As soon as I saw the Steam review "Do androids dream of Silent Hill?" I was in. Rose-engine did a great job at making a classic-style survival horror game feel modernized despite its retro visuals and gameplay. The puzzles are incredibly satisfying to solve and the 6 inventory slots, while limiting, force you to become a god at management and considering what is 'essential' to move forward in the game. Also, as someone who is abysmal at navigating maps, I never felt completely lost, which is probably a first for me in these sorts of games.
I like that Signalis delivers its story mostly through atmosphere and environmental lore rather than any direct exposition, making for a pretty varied gameplay experience no matter what ending you get. Additionally, while I was never really 'scared' in a 'my heart is beating out of my chest' way while playing, I was pretty tense and uneasy, and the dread at having to go back through some crowded hallways to get to a saferoom I think really balanced out the experience.
My only real gripe with the game is that it feels like it borrows a bit too heavily from its predecessors at times; not in generalized aesthetic or 'oh I bet the creators liked X thing', but in an incredibly overt manner that involved Frankensteining moments from its inspirations into its own setting. Typing this out now, I can't help but feel this might have been sort of intentional given Signalis's themes, but seeing such iconic symbolism from other well-known media occasionally took me out of the moment. But despite that, the setting and atmosphere of SIgnalis is so separated from everything that inspired it, it never felt wholly derivative. But it does feel like a sum of its parts rather than a completely new invention that seamlessly integrates those parts. Of course, this isn't a problem if you haven't played lots of other survival horror games, Nier, or seen Evangelion. It's just something that was apparent to me as a fan of the genre and those other things.
Also, gay robots. W
I like that Signalis delivers its story mostly through atmosphere and environmental lore rather than any direct exposition, making for a pretty varied gameplay experience no matter what ending you get. Additionally, while I was never really 'scared' in a 'my heart is beating out of my chest' way while playing, I was pretty tense and uneasy, and the dread at having to go back through some crowded hallways to get to a saferoom I think really balanced out the experience.
My only real gripe with the game is that it feels like it borrows a bit too heavily from its predecessors at times; not in generalized aesthetic or 'oh I bet the creators liked X thing', but in an incredibly overt manner that involved Frankensteining moments from its inspirations into its own setting. Typing this out now, I can't help but feel this might have been sort of intentional given Signalis's themes, but seeing such iconic symbolism from other well-known media occasionally took me out of the moment. But despite that, the setting and atmosphere of SIgnalis is so separated from everything that inspired it, it never felt wholly derivative. But it does feel like a sum of its parts rather than a completely new invention that seamlessly integrates those parts. Of course, this isn't a problem if you haven't played lots of other survival horror games, Nier, or seen Evangelion. It's just something that was apparent to me as a fan of the genre and those other things.
Also, gay robots. W