Signalis

[h1] Welcome to my review of SIGNALIS [/h1] [b]TL:DR if you're too lazy to read; very good game and you should buy it, YES at full price. But not if you're a gooner, don't let the tourists give you a false impression about the setting and characters.[/b] [b]The Game[/b] SIGNALIS is a game that can be summarised as "PS2 graphics RE clone". But that's not very fair because it does so much more than just that. While it certainly borrows a lot from the older resident evil games, it still stands out from it not only because of the setting, but also the general feel. Unlike those older games, it feels much more responsive while sacrificing nothing when it comes to visuals. I really don't have much to put here for gameplay. It plays well, the puzzles don't feel unfair and I didn't feel like the game was ever being unfair, even during the boss fights. That said, the survival difficulty IS REALLY, HARD. I'm going to gloat and say I did beat it on survival difficulty but man what a slog. Was worth it though, got the secret/true ending that way. The game is very optimized and doesn't require crazy hardware to run. I also encountered no bugs at all, atleast none that I could remember so theres that too! [b]The Setting.[/b] Needless to say, the character design and setting are sublime! While there are many games and shows I've played and seen throughout my life, this game has one of the best I've ever seen and I mean that wholeheartedly. Humanity builds a space empire ruled by a corrupt religious order, which then spawns a communist rebellion that fights back against the order. Many years pass the war drags on, the communists having the upper hand. The brutality and need to win spawns a new super weapon, the Replika. Robotic humans that seem more human at first glance, but are very mechanical underneath. Very brutally purposeful to their intended role, and just as disposable if disobedient. These robo-humans are stunning in their design and implementation. Cogs in an oppressive machine, doing as their told while trying to make something out of their existence. The communist Super state of the "Eusan Nation" is a offshoot of the former GDR/DDR but if they were in space. The fact that they can basically make a super humans, but other technology has stagnated somewhere around the early 90's is so interesting and so cool to see. Cute little robo-girls that can be the thought police but still carry around weapons designed in 70's is just- Something I don't know how describe but I just love them. Even the humans look so cool in this game. The bread and butter are the Replika's though. My personal favourite is the Kolibri or KLBR. [b]STORY[/b] [spoiler] Arianne, your girlfriend, is dying. How did we get here? Well Arianne is not like the other girls. She hasn't accepted the fact she is another cog in the machine of war and status quo. Arianne is who she wants to be, and artist, a free spirit. This is not good enough, the state knows something she doesn't and therefor she has been sent on a mission. Go beyond our milky way, find new life, find a new beginning. You will accompany her on this journey, LSTR-512. You get to know Arianne, and you two eventually start falling in love. Thing is though, this mission was a one way trip. Arianne was meant to die, and you as a disposable replika, were meant to die with her. Arianne knows the writing is on the wall, and needs you to finish her off before the ship fully fails after so long in space. Thing is, that thing the government knew about has come back to bite you and Arianne hard, and it is unknown if she other got back the powers that be. As you see, Arianne is not a normal girl, she has natural bio-resonance. Minds so powerful that they can alter space and time around them. And now, in Arianne's dying moments, you are forever trapped with her, trying to break the cycle. Other have been ripped from their reality to bask in Arianne's agony, much against their will. You will endless roam her memories of how she saw the world around her, mindless monsters attacking her everywhere she went, and faint moments of self-expression, corrupted and repressed. [/spoiler] [spoiler] In your first play through, you will get one of three endings, all of which are the "false bad ending". Some are less worse than others, but the outcome is the same, you are doomed to repeat cycle. I must also address the fake-out ending half way through the game, that really hit hard and was the few times I've cried at a story and game in recent memory. The true ending is the "Artifact" ending, and the one I strongly believe to be canon. This does require a second play through. Trust me though, its worth it. You can finally break the cycle in one last happy memory. [/spoiler] [spoiler] There are 3 total chapters in this game each divided into sub-chapters. Chapter 1 is the strongest in my opinion and all of the sub-chatpers are really good too. Eases you into the setting and gameplay in a interesting fun way. Chapter 2 is- well I think in this case we have to talk about the sub-chapters. Part 7: Excavation is a strong part of this chapter but its only downside is that it is very short. Part 8: Nowhere, was the low point in the game. While the horror themes were strongest and most interesting, the gameplay in this part of the game felt very tedious and is such a slog to get through. First time playthrough it's fine but on repeat play throughs its really annoying to get through. At the end of this chapter is when the fake ending occurs and Part 9: New Game starts, which while short is pretty cool. Chapter 3: And now, Rotfront picks up where chapter 1 left off strong is a very good ending chapter, just still a shame Nowhere felt so bad to play. [/spoiler] [spoiler] There are boss fights in this game, the first one is fun and interesting and sets the stage for a enemy later. The second boss fight is interesting but also kind of annoying but does end in a satisfying way. The final boss, Falke is the hardest but most engaging in my opinion. Once you've defeated her, you can finally fulfill your promise, and we can be one, and free again. SIGNALIS is very a game about losing your identity and struggling to find or keep it. While the ever lingering trauma will haunt you and try eat you from within. While the main two characters are gay, I don't think this at all is intrusive or done poorly, if anything the opposite. Many modern games force certain things in them, often in a distracting or distasteful way, SIGNALIS does not do this and actually tells a very compelling romance and story without falling under the idiotic "culture wars". Let me be clear, I do not care if there are gay characters in a game, what I do care about is if they are told in a way that actually makes sense to not only the setting but also the story. Something which the broader SIGNALIS fandom seems to have forgotten, more about that down below. To round off though, the story is excellent and absolutely worth exploring all the way to the good and true ending.[/spoiler] [b]A rant about the community of this game, short because of text limit.[/b] Gooners and porn-rotted tourists have ruined this community. [b]Conclusion and personal thoughts[/b] SIGNALIS is a game I highly recommend for its rich story and setting. On top of being a fun horror survival game. This is a game I 100% recommend at full price. It left such a meaning impact on me that it very much influences my own original content! This game will certainly pull on your heart strings, and leave a positive if not somber feeling. While I would really like to see SIGNALIS 2 or a game taking place in the same universe, that is unlikely. Rose Engine has been pretty quiet on this subject, and it is unlikely they'll do more with the IP. Might I add that, for their first game ever made, they absolutely smashed it out of the park! Now with all that said and done, go on reader, fulfill your promise.

This review is going to be extremely personal, exactly like the experience SIGNALIS gives you. This is my second playthrough. Back when I played it in 2024, I didn't understand much. I finished the game, looked at the endings, somewhat understood the story.. and that was it. For past 20 years of my life, I've been playing shooter games, and got quite good at them. So, as a "professionally deformed" shooter player, I treated SIGNALIS as yet another horror-shooter, something close to Dead Space, where as long as you survive and read into the notes, you'll understand exactly what's going on, and the story will eventually tell itself. That was my mistake. Truth is... SIGNALIS doesn't want you to understand it, and if you're attentive and humble with it, it won't keep this as a secret to you. SIGNALIS is not a game you play, it's not a story that neither tells or explains itself. The lore does not unfold on it's own. Rather, SIGNALIS is an.. environment, a life circumstance, that you get to experience. You are not playing as Elster. You are Elster. You will merely see what Elster sees, and understand just as much. By the end of the story, you're drained. Whichever ending you got, it's exactly what you deserve. Whether it's MEMORY, LEAVE or PROMISE, your fears and behavioral patterns are now exposed. It's what you've been doing your entire life, and it's exactly what you, Elster, did here. You are the lore. And once you see yourself under this light, there's no way to unsee it. There is no true ending, no canon. No morale. Because what Rose Engine created, is not a game, but a mirror that reflects your very true self. Only question being whether you are self-reflective enough to see it.

This is a masterpiece. SIGNALIS showed me that this isn't just another survival horror game. It's a love letter written to the genre, and it's so good it made me fall in love with it. When I first saw the game, people said it was something like a mix of Dead Space and Silent Hill, so I thought I'd give it a try since it's not a very long game. But oh boy, I wasn't expecting such a captivating and impactful story. As if the story wasn't intriguing enough, the game completely captivated the player with both its storytelling and atmosphere. It was a really successful game in its genre and it was terrifying. But the truly terrifying thing wasn't fighting the creatures or trying to survive in the metal corridors. What was terrifying was the atmosphere, the slow and inevitable decay of this world, the loss of identities; yet, despite the pain, despite not knowing what was real and what wasn't, continuing for the sake of a promise... It was one of the best examples of Eldritch/cosmic horror I've ever seen. Remember Our Promise. </3