In Signalis, you play as Elster, a Replika technician searching for her lost dreams. Your goal is to investigate a dark secret and solve a series of puzzles by finding codes, using radio signals, or combining items. As you navigate the depths of dystopian worlds, combat will only be a last resort: ammunition is very scarce and enemies are particularly tough.

Signalis is a true homage to the old PlayStation 1 survival horror games.
A mix between Resident Evil for some of its game design elements and Silent Hill for its disturbing visual and audio ambiance, yet it possesses its own aesthetic and universe.

The storyline is cryptic in its first playthrough, but the overall experience reveals itself to be extremely deep, with multiple levels of interpretation.
The lore is incredibly well-crafted and particularly dense, a major strength of the game.
It's truly a nightmarish dive into a futuristic, dystopian "Neo Retro" universe set against a backdrop of war and propaganda.
A totalitarian system reminiscent of the dark days of the Stasi in East Germany, but where we are confronted with physical aberrations against a backdrop of technological excesses, with a low-poly art direction reminiscent of anime like Ghost in the Shell.

Signalis' sound design is no slouch and is truly high-quality.
This makes the whole experience particularly fascinating and immersive.

There's no Jumpscare in this game; it's the overall atmosphere that does the trick here.
It's very unsettling at times.
Personally, I wasn't terrified, but I was captivated by the world.
Fear is subjective, so it's unique to each individual.
However, if you suffer from Verzophobia (fear of visual glitches), you might have a bad time.

Regarding the gameplay, it's really effective for this type of game because it modernizes many of the off-putting aspects of old-school survival games. Nothing more to say; it's relatively flexible and clearly does the job.

There are puzzles, of course, some fairly classic and others original.
They're generally well thought out and don't treat players like fools; it's nice to see that again in a survival game.

There's also inventory management, with a maximum of 6 items, like Chris in Resident Evil. So you have to think and make a few trips to the vault to drop off whatever's cluttering you up, just like in the 90s.

Choosing to play Signalis means having to accept reliving the codes of the era.
You enjoy managing and optimizing your exploration, so in my opinion, it's not a problem.
It's worth noting that the way this game justifies the return of this lost mechanic by using its lore is very clever. I think it's a first.

If I had to single out one criticism, it's the aiming system, which sometimes refused to target the enemy I wanted, but that's it (especially if you're playing with a controller).

In terms of length, I imagine it's between 10 and 12 hours for a typical player.
If you're a contemplative and curious type of player, who digs through each room and combs through each document, sometimes several times, as they search for answers, it's much more.

There are several difficulty levels, and four endings are available.

To top it all off, it was developed by two people... Truly impressive.

I highly recommend it to fans of the genre.

17/20