Now that I've had a bit of time to collect my thoughts about this game I still find myself struggling to put into words how exactly I felt about Signalis after beating it, I've seen my fair share of bleak settings, but I think this one takes the cake for how brutal it can be for the characters of its own universe.

It's haunting, dreadful, merciless, and it's communicated to the player extremely well through gameplay, thanks to its overwhelming atmosphere, cryptic storytelling, and how it feels like you are never truly safe from what might be lurking around the corner. And while I think it suffers a bit from its excessive backtracking, it's still worth giving a shot, specially if you enjoy puzzle games.

One thing I'm certain about once the credits rolled, is that now I understand why its fandom is so obsessed with portraying Elster and Ariane in wholesome and cutesy situations, because it's the only thing that might save them from the overbearing feeling of Existential Dread that at least my ending (Promise) left me. But at least, I can find solace in knowing that they both went out together, to a place where time doesn't exist, to a place where they can dance together to the rhythm of the music, to a place where Ariane can finish her paintings, to a place where they can both feel whole again.