Signalis was a game I really wanted to try out based on user reviews and the idea that it mimicked the classic survival horror atmosphere of the PS1. In playing Signalis I struggled to find what everyone else sees in it.
Graphically Signalis is very unapealling if im being frank. The whole color pallete is pretty monotone and a lot of the backgrounds and characters models are way too dark to really make out anything. I know they were going more for a minamalistic approach but I think it hinders it more than it helps it. Most of the zombie enemies just look like brown blobs without any defining features. It doesn't help that it feels zoomed out as well. Still if your a fan of visuals that can't quite make out what it is and that's univerving to you than maybe Signalis is the game for you, me it annoyed me.
Gameplay is it's strongest point, at least at first. I think the game does pretty well at feeling like a open exploration world that focuses on limited resourses and limited item management. Exploring and figuring out what item goes where and solving pretty fairly balanced puzzels does scratch that survival horror itch. The map system is also really useful and works well with open exploration and helping the player remember or find where key items can go. The first third of the game I think does this rather well and the middle section starts cracking and has some really obnoxious backtracking, backtracking that is worse than the average survival horror. Then the last third of the game thought it was a good idea to just delete the map feature and have all the enviroments look the same. Hope you rememer how to get back to that item box or save point. When it comes to the enemies they are flat out terrible. They hardly respond at all and when they do they are just mindless drones. Yes i get they are zombies but there is barely anythreat. Walking doesn't even trigger them, even when your in their direct line of sight. You have to be stand directly in front of them for them to notice you. Hell most times they will just be annoyingly sitting in front of a door you need to get through and won't move at all. It's really dumb too cause most of my damage was not from the enemey hitting me but it was just me touching the enemy. You take damage just by touching enemies. Not a fan of that.
The story of Signalis was completly uncomprehensible to me. I really tried to follow it but it's presented in such a minamalistic but schizophrenic way that I struggled to care by the last third trying to figure it all out. There are barely any characters or cutscenes to begin with and the erratic nature of loose notes and complex terms became grating to keep up with. Worst of all I feel like the game just ends out of nowhere. Maybe I got a bad end but it was extremely unsatisfying. I don't think Signalis is as deep, provoking or a good survival horror game as its reputation lets on.
Graphically Signalis is very unapealling if im being frank. The whole color pallete is pretty monotone and a lot of the backgrounds and characters models are way too dark to really make out anything. I know they were going more for a minamalistic approach but I think it hinders it more than it helps it. Most of the zombie enemies just look like brown blobs without any defining features. It doesn't help that it feels zoomed out as well. Still if your a fan of visuals that can't quite make out what it is and that's univerving to you than maybe Signalis is the game for you, me it annoyed me.
Gameplay is it's strongest point, at least at first. I think the game does pretty well at feeling like a open exploration world that focuses on limited resourses and limited item management. Exploring and figuring out what item goes where and solving pretty fairly balanced puzzels does scratch that survival horror itch. The map system is also really useful and works well with open exploration and helping the player remember or find where key items can go. The first third of the game I think does this rather well and the middle section starts cracking and has some really obnoxious backtracking, backtracking that is worse than the average survival horror. Then the last third of the game thought it was a good idea to just delete the map feature and have all the enviroments look the same. Hope you rememer how to get back to that item box or save point. When it comes to the enemies they are flat out terrible. They hardly respond at all and when they do they are just mindless drones. Yes i get they are zombies but there is barely anythreat. Walking doesn't even trigger them, even when your in their direct line of sight. You have to be stand directly in front of them for them to notice you. Hell most times they will just be annoyingly sitting in front of a door you need to get through and won't move at all. It's really dumb too cause most of my damage was not from the enemey hitting me but it was just me touching the enemy. You take damage just by touching enemies. Not a fan of that.
The story of Signalis was completly uncomprehensible to me. I really tried to follow it but it's presented in such a minamalistic but schizophrenic way that I struggled to care by the last third trying to figure it all out. There are barely any characters or cutscenes to begin with and the erratic nature of loose notes and complex terms became grating to keep up with. Worst of all I feel like the game just ends out of nowhere. Maybe I got a bad end but it was extremely unsatisfying. I don't think Signalis is as deep, provoking or a good survival horror game as its reputation lets on.
baddognobiscuit
4 months ago