SIGNALIS

Just a heads up: I'm writing this immediately after I finished my playthrough, when I'd normally let my thoughts simmer and rest for a few days before writing any review, but it's 7 in the morning, and I want to talk about this game. It will be unpolished and so I apologize for any rambling or disorganized thoughts I spew below. I came into SIGNALIS with high expectations. I'd been hearing great things for years and had bought the game some time ago with the same idea that maybe one day I'd get around to playing it, but honestly that never really happens. However, earlier this year I played through another indie game I was interested in, 1000xRESIST, which blew me away and is still my favorite game I’ve played; apologies to MGSV. There was one problem, though: there aren't many games like 1000xRESIST out there, and while I'm very excited about sunset visitor’s recently announced next project, Prove You're Human, I just needed something to scratch that itch sooner rather than later. Again, SIGNALIS happened to be highly recommended by others looking for the same thing that I was: a replacement, a replika of sorts. So I tried it. To start, SIGNALIS is beautiful; from the visuals to the sound design and music, it is oozing with style. The menu alone was enough to get me excited, and from that moment on I was entranced. I’ve never really played anything similar from a gameplay perspective. I’m familiar with Resident Evil and Silent Hill, your big survival horror games, but I’ve never seriously played them. I understand the mechanics and the importance of inventory and resource management, but I never realized how enjoyable these can be, especially how much fun solving puzzles is. The way they’re designed in this game reminded me of Metroidvanias, if you will. You explore an area until you find a new item, then backtrack to something you remember from earlier to solve a little puzzle, which may open a door to either new information or to expand your exploration area. It’s simple in premise, but they do a great job of giving you enough pieces to figure it out without holding your hand, so you still feel like a genius when you do. None of the puzzles were particularly difficult, and I never got stuck or felt helpless, but there are points where it feels like you’re juggling a lot of information, which can make it hard to know exactly what to do next or where to go. Ultimately, I got through each part of the game relatively easily and quickly, with only 6 deaths and around 7 hours of total play time. Even as a beginner in the genre, I’d say SIGNALIS isn’t meant to be hard or challenging, which I appreciate, as I was much more drawn to the story than the combat or inventory balancing act. Though I’m not sure of the opinion of survival horror veterans or where this lands compared to Resident Evil’s difficulty or playtime. What I can say is that if you’re as unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the genre as I am, I wouldn’t be afraid to give SIGNALIS a shot if you’re interested. From this perspective, the game is really approachable. From a story perspective, it is not. I don’t think I really knew what was going on at any point. I had a vague understanding of who I was, where I was, and why I was here, but there’s a purposeful malaise over the game’s story. I don’t think they want you to really know. You’ll come across more information and world-building on the notes, papers, and posters scattered around the map, but there is little in the way of direct exposition. You don’t talk to many NPCs or have many cutscenes that spell out what’s happening. You are left to piece things together yourself, but that doesn’t mean there is a lack of information. Rather, there is a lack of how to interpret the information. You read so many reports and documents that it can be hard to decipher whether it is world-building, important implications to the story, just a clue for an upcoming puzzle, or all of the above. I recognized the Lovecraftian nature of the narrative, or rather the Chambers-ian nature with many references to The King in Yellow, but I never quite understood what it was going for or exactly how or why things were happening, which isn’t uncommon in this space. That being said, I was never disengaged, and I constantly found myself wanting to learn more, to understand more, and by the time the credits rolled the second time, I felt that I understood and still feel that I do now. That’s not to say the game reveals all its secrets, but the third act really helps to put all of the information you’ve been gathering from the beginning into place. Things begin to make sense, and I found myself resonating with the story and the “PROMISE” ending that I got, which I assume is the default. I’m not sure how many there are, or how you change it, but I was more than satisfied with the conclusion I got. To wrap up everything, I really loved this game. I think it’s phenomenal and stands on its own two legs, detached from my desire for it to be a pseudo-replacement for 1000xRESIST in my heart. Although after playing both, I completely see overlaps in the narrative and understand why they come recommended alongside each other, even while being entirely different. I don’t want this review to be about how SIGNALIS was enough like another game for me to enjoy, since that’s completely reductive. Not to mention, SIGNALIS predates 1000xRESIST by around 2 years. Regardless, this game is incredible, and I think almost anyone can enjoy what it has to offer. Again, I’m not familiar with survival horror games or generally a huge horror fan, but I was drawn to SIGNALIS, and it didn’t disappoint. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you got something out of it, and I hope you play the game. P.S. I recommend you also take the time to read all the notes you come across; most of the story and understanding I have come from them, and they are necessary to piece together the whole timeline at the end of the game. Again, they don’t reveal everything, but every little bit goes a long way.