Signalis

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, Windows (Steam Deck OK)
Current goal: Just enjoy it
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy | Humble Bundle

Ever since I reviewed the retro-inspired horror game Crow Country at the beginning of May (and found it lacking), I’ve been itching to revisit 2022’s Signalis. The first game from the two-person team Rose Engine was one of my favorite of the year, and it’s never quite left my mind since. Like Crow Country, Signalis is a survival horror game that visually and mechanically pulls heavily from the PlayStation 1 games that defined the genre (think Silent Hill and Resident Evil). Where the two differ, however, is in execution.

Signalis is one of those rare retro-inspired games that so intrinsically understands what makes its inspirations tick, and is able to not only recreate their greatness but build on it. The game follows android LSTR as she seeks to find her partner in the abandoned halls of a mining facility, now overrun with zombie-like creatures. Through item scarcity, inventory management and puzzles, the player must go deeper into the facility as you learn what caused a mysterious disease now running rampant. On top of the excellent use of tension is a wonderfully twisting story about love, and it’s pretty excellent. Signalis is a game that constantly rewards revisiting its world and I can’t wait to see what new things I pick up on this time around. – Willa Rowe