Published: 3/02/25 9:23pm
This blog post WILL contain minor spoilers read at your own discretion yadda yadda yadda + full disclosure I played on little bitch mode (casual difficulty + 8 inventory slots) because I'm pretty new to the survival horror genre & its playstyle intimidates the hell out of me. Also screenshots aren't my own since I straight up forgot to take any (besides one) during my playthrough.
I have simultaneously both a lot & nothing to say about this game. For something I find so interesting I truly don't understand it that much. Developed by rose-engine, Signalis is a 2022 sci-fi survival horror game set in a dystopian future where humanity has apparently discovered a "dark secret".
Overall, Signalis is a very strong project. It's world entices mystery in a way few others dare to attempt. The way the narrative is structured resists against spoonfeeding & places a heavy emphasis on YOU the player needing to figure things out instead of constantly assaulting you with exposition.
There is no overwhelming need it has to explain itself, in fact, it goes out of it's way to make things nonsensical until finally put into context. This really lends itself to the game's oppressive nature: as if nothing is on your side.
Another thing I really appreciate is it's visuals. This shit is STUNNING the screenshots don't do it justice.
Not only that but they're not just there for show, there's a large amount of symbolism & storytelling within whats displayed on the screen. A richness if you will. There wasn't a single section in this game I wasn't trying to unravel a deeper meaning from, even random ass hallways. The advantages of narrative through imagery is a dying art & Signalis was like a breath of fresh air I haven't felt since finishing 'Revolutionary girl utena'.
I can't say that much about the game design itself as, again, I'm new to the genre, but what I can talk about is the puzzles. Although most are pretty "go to this place, kill these guys, get item, take item to other place" some such as the lock-picking section or the numerous radio based puzzles I found pretty fun & novel to solve. Particularly with the radio system it has a level of storytelling beyond just being used to progress which is really cool.
This all makes the game sound incredible on paper. It is incredible, I think it's a great game. I'm just conflicted on a few aspects of it. For as much as it stands on it's own it tends to lean a lot on intertextual references.
That's not to say references are a bad thing, but Signalis is absolutely full of them & they serve as a core foundation of the narrative I'd argue as much as the innovative concepts do. Even in cutscenes there's a decent amount of parallels to be drawn to existing media.
This in combination with the vagueness of it's plot comes off a bit? for lack of a better word lazy to me at points. Is it for a greater artistic purpose or are you using crutches here? The game doesn't becomes unenjoyable because of this but I think Signalis' original ideas are really good by themselves.
For the uninformed intertextual references are defined as "the shaping of a text's meaning by another text" by my good pal wikipedia. In laymans terms stuff you gotta understand to understand the other stuff. I'm actually a big "texts-referencing-other-texts" fan, I do much of it with my own work, but I think it's something done better in moderation than excess.
Speaking of the plot & its vagueness my GOD is it vague. Out of order to all hell you gotta get out the pin board with string to piece together the story. I really like this in part, but also think that there's bits of the game that would've benefited from some different sequencing & more elaboration. It's crazy some of the most important bits of the lore are only shown once for a second in a single cutscene then never again.
There are notes which you find throughout your playthrough which give you more insight into the world & foster intrigue, but it quickly becomes frustrating trying to find out which things fit where when you've got god knows how many in your inventory & have to constantly scroll backwards & forwards through the UI.
Much of picking apart the story is immensely tedious. I mean, not that you have to, there's a million "LORE OF SIGNALIS EXPLAINED!!!" videos on youtube but it's the principle of it.
I would still recommend Signalis. Not to everybody, but if you're the kinda person who loved evangelion's endings then I direct you to the games steam page. 29.95 AUD & it's yours. I am NOT doing the price conversion on that you're on your own.
Uhhh I'm terrible at conclusions but if you read this far thank you :) I appreciate it. This my first real 'long form' kinda spiel so I hope it wasn't too rough 👍 Strider out.