It is hard to describe how much joy it brings me that there are a pair of brilliant minds at the helm of rose-engine who truly understand the horror video game genre. SIGNALIS feels like the best of all worlds, having borrowed the best parts of its predecessors to create something unique.
From the moment you open up the inventory screen for the first time, the inspiration is plain. The Silent Hill/Resident Evil is here, and the striking art style comes from a fidelity just above the PS1 era but not PS2. You also aren't locked to tank controls, and can even move around while aiming. There are a multitude of weapons (evidently a couple of which are very missable), but the ones I did not miss sound and feel amazing. The game also even features a radio, but unlike the one featured in the Silent Hill series, there are quite a lot of extra gameplay functions, many puzzles of which make use of tuning it to different channels to find solutions. A lot of the major puzzles lean a little too often on being collectathons to unlock your next area, but they are usually made up of smaller more interesting puzzles to claim the pieces. The map screen is well done too, marking the names of rooms you have visited and the status of doors you have tried (unlocked/locked/broken). It will also mark key interactables if present, but you aren't told if you have picked up every item which I feel is a good balance.
The story is intriguing and emotional with a focused cast of interesting characters and themes, and the tone is a lot closer to something like Silent Hill than Resident Evil. If you love classic survival horror and science fiction, SIGNALIS is unmissable. I'm really glad there are game creators out there who still truly get it.
From the moment you open up the inventory screen for the first time, the inspiration is plain. The Silent Hill/Resident Evil is here, and the striking art style comes from a fidelity just above the PS1 era but not PS2. You also aren't locked to tank controls, and can even move around while aiming. There are a multitude of weapons (evidently a couple of which are very missable), but the ones I did not miss sound and feel amazing. The game also even features a radio, but unlike the one featured in the Silent Hill series, there are quite a lot of extra gameplay functions, many puzzles of which make use of tuning it to different channels to find solutions. A lot of the major puzzles lean a little too often on being collectathons to unlock your next area, but they are usually made up of smaller more interesting puzzles to claim the pieces. The map screen is well done too, marking the names of rooms you have visited and the status of doors you have tried (unlocked/locked/broken). It will also mark key interactables if present, but you aren't told if you have picked up every item which I feel is a good balance.
The story is intriguing and emotional with a focused cast of interesting characters and themes, and the tone is a lot closer to something like Silent Hill than Resident Evil. If you love classic survival horror and science fiction, SIGNALIS is unmissable. I'm really glad there are game creators out there who still truly get it.