Between the distinctive visual style, atmospheric gameplay, compelling world building, unique form of storytelling laden with symbolism and clever homages to its inspirational material, SIGNALIS manages to stand out as a rare indie highlight, so long as you can stomach the esoteric narration style it builds around itself and the gameplay limitations that come with it. An easy recommendation from me and I must admit I'm very curious to see what else the studio will come up with in the future.

SIGNALIS embraces its gameplay influences with a clear nod to your Resident Evils and Silent Hills with their slow and methodical exploration, a top down perspective and a limited inventory and resources. Gameplay takes place in room-based areas, sometimes spanning multiple floors, where main goal is usually solving a sequence of puzzles in order to progress with lore sprinkled throughout the environmental design or written documents/notes. The puzzles themselves are accessible, if a bit tedious, and well-annotated on the map, serving more as an excuse to challenge the player as they navigate the areas full of enemies to ferry the various puzzle items around, or try to loot the rooms thoroughly for the scarce ammo and consumables.

The game offers a good blend of stealth and combat and doesn't punish the player for mixing them up. There are many opportunities to take advantage of both, even if all the game's combat and stealth mechanics are ultimately rather basic. Enemy variety is fairly low and their AI is rudimentary, which works in the game's favour usually, as it makes them predictable, although one particular issue I encountered is that there's no way to tell where patrolling enemies are in their cycle. This led to many cases where I'd walk into a hallway directly into an enemy that was patrolling in front of the door, taking unavoidable damage or having to wait for a minute for their patrol path to reset and hoping the next time I enter the room they'll be in a different position.

I'd also like to briefly touch on a few miscellaneous things SIGNALIS does that make it stand out. Several narrative segments are set in first person, enhancing both the atmosphere and storytelling of those moments. There's also a real focus on inventory management that might put some people off but I felt was very important to achieve the risk-reward gameplay it's going for. Additionally, the game uses radio as both a gameplay and narrative mechanic with some clever puzzles associated with it. A breath of fresh air and a type of tactile mechanic I wish there was more focus on in games.

The artstyle of SIGNALIS stands out as its most striking feature, showcasing a deliberate approach to the stylized aesthetic unlike many other indies doing it as a corner-cutting tactic. The art is sharp and deliberate, both in the low poly models reminiscent of the PS1 era as well as throughout the world. Each room feels purposeful and lived in, with signs, posters and other environmental details sprinkled throughout. The modern engine brings those together in order to allow a fantastic atmosphere to develop and even offers some additional settings to customise the look and feel of your experience such as CRT scanlines or tank controls (if you're a masochist). The occasional perspective shifts, allow the player to more closely examine some story moments or items which definitely reinforces the unique aesthetic the game is going for.

The story cut-ins and cutscene art further contribute to the delightfully dark and surreal storytelling method of the game, using a mixture of the low poly models alongside anime-inspired artwork to convey a distinctive look that I was personally a big fan of. The audio mixing is the final piece of this puzzle, alternating between haunting melodies moments of eerie silence, and the sharp, dissonant tracks during the more tense chase sequences which I can only describe as hammercore. Many of the strong story moments have their impact is greatly elevated by their musical backing and, while the OST is perhaps not a standout by itself, it shines where it needs to the most. It's worth pointing out that both the art and music pay homage to various other media, integrating them into the game's symbolism in a way that adds symbolic depth beyond a simple reference.

The fact that you can find multiple many-hour long story analysis segments online should clue you in on the type of story on display here. While I won't delve into the themes or plot details I can certainly say that it might be polarising depending on what you enjoy from a narrative standpoint. An unreliable narrative is immediately established, blending factual information about the world building with symbolic and interpretable sequences. The story is presented out of sync at times, which allows for better timing of certain story beats but that also makes it more challenging to follow, especially for players who aren't attentive to the scattered bits of information provided throughout. Additionally, the story incorporates references to both classical and modern media as well as multilingual segments which add depth to the symbolism but might make the story even more confusing if one isn't familiar with the themes.

All that said, my personal opinion on it? I hate open ended "OooOOoh, figure it out yourself!" stories, but I found the symbolism and pseudoscientific world-building intriguing enough to make the game linger in my mind for a while. Delving into fan theories was enjoyable and I found it to be one of the rare cases in games where information doesn't feel held back solely as a puzzle for the community to figure out what's REALLY going on, but rather it's both vague and dense enough to allow for a number of different interpretations, even when multiple endings are involved. I doubt everyone is going to enjoy these aspects, but I think it's worth experiencing and forming your own opinion about the game before having it coloured by fan interpretations and opinions.

Although the game is linear, and gameplay isn't complex enough to warrant much replayability, there's still some value in it. Taking a combat or stealth focused approach can lead to a different experience, as well as helping one notice story details that might have been overlooked on a first attempt. The multiple endings depend on your gameplay style but whether you consider an entire extra playthrough to be worth it in order to experience them yourself is debatable. Aside from that, achievements are fairly reasonable and easy to get in a single playthrough, but I wouldn't suggest focusing on them to the detriment of immersing yourself in the game.

[h1]TL;DR[/h1] Between the distinctive visual style, atmospheric gameplay, compelling world building, unique form of storytelling laden with symbolism and clever homages to its inspirational material, SIGNALIS manages to stand out as a rare indie highlight, so long as you can stomach the esoteric narration style it builds around itself and the gameplay limitations that come with it. An easy recommendation from me and I must admit I'm very curious to see what else the studio will come up with in the future. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] SIGNALIS embraces its gameplay influences with a clear nod to your Resident Evils and Silent Hills with their slow and methodical exploration, a top down perspective and a limited inventory and resources. Gameplay takes place in room-based areas, sometimes spanning multiple floors, where main goal is usually solving a sequence of puzzles in order to progress with lore sprinkled throughout the environmental design or written documents/notes. The puzzles themselves are accessible, if a bit tedious, and well-annotated on the map, serving more as an excuse to challenge the player as they navigate the areas full of enemies to ferry the various puzzle items around, or try to loot the rooms thoroughly for the scarce ammo and consumables. The game offers a good blend of stealth and combat and doesn't punish the player for mixing them up. There are many opportunities to take advantage of both, even if all the game's combat and stealth mechanics are ultimately rather basic. Enemy variety is fairly low and their AI is rudimentary, which works in the game's favour usually, as it makes them predictable, although one particular issue I encountered is that there's no way to tell where patrolling enemies are in their cycle. This led to many cases where I'd walk into a hallway directly into an enemy that was patrolling in front of the door, taking unavoidable damage or having to wait for a minute for their patrol path to reset and hoping the next time I enter the room they'll be in a different position. I'd also like to briefly touch on a few miscellaneous things SIGNALIS does that make it stand out. Several narrative segments are set in first person, enhancing both the atmosphere and storytelling of those moments. There's also a real focus on inventory management that might put some people off but I felt was very important to achieve the risk-reward gameplay it's going for. Additionally, the game uses radio as both a gameplay and narrative mechanic with some clever puzzles associated with it. A breath of fresh air and a type of tactile mechanic I wish there was more focus on in games. [h1]Visuals & Audio[/h1] The artstyle of SIGNALIS stands out as its most striking feature, showcasing a deliberate approach to the stylized aesthetic unlike many other indies doing it as a corner-cutting tactic. The art is sharp and deliberate, both in the low poly models reminiscent of the PS1 era as well as throughout the world. Each room feels purposeful and lived in, with signs, posters and other environmental details sprinkled throughout. The modern engine brings those together in order to allow a fantastic atmosphere to develop and even offers some additional settings to customise the look and feel of your experience such as CRT scanlines or tank controls (if you're a masochist). The occasional perspective shifts, allow the player to more closely examine some story moments or items which definitely reinforces the unique aesthetic the game is going for. The story cut-ins and cutscene art further contribute to the delightfully dark and surreal storytelling method of the game, using a mixture of the low poly models alongside anime-inspired artwork to convey a distinctive look that I was personally a big fan of. The audio mixing is the final piece of this puzzle, alternating between haunting melodies moments of eerie silence, and the sharp, dissonant tracks during the more tense chase sequences which I can only describe as hammercore. Many of the strong story moments have their impact is greatly elevated by their musical backing and, while the OST is perhaps not a standout by itself, it shines where it needs to the most. It's worth pointing out that both the art and music pay homage to various other media, integrating them into the game's symbolism in a way that adds symbolic depth beyond a simple reference. [h1]Story[/h1] The fact that you can find multiple many-hour long story analysis segments online should clue you in on the type of story on display here. While I won't delve into the themes or plot details I can certainly say that it might be polarising depending on what you enjoy from a narrative standpoint. An unreliable narrative is immediately established, blending factual information about the world building with symbolic and interpretable sequences. The story is presented out of sync at times, which allows for better timing of certain story beats but that also makes it more challenging to follow, especially for players who aren't attentive to the scattered bits of information provided throughout. Additionally, the story incorporates references to both classical and modern media as well as multilingual segments which add depth to the symbolism but might make the story even more confusing if one isn't familiar with the themes. All that said, my personal opinion on it? I hate open ended "OooOOoh, figure it out yourself!" stories, but I found the symbolism and pseudoscientific world-building intriguing enough to make the game linger in my mind for a while. Delving into fan theories was enjoyable and I found it to be one of the rare cases in games where information doesn't feel held back solely as a puzzle for the community to figure out what's REALLY going on, but rather it's both vague and dense enough to allow for a number of different interpretations, even when multiple endings are involved. I doubt everyone is going to enjoy these aspects, but I think it's worth experiencing and forming your own opinion about the game before having it coloured by fan interpretations and opinions. [h1]Completion & Replayability[/h1] Although the game is linear, and gameplay isn't complex enough to warrant much replayability, there's still some value in it. Taking a combat or stealth focused approach can lead to a different experience, as well as helping one notice story details that might have been overlooked on a first attempt. The multiple endings depend on your gameplay style but whether you consider an entire extra playthrough to be worth it in order to experience them yourself is debatable. Aside from that, achievements are fairly reasonable and easy to get in a single playthrough, but I wouldn't suggest focusing on them to the detriment of immersing yourself in the game.