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.
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.
Detectivefail
3 months ago