SIGNALIS IS SENDING ALL THE RIGHT SIGNALS
Signalis is a very indie game. It wears its survival horror and literary influences on its sleeve. And yet it manages to maintain an identity all its own.
It has the fixed camera and "stop to aim" (or at least slow down significantly) flavors of Resident Evils 1-3. It has the oppressive atmosphere and slow-burn horror of Silent Hill. It even has the iconic "mirror scene" from Silent Hill 2. But, again, the game still manages to feel fresh and have its own identity.
The game is presented from a top-down, sort of isometric perspective. The art direction went all the way on retro-futurism in the best ways. Better than most in my opinion, since there is in-game lore to explain why.
The gameplay is great. And let me just take a brief moment to express how much I am loving this new wave of "PSX but with good gameplay" games. Minus a targeting system that can be a little finicky, combat is snappy and satisfying.
The survival elements follow the tried and true formula of inventory management, but with a slight twist: you ONLY ever have six items at a time. There is no upgrading. I've seen some bemoan this a little but I personally didn't mind. There's something kind of nice about the consistency of knowing exactly how many things you can have at all times.
The puzzles are many and varied. You will be spending a great deal of time solving bizarre riddles during your experience. But I genuinely enjoyed all of them. The biggest reason for this, I think, is that they hit that perfect sweet spot between being difficult but not intensely obtuse (as opposed to the likes of early survival horror games). They're intuitive. Oh, feels like you're missing a piece of this wooden doll? You suuuuure you explored all of the rooms? Oh, this card puzzle isn't opening the door even though you "solved" it? Are you poooositive you haven't missed anything else on this table?
The gameplay element that diverts Signalis from its classic predecessors most is its...signal mechanic. At any time you can attune your android body to a frequency via a menu--and then in-game once it's activated. They put this to use in a variety of ways, from puzzles to defeating particular enemy type.
All of the formal elements are impeccable. Sound design is terrifically ambient but punchy when needed. The lengths they went to in order to make the analogue elements feel immersive and genuine is impressive. It also boasts one of the most iconic sound cues in recent video game memory. The score is divine. Art direction, as mentioned above, is inspired. There is a great mix of vivid and drab coloring, and a lot of beautiful red motifs. And the level design is nothing short of stellar (I never felt supremely inconvenienced or overwhelmed).
The story is a backdrop while still being fleshed-out. Signalis does not need you to understand it at all in order for it to be emotional and compelling. You are Elster. You need to find her. You made a promise. Everything else is subject to conjecture, but not in a frustrating way. I don't think it is possible to know everything that is going on in the world of Signalis--there are no hard answers. The game wants you to draw your own conclusions. And not in a lazy way. I know this because there are bits of lore and exposition scattered about in a way that gives you juuuuust enough to know about the setting and its characters to make your own semi-informed conclusion.
Signalis is not the just the sum of its inspirations. If we were to compare: Resident Evil is a detective serial. Silent Hill is a horror short story. And Signalis is a tone poem.
So if you like sci-fi, survival horror, and space lesbians...then you owe it to yourself to play Signalis.
Signalis is a very indie game. It wears its survival horror and literary influences on its sleeve. And yet it manages to maintain an identity all its own.
It has the fixed camera and "stop to aim" (or at least slow down significantly) flavors of Resident Evils 1-3. It has the oppressive atmosphere and slow-burn horror of Silent Hill. It even has the iconic "mirror scene" from Silent Hill 2. But, again, the game still manages to feel fresh and have its own identity.
The game is presented from a top-down, sort of isometric perspective. The art direction went all the way on retro-futurism in the best ways. Better than most in my opinion, since there is in-game lore to explain why.
The gameplay is great. And let me just take a brief moment to express how much I am loving this new wave of "PSX but with good gameplay" games. Minus a targeting system that can be a little finicky, combat is snappy and satisfying.
The survival elements follow the tried and true formula of inventory management, but with a slight twist: you ONLY ever have six items at a time. There is no upgrading. I've seen some bemoan this a little but I personally didn't mind. There's something kind of nice about the consistency of knowing exactly how many things you can have at all times.
The puzzles are many and varied. You will be spending a great deal of time solving bizarre riddles during your experience. But I genuinely enjoyed all of them. The biggest reason for this, I think, is that they hit that perfect sweet spot between being difficult but not intensely obtuse (as opposed to the likes of early survival horror games). They're intuitive. Oh, feels like you're missing a piece of this wooden doll? You suuuuure you explored all of the rooms? Oh, this card puzzle isn't opening the door even though you "solved" it? Are you poooositive you haven't missed anything else on this table?
The gameplay element that diverts Signalis from its classic predecessors most is its...signal mechanic. At any time you can attune your android body to a frequency via a menu--and then in-game once it's activated. They put this to use in a variety of ways, from puzzles to defeating particular enemy type.
All of the formal elements are impeccable. Sound design is terrifically ambient but punchy when needed. The lengths they went to in order to make the analogue elements feel immersive and genuine is impressive. It also boasts one of the most iconic sound cues in recent video game memory. The score is divine. Art direction, as mentioned above, is inspired. There is a great mix of vivid and drab coloring, and a lot of beautiful red motifs. And the level design is nothing short of stellar (I never felt supremely inconvenienced or overwhelmed).
The story is a backdrop while still being fleshed-out. Signalis does not need you to understand it at all in order for it to be emotional and compelling. You are Elster. You need to find her. You made a promise. Everything else is subject to conjecture, but not in a frustrating way. I don't think it is possible to know everything that is going on in the world of Signalis--there are no hard answers. The game wants you to draw your own conclusions. And not in a lazy way. I know this because there are bits of lore and exposition scattered about in a way that gives you juuuuust enough to know about the setting and its characters to make your own semi-informed conclusion.
Signalis is not the just the sum of its inspirations. If we were to compare: Resident Evil is a detective serial. Silent Hill is a horror short story. And Signalis is a tone poem.
So if you like sci-fi, survival horror, and space lesbians...then you owe it to yourself to play Signalis.
1 Comment
yeah it's not possible to know and be sure of everything since information is contradictory and up to interpretation. Or rather than just open endedness, while in most games I'm not sure I obtained all the Meaning and must exhaust all the routes, secrets, endings and such the ideal experience of the game is closer to a weird dream/nightmare you take as far as you want.
double posted btw
double posted btw
smhomg
10 months ago