patterns.

Signalis is 'old school' survival horror done well.. Too well honestly.

The limited inventory was a really big hurdle for me (and it seems many others) in the early hours of this game, applying a level of difficulty that very quickly becomes more frustrating than anything. Bringing a healing item, a weapon and a flashlight takes up half your inventory alone, leading me personally to an endless cycle of backtracking just to drop something off, or worse - having to go all the way back through rooms of enemies just to get a torch so you can see a new room with more enemies... And so many items than you can't carry them all since you have a torch now 🥹

Once you adapt to this restriction it becomes a lot easier though I think. I'm very much a resource hoarder in these games, convinced that I'll need a million health kits and 30 guns for the final boss alone, so I often left more enemies standing than I should've, only to run into them on every trip through a room.. I also kept pack-muling things back to the chest 'just in case' despite going the whole game without using some items at all... Don't be like me and I'm sure you'll have a much easier time :p

Besides the inventory/difficulty, there were some technical shortcomings in terms of doors not working if I turned slightly, taking so long to pick items up that I take free damage, or simply aiming my weapon (did not like that)
- but for a game made by two people it's pretty solid on the whole. It's a bit abstract in it's storytelling for a decent chunk of its runtime, but by the end things come together and are made a lot clearer. I definitely wouldn't say I understood everything, what with how long I wasted backtracking and getting lost giving me time to forget, but I feel like I took away enough that even on the surface level I liked the story.

All that said I don't want to ramble too long because I've got a busy night ahead -- short version is that if you're at all interested you should give this game a try, with it being on Gamepass as well it deserves at least a shot to win you over.

Thanks for reading as always, quicker one today because I'm hoping to finish off the last couple of chapters of FF7 Remake before bed as well, doubt I'll review it cause I couldn't do it justice, but tl;dr it's my all time favourite 😌
Enjoy your spooky season everyone, upcoming completions are hopefully Sea of Stars, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (slowly but surely) and I'm considering starting Clock Tower 3 once I beat FF7R, we'll see. Until next time!

A nearly perfect sapphic love-letter to horror and sci-fi.

At the time of writing I've only gotten one ending of Signalis but I'll be getting the others ASAP. I don't even know where to begin with this game, I've been a huge fan of survival horror games most of my life and frankly I think Signalis is one of the best ever made. It's got a fun, tense gameplay loop, the item management may be a bit of stress to some people but after a bit it clicked with me and I found joy in planning routes and using resources, also frankly I think a lot of people that play Signalis and games like it are a little TOO hoard-happy, use those bullets baby! The lore and story are tight and interestingly told in a way that reminds me of early Silent Hills or Twin Peaks, where you are given a lot of concrete facts, a lot of symbolism, and you have to kind of discuss and piece together parts, but not in a way where things are overly cryptic or unexplained, quite the opposite. People (read:me) have discussed and theorized elements of Silent Hill's world, lore and symbolism for literal years and I feel strongly Signalis will have this same effect. Sorry if this review is kind of all over the place, I have played a lot of games in my life but this one is new yet already so truly special to me I hope I can make even one person try it out!

pretty derivative but it was cool. The aesthetic & story is what I sort of have an issue with. it just feels too creepy pasta to me. I guess. Idk. And its just like little cutscenes of an anime chick looking at the camera, or some sentence that is meant to sound esoteric and existential and scary.. Oh turn on the computer spooky sound. IDK man I wish I could get scared easier. If I'm rapping jay z lyrics (family feud) while I'm going thru these halls maybe make ur game more scary. Not trying to brag seriously PT made me really scared but u know. Whatever. The character's name is Elster, which is similar sounding to Elkster, which you guys know is the name my fanbase applies to themselves. The elk army and each of you are elksters. Cause im elk, elkmane to be precise. Peace out

-No little german dev don't go to the anime cave!
+Oh mein Gott zees is ein cave full of geimu inhalt

The other heavily anime inspired sci-fi game with a latin title that released this year, and easily the most memorable of the two, Ilya Kushinov eat your heart out.

An extremely satisfying inclusion to the survival horror genre, this game does just the right work on the true and tested formula of earlier games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil to make it feel, with a spotless resource management system that really has you sweating over long corridors or cursing yourself over every diminute mistake you make (the auto lock on worked flawlessly for me, which made it even more desperating whenever I missed a shot by panic clicking) and some pretty entertaining puzzles that are easy to follow, sans one or two somewhat long trial and error puzzles where you just have to turn a bunch of stuff around until it goes click.

Where the game loses me is in its presentation. Whenever the game is about the inner workings of this future wasteland of a galaxy we have come to inhabitate I'm completely hooked, even more with the main character's position in all of it and how it's shown ingame. The problem is, a huge part of the aesthetics of the game felt to me as just moody anime, sticking out of the other styles it's packaged with to the point I dreaded to see a cinematic play out whenever I entered an important looking room, hoping it would not be just another anime girl looking at the camera with melancholically sad eyes. It doesn't really help that the last part felt like a pretty rushed copy of Silent Hill.

All in all, this one's for the road. I really recommend it to anyone who has even a passing interest in survival horror, aand I bet it's even more enjoyable if you aren't burned out of the internet anime noosphere. Weebness be damned those Casque à pointe can work a game!
No 9/11 joke today, I haven't really felt disco in a couple of weeks.

Old school survival horror fanatics are annoyingly easy to please, aren’t we?

Signalis ticks all the boxes: brainy puzzles, limited inventory space and spooky, sombre atmosphere. It plays like your favourite Capcom horror title but looks like your favourite Konami, evoking as much early Kojima titles as Silent Hill. Whilst its ambitions towards the latter teeter between inspired and derivative at times (who can blame it), the cutscenes’ snappy and artful editing, flashes of images and text alike, evoke the rhythms of Neon Genesis Evangelion. I must admit the plot, as a result, become more confusing than emotionally engaging - I’m barely sure what even happens in the outcomes of the many endings you can achieve.

However, the game exceeds at everything it’s meant to, most importantly the gameplay. The speedy navigation of the map and item management feel like an appropriate upgrade from the clunkier controls of early-gen predecessors, considering the sci-fi action element presented here. The combat - shoot the monsters down and stomp them until they die - has a great sense of weight and intensity, particularly as you manage very limited ammo, albeit alongside some neat shock-rods and flare gun tactics. The puzzles are refreshingly difficult, but satisfyingly logical and well set up - it’s a particularly wonderful aspect considering how weak the puzzles can be in other recent horror titles such as The Medium and even Scorn. It also takes the radio trope to whole new levels with some delightful signal-based puzzle solving.

Whilst the scares aren’t quite at the heights of the big hitters, Signalis is incredibly consistent in its endlessly disquieting setting, eerie monsters and dream-like pacing, enough so to become perhaps a new favourite amongst old and new generations of horror fans.

This review contains spoilers

Can’t believe I went through the exact arc described by Sunbusting

So the experience of this- of puzzles spilling out into the real world as I scribbled solutions into a notebook, filling the pages with arcane glyphs and radio frequencies, of stepping away, thinking I’d finished it before realizing there was an additional third of the game to go- probably one my favorite things in a game this year. I’m cooler on the game itself, it feels like a RE-style limitations have been imposed on a Silent Hill framework, so you get a title with a strict item limit, ostensibly to force you to make interesting decision and dangerous trips, but in a game without the bite to make the limitations anything other than an annoyance, so there’s this hyper-awarness that creeps in- of finding to keys to find keys in the hopes of finding: more keys (A lot of the game hovers around the SH2 Apartment Block/Canned Juice territory).

I really appreciate the attempts to unnerve players and keep backtracking tense by having enemies resurrect if not disposed of properly, but it never manages to shock the way realizing some zombie in a far-off corner had transformed into a Crimson Head in the RE Remake, it's enemy roster too insubstantial a threat for one reanimating to send you scurrying to the nearest exit. And maybe this is beyond the scope of the game as is, but I wondered if having a few choice rooms break away from the fixed isometric perspective could’ve helped drive home some of the tension in the game’s final act- or maybe more appropriately, ditch the combat altogether and let the revelations and slow corruption of the world propel you to the finale, in much the same way Silent Hill 2 de-emphasized its combat towards the end, confident enough to drop the veneer of its survival-horror gameplay for a time.

Though I will say, I think Signalis might wear the otherworld imagery better, reality breaking down into flesh and steel and automatons- seeming like the natural reflection of the fascist mindset that’s spread throughout the stars.

Playtime: 15 Hours
Score: 10/10

(NOTE: Recently on October 26 2023, rose engine updated the game, specifically to impove the inventory that I originally complained about in my review. You can now switch between: Classic, which is the 6 slot inventory we previously had; expanded which gives you 8 inventory slots; or revised where you still have 6 slots, but now utility items like the flashlight have their own slot and don't take up inventory space. These are great changes and I just wanted to update my review to reflect that)

Such a mesmerising experience that I absolutely loved! I love survival horror games and I love Sci Fi films like Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner, and this game combines all of those which is right up my alley!

Gameplay wise this game plays like any classic survival horror game, taking cues from both Resident Evil and Silent Hill. You have a fairly large weapon line up, with a pistol, shotgun, revolver, flare gun (that can also use grenade shells as ammo), rifle and sub machine gun. I honestly just expected a pistol, shotgun and revolver but this game really over delivered on its weapons line up and I love it. However, you also get a list of secondary items you can equip like a stun prod (which is basically like a defensive knife), thermite flares you can use to burn enemy corpses, so they don't come back (very RE1 remake), a flashlight etc.. I like that the game gives you so many options and the tools to deal with the threats. Combat uses a twin stick shooter system, which I hate playing on controllers in general, but on keyboard and mouse its very accurate and responsive. Overall, I liked the combat and the game has enough enemy variety that you often can't guess what will be waiting for you in the next room.

Puzzle wise, this game actually has some really good puzzles. Very old school in their design, but none of them felt obscure and hard to solve. They also include a radio in this game, but unlike in Silent Hill where its used to detect enemies, in this game you use it to solve many of the puzzles by listening to certain frequencies. I thought it was a clever integration of the radio and there's even a specific enemy type that you need the radio to fight, which I thought was cool, although those enemies did get annoying after a while.

Sound design is also perfect from the monsters making very unsettling noises down to the sounds the weapons make, as they sound very punchy when you fire them which adds to the satisfaction. The music is also amazing, with some very melancholic tracks that reminded me of Silent Hill, while still doing its own thing. This all adds to the games incredible atmosphere that really makes you feel isolated on this desolate planet.

As for horror, this game doesn't try as hard to scare you with jump scares or anything like that. The atmosphere does help the game, but I never felt as scared as I did playing games like Darkwood or Lost In Vivo where even an abandoned subway station scared the hell out of me, despite not much happening. The gore is used very well in this game as the mixture of anime and a PS1 art style adds to the unsettling nature of it, but its never over done that you become desensitised to it. The cut-scenes also use a lot of unsettling imagery that I will talk about more later. Overall the game has a good atmosphere and some good scares, but it wasn't as well done as I would have liked.

The story though was just beautiful. Its done in a very minimal way, as most cut scenes last less then 30 seconds, but its the imagery they use that communicates a lot without saying much. Its got a very European art house film style to it which I liked with a lot of German language and imagery, which connected with me personally, since I studied both German language and history in high school. There's also plenty of notes scattered around for you to read that does a lot of world building about the different Replika units you encounter and the setting they live in. However, these notes are vital to read to understand characters backstories and motivations as they don't outright tell you in cut scenes. There is no voice acting aside for some audio on the radio that's in German, but honestly the story was still very effective and I don't feel like it really needed voice acting to tell it.

As for complaints, I don't have that many really. The big one is the limited inventory of only 6 slots which can be frustrating to deal with. Especially since equipping items still take up inventory space. E.g. having a gun, ammo and a secondary item like a flashlight, already takes up half your space. And it can be frustrating since some puzzles require you to find multiple items to solve it, so you have to make a lot of trips back to the safe room. 6 slots is just too low even for most survival horror games. 8 slots I think would have been the magic number and while I played this game as the devs intended me too, on repeat playthroughs I'm definitely going to install mods that expand the inventory to at least 8 slots, so that its less tedious. One thing I also noticed was that once you pick up the flashlight it almost trivialises the other secondary items as you need it to explore many dark rooms to progress. The only time I took something else out was when I needed to use thermite flares to burn certain monsters that were in certain spots for convenience. Other then that, there was also one level in particular where you have no map and a lot of the games tougher enemies are everywhere, which made navigating that area an absolute pain. When you get there, definitely use a guide is all I'll say.

In conclusion, despite my issues with the inventory, this game is a masterpiece to me and I won't soon forget it. Its one of those games that I will be thinking about its story long after I have finished it, and in terms of gameplay it gives you the ultimate survival horror experience. If your into survival horror games, you owe it to yourself to play this one!

All Games I have Played and Reviewed Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-games-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/

Absolutely phenomenal atmosphere and surrealism weaved into gameplay that begins as tense and suspenseful, yet ends as tedious due to inventory limits and an over abundance of enemies that pose no threat other than to siphon playing time into their PS1 era vortex - with all the good and bad it brings.

So my dear friend BungVulchungo absolutely loves this game, to the point where he couldn't stop talking about it after he played it. So it had me pretty excited to play it myself. While I can't say I loved it as much as he did, I did have a really good time.

I'd say the absolute best aspect of this game is its presentation. Its absolutely spectacular and was something I definitely loved. Really makes the game feel unique in that aspect. I also really enjoyed the exploration and puzzles. Every time I got to a new section, I was excited to just explore the place. The OST is pretty nice too, minimal for the most part but it works. While I didn't totally understand everything about the story, I thought it was told in a pretty cool way.

Sadly I did have some issues/nitpicks that hold it back from being amazing. I honestly didn't find the game that spooky. Idk, it definitely had some nice atmosphere but as a horror game it's definitely weak on the scares. I said I really enjoyed exploring each area, and while I do...they also dont feel too memorable because they aren't connected like for example the Spencer mansion or even Luigis Mansion 1 lol. Idk, I just prefer how those games did it personally. While I didn't dislike the combat, it's not amazing and can be annoying when multiple enemies are around. In those instances, I usually tried to evade them. One last little nitpick is while I liked reading the optional notes and texts, whenever the nation stuff was brought up..I just didn't care. I cared more about the Replika and Gestalt way more. Also this game did have some boss fights and I can't say I loved or disliked any of them. They were fine I felt.

I did really enjoy this game but it does have some faults I feel. I got the promise ending and I'm kinda thinking about going back to get the true ending once I replay Luigi's Mansion. Maybe I will maybe I won't idk but I did enjoy this game overall.

7.5/10

Better remake than several of the contemporaries, basically because it is a remix that assimilates the false -or more widespread- history of "survival Horror" (the genre names are a bit silly) that the magazines sold us here in the West batter than the last "new" games of the last few years. Think of essential pillar works of the horror aesthetic in gaming And you probably don't think of Laplace No Ma or Twilight Syndrome, god, names like Sweet Home, Clock Tower and contemporaries are probably starting to sound, but surely most say Alone in the Dark and already jumps into the golden era of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, White Day, Project Zero and all that.
It is natural, understandable due to the lack of a consistent canon in gaming, incapable of being properly created even in the puberty of a medium that is forced to a maturity that it could already reach (in fact it has already touched it).

Advertising and the Ludic factor have screwed up video games in many ways, but the worst is that accidental and unavoidable ignorance due to the lack I mentioned of a properly documented historical canon leads to constant redundancy in design planning and game direction. many "new" games. And it's not that I care too much about this lack of originality, this redundancy, nah, there are pre-rendered games with landscape Screen Orientation where the only thing you do is walk that take my breath away more than any "mechanical revolution" a-la Mario64. I don't think that quality is measured by originality, besides, bro, literally less than 50% of the mechanics that exist or were today are used expressively, almost everything is immediate gratification, fast food style.

We need more Historians in gaming, ASAP.

The adorable and beautiful thing about experiencing first works and recognizing influences on new authors is lost when they approach aesthetics with structures as closed as "classic survival horror", which always seems to result in the same sagas, with the same redundancy as I write these thoughts.

Well this brings us to Signalis. I recently came across a video on Youtube titled: SIGNALIS THE NEW FACE OF MODERN SURVIVAL HORROR

or something like that.

Modern? What ? in what sense? It is a remix of the supposed pillars of survival horror; RE structure, evocative images a la Silent Hill, hand holding sections in the first person, like horror graphic adventures or something from the golden era like White day. A Sci fi setting.
Martian Gothic.
DeadSpace.
Bro. Perhaps the only modern thing is the second round that works as a continuation and begins to suggest ideas about cycles and emotional attachment. But even in that I recognize other works.
It's not a bad thing as such. Remake and give your take, your version. I prefer it a thousand times to any remake of Vicarious Visions or BluePoint (May Arceus punish the shareholder meetings as they deserve) but Regardless of the intrinsic quality of SIGNALIS, you can see where it comes from and how little it can actually offer beyond entertaining hours: the product.

concerning the bones of the game i'm of two minds: signalis avoids puzzle scenarios that end up having me running back and forth wondering what the fuck i'm missing, which is something that tends to interfere with my enjoyment of the older resident evils—though it's also perhaps straightforward to a fault. the puzzles are refreshing in their cleverness, though they will most likely seem a bit too easy to some, and the navigation of each section never even begins to confuse.

my rating is maybe a bit generous, but i don't really care. i'm actually restraining myself, being honest. the presentation and vibes are immaculate. familiar survival horror dosed with traces of BLAME!, nier: automata, blade runner, a little alien 3 (strictly in the bleak feel of its setting), the shining, etc., all steeped in the cosmic horror of otherworldly malevolence plaguing this post-singularity world of ruin. it is by turns coldly alienating and dreamily sapphic. everything feels solid and tactile—this is a game crafted with care, and it feels like it has the integrity of a ps1 or mid '90s pc game with more modern interface and sound design. there's tech everywhere that you want to touch, and it reminded me a lot of alien: isolation in that regard.

signalis is suuuper comfy, and i guess i could be irritated that it never really scared or challenged me, but... again, i don't really care. i just loved being in this haunted sci-fi world.

a quintessential 4 star 3.5 star (or 3.5 star 4 star?) "hey remember this thing you liked well here's More Of It" indie videoed game experience. loved the first and third chapters, kinda really disliked the second. aforementioned first and third chapters are generally excellent old-school Resi save box run-plotting goodness, but the unrelentingly slavish adherence to its influences throughout (e.g. the distressingly literal deployment of Silent Hill's otherworld aesthetic sensibility - capitalism is a literal meat grinder, geddit??) really makes me wish Rose Engine took some actual real swings of their own rather than just quoting power chords from their idols - also like, it's 2022 your survival horror game does not need boss fights and if you choose to do them anyway they don't need to be mid at best! also the narrative's signal to noise ratio is just enough to move my poor lesbian heart but one does kinda start to detect the tang of deliberate obscurantism for want of anything of substance to say with this material.

anyway this probably comes off more negative than I actually felt abt it, which is not dissimilar to how I felt about Norco earlier this year - this is Very Good but could have been Great, and I'm v excited to see what this team makes next! thumbs up, gets a rec, will def replay at some point for the secret/true ending.

A sapphic love letter - a daisy chain of vignettes that offer glimpses into other creative and influential media powerhouses, metered out by the task of juggling keys and receptacles in limited inventory slots across a vast steel complex. Too much mule work for its weight in silver in my humble. This search for lost love where ur body is weighed down by deprivations of liberty and soul rings so hollow to me when it's so clockable under a very narrow scope of media that strikes the same chimes so much better. More to the point I think I'm just too depressed to find any spark in this. Since I've been resorting to it recently, the flashes of self-harm imagery just piss me the fuck off.
Signalis a visual juggernaut that can dole out amazing one-two punches of sight and sound when it wants to, but the genre darling glazing is too sickly for my blood, I'd roll my eyes at practically every cutscene calling to something in the creators' Anilist Previously Watched stack. Not a classic survival horror head either, sorry not for me, not a problem in and of itself.

You're trying too hard, bro! More or less, the main reason as to why I'm generally disinterested in modern horror games, which tend to serve as vehicles for cryptic lore dumps for YouTube analysts to pore over rather than fright-enhanced decision making. I don't want mindfuckery, I want regular fuckery, something that I was hopeful would be present in this kind of return to form. This game was sold to me as the best of Resident Evil meets the best of Silent Hill, but, in reality, it's the worst of both: Resident Evil's cramped item management without any of the brilliant circular level design that makes Spencer Mansion thrilling to route through even after dozens of playthroughs, and Silent Hill's scary-because-it's-scary imagery without any of the dread that defines each and every one of Harry Mason's fog-enveloped footsteps. Instead, we've got jumpcuts to character closeups and spooky stanzas of poetry, pulsating masses of flesh on the ground, and handwritten notes conveniently censored at the most ominous places- surface-level stuff that makes horror games effective for people who don't understand what makes horror games effective. I'm not engaged enough to decipher your jumbled-up story, I'm not interested in your generic sci-fi setting, and I'm not even scared! But, maybe if I actually felt like the character I was playing as, I would be! Fast movement speed and wide hallways make enemies pitifully easy to juke, and thus not at all intimidating. Exploration isn't exciting or intriguing because of how straightforward it is on a grand scale. Plentiful items and infinite saves mean there's not any pressure on you even if you do wind up making a mistake somehow. I initially chalked this all up to misguided attempts at balance, but they get harder and harder to defend once you realize that all you're really doing is (often literally) opening up a locked door just to find a key for another locked door somewhere else on the map, which makes the experience feel more like a parody of classic survival horror games rather than an earnest attempt at recapturing the magic. I hardly took out any enemies, I didn't burn a single body, and, on several occasions, I killed myself on purpose because doing that was quicker than having to run back to the save room to retrieve the specific contextual item I needed, which is about as damning as you can get for this kind of game. The only strategy to pick up on is keeping nothing at all on your person in between storage box visits so that you can handle when the game inevitably dumps five key items on you in successive rooms. Mikami's rolling in his grave!

The lone bright spots are the traditional puzzles, which, although are few and far between, frequently nail the physical satisfaction of fiddling around with a piece of old, analog equipment that you're half familiar with and half in the dark on. If this game had understood its strengths better, it would've been a fully-fledged point-and-click or even a Myst-style free-roaming puzzler. The actual survivor horror feels tacked on, as though it's obligated to be this kind of game because it's attempting to tell a story in the same emotional vein as the Silent Hill series and the player needs to have something to do before being shown the next deep, thought-provoking cutscene. I can't even say that it understands the classics from a visual standpoint, forgoing the fixed-camera perspective that gives each of Resident Evil's individual rooms a distinct cinematographic personality and instead opting for a generic top-down approach that makes every location feel the same. Though, that's not to say the art direction itself is bad. In fact, it's phenomenal, and easily the standout of the game's features, but it doesn't make up for how bland everything else is. At some point, this one demoted itself in my eyes from 'mostly boring but worth playing just for the aesthetic' to 'downright painful.' Maybe it was after the game pretentiously transitioned into a first-person walking simulator one too many times. Or, more likely, it was when some of the small details- red-light save screens, items conveniently located right on top of their respective instruction manuals, and even the sound effect of equipping your pistol- started feeling less like homages and more like creative crutches, indicators of an entirely rudderless experience. I really feel terrible for ragging on something that's evidently a passion project and extremely competent from a technical standpoint, and I sincerely hope the devs keep at it. But, man. I wish I got anything at all out of this. The one game I've played that's managed get this done, I mean, spiritually succeeding an era/genre rather than a specific series by remixing several blatant inspirations so proficiently that it ends up feeling like something entirely new, is still Shovel Knight, but I'm not sure the world's ready for that conversation quite yet...

This review contains spoilers

The capitalist machine is an unforgiving beast. It leaves us out to die when we are no longer useful, strips us of who we are, and surveils us at all times to ensure our accessory in all of its moves. It is the automaton that endlessly destroys planet after planet, all in the name of growing itself. When the last star dies, capital will be finally satisfied.

Yet, Signalis seems to disagree with me. It seems to point the finger at leftists instead.

Many have spoken about Signalis as if it portrays some anti-fascist narrative, and sure, in some unspoken general sense it does. But all of its iconography is extremely reminiscent of Red Scare-era Cold War propaganda - the game is clearly set in a hypothetical future East Germany. While I don't think East Germany is necessarily worthy of praise beyond its attempts (as most communist projects, unfortunately), the equation of an attempt at revolution as something fascist is utterly absurd to me.

A real tone-setter for the rest of the game hits you right in the face at the beginning: a poster that says that you have a limited inventory size because no private property or something. Are you fucking kidding me?

This is not some incisive and informed critique of the ways leftists have failed in the past. It's just vapid.

Certain video games don’t necessarily require innovation, originality or trailblazing to stand out from the crowd as works to be celebrated and classics to be. Specifically, titles in the indie scene such as Hyper Light Drifter, Dusk or ZeroRanger have proven time and time again that execution and presentation can far outweigh the well from which their ideas are stolen from, and whose aesthetic perfectionism and gameplay polish and varnish ultimately become the craft to be praised.

Signalis is one such title, unabashedly putting on full display its 5th gen survival horror roots and influences, both visually and mechanically, with a sci-fi coat of paint that covers it with a collage of homages to groundbreaking works that range from Evangelion, Blade Runner and Blame!, all the way to Tarkosvsky, Lynch and Lovecraft. Marrying Resident Evil’s resource management tension with Silent Hill’s purgatorial psychological assault lends Signalis the opportunity to evoke an unparalleled lyrical and dreamlike experience that never sacrifices the tenets from which those series made their name from, perfecting the art of environmental storytelling and backtracking revelatory dread.

In an age of understandably unsubtle and overbearing dystopian nightmares presented through art, Signalis instead places much of its totalitarian regime imagery into the background of its setting, visuals, lore and puzzles, making its love story of inevitable tragedy the central core of the narrative. The retrofuturism of Signalis serves not only as an artistic pursuit for tactile and analogue nostalgia, but also as a tool to convey the priorities of a fascist empire that has consciously dwindled the mental liberty, self-expression and unconformity of the main characters now stuck in an ever perpetuating restrictive world of redundancy and self-mutilation, doomed to a slow, empty death.

The cohesiveness in which Signalis threads its story, gameplay and art design is ultimately the game’s greatest feat. It elevates an otherwise universal and familiar language to new heights, thanks to a talented dev duo that understands the strengths of their interests and influences and manages to funnel into a production effort that would put many triple A endeavors to shame. Can’t wait for what rose-engine has in store next, this is a homerun already.

The presentation of Signalis is off the charts; very obviously drawing on the aesthetics and atmospheric feel of numerous survival horror games of the 5th and 6th generation and doing those styles in a committed and distinctive way. The environments, character design, sound design, animated cutscenes and occasional first person sequences work so well in producing a visual marvel that was executed so well by just two people. The title screen and menus alone are a strong show of confidence and style than most AAA games can barely muster today, outclassing even recent Resident Evil that is somehow still missing the iconic flare of the announcer saying "Resident EVIL" when booting up the new games. I guess it's just too campy nowadays to do something like that.

I just wish I liked Signalis even more on the gameplay front. It utilizes many great approaches from Resident Evil, in particular the first entry, but the execution felt off or even too derivative, the latter of which doesn't bother me that much. The 6 item limit felt too restrictive for the amount of puzzle solving and items the game gives out, which leads to a ton of backtracking through the same pathways to the same item box to stash items and run back through the same path to get the item(s) you left. Incorporating a way to expand to at least 8 slots like in RE1 or assigning specific items like the flashlight (not bad but bizarre to make that take an inventory slot) to key items would alleviate this issue without potentially undercutting the tension with decision-making of space for more resources to deal with enemies versus holding items for main and optional progression. (Also apparently there's been a patch for this that addresses this complaint but I didn't experience it on switch).

I was also surprised with how poor the shooting and lock on is here. Even classic RE has more accurate aiming and in Signalis there were many times where shots straight up missed opponents even while I was directly facing them. It's very wonky which's probably in service of the tension of encounters, but I felt frustrated more than tense when mess ups like that happened commonly. Not to mention many encounters can be cheesed easily by running past enemies or tanking damage rather than having to waste resources because of a missed shot or two. They were better alternatives for me than just downing enemies and this never really failed in my run of the game. This isn't much of a gripe for me, but it could've been addressed through introducing a new enemy type that challenged or punished running or even allowing enemies or certain ones to follow you into or walk through doors into different rooms. It would make encounters and traversal even more perilous and unexpected and be much better than recycling one of my least favorite mechanics from RE1 (burning bodies) and upping it by applying it to all enemies and making it way more frequent, thus making me less likely to want to use my weapons.

That said, the puzzles do make up for the lackluster survival horror gameplay. While they don't involve too much brain power to solve, most of them possess quite a bit of intriguing lore and detail to the world and made me even more curious about my surroundings. The signal based puzzles and few enemy encounters that used the radio were a sonic and visual treat respectively and added even more questions and intrigue to the setting than just only reading random notes that gesture to the going-ons of the place. I also love the textural differences across some puzzles that make it feel like you are operating or fumbling with some outdated or obtuse tech as it prevents them from being very simplistic in feel/look and solving. The puzzles overall work in part in crafting a strong story and world for many excellent survival horror games and Signalis carries on this tradition with its puzzles communicating a great sense of environmental design and storytelling, aside from the hilarious amount of puzzle solving prizes being more key cards.

Level design and exploration is probably the only other detriment I have with Signalis. While I love the amount of detail put into each of the rooms and spaces, it felt really straightforward much of the runtime. I definitely tried exploring around the rooms for anything interesting that would come up, but this usually didn't amount to much outside of the usual finds. Nothing much off the beaten path or even an alternate path or two that makes exploring more inviting. This isn't much of a huge thing, but it was a bit disappointing going down just one predetermined path for most of the time.

Could it have used less overt mentions to stuff like Evangelion, Silent Hill, Resident Evil and other horror and sci-fi media to cultivate more of its own storytelling? Yeah I agree and it is a bit grating in some moments of directly signaling said influences that did take me out of a good game Signalis is; the whole 'nowhere' section was very eye rolling given Silent Hill 1 is very fresh on my mind and I didn't care much for the take on it here. It isn't all overwhelming and the game still manages to carve out its own path with its lore, style and characters like Elster and Ariane and their cute relationship. I don't really agree with Signalis being the 'best' aspects of classic Resident Evil and Silent Hill like some people dub it, but it's still a strong and compelling effort in its own right. I enjoyed this sapphic ass tale and I'm interested in what the developers make next that will probably be even better than Signalis for me. Hopefully without a puzzle that is completely spoiled by a note sitting five feet away from it.

Signalis is a game which constantly leaves you with a want for something more, glimpses of beautiful warmth through its eternally stunning style mesmerise us into wanting more and more but after eternity we are left with nothing. The game and its story all exist through the lenses of homages, influences and references, all a parallel to characters who are nothing but memories of experiences they never lived and just as those characters mourn memories and lives that were never theirs we too become entrenched in a life we never lived, as tears flow and flow and we replay and relieve to find answers that will never ever come no matter how hard we look. And just as the characters, we are faced with the abominable challenge of loss and nothing more….

Please, just let me stay be your side a little longer.

a melancholic wound which bleeds for the virtue of creativity, unfortunately — ironically — weighed down by the influence of its inspirations so much that it's afraid to be itself. each new callback feels like a shopping list of narrative elements, tropes or imagery utilised with no sense other than "we also enjoyed [media property]"; it stops eliciting a simple eyeroll and crosses into absurdity when symbolism lifted wholesale from other titles is transplanted for extremely pivotal moments or scenes.

to speak to its strengths, Signalis maintains a highly unique visual language and style across 3d and 2d artistic assets as well as its tactile UI and graphic design. the sleek utilitarian replikas vs the rosy warmth of the gestalts is rendered skillfully with a mere pixel monopen, their representative polygonal forms surprisingly expressive in their minimalistic textures and animations. the accompanying score is also something really special, particularly the piano arrangements which command this epic sadness matched by the tale of Elster and her beloved. i only wish so much attention was given to navigating the game itself as it remains a glorified note hunt segmented by barely responsive doors, with combat feeling more a universal frustrating necessity enforced by the label "survival horror" than anything tense or scary.

like a lot of these gorgeously stylised and well-loved indies, i really did want to love Signalis as its themes and genre are among my favourites along with the recommendation from a few good friends. either way i'm glad to have finally played it despite my own average reception and am inspired by its longing viscera and heartache.


It's like everything was taken apart and put back together by something that didn't understand how it worked.

What a trite observation it's become to look at a piece of horror and say it's a story about love.

Signalis is a story about love.

What's here is deceptively deep. Loss and grief is rot, unfinished business is cancer. Those who can let go melt away into sludge; those who cannot are mutated and made to betray themselves. These themes curl through every facet of the game as the tendrils of the flesh heaps dotting the darkened corridors. Enemies you face embody the concept of clinging on in spite of everything around them — nothing in this place stays dead unless it's burnt to ash. Every corrupted Replika has been twisted into an ironic monster: the empathic Kolibri see their synthetic brains bulging from their skulls, spiraling themselves and the units around them into negative feedback loops; the gentle Mynah morph from explicitly not-for-combat mining units into hulking, bleeding, laser-wielding tanks; the socialite Eule are damned as cannon fodder beneath the banner of a fascist army in life and in death. Nobody can escape the inevitable end of their lives, but death here offers no escape. They will die. They will get back up. You will die, and you will do the same. Nothing in this place stays dead.

I have an immense appreciation for how willing the game is to overload your senses. Never has a photo-sensitivity warning been more needed; mechanical pounding and shrieking and groaning litter the soundscape, sharp and harsh, piercing your ears and rumbling your skull. Text and images flash by faster than they can be processed, leaving you with nothing but fragments to be pieced together. Pulsating, ever-growing meat contrasts against sterile, blocky CRT monitors and security cameras. The low-fidelity visual aesthetic of the gameplay doesn't gel flawlessly with the anime-esque cutscenes, but it's unique, and that's enough for me. There's been a bit of a resurgence among indie developers (especially in the horror space) of flocking to low-poly "PS1" styles en masse, and I think it's a good trend. Eight full years of development on Signalis have led to what's probably going to be to the retro PlayStation style what Wind Waker or Jet Set Radio were to cel shading. This will be the one to beat.

Combat is pretty simple, and mostly easy to avoid entirely. I finished the game with dozens of healing sprays, thermite charges, and ammo boxes still overflowing from my item storage. The hard six-item limit definitely feels too restrictive, and a more lenient inventory cap would have allowed for a bit more freedom of experimentation and less backtracking. As stated above, the fact that nothing dies unless you burn it can make the act of backtracking tense, but it's also a bit too effortless to carve a guaranteed enemy-free path towards the safe room once you know where it actually is. The Replikas don't follow you between rooms, and it's incredibly easy to just panic sprint from one door to another past them; Replikas won't spawn into cleared-out areas, nor will they wander through them, and this leads to a lot of rooms feeling static. There's probably a reason for this. There are hallways later in the game that are so tight that you can't feasibly get through them without gunning down the Replikas in your way, so the fact that combat is so easily ignored in earlier areas has to be intended. It's not a bad choice, but it's odd. Still, this is the kind of game that's begging to be broken wide open and speedran.

The game's influences are the most obvious thing about it, and are conversely the least interesting to discuss. Yes, the music is like Silent Hill. Yes, it has Resident Evil inventory management. Yes, it kind of looks like Metal Gear Solid. Yes, there are shots from End of Evangelion in it. These things are evident, and they're boring to talk about, because Signalis stands shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand with the pieces that inspire it. Where the game starts to lose me is in how clunkily it tries to incorporate some of these outside parallels directly into the universe of Signalis: Creative Commons photos of Böcklin's Isle of the Dead flash across the screen at several points of the story. The flags and propaganda posters are all rooted in the aesthetics of the GDR down to the colors and emblem of the flag, and the Rotfrontkämpferbund provide the namesake of a both a planet and a playable zone. The King in Yellow pops up several times, with Elster stating that the book physically "calls to [her]". H.P. Lovecraft makes it into the credits, as does Ambrose Bierce. These incorporations are sloppy. For a game that seems to pride itself on being cryptic (with a moment at the halfway point that will probably result in a lot of prematurely-ended playthroughs), all of these inclusions feel as if they were appended into this world after the fact. They stick out at unnatural angles. The moments where the game lets our history seep into its own feel awkward and lacking in substance against a narrative that can be genuinely alien, challenging, and ambiguous.

For all of my griping, though, this game is an achievement on the part of the two core members of rose-engine. It's easy to weaponize that — "don't complain, it was only a two-person dev team, it's their first try at a major release" — but you don't need to do that to defend Signalis. It stands on its own without needing the excuse. I want more games like this. Not ones that play like Signalis, but ones that are made like it. I want more producers to dump enough funding into the laps of creatives that they can pour a decade of their lives into making something they care about without needing to worry about the money running out. I want more developers to take the risks they want to take and have the freedom to make unorthodox choices. These are entirely uncontroversial statements, but this is a game that I want to see succeed. I want lessons to be taken from this, because there's a lot to be learned from. Signalis is excellent and flawed, beautiful and grotesque, and it deserves whatever moments in the spotlight that it can get. I'm very glad to see it finding an audience.

An extremely smart intersection of mechanics from orthodox Resident Evil and orthodox Silent Hill, very little in Signalis feels wholly new but the craft with which it's deployed contextualizes it in a new way. The burn mechanic (destroy a corpse or it will return to life eventually) is borrowed from REGCN, but it allows Signalis to make its infrequent and out-of-the-way save points risky to get to and from, recreating an emergent version of RE's iconic save economy despite the use of SH-style save points.

My favorite mechanical consequence is the way the strict 6-item inventory limit forces players to create their own ad hoc class. Sure, there are items that can heal you fast, items that can heal for a lot, items that can heal automatically—but when you're moving into a new room and you need three spare inventory slots just in case, you can only choose one. You can only choose one weapon as well, and you may have to choose between bringing any healing at all or a torch to dispose of corpses. How you do so defines your character and your experience of the game as surely as any stat selection.

thank you, rose-engine! i am now actively depressed

really split here. the mechanics, the framing onto the animation, especially the immaculate first person puzzles, were engrossing to me. i love a good romp around spaces while micromanaging an inventory and avoiding enemies. however, the blatant, almost pandering references to other media coupled with an extremely abstracted storytelling structure just sort of punctured the work and deflated it. collapsed the narrative space entirely. i think you need a certain strength of theme to have the narrative economy to do things like "scene intentionally left out" -- and near the final boss fight i was begging for the game to end. it sincerely reminds me of bakemonogatari. no other way really to express it: the writing is amateur hour. an incredibly talented production taxed in this way. a shame.