Sometimes a game comes along that does everything right. Signalis comes close.
Everything that constitutes a superb survival horror experience is here, and done well. The plot, the tone, the music and sound, the visuals, the combat and level design, and the general gameplay loop are all top notch. There are issues, but everything that's important is masterfully done.
I've sit and spun for days since completing Signalis about its plot and characters - about what happened to whom, and when, but thematically it doesn't really matter. Signalis is cryptic with its plot, but very clear about its themes.
Death is awful. And yet it comes. It comes quickly and quietly. It comes without warning or fanfare. Someone is there, and then they are not. Faced with such a horrifying paradox, it's natural to say "no." It's natural to cling to happier times, to wonder where they've gone, to wish they would return. But without closure, a wound cannot heal. To deny is to spiral and fester, dwelling on something terrible and irreconcilable over and over, forever. And it only gets worse. Perhaps, Signalis asserts, this is hell. So we close the book because we must. It may take many tries. It may hurt us, it may frighten us, it may lead to suffering. But death cannot be bargained with, so we make peace with it instead.
Heartfelt narrative aside, Signalis knocks it out of the park as a game, too. It seamlessly blends its inspirations (and there are many) into a cohesive whole with a strong identity all its own. Its level design, looping in and around on itself with just the right push-and-pull of resource management as you haul key to door, navigating from safe room to safe room, demonstrates that the developers at Rose Engine understand exactly what makes these games tick. The puzzles, while not brain busters, strike a balance and are more engaging than most games in this genre. The world building is rich, fleshed out through files and encounters with NPCs and enemies alike that paint a picture of a bleak world and has you understand just how little its inhabitants had to cling to before everything went to hell.
I have my complaints. The inventory can be a bit restrictive, which makes it difficult to play with some of the more esoteric (and interesting) toys the game gives you. Paradoxically, the game can be a bit too generous with its resources, which itself may be something of a band-aid for some design hiccups. You may walk through a door into an enemy's patrol and immediately get hit through no fault of your own. You may clear a fight or pick up the one item in a room that triggers a point-of-no-return that you had no way of knowing was there, locking you off from whatever supplies were inside. These things will happen, and they'll happen more than once.
Still, these are minor blemishes on what is otherwise a spectacular survival horror game, and better still one that made me feel something. I really like Signalis, and I really like what it represents. I really like that this game is very clearly exactly what its developers wanted to make. I really like that it has found an audience without having to make concessions. I hope I can say that about more games going forward, and I look forward to whatever Rose Engine does next.
Everything that constitutes a superb survival horror experience is here, and done well. The plot, the tone, the music and sound, the visuals, the combat and level design, and the general gameplay loop are all top notch. There are issues, but everything that's important is masterfully done.
I've sit and spun for days since completing Signalis about its plot and characters - about what happened to whom, and when, but thematically it doesn't really matter. Signalis is cryptic with its plot, but very clear about its themes.
Death is awful. And yet it comes. It comes quickly and quietly. It comes without warning or fanfare. Someone is there, and then they are not. Faced with such a horrifying paradox, it's natural to say "no." It's natural to cling to happier times, to wonder where they've gone, to wish they would return. But without closure, a wound cannot heal. To deny is to spiral and fester, dwelling on something terrible and irreconcilable over and over, forever. And it only gets worse. Perhaps, Signalis asserts, this is hell. So we close the book because we must. It may take many tries. It may hurt us, it may frighten us, it may lead to suffering. But death cannot be bargained with, so we make peace with it instead.
Heartfelt narrative aside, Signalis knocks it out of the park as a game, too. It seamlessly blends its inspirations (and there are many) into a cohesive whole with a strong identity all its own. Its level design, looping in and around on itself with just the right push-and-pull of resource management as you haul key to door, navigating from safe room to safe room, demonstrates that the developers at Rose Engine understand exactly what makes these games tick. The puzzles, while not brain busters, strike a balance and are more engaging than most games in this genre. The world building is rich, fleshed out through files and encounters with NPCs and enemies alike that paint a picture of a bleak world and has you understand just how little its inhabitants had to cling to before everything went to hell.
I have my complaints. The inventory can be a bit restrictive, which makes it difficult to play with some of the more esoteric (and interesting) toys the game gives you. Paradoxically, the game can be a bit too generous with its resources, which itself may be something of a band-aid for some design hiccups. You may walk through a door into an enemy's patrol and immediately get hit through no fault of your own. You may clear a fight or pick up the one item in a room that triggers a point-of-no-return that you had no way of knowing was there, locking you off from whatever supplies were inside. These things will happen, and they'll happen more than once.
Still, these are minor blemishes on what is otherwise a spectacular survival horror game, and better still one that made me feel something. I really like Signalis, and I really like what it represents. I really like that this game is very clearly exactly what its developers wanted to make. I really like that it has found an audience without having to make concessions. I hope I can say that about more games going forward, and I look forward to whatever Rose Engine does next.