Okay, so if you're reading this, thank you so much for taking the time to watch my video and head to the comments. This video recently surpassed 10k views in less than two weeks which is insane for a channel of my size, and I can't think of any video I would rather it be than this one. I absolutely loved writing and making it, and while there are things I would have loved to talk more about, I'm still very happy with how it turned out. If you've left a comment in the last week and I haven't replied it's simply because I'm extremely busy with life stuff and trying to get my next video started, and there's just so many to sift through and reply to, so I promise I will get to them eventually. Some very quick things that I wish I had gotten to talk more about/people have mentioned in the comments: - Despite being a massive Nier head, I never even mentioned the similarities there (Gestalts and Replicants which are essentially human fleshy robots just like the Replikas in Signalis) - The entire Adler and Falke story line, which I only really mention in passing, mainly because I was focusing on Elster and Ariane - The Penrose, and other artistic references in the game (The main reason I didn't cover these is because it would have taken a ton more research on something I'm not very well versed in, so I'd rather see someone who knows way more about art talk about it than me reading Wikipedia lmao) There's tons more, and I stand by Signalis being such a complex game that every comment I read I learn something new. So yeah, thank you so much for clicking on a video by a relatively small channel like mine, and if you subscribed then please look forward to more videos like this in the future
Great video! About the NieR similarities, i think that it goes even beyond project Gestalt, specially if we consider Automata.(NIER SPOILERS AHEAD) The way of storytelling, the characters being trapped in a cycle of suffering(2b and 9s), they(YorHa) being considered disposable, with two people who want to be together but with lives predestined to end tragically, 9s asking 2b to promise to kill him(in Memory Thorn), etc.
I think the main tragedy is that of the Falke commander. Imagine, your mind being invaded by memories of a love you can never experience again, and in actual fact, never experienced in the first place. You are stuck loving someone that never even loved you, only another whose memories you cruelly posses. It would drive someone utterly insane. Imagine you suddenly awoke and had memories of another family, another spouse, another child, who you loved as much as anyone - only they are dead and gone, and you can never get back to them, and even if you could... they wouldn't even love you, because you are not the originator of those memories.
Now it's been a while, but I think I remember an old creepy pasta where a man was unconscious or in a coma, and while in that state he lived out a whole second life in his mind, he grew up, went to school, lost people, married, had kids, ect. It was indistinguishable from reality. But one day he's hanging out with his son, and he notices this lampshade that is 2d. And then as starts looking closer at everything, it just looks wrong. His wife and child aren't "real". He starts to notice everything is uncannily off, and he starts freaking out, and then wakes up in the real world out of a coma, where he has a different wife and different friends, ect. Basically ends with the man getting extremely depressed about the life he lost because they were real to him, and he actually mourns his other family and friends. I'm not sure if it's real, the story definitely framed itself as real when I read it, but you can maybe find it if you look hard enough. Just what I thought of reading this.
There is kinda chines anime about that, detectives where one of them can go back In time into someone else's body feel their emotion but even tho he knows who the murder is he can't act on it, he supposed to only be witness
I guess everyone who ever loved someone who didn't love them back can relate to this really shitty feeling. That's why it's so impactful in the story. The game is a-ma-zing! It has so much in-depth stuff: psychology, tarot, spirituality, dreams, space travel/colonization, 1984 style orwellian dystopia, identity (crisis), memories, entropy, nightmares, dehumanization... It's not just a survival horror game, it's a survival horror masterpiece!
Another reference is the name of the ship, the "Penrose" which relates to the "Penrose Stairs", created by Roger and Lionel Penrose, later popularized by M.C. Escher's drawings/paintings, the ones that impossibly loop around going up or down forever. An endless cycle, like going back to the ship, forever.
@@CicadaWave Hahah, that's what makes it exciting and a rounder experience. Your review taught me so much about other references, now I'm seeking out a copy of The King in Yellow.
Penrose is also a Nobel-winning physicist famous for his work on black holes. Which means the name of the ship is probably ALSO a reference to the movie Event Horizon
One little correction I want to add is that it's heavily implied that Ariane never read the classified letter about Elster's triggers and how to avoid them, since she wasn't interested in Penrose mission, instead pursuing it as a chance to escape Rotfront and be left alone. Even in her early diary entries she doesn't speak much of Elster until hundreds of days in when isolation starts to set in.
Maybe I wasn't particularly clear in my script but I do say it's unopened and "Whether Ariane would have heeded this warning had she read it is unknown" but that might be on me for not making it clear lmao That was why I described it as one of the most tragic notes in the game, the fact that it was on board the ship and Ariane mentions that she had tons of documents that she didn't want to bother reading because they were boring technical things, means that she had no idea that she was going against every single regulation. Although again, even if she had opened it, I think the two still would have naturally developed a bond
@@CicadaWave I also think most likely her reading that particular instruction wouldn't have changed the outcome much. That's why it's not really that tragic, if you think about it.
I feel like it was almost an experiment. A military one. They knew Ariane wasn’t gonna read the documents or follow protocol. Kinda like the whole Yorha thing in Nier: Automata.
The letter was sealed during the flashback, but there were still thousands of cycles to come. She probably would have read it at some point... otherwise she's a uniquely incurious person/partner.
I'm dismally late to this conversation, but just had the pleasure of playing the game all the way through the artifact ending. There's a very interesting note (I think in the pareiodolia room) that explicitly states that persona degradation of Replikas isn't a dangerous thing. It just makes them unproductive, like gestalts, and therefore they should be "decommissioned". This implies that by Ariane ignoring the rules about the things that "degrade the persona" of LSTR the Replika, she became Elster the person. Every time Elster reinstalled her previous memories via her corpse and via Falke, she was reinforcing that identity over and over again. Eusan had no idea what they were doing when they pulled LSTRs out of Elster's original corpse. The unstoppable force of a person in love who is willing to break anything and everything, even reality itself, just to dance with Ariane again. I'm not crying, you're crying.
I've also wondered why the references don't feel forced. My best guess is most of Signalis's references are chosen with storytelling purpose rather than for nostalgia's sake. Evangelion is referenced when we learn the characters identities are flowing together, as happens during third impact. Elster ripping her own arms apart demonstrates the character's determination while highlighting how uncomfortably inhuman she is, just like the Major in Ghost In The Shell. If the player sees the similarity to Silent Hill 2 in starting the scene staring in a bathroom mirror, they may understand she is looking for someone she cares about to an obsessive degree. The references feel less like individual homages and more like carefully selected images from a pallet that are being woven into a collage. Put another way, does knowledge of the references make it easier to understand the story? I think they do. If they didn't, the shear quantity in Signalis would feel forced and distracting.
I think you hit the nail on the end, reading other people's comments and thinking since this video came out, I definitely think purpose is important. All of the references hold some symbolic importance, and knowing them helps you understand the world and story, but you don't need them to enjoy it
I think the way they flow with the story also makes it clear that the developers adore everything they reference, and it's not just a cheap wink and nod to the audience.
@@icwells Right, It feels like a little love letter to their inspirations while driving forward with their vision. Looking back there are a ton of references to Thunderbird in Evangelion. The video " Gerry Anderson influences in Hideaki Anno's Evangelion" has a few examples. It is a fun find if you know but, the story doesn't rely on the viewer to know it.
It's very much like those referenced media themselves also used references to other things too, like Lovecraft, David Lynch, old movies and books and other games, really every classic story didn't pop outta nowhere either, they all have inspirations and references of their own that are so well implemented that those who don't look for them might not even notice
I felt the game itself was ironically a commentary on the irony of repetition and the replication of things of value to the point of debasement and destruction. The intense amount of nods was not only intentional but necessary to imply the cyclic nature of our own existence and the universe as a whole.
The name of mine in the game - Sierpinski, in a way supports that. You can look up the Sierpinski triangle, it is a shape that keeps repeating itself and recreating it’s own pattern.
I thought it was a smart way to implicate the audience/player in what is going on. It's not just a comment on how video games make you redo segments over and over until you can only solve them because you already know them. I think it has wider applications to pop culture. You become invested in memories and emotions that aren't your own, and that are multiplied endlessly within everyone invested in the genre or franchise, and the endless references or "homages" trigger these alien memories you have just like the alien memories implanted in the replikas.
It's interesting that the promise ending was sort of a bootstrap paradox since we never actually know how Elster got the armor to begin with other than taking it from a dead Elster.
Absolutely, that's something I wanted to touch on but again, there's so much in this game that it's almost impossible to cover everything lmao My main reason for the "Even the promise ending doesn't escape the loop" interpretation is because of the armour, but even that doesn't explain how she got the armour in the first place I think one note describes how the Elster units can be customised for combat so I suppose one of the previous Elsters just stumbled upon the armour in some other area? Either way, it just adds to the layers of the timeline being unbelievably confusing at points
And not just the armor - the arm too. Just like the armor, one of the arms travels in a loop, constantly getting taken from the dead elster near the pod.
@@CicadaWave It's Ariane's fever dream that is warping reality. So she just remember some elster with armor and repeating it without really knowing why.
There is only heartbreak at the end. So don't end. I think that's what the artifact ending is. Not actually ending, but perhaps transitioning to a new state. One where Ariane is not dreaming alone any more, and Elster is with her. Still perpetuating the cycle? Or maybe a different cycle? Perhaps they are trapped in eternity together, now. Perhaps that's better than reaching an end.
I like to believe that the promise ending is actually an end to the loop, for the fact that it's the only ending that doesn't display the "Remember our promise" text, along with the fact that the timer finally reaches zero. It's the also the only "ending" that actually has any finality to it. Very good video though, lots of things I would've never known without this.
There's no really ending to the loop, since it's all one big bioresonance dream. Elster still slowly expiring in Ariane's chamber and Ariane still slowly dying from the radiation sickness in the cryo pod. All they have left is the same dreams of Ariane constructed from her memories and fears. And the best thing they can do is to venture to the dream of their happy times together, like they do in the last ending.
Signalis gives you a lot of information but doesn't tell you what to do with it. You're deliberately denied a straight answer at every turn and are instead left with only implication. We can argue back and forth all day about which ending is the true ending but the devs even deliberately shied away from that too. To paraphrase a post on reddit, it's much more interesting and fruitful to take the information the game gives you and ask questions of them: what does it mean if keeping the promise breaks the cycle? What does that mean for the story at large? Will the wounds left in the fabric of reality heal now that Ariane is at peace? In my personal opinion, I think letting Ariane's tortured soul finally get some rest gives me the most closure. If the space lesbians can't be happy, then at least we can grant them peace.
@@Gizbornch about that I think that in reality isn't a Ferber dream but a reality distortion because the biotesonace, the eye in the sky was the ariane eye, and the artifact end was the only where alder don't stop or harm her. And every end was a Cicle that keeps alternating reality. I have a thing that what if the artifact end was in reality a contain for of this bioresonace problem, like the only option to preventing the spreading( contaminating units trying to make her promise ) giving what she want, an eternal dance with her, Soo no more androids searching for her so no more cicles or more contamination it's say that the the bioresonace it's a thing that the y don't even understand Or maybe this means that the Cicle it's remaining but again this ending you don't fight falken or alder Soo
Signalis raises major questions about the concept of self and the value of self and identity, so much so that I wonder if it isn't the central theme. A government that is trying to flatten individuality, playing a replika so similar to thousands of others like her that the player couldn't really know if she was replaced with another, and a curse that seems to mix together the flesh and memories of everyone it affects. I think that's the real meaning of the Ritual ending. Joining Ariane in a collective consciousness, after finally understanding that's where she is and it's the only way to really still be with her.
Yes this was my feeling as well. In what way is the "infection" in the game similar to the memetic ways by which we all come to understand ourselves and derive purpose? How do you reconcile the collective existence of humanity with the inherently individual/isolated experience of being? How do we cope with knowing that this experience inevitably ends for all of us? Do we all become a mass of flesh or does the dark sea take us?
The "This space left empty" and "Violent scene missing" cards, alongside a handful of other details, are references to the Monogatari series by NISIOISN, a favorite anime of mine about trauma, saving yourself, and the supernatural.
An idea I'm seeing passed around is how the memories of love in the other replikas being a love for and from someone else; a sort of impossible love. That, too, is from The King in Yellow, from the story "The Demoiselle d'Ys". A love across time, yet fated to be impossible. It isn't as horrifying as the first few stories in the book, but it's horror comes in a different form. A love unrequited.
One of my favorite little details that you could easily miss is the explanation for the cassette futurism. Basically bio-resonance is so powerful and capable that it has led to stagnation in other fields. I mean it lets them create human-like robots, artificial gravity, space travel, and terraforming. It's basically magic to them, especially as they don't understand it that much. The note also is afraid of this as only some people posses the power and that it could undo the "revolution" and "equality" they've been creating only to end up like the Empire they fought against. There is an irony to a socialist/communist regime where quite literally some people are more equal than others and depending on those people to function.
There's some slight comedy to the situation of Elster's Gestalt being Lilith Itou. Assuming she's the mother of the twins, it means Arianne technically gets with her friends' mom's robot and might not really know it. Considering Lilith's memories were at the forefront when Elster was with Arianne, it also makes Arianne's resemblance to Alina Seo a curious detail. Maybe Lilith and Alina were an item? Or maybe Lilith never made a move due to Eusan societal pressures. Either way, Elster being with Arianne must feel like adream come true for Lilith, which fits the theme of the game quite a bit, I think. To answer your question on the abundance of references, I don't think there's a hard rule for it. It completely depends on the intent you feel and the tact of the creator making the reference. Signalis gets away with it because the game itself is not only a love letter, but it's doing it's own thing and it's doing it well. Bonus detail I noticed and haven't seen any discussion on: On Rotfront, there's the butterfly room that introduces the word Pareidolia. It's such an interesting concept to drop on you at the end of this cerebral dream-state game. The idea that sometimes things look like they have correlation, make a shape, or have a face when they really don't and it's just the human desire to connect patterns. It calls so many things in the lore into question that were already confusing. The resemblance between Alina Seo, Arianne, and Falk had me losing hairs but at the end of the day I think that's all it is, a resemblance. The game is taking advantage of your pattern recognition to make you feel as confused as Elster while enhancing this "dream feel". There might be more there but I'm convinced that the theme of cycles is holding hands with a theme of Pareidolia. Of course a good bit of the lore is still worth looking into, it's just that the concept of false affiliations is worth considering. Another bonus after all that, after the fake out ending and "something's changed" moment, you wake up at the "beginning" of Sierpenski again. But this time, the room is filled with butterflies.
Well there's sort of a reason for the resemblance since both Ariane and Falke are bioresonants while with Alina Seo it's implied in Ariane's medical file that she wasn't actually born with white hair.
Lilith falling in love with Alina and then Elster falling in love with Ariana just deepens the repetition metaphor. Lilith and Alina were in a war it's very possible that a sad story happened between them too
*SPOILERS BELOW* It should also be mentioned that in order to solve one of the puzzles, you look to the portrait that says pareidolia and proceed to have your mind blown. In the room with the pareidolia painting of the butterflies, there is also a safe which needs a 4 letter combination. You're probably like me going "Huh, it's probably one of the nicknames for the androids" and proceed to try them all to no avail after seeing the painting. Out of frustration, you head back over to the painting named "pareidolia" (because the solution to puzzles are usually nearby) and then you start to see... patterns. In the wings of the butterflies which curiously look like letters. My approximate reaction when I figured this out was "WHAT THE FUCK", especially when it *actually worked.*
I recently completed this game myself, and was immeasurably confused by it. I didn't actually pick up on many of the references sprinkled throughout; I was unaware The King in Yellow was an actual book, for example. What I will say is had the references not been pointed out, I don't think I would have connected the dots myself even if I had seen the material being referenced. Everything felt like it belonged in that game, and it seemed only to heighten my sense of confusion. I came away after accidentally getting the Promise ending crying, unexpectedly. Despite not really having been able to parse much of what was going on from a story perspective, it still hit me really hard. I watched the remaining three endings, and I had only one theory. SPOILERS FROM HERE ON Given how unreal the game is, how there are so many things that don't make any logical sense at all - such as receiving a radio from a flashback, or a key item from a video tape - and the general dream-like quality of it all, I'm tending toward believing that most endings are the result of dreams. Heavy, stress-ridden, guilt-burdened dreams of Elster, going through the stages of grief from losing Ariane. Punishing herself subconsciously both for being too scared to fulfil her promise, and for actually doing it. On the other hand though, bioresonance was spoken of as if it were genuine magic, capable of altering the very fabric of reality. Perhaps, after being put into cryo sleep, everything we experience as Elster really is happening because of Ariane. That the elevator shaft filled with bodies of previous Elsters was 100% real, that there were thousands of attempts from Elster to do what would likely be the single hardest possible thing to do; kill the love of her life. Perhaps made even harder by the possibility her Gestalt pattern loved a woman incredibly similar to Ariane. The Promise and Lily endings I think are the most intriguing, but the Leave ending to me seems the most likely to be unaltered reality. It's the only ending that doesn't involve some grotesque imagery of some kind, it lacks any of the black pillars, the sky is clear and filled with stars, with dawn seemingly edging near, and the landscape is an earthy grey, rather than angry red. Elster isn't in the white armour that she had been wearing, anymore, and in fact doesn't show any signs of damage beyond a bleeding right eye. She climbs out of the Penrose, apologizing silently for having to leave Ariane behind. She climbs down the other side to which we always see her climb up - which to me solidifies it being reality more than anything else; sort of like Cobb's children in Inception turning to show him their faces at the end - and she collapses a short while after she walks away from the ship. So, with all that taken in, I come away thinking that every ending is meant to be taken in a series. Memory, Promise, Leave, Lily. My interpretation is that Ariane's mind started to deteriorate after coming in and out of cryo, giving her moments of clarity and moments where she couldn't remember anything. In one rare moment of clarity after awakening from cryo, is when she asks Elster to fulfil their promise now, while she's still aware enough to know it's what she wants. Elster obliges, finally working up the courage to do what was asked, but rather than laying down and dying next to Ariane, she leaves the Penrose, unable to stand being in it anymore. Lily I think has to be placed last, because when faced with loss often the last thing we do is visit a grave with flowers, and the lily symbolizes this more than any other flower. I think the grave and grotesque scene, but unblemished lily and strange but beautiful object, are representative of Elster finally managing to move on. The horror of the scene representing her grief and sorrow, the lily representing her acceptance, and the glimmering object in the centre of it all representing the start of her own healing. All other Elsters could represent times she tried to force herself to move on, and failed. Overall the game is a real head scratcher, and I'm sure there are so many holes in my theory, but it's the one I like to believe.
i think the reason the referances will never feel tedious in signalis is because all of them are used to great effect. They feet the theme and feeling and world so well that if you didnt know the reference it would not feel even slightly out of place.
I think my favorite part of the game is the repetition that ties the overlapping plots together such as the number 512 being repeated in safe combinations, ship numbers, and etc. honestly it added to the experience by adding an extra layer of horror through lack of change, like how in every day life the more you see, hear, or smell something you become used to it and begin to no longer notice it. So seeing stuff like that really shows that the personality of elester bleeds through every personilty she takes over which i find really really cool.
I noticed the 512 as well. I think Ariane and elster are just cooking up dreams heavily influenced by their isolated life in the ship. The game is insane with references and themes. I'd like to see another retelling of this game or a new entry. Please!
If you read the book, “The King in Yellow” and replay the game you can notice how almost every moment in the game also replicates something from the book with each character representing something from the book as well, such as adler representing castaigne’s wish to be the king yet its impossible because his cousin or in this case Elster exists. Other similarities such as the white lily and all that add an extra depth to the game that makes it so replayable. Its definitely my game of the year regardless of what anyone says.
Another potential reference or homage is likely the name of the planet where this mining colony is located, Leng. Leng, or the Plateau of Leng is a location mentioned a few times in Lovecraftian literature and is described as "a cold arid plateau whose location seems to vary entirely according to different accounts. Abdul Alhazred (author of the Necronomicon in the Lovecraft universe) describes it as a place where different realities converge". Given the way Ariane's Bioresonance has merged together the world and peoples and memories of herself and Elster, it's a potential connection adding more touches of that eldritch horror like the King in Yellow.
signalis is the reason why i have started working on my current project. i love the story of signalis. it never had a good ending and i love that. its so depressing and beautifull.
It’s always really awesome when you see a passion project like Signalis come out, all the carefully crafted gameplay decisions, obtuse storytelling, and complete love letter to its inspirations. You really feel the heart and soul put in by the devs and it’s games like this that really inspire me to fully realize the dream game I’ll hopefully make one day Either way thanks for making this video, it deserves a whole lot more views and praying it’ll convince more people to pick up the game, much love 🙏
It's the kind of thing you can't see from larger studios, even a lot of AA ones. There's too many "risks" and choices that just are hard to get even a small group to agree. When it's just a duo you might both "get it" so to speak.
Admittedly I didn't catch close to as many of the references as you did. But I do think that it works with Signalis because the game has its own very clear, very strong identity, and having a ton of references to other media is very on-theme for Signalis: the characters feel like they're living someone else's life and remembering things they never experienced. You the player feel like you're seeing events from other pieces of media, but they're being played out by "the wrong characters," who themselves describe feeling like someone else in the wrong body. It all feeds into the sense of deja vu from which the game gets its eerie vibe.
To echo other comment's sentiments, Signalis is a good example of the difference between adding references to other works for the sole sake of nostalgia, versus adding references in a creative and thoughtful way by having them interweave with the game's overall plot and story. Therefore- less of a reference, more of a respectful homage. Less of a copy, and more of an inspiration.
The secret ending, I think, is another reference, specifically to Simoun, a yuri(lily!) anime, which also ends with two lesbian lovers doing an eternal dance together as a form of escape from the regimes waging a totalitarian war until collapse. There, too, it's debatable if they even truly escaped or just died (the difference is something only the two characters would be able to even perceive).
I'm surprised to see so few mentions of all the Alien references. Most of the game's environments look like the interior of the Nostromo, even down to the inclusion of the inexplicable Purina pet food logo on the walls, the UI and sound effects for pretty much all the technology and the entire concept of androids becoming unstable and dangerous are shared with the Alien/Aliens universe. One could even argue the Penrose, as the source of the infection, is at least vaguely similar to the "Space Jockey" vessel on LV-426 that served as the source of the xenomorph infection. The nations in Signalis also bear a striking resemblance to the corporations like Weyland-Yutani in how they operate and treat their people as expendable. Also: I'm not sure if it was intentional, but the part of the mines that were made out of the black stone pillars really reminded me of the Black Rock Quarry threshold in Control.
That's very true! Honestly, the main reason I didn't gravitate towards them is that despite adoring Alien and Aliens, my knowledge of the other movies and extended lore isn't very strong, so I tended to notice the things I do know more about like Silent Hill and Evangelion. I would love to see someone who knows more about Alien than me talk about it though because you're right, there are 100% similarities there
@@1020justukas that's interesting. What gave you that inclination? I finished the game confused by the story, which I think is ok actually but I took to UA-cam for answers.
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before, but there seemed to be a lot of Nier: Automata references as well. The Replika/Gestalt terminology/concept, the scene where she rips the arm off of another unit to replace her own, the fake out ending, the final scene where she oddly choses choking as her euthanasia method. Just one of the possible inspirations that I don't see people discussing as much.
im too young to have experienced all of the references SIGNALIS made throughout the game, so when multiple reviews mentioned the myriad of them i was quite surprised. i think the game did its inspirations justice, they always fit in well.
I also caught most homages as well. I felt the uses of them were impactful in a good sense. Catching the references made the story and emotional beast click for me. The Eva refence was a smoking gun for me regarding the mystery of the story and found its use very pleasing. As for why they don't feel forced its because there integration is smooth and doesn't brake the flow for a cheep gag but elevates the story, scene, or moment.
15:04 the kanji behind Elster's name is 鵲 - 'magpie' (of course). But the kanji behind Ariane Yeong is 楊 - 'willow.' And that's weird, because Yeong is a Korean name, and 楊 in Korean is "Yang" instead of "Yeong." But 楊 is also a Chinese name. In fact, it's the name of Yang Liwei - the solo-pilot of the PRC's first manned space flight. Is that a reference?
Huh I didn’t catch that part! Though one thing I did notice was that all the Replikas names are of birds. I wonder if that has to do with the whole bio resonance being described as the song the universe sings or something.
My interpretation of the game is at it follows: although the last order for Ariane's expedition was to commit suicide, Ariane decided to disregard this order and to head back home anyway. Redirecting her ship to Rotfront, she ordered Elster to put her inside the cryopod but stay awake in case the ship goes FUBAR and needs to get euthanized. The whole plan went to hell: When the ship started to fell apart, Elster was unable or unwilling (On one part, Elster was nearing the end of her life cycle; on the other, The manual is just so adamant to not get close to her that she may not had the will to fulfill the promise then, either way this is why you find a dead Elster on the room beside the cryochamber) to euthanize Ariane; and to insult to injury the ship crashed into Leng instead of Rotfront. Perhaps it was the ship that they dug out in the mines. At some point, be it on the way back or after crashing, Arianes becomes conscious again. With the reactor breaking down she waited for her dead to come, unknown to her Elster has perished. Furthermore, she was unable to die thanks to the life extensión system of the chamber. She suffered an unknown amount of time, until the ship was either dug out or crash landed into Leng. Once in Leng, she started the time loop in an effort to get free from this hell. Mind you, this is not a proper time loop as Adler thinks, otherwise there wouldn't a copius amount of Elsters in the elevator to cushion the fall nor would have Adler realized through his very own journal entries that he is relieving the same day over and over again. As such, this is only a loop for the replicants, but not for Ariane or the rest of the world. Bioresonansce enabled her to manipulate the replicants into living the same day over and over again, to upload Original's Elster memory into newer Elsters, to mind rape Falke by trying to hijack her and even to manipulate reality. This explain the last level Rotfront and Nowhere. As said before, the whole game happens in Leng, the Rotfront level is merely a reminiscence that she has of the place. Nowhere, on the other hand, is a reflection of the tribulations she is suffering. The red landscape we see in the endings is also an attempt in creating Rotfront, which seems to be a giant red planet. As such in this interpretation, Ariane do die in the promise ending and the lilly ending is, indeed, a happy ending. Again, this is my personal take on the game. I want a escape for our characters, for a kafkaesque nightmare is the worst type of hell.
am glad someone has a largely similar take too me. Although for me I would add that I don't think Ariane intentionally did the semi time loop I think in her lucid dreaming slumber of suffering, her nightmares bleed into the real world and altered reality itself due to her biorecanhance abilities. Which from what I though was heavily implied to basically be something like the force "the song of the universe as it were that some people could conduct".
Agree! Some people believe that everything is just inside the dream of Ariane, but that makes no sense when we try to explain why this dream has so many details about Rot-front and Leng. I think everything, or, most part of the story takes place in the real world.
I don't think Arianne did anything to change course on the Penrose when she was near the end. Rations were low, and the ship was actively falling apart. The radiation gave Arianne cancer and Elster died before se could fulfill her promise to Arianne. She likely was unstable because Arianne never read the manual about Elster's Gestalt life (I believe this is a facet or red herring as to why we are looking for Alina Seo, while coincidentally Elster's Gestalt life was Alina's comrade, Lilith) causing Elster to destabilize and be unable to fulfill her promise to Arianne before the radiation killed Elster. Arianne was loosing teeth, hair, bleeding, and was weak from the cancer that had developed. She climbed into cryo hoping it would do something to alleviate her pain, but instead she was stuck in limbo. Not really alive, but unable to die in the pod due to life support. I believe I this time, Arianne's bioresonant powers kicked in, and essentially made a recreation of what she thought Sirpenski should be. A Sirpenski that constantly loops until Elster can fulfill her promise to kill Arianne. She was never really there, that's why Adler says "It's like all the pieces are put together by someone who doesn't know how it works." This version of Adler knows reality is twisted and knows of Elster becauseof his diary. He can't remeber any of the loops, but his diaries he has wrote about Elster, and knows she will desteoy the dream world effectively ending the consciousness of anyone in the dream. In this dream world, Falke came in contact with Arianne or something from her manifestations in this dream world and was flooded with Elster's memories. That's when the cancerous sickness that prevents the Replikas from dying takes hold. It's the same suffering Arianne is living.
Finally someone talking about the fact that the planet changes. I did the artifact ending yesterday and damn... Those Planet changes were really suspect to me
Btw, your Interpretation of Nowhere is amazing. There are some notes there that agree with you. They say that it was like an hell and the only escape was death
In our opinion, the reason Signalis's homages don't feel forced is because of their integrity to the game itself. The game wears its inspirations on its sleeve, it doesn't try to hide or hint at their existence. It is the sum of its parts and more, rather than only parts of its parts and less.
I also noticed all the references you mentioned on my first playthrough (being a fan of all the aforementioned media), and I pretty much felt the exact same way you described. My best theory as to why it didn't bother me that much was because Signalis already has such a strong and unique atmosphere, story and lore that it isn't weighed down by these homages. Not to say that the game is completely novel, it's some amalgamation of cosmic horror, ps1-era survival horror, Ridley Scott, Carpenter, Lynch, various anime, cold war-era/eastern bloc imagery & probably some sci-fi literature I'm unware of. Building a story out of those influences and then ultimately making it a Sapphic romance is kind of masterclass though IMO.
Honestly i wanna applaud this video on two fronts: one being the fact that i absolutely adore a smaller creator taking a crack at a fucking brilliant game that's mostly gone under the radar and been living in my head for over a month absolutely rent free; two being that you weren't afraid to address the one glaring possible flaw with the game-- that being it's slavish devotion to its references. The amount of time you spent breaking down the usage of those references and trying to critique that usage gave a really nice tonal balance to the entire video that added a lot, and i specifically liked your lack of hesitance when it came to recognizing how split you were about the myriad references. Aces stuff, for sure.
I think part of the reason all the homages don't feel forced is that they're not really there to make you go "oh, neat reference" but very purposeful. It's like someone who looked at what a shot from a movie actually was *doing* and then replicating it rather than replicating it to be a sendup. It's not until you stare intently at it you're starting to see the building blocks of references, experiencing the gestaltzerfall of the game. The other part is that once you get down to Kapitel 3 and start to see how the earlier sections are comprised of Ariane's life experiences remixed into, it feels natural to have remixed references to our pop culture strewn everywhere.
I feel like the Lily ending does point toward a happy ending, at least relatively speaking considering the circumstances. The presence of multiple Elsters at the site seems like whatever the ritual is it's tackling the cyclical loop of the hell they're in directly, I've seen the artifact being described as a tesseract, the symbol of the game in general and also the thing that appears on Ariane's safe in her room, and further calls the loop into question. The Lily ending is the only ending where the Red Eye is directly visible, combined with the revelation quotes giving it a religious tone. And finally Elster and Ariane are seen dancing again, not as flashback but in their current incarnation. It's all very vague, but it's clear to me that this ending is accomplishing what Falke had thought impossible, and that is restoring a happy moment between the two, and it's also the only ending that can possibly break the loop with the powers that evokes in its imagery. I feel like they either accept their death and go out in peace, or they keep on living in the bioresonant dream as ghosts, and in that case it makes sense Elster dies because. It's really the only interpretation I can come up with honestly. I've tried because I was scared this was another heartbreaker indeed, but the more I've thought about it and the more I find it hard to see how the ending would suggest toward something negative happening.
Your question on the homage and why I think it is ok with Signalis: Why it is ok, for me at least 1. It is transformative, sure, the references are blatant, but they are not just hey look at thing it's from that thing, it serves a clear meaning within the world and story of signalis, it is not just a reference for the sake of a reference. It is like a Rap song sampling an old jazz hit, and transforming its meaning completely with the rap itself. 2. The references feel personal and intimate, they're not there because it's a greedy corporation out to bank on your nostalgia, it's a labor of love from 2 people, made by fans, for fans if you will. There is a sort of personal connection you feel with the creators, it is not different to you meeting a person at a bar or party only to discover you both share an immense passion for an anime, game or a band or music group. 3. I just haven't played a survival horror game in such a long fuking time that I basically used the reference as sustenence, this one is just a pure ME thing but goshdarn it if you trudge through a desert an oasis will feel great even if water is something others may take for granted or take it as mundane.
I think the least most recognizable reference is the art style of the replikants. They're major references to the artstyle of Nihei Tsutomu's BLAME! manga (and the Netflix anime movie) series. The style of the feet, the long slender frame, and the half-robotic/cybernetic half-biological human style reminds me of Cibo's design. BLAME! also has the concept of an almost never ending journey through an almost alien landscape, uncontrolled structural growths, and malignant creatures.
That moment you realize that Ariane has crimson eyes and Falke is eerily similar looking to Ariane. Honestly the only thing I can't connect at all is if every ELSTER unit uses the memories from Ariane's Elster then they must've recovered the Penrose meaning that they likely also recovered Ariane. Why is the cycle continuing then? they'd likely open up her pod and free her from the cycle. I've two theories. 1. We are in Hell. 2. The Penrose is what they found in the mines. And Falke demanded to examine the pod making her "sick" and restricting access to the Penrose. Now why would they use Ariane's Elster as their base template for future ELSTER units is beyond me.
Generally with how callous the regime is to the life of the pilots sent out they might not have retrieved the pod at all as the mission was in the 3k cycles correspondence, a failure. Taking the Elster for its intrinsic value of having the best back up of the gestalt pattern and leaving someone they wilfully sent out to die. Not saying this is absolutely how it went of course, its vague for a reason, but if the regime did take the Elster unit and leave the pod, it makes sense why all future ones want to return to the ship, because they want to fulfill the promise. As for using that Elster unit presumably because it was the oldest, 5k + cycles of use means it could in theory be one of the oldest ones they have, and not knowing it formed an attachment to a pilot until it was way too late, or just not caring at all, thus the protocols to not give them attention or form bonds.
Its actually explained in a note you can find why they used the Ariane's Elster as the template - apparently the archive that held the original Elster template was destroyed when there was an incident in the facility that holds all of the Replika templates. The note states that they then had to used "a decommissoned penrose mission unit" instead. Of course, Ariane's Elster being on a penrose mission, heavily implying it was her they used.
Honestly, I stick for the theory that all game is one bioresonance dream of slowly dying Ariane shared with expiring Elster. Snow white world is matching the color of her hair with radiation warning monuments in the distance symbols of her radiation sickness. Mines is the place she would've been sent to had she not found a job in the military. And next comes her hometown. Well, I'm not master of the explanation but it's the theory that makes most of the sense especially with the secret ending.
@@Gizbornch Yep, the more I think about the story in Signalis as a whole, the more this theory makes sense. All the characters like Falke, Adler and Isa represent some part of Elster's fragmented dying mind which is basically invaded by this shared dream with Ariane through Ariane's unconscious bioresonance powers and their strong connection or part of Ariane's dying mind herself, since she's "the dreamer", the unconscious demiurge or god of this shared nightmare, so to speak. The only 2 characters that's real are Ariane and Elster and Elster is the main focus of the story because of the unfulfilled promise, something her dying mind obsessed with. Something she should have done but didn't, so she is compelled to go through these loops over and over again until one of them finally dies.
It's implied that Eusan went so hard on the bioresonance and replikas that they just let other technology fall by the wayside, I always loved the retrofuture aesthetic
My GOTY for 2022. With regards to the story I really can't add anything since you definitely know more than me. I've only done one playthrough. But I love how ambiguous the story is. Having few answers makes the story so haunting.
I think your theory of Lilith being elsters original neural pattern fits the story really well. Alina was to lilith what Ariana was to elster. The unit being prone to geshalt memories resurfacing and the similarities between alina and Ariana made the lines between them blur in elsters mind. In the end she was just looking for her lover. Lilith losing Alina and not being able to fullfil a promise also makes sense considering they were at war when the photo was taken. Many tragic things can happen in the frontlines.
That line you quote in the description... It's so powerful, but so is the sound design and scene compilation - it all is so masterfully executed to create a point as sharp as a knife, one that cuts deep to your core to be sure it's message infects you. A Medium has not been able to seen such sharp chills down my spine but on a few rare occasions, to the point that I still remember every one. It was at that moment that I knew this game was going to be something special.
I think the red eye is Ariane playing the observer/host of the world/memories that was combined with falkes since both the red eye and falke are considered "godly." But reason I give Ariane the title of host as well is because she is the central connection to everything and if she were to stop observing as the "red eye", the cycle could end.
I had to double and then triple check that this was the real Suzi, thank you so much for watching and leaving a comment! Love your videos by the way, I'm a little starstruck lmao
It's so cool that this game draws insperation from the King In Yellow. I love that anthology so much, I own multiple copies (including the one you have displayed in the video) and even did a rewrite of the mask set in modern day around 2 women in a relationship. I'm also currently working on a similar rewrite of The Demoiselle D'ys (tied with the mask for my favorite story in the book), and already wrote a story loosely inspired by it as well that is part of an anthology I'm working on.
I really like the way Signalis depicted totalitarian society. From posters on the walls and ridiculous amount of paperwork to attemps to standardize its people and create instructions for using them like tools, Eusan nation looks grotesque yet eerily realistic and believable.
you know, I love lore and plot, so I fine combed the notes and here are something I notice: Alina and Elster's gestalt were in service in Empire war. Then one of them use the artifact (fake ending, maybe it is the Gestalt memory resurfaced), maybe to save the other, maybe this was the making of Elster replika. After that Aline and Elster unit was working on Leng mining, where Ariane was born before going to Rotfront. Finally, Ariane went to space from there. The player is Elter-512 from Penrose 512, Ariane ship. But the oddest thing is Falke unit seem to merge with player Elster, not Ariane, and the artifact safe in Ariane room, which is 2 rooms away from Falke boss room. >The following is purely theory and interpretation: The "memory" end (short playtime) vs "promise" end (long play time) ("leave" doesn't have direct opposing requirement in comparision to others) give me an idea: Elster is going back in time by sending her memory to previous Replika version. With shorter playtime, we have Ariane who had waiting so long, she forgot Elster. And the opposite for the long playtime. Which raise the question how did Elster do it, without Ariane power? Bring us to the artifact. Ariane may be the bioresonant source, but Elster was the one with the artifact power all along. Thanks to which that Elster can save, load and insert herself into Elster units. But with Falke who is also a bioresonant, Falke involuntary merged with Elster 512 in the process. Even Alina on Leng is merging to Ariane picture. It was Elster who is corrupting everything the closer she is to the artifact. >lore interpretation: From the game play wise, I can say the "promise" end happened first. Because on first playthrough, you will kill, take damage and spend lot of time to explore the game. Then the later on 2nd and 3rd times your skill is enough to shorten the time play (the only way to increase "memory" requirement value) and explore more of the npcs you missed, checking secret door (increasing "leave" requirement). "Artifact" ending requires you to get AT LEAST ONE ENDING first. But "artifact" end is also what make the game start in the first place, looping everything once again for a moment of eternity. We are playing the game with a backward timeline, a mobius strip that converge at the artifact, as Elster 512.
Having just finished Signalis it really came across to me that Promise was the canon ending to break the cycle. While all the others are just different time loops/cycles. With that, picking the armor and the arm off of the Elster unit seems to be from a cycle that ended with the memory ending and not the promise, where the Elster gets there and then dies. But that’s all my opinion on the way the events play out. I will also say that I may be partially biased on my opinion because the way the “cycles”. We’re kind of explained in game makes it feel like that of 13 sentinels, where that is also a time loop, but the cannon ending is the characters breaking free of the loop. And having played that about a year ago, my mind jumped to that sort of conclusion. Regardless, great video!
this is something that I can't confirm personally, but did read that the promise ending is also the only ending that DOES NOT include the words "wake up" after all, the reason why we wake up is to fulfill our promise. and with our promise fulfilled. we have no reason to wake up. to exist, you could say. because the elster that promised it, is technically already dead.
One fun half-baked theory is that like in Monogatari, we're experiencing the story through Elster's unreliable perspective. Ever since she perceived herself as failing to keep her promise, the moment before her own death was stretched into thousands--the time loop simply being her own subconscious punishing her for eternity, reliving the trauma and making rationalizations for everything that's happened. Which would be similar to Silent Hill 2 where James is punishing himself for his own failure (no spoilers for that). Although that would trivialize the whole game and its by-and-large a "just a dream" theory, its still a fun one.
You've done an excellent job, not only in compiling in-game infos but above all in understanding the story and universe of Signalis. I read everything and finished the game 3 times but it was still cryptic at the end
Thank you so much for putting this together. I just finished the game today and I came out completely baffled and absolutely amazed at what was accomplished with this game. Your account and general thought-patterns around SIGNALIS is fantastic and I couldn't be happier to have found this video. Thanks so much!
One of my favourite tiny details in signalis was that when you wake up after the false ending you can still use your radio. If you look through the channels it tells you to wake up. The feeling of dread i got when i realised it wasnt over? Unparralled
I feel like the massive amount of references fits this game more than any other. Specifically because of the game's meditations on memories. References can be seen as a transplanting of memories in a narrative sense, and so the game itself is composed of original memories and memories that don't belong
really great video! i find with games like this where the story/lore is a bit of a "puzzle box", people can get too caught up on "solving" it in an "ending explained" way that misses forest for the trees. the way you teased out the references/allusions and mapped out some of the "literal" plot of the game while still focusing on the thematic & emotional core of the game was really excellent
Loved this. One (to me) very obvious reference is that replicants refer to Bladerunner, even down to the giving them implanted memories thing. I recognised the 'images flashing inside a characters outline' from Serial Experiments Lain, but I now saw it was also in Evangelion. One thing you did not really talk about is the meaning of the actual hexagonal logo / symbol. It's on the wall of the final puzzle (not counting the safe), and shows up when you hit Falke with a spear. With a bit of imagination, it also resembles the Lily ending with the pillars, boxes and the 'nut' in the center. You could also say the the references act as 'signal boosters' for the story :).
this is perhaps the first game i’ve played which is so loaded with metaphorical imagery, meaning beyond the surface and genuinely important and profound messages, all the while still being an amazing game mechanically this video felt like reading an academic essay, and although I often am incredibly bored doing that, here it felt fantastic to listen to
This is the exact kind of introspective look/analysis I always crave after finishing a game I really enjoyed. Thank you for making this + instant subscribe fr
Best video I've seen on this game yet. Deep and thorough! I have hope there are things we are still yet to learn about the story, still so many mysteries! Would love more in this universe
I found a lot of welcome humor in the references. The narrative of this game being so rich to the point of being oppressive at times earns some moments of levity that I, personally, found in these overt references.
What an excellenent and well thought out video! I beat this game on release day and got the promise ending. I just spent 1.5 days getting the other endings and I think it's the best game that's come out in a long time. That's coming from someone who doesn't even particularly like survival horror games. I have a slightly different interpretation about some details which ultimately don't matter but I find interesting still: I don't think Falke went into the mines to get sick, I think she went outside because Penrose-512 crashlanded on Leng. When Ariane and Elster realized their fate, they made a plan and a promise. The plan was for Ariane to get into cryo due to her rapidly deteriorating health and for Elster to steer the ship towards Leng and keep it going until they land. There they could get help. The promise was that if at any point during the trip to Leng, it becomes apparent that either Elster is about to die or the ship won't make it, Elster will wake Ariane up so they can spend their last moments together and to probably euthanize Ariane who was extremely sick due to radiation poisioning caused by the reactor coolant leaks. Anyway P-512 crashlands on Leng and Falke goes to investigate. Ariane and Falke are both bioresonant and at least Falke is so strong that she can manipulate reality. The bioresonance causes Ariane's, Elster's, and Falke's identities and memories to mix. I think the "red eye" is a manifestation of Ariane dreaming and being extremely bioresonant and either she or Falke (in her confusion) manifest that dream into reality, or its simply a corrupted memory/poetic metaphor of the red eyed Ariane. I also think the first scene on the Penrose when Elster wakes up is actually Falke who believes herself to be Elster. We know Elster is dead and sure, she could maybe be resurrected by the bioresonant storm going on but I doubt it. After the player enters the bizarre hole in the ground into Ariene's room, whoever the character is can't really describe the items beyond a surface level description. Later near the end, when you enter the same room as Elster, the descriptions are more detailed. Elster knows about Ariane Yeong's radio, her books, the pictures of the painting, even the closet but Falke doesn't, she can only describe what she sees. Falke, who know believes she's Elster, picks up the King in Yellow and reads some passages from it (Ariane has also read or skimmed through at least hence why the book is there in the first place. The Itou bookshop had it for a while, she mentions this in one of the notes on Penrose). The content of the book gets mixed with the confusion of memories, mixed identities, and rampant self-amplifying bioresonant feedback loops. All of this with Falke's (and possibly Ariane's) insane reality manipulation powers creates a perfect mixture where reality itself starts to corrupt around them. That's how P-512 also sort of ends up in the mine and why some characters iirc believe that Falke got sick in the mines. It doesn't happen instantly though, Falke is first "just ill" and Elster's actual body is transported to the inner colony somewhere because the original neural pattern (Lilith Itou's imho as well) has been destroyed. Also Adler figures out what's going on bc he's been writing in the Shrine diary. Falke could also just be the "patient zero" of an insanely bioresonant Ariane who's dreams twist reality without Falke's help. Maybe that interpretation is wrong and I missed some deets, jumped to conclusions and so on (arguably it's even up to the player to decide) but of course none of this really matters, the themes and the broad strokes are the same despite the interpretation of the plot. But I think some interpretation along these lines nicely explains how P-512 got on Leng, what the conncetion is between Falke, Ariane, Elster, and the corruption.
I still remember seeing the document about Falke and felt instantly intimidated, a god-like Replika that's considered the strongest and I became very cautious when in Falkes room out of fear of her suddenly getting up and attacking
I recognized almost none of the homages or references. I've never played a Silent Hill or Resident Evil game (I've watched let's players play a couple of the newer Resident Evils but not the originals), I tried to watch Evangelion but didn't like it, I hadn't heard of The Festival or The King in Yellow. I assumed that all of the homages and text were original to the game. Learning that isn't the case, I don't feel cheapened at all. I appreciate it more now, knowing where the references come from, their significance in pop culture, and how they add to Signalas. Thank you for explaining them. Signalas may be the first survival horror game of this kind I've personally played. I watched a youtuber play an hour of it, but I didn't wait for the next video, so I got it for myself. I'm very glad I did that.
I have to say thank you for tying up loose ends for us all. The game’s ending left me wanting to shed a tear, but my racing brain prevented it. Which made me end up at your video. Great, thoroughly explained analysis of a wonderfully somber experience of a game. Cheers!
Great video man. Enjoyed the literary analysis you put into it. Truly a fascinating story and you helped me unravel some things and clear other things up. Love the shelf in the background too, a lot of cool stuff back there :p
My opinions on the overt references is that just like everything else in the game, their inclusion is by design, to give you that deja-vu feeling, even from a meta player level, because every reference makes perfect sense without context, but if you’re familiar with the originals, you get even more of that “have i done this before?” Uncanny feeling
And there he is, my diehard survival horror guru himself avalanche reviews in the flesh! Broski for what it's worth I bookmarked your review for this a few weeks ago and held out for my favorite let's player to play it, but after it didn't happen I said alright let's go and I started with your signalis video, read for hours various signalis discussions, and now find myself here on this video. Good stuff man lol
I just wanted to mention a point that I personally think you glossed over which could use more thought/have large implications/complications. You mention that the Elster we play is likely based off of the neural patterns of the Elster that was recovered from the Penrose program and not the original neural pattern that was lost. This assumption makes sense. You then appear to make the assumption that the Elster unit recovered from a Penrose mission refers to the Elster on the Penrose with Ariane, however. While I agree that that is likely what the devs tried to insinuate with that note, I think that there are actual issues with that assumption that require more thought. First of all, while an assumption that the recovered Elster unit was the Elster from Ariane's Penrose (Penrose-512) would coincide with the vivid memories of Ariane, it's important to note that other, non-Elster units also began to form similar visions/memories every since Falke returned from the mines and that we ourselves as the first Elster we play don't start to have them until visiting Sierpinski. Secondly, while the note references a recovered Elster unit from the Penrose program specifically, the Penrose-512 was not the only Penrose mission, nor the only Penrose mission to contain an LSTR unit. To the contrary - LSTR units were standard for each Penrose mission of which there were many. LSTR units had only two use cases - orbital ship maintenance and Penrose ship maintenance. They were ship technicians after all. We know from documents found later in the game that the ship Ariane and Elster were on was essentially catapulted out of the solar system so how would the nation of Eusan recover the Elster unit from Ariane's ship? Even if they did somehow find her ship and recover the Elster unit, wouldn't they also recover her? Also, in the PROMISE and MEMORY endings we find the original Elster unit that was with Ariane on the Penrose-512 dead in a room adjacent to Ariane's cryopod suggesting it died sometime after putting her into what was meant to be permanent cryostasis. It had clearly not been recovered. All of this is to question whether the game is *actually* referring to the Elster on Ariane's ship as the Penrose program Elster that was recovered. You're clearly led to believing so but evidence throughout the game suggests otherwise.
Where Signalis succeeds as a medium is through its usage of homages as media language without feeling like it’s being derivative, because it’s using the homages to communicate the same feelings that they did in their original work
That pose you find the Elster in to take the armor from is also the same position Elstet dies in in the Memory ending, if I recall correctly. It could be that Elster rather than the one from the Promise ending.
This is a fantastic breakdown. Truthfully, I was one of those people who caught very few of the references since I'd never seen Evangelion or Ghost in the Shell, nor had I played any previous survival horror games like RE or Silent Hill (aside from SOMA and Darkwood, which do have some light similarities to Signalis from a worldbuilding and gameplay perspective). I didn't even know The King in Yellow was a real book. Perhaps the only reference I did pick up was the "Alien" movie-looking technology and sci-fi approach. Overall I really enjoyed the game just for its vibes and visuals (and, in my opinion, very fun puzzles), though I can definitely see how not picking up on the references made a lot of the scenes go right over my head. As for the story, one thing that I did try to piece together was the events that tore apart S-23 Sierpinski, and put shortly, I think it was exposure to radiation. I forget exactly where, but I believe at some point in the "Nowhere" segment, after having gone down very deep into the mines, there is a faded exerpt of the "Long-term nuclear waste warning message" developed for the Waste Isolation Pilot Project, which was meant to be the U.S.'s long-term nuclear waste storage. Basically the "nothing valued is here...dangerous and repulsive...message is a warning...danger is still here...to the body" message is a warning about nuclear waste storage. While I can't explain what caused the mining crew to suddenly start digging rapidly downward in the form of a vertical shaft, I think once they did get down there, the MYNA units became thoroughly exposed to radiation without realizing it. The Eusan Nation, being as protective of information as it is, clearly designed MYNA units to be resistant to radiation, but that doesn't mean they'd be aware of what it was if they encountered it. The irradiated MYNA units then went back up the elevator and that's why the human crew started dying off rapidly and the fleshy bits of the replikas started to become damaged as well. Under this interpretation, I also considered that an Elster unit may have been sent into the mines to try and figure out what was causing everyone to become sick and die, and then Elster herself became irradiated and started dying, living out her life's memories as they slowly become corrupted by the red flesh appearing everywhere as her mind begins to degrade. It could also explain the....I don't know what they're called but the armless enemies with long noses (I call them "droop snoots")--i.e. that they're not actually made that way but that their faces have become so sick and deformed from the radiation that Elster's mind is psychologically trying to block it out and not see their faces directly. [Unfortunately, I have no idea under this theory as to why Rotfront would also be susceptible to the red flesh appearing or the droop snoot enemies being present, since it would then beg that the Elster unit dying in the mines at S-23 is remembering the life of an older, military-grade Elster unit who worked on Rotfront, unless they are somehow the same unit or transferred memories between them?] Signalis is definitely my game of the year though. Everything about it was so cool and such an amazing experience even if I barely understood any of what was actually going on. I think my one and only issue with it is that, being a bit more of a 'casual' gamer, I find it a little sad that getting the other endings is such a complex and non-intuitive process, with very little in-game direction about there even being other endings. Not that I would've really been able to make sense of the other endings anyways, but still a bit sad that I will probably be unable to see them for myself.
To build on @woodenwaste's great points: I think the references in SIGNALIS work so well because each referential scene is used *for the same narrative purpose as in the original work*. Signalis doesn't use iits references as just aesthetic decoration. It first and foremost tells a powerful story, and uses (in my opinion very well-chosen and tasteful) references to earlier works within that story to add color and context.
This video essay was phenomenal. I came here trying to fill in some gaps in information and walked away with a much more enriched understanding of the title's plot. Thank you, my fried. I'll be sending you an e-mail soon.
I think the key to making good homages and references is how you can fit them in your story. Anyone can add a scene or line that paralels one from another medium. The important part is making that homage fit in. Signalis does this perfectly because the homages fit the story and even if you are not aware what they are referencing they still retain their impact. The impact of the homage doesn't come from itself but rather how it's used.
My main thoughts on the "when do homages become too much" is if the media feels like it isn't inspired by whatever homage it is trying to use, and is instead just trying to point out a reference to something. I caught a lot of the references in Signalis, but the game does a good job of making the world and story and characters feel inspired enough on their own merits. A lot of the direct references like Evangelion and Ghost in the Shell feel less like, "Remember this one scene????" and more of an inspired use of those visuals to further a narrative that is compelling on its own rights. The line is still blurry, but a soulless work is easily distinguishable from a soulful one, and I think a lot of it has to do with that kind of distinction.
I was very confused by all of the details and contradictions SIGNALIS gave me by the end of the story, but I think what's so great about the game is that they presented all of these non-sensical and dreamlike moments in a way that makes Elster's love for Ariane unavoidably clear. Even with a complete ignorance to all the references to other media or an inability to connect the many dots you come across, the horrible feeling that comes with realizing how great her devotion is and how futile her efforts are puts a pit in your stomach. I don't know if I can bring myself to touch this game for the next few years. It made me feel horrible. 10/10
Other commenters have mentioned some of the fractal geometry references in Signalis-- there's more! It's a full motif. (Ergocomix, AdmiralBazooka, and Kreygasmed covered some of this) The school the player explores in first-person view (where we see Ariane bullied) is Mandelbrot Polytechnische Oberschule -- Mandelbrot is the creator of perhaps the most famous fractal of all, the Mandelbrot Set. Penrose- In addition to the Penrose 512 ship being shaped like the Penrose Steps, the Penrose Program uses a Penrose Triangle as its logo. In addition, I could swear I've seen the other impossible shapes that are associated with the various doors in Nowhere as Penrose Shapes, but now that I'm trying to check myself, I can't find anything to confirm this. Sierpinski - unsurprisingly, we see the Triforce-like arrangment of Sierpinski Triangles on a number of the S-23 Sierpinski facility's designs, plus sometimes on Elster's UI. The common theme here is fractals -- endlessly repeating patterns where every piece is a perfect microcosm of the whole. That concept seems very tied to Signalis in general -- in the repetition of people and situations across generations, in the repetition of Replikas, and in the cycle of Elsters endlessly seeking to fulfill their promise. There was a hidden fourth circle on the Venn diagram of Signalis's schools of references!
Holy lord. I'm going to be honest. My journey with this game started when I was going to at first play The Witcher 3, in which I just couldn't get in. I decided that I want some "small" games for in between. Well, now here I'm, quite shocked at how much depth this game provides. It has fully fullfilled my Outer Wilds itch and let's me for sake even question my gaming attitude. Sadly, I must say that I didn't really took your word too serious with "must play through it", because i only had one playthrough before watching your analysis, but it shouldn't hinder my future enjoyment as I will definitely replay this beauty sometimes in the future.
The arm scene is almost 1 for 1 from the OG Ghost in the Shell scene when the Major tries to rip open the hatch on the spider tank, but mirrored. The gameplay is more inspired by Silent Hill 2, and the inventory reminds me more of Haydee than Resident Evil Remake.
I believe the Red Eye is mentioned as being an anticyclonic storm on the planet Rotfront orbits, leading me to believe it is a moon of Jupiter. Doesn't narrow down which of the 80 it is, but it does tell us we're still in the Sol system, and that some other named planets may also be familiar.
I found the homages to build a sense of nostalgia and given the whole memory theme of the game I think it’s masterfully done. It’s like I’m reliving old memories but not quite
I'm leaving a comment now as I start watching this video, to please the algorithm and try to tell youtube that your content is really, really good. You deserve more attention, absolutely I'll leave another comment when I've finished the video
Beautiful video. I've been putting off binging a bunch of story material on Signalis, but I found some time to put this on today and it was fantastic. Thank you for your work.
I think the most interesting thing that happened to me when playing signalis was when I learned more about how bio resonance works in the second half of the game and it's like... Wait wait wait..... These aren't really robots huh? They're a hell of a lot more squishy and biological than we thought. That fucked with me
Considering the Eva references I think something similar is going on here. Where they're less robots with organic components and more like living things being held back by cybernetic implants.
For me it was reading the note which described the virus breaking out. Reading that not only did the virus infect both Gestalts and Replikas, implying a shockingly similar biological build, but a note even details the symptoms that a Replika showed after infection. Headaches, fevers and even... throwing up? That implied that replikas have regular stomachs which are capable of reacting to biological infections. I think that detail, as well as Elster describing The King in Yellow as an "ancient tome" really do a lot to suggest just how far into the future the game is set. Possibly thousands of years.
@@Crylyte I dont think it was thousand of years into the future but "long long ago in a galaxy far far away" with some similar cultural touchstone to ours like the king in yellow. The futuristic world there still use win98 and ancient radio equipments. The replikant are squishy beat inside a metal shell instead of full robo suggesting they are not capable of making these despite the enourmous needs for labors and canon fodders. Most of the technology dont suggest sophisticated computation. It's an universe that diverge significant in technological development to ours.
@@Crylyte Yeah they are either not our own (like the human in star wars) or has developed technologically very differently for some reason (like human in dune)
I think an influence that isn't as obvious in the art direction is Fear Effect series and only because that series is obscure now. The pixel art style, targeting reticle, and movement all remind me of Fear Effect.
I came to this video with the question you wind up asking in it, which I really appreciate. The weird thing about Signalis is that it borrows liberally, even excessively from other forms of media. But it also has this magnificent world building and identity all its own. The basic setting, characters, and conflict, all stand on their own and feel solid. Which makes the weird references it keeps dropping feel completely unnecessary. They made a good thing and shouldn't need to lean on anything else. So it leaves a lot of the back half of the game in a very gray area for me. Like, its core is so solid that the constant references just feel like window dressing rather than a detriment. At the same time, I would have eased off on them a little if I were making this game.
This game is the only game in a very very long time to make me actually smile as I played it, my favorite horror game of all time, and it has my favorite soundtrack of any game I've played. I loved this game and I love this video :)
ok here's my take: signalis deals with the horror of memory, specifically the experience of memory that is not one's own. elster and falke both lose themselves in elster's promise and the promises of her past lives - elster journeys through a labyrinth of buried, foreign memories, a maze of other people. the continous sampling and quotation and reference to other works sort of allows the player to experience a labyrinth of memory alongside her, if that makes sense. there's so much in signalis that is what it looks like but is also something else buried somewhere in your sense memory
Okay, so if you're reading this, thank you so much for taking the time to watch my video and head to the comments. This video recently surpassed 10k views in less than two weeks which is insane for a channel of my size, and I can't think of any video I would rather it be than this one. I absolutely loved writing and making it, and while there are things I would have loved to talk more about, I'm still very happy with how it turned out.
If you've left a comment in the last week and I haven't replied it's simply because I'm extremely busy with life stuff and trying to get my next video started, and there's just so many to sift through and reply to, so I promise I will get to them eventually.
Some very quick things that I wish I had gotten to talk more about/people have mentioned in the comments:
- Despite being a massive Nier head, I never even mentioned the similarities there (Gestalts and Replicants which are essentially human fleshy robots just like the Replikas in Signalis)
- The entire Adler and Falke story line, which I only really mention in passing, mainly because I was focusing on Elster and Ariane
- The Penrose, and other artistic references in the game (The main reason I didn't cover these is because it would have taken a ton more research on something I'm not very well versed in, so I'd rather see someone who knows way more about art talk about it than me reading Wikipedia lmao)
There's tons more, and I stand by Signalis being such a complex game that every comment I read I learn something new. So yeah, thank you so much for clicking on a video by a relatively small channel like mine, and if you subscribed then please look forward to more videos like this in the future
Great video! About the NieR similarities, i think that it goes even beyond project Gestalt, specially if we consider Automata.(NIER SPOILERS AHEAD) The way of storytelling, the characters being trapped in a cycle of suffering(2b and 9s), they(YorHa) being considered disposable, with two people who want to be together but with lives predestined to end tragically, 9s asking 2b to promise to kill him(in Memory Thorn), etc.
The red eye is a reference to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter
Thank you for making a great video of this underrated gem!! I have subscribed to your channel.
What did you mean by Asian names? Aside from the Gestalt Isa, all Replika names are German names for birds (not that kind of Ara ;))
I think the main tragedy is that of the Falke commander. Imagine, your mind being invaded by memories of a love you can never experience again, and in actual fact, never experienced in the first place. You are stuck loving someone that never even loved you, only another whose memories you cruelly posses. It would drive someone utterly insane. Imagine you suddenly awoke and had memories of another family, another spouse, another child, who you loved as much as anyone - only they are dead and gone, and you can never get back to them, and even if you could... they wouldn't even love you, because you are not the originator of those memories.
Now it's been a while, but I think I remember an old creepy pasta where a man was unconscious or in a coma, and while in that state he lived out a whole second life in his mind, he grew up, went to school, lost people, married, had kids, ect. It was indistinguishable from reality. But one day he's hanging out with his son, and he notices this lampshade that is 2d. And then as starts looking closer at everything, it just looks wrong. His wife and child aren't "real". He starts to notice everything is uncannily off, and he starts freaking out, and then wakes up in the real world out of a coma, where he has a different wife and different friends, ect. Basically ends with the man getting extremely depressed about the life he lost because they were real to him, and he actually mourns his other family and friends. I'm not sure if it's real, the story definitely framed itself as real when I read it, but you can maybe find it if you look hard enough. Just what I thought of reading this.
There is kinda chines anime about that, detectives where one of them can go back In time into someone else's body feel their emotion but even tho he knows who the murder is he can't act on it, he supposed to only be witness
@@thundergunner4284 That's not a creepy pasta that's from some guy on r/askreddit who said that actually happened to him.
I guess everyone who ever loved someone who didn't love them back can relate to this really shitty feeling. That's why it's so impactful in the story. The game is a-ma-zing! It has so much in-depth stuff: psychology, tarot, spirituality, dreams, space travel/colonization, 1984 style orwellian dystopia, identity (crisis), memories, entropy, nightmares, dehumanization... It's not just a survival horror game, it's a survival horror masterpiece!
@@thelegendofner0 what is love? Baby Don't hurt me
Another reference is the name of the ship, the "Penrose" which relates to the "Penrose Stairs", created by Roger and Lionel Penrose, later popularized by M.C. Escher's drawings/paintings, the ones that impossibly loop around going up or down forever.
An endless cycle, like going back to the ship, forever.
I swear to God, every day someone tells me something else about this game that I didn't know lmao
That is very cool
@@CicadaWave Hahah, that's what makes it exciting and a rounder experience. Your review taught me so much about other references, now I'm seeking out a copy of The King in Yellow.
Penrose is also a Nobel-winning physicist famous for his work on black holes.
Which means the name of the ship is probably ALSO a reference to the movie Event Horizon
There's also Penrose Tiling which is a pattern that can be infinitely generated but never repeats exactly
Sierpinski could also be a reference to the Sierpinski Triangles which are infinitely repeating fractal triangles
One little correction I want to add is that it's heavily implied that Ariane never read the classified letter about Elster's triggers and how to avoid them, since she wasn't interested in Penrose mission, instead pursuing it as a chance to escape Rotfront and be left alone. Even in her early diary entries she doesn't speak much of Elster until hundreds of days in when isolation starts to set in.
Maybe I wasn't particularly clear in my script but I do say it's unopened and "Whether Ariane would have heeded this warning had she read it is unknown" but that might be on me for not making it clear lmao
That was why I described it as one of the most tragic notes in the game, the fact that it was on board the ship and Ariane mentions that she had tons of documents that she didn't want to bother reading because they were boring technical things, means that she had no idea that she was going against every single regulation. Although again, even if she had opened it, I think the two still would have naturally developed a bond
@@CicadaWave I also think most likely her reading that particular instruction wouldn't have changed the outcome much. That's why it's not really that tragic, if you think about it.
I feel like it was almost an experiment. A military one. They knew Ariane wasn’t gonna read the documents or follow protocol. Kinda like the whole Yorha thing in Nier: Automata.
The letter was sealed during the flashback, but there were still thousands of cycles to come. She probably would have read it at some point... otherwise she's a uniquely incurious person/partner.
I'm dismally late to this conversation, but just had the pleasure of playing the game all the way through the artifact ending.
There's a very interesting note (I think in the pareiodolia room) that explicitly states that persona degradation of Replikas isn't a dangerous thing. It just makes them unproductive, like gestalts, and therefore they should be "decommissioned".
This implies that by Ariane ignoring the rules about the things that "degrade the persona" of LSTR the Replika, she became Elster the person.
Every time Elster reinstalled her previous memories via her corpse and via Falke, she was reinforcing that identity over and over again.
Eusan had no idea what they were doing when they pulled LSTRs out of Elster's original corpse. The unstoppable force of a person in love who is willing to break anything and everything, even reality itself, just to dance with Ariane again.
I'm not crying, you're crying.
I've also wondered why the references don't feel forced. My best guess is most of Signalis's references are chosen with storytelling purpose rather than for nostalgia's sake. Evangelion is referenced when we learn the characters identities are flowing together, as happens during third impact. Elster ripping her own arms apart demonstrates the character's determination while highlighting how uncomfortably inhuman she is, just like the Major in Ghost In The Shell. If the player sees the similarity to Silent Hill 2 in starting the scene staring in a bathroom mirror, they may understand she is looking for someone she cares about to an obsessive degree. The references feel less like individual homages and more like carefully selected images from a pallet that are being woven into a collage.
Put another way, does knowledge of the references make it easier to understand the story? I think they do. If they didn't, the shear quantity in Signalis would feel forced and distracting.
I think you hit the nail on the end, reading other people's comments and thinking since this video came out, I definitely think purpose is important. All of the references hold some symbolic importance, and knowing them helps you understand the world and story, but you don't need them to enjoy it
I think the way they flow with the story also makes it clear that the developers adore everything they reference, and it's not just a cheap wink and nod to the audience.
@@icwells Right, It feels like a little love letter to their inspirations while driving forward with their vision.
Looking back there are a ton of references to Thunderbird in Evangelion.
The video " Gerry Anderson influences in Hideaki Anno's Evangelion" has a few examples.
It is a fun find if you know but, the story doesn't rely on the viewer to know it.
It's very much like those referenced media themselves also used references to other things too, like Lovecraft, David Lynch, old movies and books and other games, really every classic story didn't pop outta nowhere either, they all have inspirations and references of their own that are so well implemented that those who don't look for them might not even notice
Very well put and interesting perspective. I'm inclined to agree!
I felt the game itself was ironically a commentary on the irony of repetition and the replication of things of value to the point of debasement and destruction. The intense amount of nods was not only intentional but necessary to imply the cyclic nature of our own existence and the universe as a whole.
The name of mine in the game - Sierpinski, in a way supports that. You can look up the Sierpinski triangle, it is a shape that keeps repeating itself and recreating it’s own pattern.
I thought it was a smart way to implicate the audience/player in what is going on. It's not just a comment on how video games make you redo segments over and over until you can only solve them because you already know them. I think it has wider applications to pop culture. You become invested in memories and emotions that aren't your own, and that are multiplied endlessly within everyone invested in the genre or franchise, and the endless references or "homages" trigger these alien memories you have just like the alien memories implanted in the replikas.
It's interesting that the promise ending was sort of a bootstrap paradox since we never actually know how Elster got the armor to begin with other than taking it from a dead Elster.
Absolutely, that's something I wanted to touch on but again, there's so much in this game that it's almost impossible to cover everything lmao
My main reason for the "Even the promise ending doesn't escape the loop" interpretation is because of the armour, but even that doesn't explain how she got the armour in the first place
I think one note describes how the Elster units can be customised for combat so I suppose one of the previous Elsters just stumbled upon the armour in some other area? Either way, it just adds to the layers of the timeline being unbelievably confusing at points
And not just the armor - the arm too. Just like the armor, one of the arms travels in a loop, constantly getting taken from the dead elster near the pod.
@@M1ndblast This is a metaphor. Something about how we use one hand repeatedly to do something futile.
@@enniusdrusus867
Is it?
@@CicadaWave It's Ariane's fever dream that is warping reality. So she just remember some elster with armor and repeating it without really knowing why.
Seriously, I hope we get to see more of this universe from Rose-engine in the future.
I hope we get to see more of anything from rose-engine in the future. What a talented duo capable of such a complex and thought provoking experience
There is only heartbreak at the end.
So don't end.
I think that's what the artifact ending is. Not actually ending, but perhaps transitioning to a new state. One where Ariane is not dreaming alone any more, and Elster is with her. Still perpetuating the cycle? Or maybe a different cycle? Perhaps they are trapped in eternity together, now. Perhaps that's better than reaching an end.
I like to believe that the promise ending is actually an end to the loop, for the fact that it's the only ending that doesn't display the "Remember our promise" text, along with the fact that the timer finally reaches zero. It's the also the only "ending" that actually has any finality to it. Very good video though, lots of things I would've never known without this.
There's no really ending to the loop, since it's all one big bioresonance dream. Elster still slowly expiring in Ariane's chamber and Ariane still slowly dying from the radiation sickness in the cryo pod. All they have left is the same dreams of Ariane constructed from her memories and fears. And the best thing they can do is to venture to the dream of their happy times together, like they do in the last ending.
@@Gizbornch yeah. Sacrifice love and infinty ending is much better Imo. They sharingan that ending to themselves.
The promise ending shows the red background, which is present in all the dream sequences so, no, the loop isn't broken.
Signalis gives you a lot of information but doesn't tell you what to do with it. You're deliberately denied a straight answer at every turn and are instead left with only implication. We can argue back and forth all day about which ending is the true ending but the devs even deliberately shied away from that too.
To paraphrase a post on reddit, it's much more interesting and fruitful to take the information the game gives you and ask questions of them: what does it mean if keeping the promise breaks the cycle? What does that mean for the story at large? Will the wounds left in the fabric of reality heal now that Ariane is at peace?
In my personal opinion, I think letting Ariane's tortured soul finally get some rest gives me the most closure. If the space lesbians can't be happy, then at least we can grant them peace.
@@Gizbornch about that I think that in reality isn't a Ferber dream but a reality distortion because the biotesonace, the eye in the sky was the ariane eye, and the artifact end was the only where alder don't stop or harm her. And every end was a Cicle that keeps alternating reality. I have a thing that what if the artifact end was in reality a contain for of this bioresonace problem, like the only option to preventing the spreading( contaminating units trying to make her promise ) giving what she want, an eternal dance with her, Soo no more androids searching for her so no more cicles or more contamination it's say that the the bioresonace it's a thing that the y don't even understand
Or maybe this means that the Cicle it's remaining but again this ending you don't fight falken or alder Soo
Signalis raises major questions about the concept of self and the value of self and identity, so much so that I wonder if it isn't the central theme. A government that is trying to flatten individuality, playing a replika so similar to thousands of others like her that the player couldn't really know if she was replaced with another, and a curse that seems to mix together the flesh and memories of everyone it affects.
I think that's the real meaning of the Ritual ending. Joining Ariane in a collective consciousness, after finally understanding that's where she is and it's the only way to really still be with her.
Yes this was my feeling as well. In what way is the "infection" in the game similar to the memetic ways by which we all come to understand ourselves and derive purpose? How do you reconcile the collective existence of humanity with the inherently individual/isolated experience of being? How do we cope with knowing that this experience inevitably ends for all of us? Do we all become a mass of flesh or does the dark sea take us?
The "This space left empty" and "Violent scene missing" cards, alongside a handful of other details, are references to the Monogatari series by NISIOISN, a favorite anime of mine about trauma, saving yourself, and the supernatural.
And toothbrushes
And also the reason I was able to figure out how “Eule” is pronounced (EULR = Euler like the mathematician I think, so Eule is pronounced “oil”)
Fantastic series that deserves more attention.
@@gary4014 No, it's pronounced like you wod pronounce it in german. The Replika models are all named after different birds.
@@gary4014 Nope, it's all German bird names. Eule (owl) is pronounced oil-eh.
This is the definitive signalis video. I couldn’t sleep after beating the game and this helped connect a lot of dots
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! I'm glad that I helped clear things up for you
SAME!
An idea I'm seeing passed around is how the memories of love in the other replikas being a love for and from someone else; a sort of impossible love. That, too, is from The King in Yellow, from the story "The Demoiselle d'Ys". A love across time, yet fated to be impossible. It isn't as horrifying as the first few stories in the book, but it's horror comes in a different form.
A love unrequited.
One of my favorite little details that you could easily miss is the explanation for the cassette futurism. Basically bio-resonance is so powerful and capable that it has led to stagnation in other fields. I mean it lets them create human-like robots, artificial gravity, space travel, and terraforming. It's basically magic to them, especially as they don't understand it that much. The note also is afraid of this as only some people posses the power and that it could undo the "revolution" and "equality" they've been creating only to end up like the Empire they fought against. There is an irony to a socialist/communist regime where quite literally some people are more equal than others and depending on those people to function.
There's some slight comedy to the situation of Elster's Gestalt being Lilith Itou. Assuming she's the mother of the twins, it means Arianne technically gets with her friends' mom's robot and might not really know it. Considering Lilith's memories were at the forefront when Elster was with Arianne, it also makes Arianne's resemblance to Alina Seo a curious detail. Maybe Lilith and Alina were an item? Or maybe Lilith never made a move due to Eusan societal pressures. Either way, Elster being with Arianne must feel like adream come true for Lilith, which fits the theme of the game quite a bit, I think.
To answer your question on the abundance of references, I don't think there's a hard rule for it. It completely depends on the intent you feel and the tact of the creator making the reference. Signalis gets away with it because the game itself is not only a love letter, but it's doing it's own thing and it's doing it well.
Bonus detail I noticed and haven't seen any discussion on:
On Rotfront, there's the butterfly room that introduces the word Pareidolia. It's such an interesting concept to drop on you at the end of this cerebral dream-state game. The idea that sometimes things look like they have correlation, make a shape, or have a face when they really don't and it's just the human desire to connect patterns. It calls so many things in the lore into question that were already confusing. The resemblance between Alina Seo, Arianne, and Falk had me losing hairs but at the end of the day I think that's all it is, a resemblance. The game is taking advantage of your pattern recognition to make you feel as confused as Elster while enhancing this "dream feel". There might be more there but I'm convinced that the theme of cycles is holding hands with a theme of Pareidolia. Of course a good bit of the lore is still worth looking into, it's just that the concept of false affiliations is worth considering.
Another bonus after all that, after the fake out ending and "something's changed" moment, you wake up at the "beginning" of Sierpenski again. But this time, the room is filled with butterflies.
Great comment 👍 this game is seriously living in my head rent free
Well there's sort of a reason for the resemblance since both Ariane and Falke are bioresonants while with Alina Seo it's implied in Ariane's medical file that she wasn't actually born with white hair.
damn, nice catch
Lilith falling in love with Alina and then Elster falling in love with Ariana just deepens the repetition metaphor.
Lilith and Alina were in a war it's very possible that a sad story happened between them too
*SPOILERS BELOW*
It should also be mentioned that in order to solve one of the puzzles, you look to the portrait that says pareidolia and proceed to have your mind blown.
In the room with the pareidolia painting of the butterflies, there is also a safe which needs a 4 letter combination. You're probably like me going "Huh, it's probably one of the nicknames for the androids" and proceed to try them all to no avail after seeing the painting.
Out of frustration, you head back over to the painting named "pareidolia" (because the solution to puzzles are usually nearby) and then you start to see... patterns. In the wings of the butterflies which curiously look like letters. My approximate reaction when I figured this out was "WHAT THE FUCK", especially when it *actually worked.*
I recently completed this game myself, and was immeasurably confused by it. I didn't actually pick up on many of the references sprinkled throughout; I was unaware The King in Yellow was an actual book, for example. What I will say is had the references not been pointed out, I don't think I would have connected the dots myself even if I had seen the material being referenced. Everything felt like it belonged in that game, and it seemed only to heighten my sense of confusion.
I came away after accidentally getting the Promise ending crying, unexpectedly. Despite not really having been able to parse much of what was going on from a story perspective, it still hit me really hard. I watched the remaining three endings, and I had only one theory.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON
Given how unreal the game is, how there are so many things that don't make any logical sense at all - such as receiving a radio from a flashback, or a key item from a video tape - and the general dream-like quality of it all, I'm tending toward believing that most endings are the result of dreams. Heavy, stress-ridden, guilt-burdened dreams of Elster, going through the stages of grief from losing Ariane. Punishing herself subconsciously both for being too scared to fulfil her promise, and for actually doing it.
On the other hand though, bioresonance was spoken of as if it were genuine magic, capable of altering the very fabric of reality. Perhaps, after being put into cryo sleep, everything we experience as Elster really is happening because of Ariane. That the elevator shaft filled with bodies of previous Elsters was 100% real, that there were thousands of attempts from Elster to do what would likely be the single hardest possible thing to do; kill the love of her life. Perhaps made even harder by the possibility her Gestalt pattern loved a woman incredibly similar to Ariane.
The Promise and Lily endings I think are the most intriguing, but the Leave ending to me seems the most likely to be unaltered reality. It's the only ending that doesn't involve some grotesque imagery of some kind, it lacks any of the black pillars, the sky is clear and filled with stars, with dawn seemingly edging near, and the landscape is an earthy grey, rather than angry red. Elster isn't in the white armour that she had been wearing, anymore, and in fact doesn't show any signs of damage beyond a bleeding right eye. She climbs out of the Penrose, apologizing silently for having to leave Ariane behind. She climbs down the other side to which we always see her climb up - which to me solidifies it being reality more than anything else; sort of like Cobb's children in Inception turning to show him their faces at the end - and she collapses a short while after she walks away from the ship.
So, with all that taken in, I come away thinking that every ending is meant to be taken in a series. Memory, Promise, Leave, Lily. My interpretation is that Ariane's mind started to deteriorate after coming in and out of cryo, giving her moments of clarity and moments where she couldn't remember anything. In one rare moment of clarity after awakening from cryo, is when she asks Elster to fulfil their promise now, while she's still aware enough to know it's what she wants. Elster obliges, finally working up the courage to do what was asked, but rather than laying down and dying next to Ariane, she leaves the Penrose, unable to stand being in it anymore. Lily I think has to be placed last, because when faced with loss often the last thing we do is visit a grave with flowers, and the lily symbolizes this more than any other flower. I think the grave and grotesque scene, but unblemished lily and strange but beautiful object, are representative of Elster finally managing to move on. The horror of the scene representing her grief and sorrow, the lily representing her acceptance, and the glimmering object in the centre of it all representing the start of her own healing. All other Elsters could represent times she tried to force herself to move on, and failed.
Overall the game is a real head scratcher, and I'm sure there are so many holes in my theory, but it's the one I like to believe.
i think the reason the referances will never feel tedious in signalis is because all of them are used to great effect. They feet the theme and feeling and world so well that if you didnt know the reference it would not feel even slightly out of place.
I think my favorite part of the game is the repetition that ties the overlapping plots together such as the number 512 being repeated in safe combinations, ship numbers, and etc. honestly it added to the experience by adding an extra layer of horror through lack of change, like how in every day life the more you see, hear, or smell something you become used to it and begin to no longer notice it. So seeing stuff like that really shows that the personality of elester bleeds through every personilty she takes over which i find really really cool.
I noticed the 512 as well. I think Ariane and elster are just cooking up dreams heavily influenced by their isolated life in the ship.
The game is insane with references and themes.
I'd like to see another retelling of this game or a new entry. Please!
If you read the book, “The King in Yellow” and replay the game you can notice how almost every moment in the game also replicates something from the book with each character representing something from the book as well, such as adler representing castaigne’s wish to be the king yet its impossible because his cousin or in this case Elster exists. Other similarities such as the white lily and all that add an extra depth to the game that makes it so replayable. Its definitely my game of the year regardless of what anyone says.
This repetition of the number 512 is also a reference to Jungian Synchronicity, which is also the name of the first chapter
Another potential reference or homage is likely the name of the planet where this mining colony is located, Leng. Leng, or the Plateau of Leng is a location mentioned a few times in Lovecraftian literature and is described as "a cold arid plateau whose location seems to vary entirely according to different accounts. Abdul Alhazred (author of the Necronomicon in the Lovecraft universe) describes it as a place where different realities converge". Given the way Ariane's Bioresonance has merged together the world and peoples and memories of herself and Elster, it's a potential connection adding more touches of that eldritch horror like the King in Yellow.
signalis is the reason why i have started working on my current project. i love the story of signalis. it never had a good ending and i love that. its so depressing and beautifull.
Same here it helped motivate me to start actually world building a idea I had for a series or comic
It’s always really awesome when you see a passion project like Signalis come out, all the carefully crafted gameplay decisions, obtuse storytelling, and complete love letter to its inspirations. You really feel the heart and soul put in by the devs and it’s games like this that really inspire me to fully realize the dream game I’ll hopefully make one day
Either way thanks for making this video, it deserves a whole lot more views and praying it’ll convince more people to pick up the game, much love 🙏
You're absolutely correct, it has so much heart and soul put into it, you can feel it from the second you start it
Thanks for your kind words!
i agree. There will always be developers who will value their art above making as much money as possible (microtransactions)
It's the kind of thing you can't see from larger studios, even a lot of AA ones. There's too many "risks" and choices that just are hard to get even a small group to agree. When it's just a duo you might both "get it" so to speak.
Admittedly I didn't catch close to as many of the references as you did. But I do think that it works with Signalis because the game has its own very clear, very strong identity, and having a ton of references to other media is very on-theme for Signalis: the characters feel like they're living someone else's life and remembering things they never experienced. You the player feel like you're seeing events from other pieces of media, but they're being played out by "the wrong characters," who themselves describe feeling like someone else in the wrong body. It all feeds into the sense of deja vu from which the game gets its eerie vibe.
To echo other comment's sentiments, Signalis is a good example of the difference between adding references to other works for the sole sake of nostalgia, versus adding references in a creative and thoughtful way by having them interweave with the game's overall plot and story.
Therefore- less of a reference, more of a respectful homage. Less of a copy, and more of an inspiration.
The secret ending, I think, is another reference, specifically to Simoun, a yuri(lily!) anime, which also ends with two lesbian lovers doing an eternal dance together as a form of escape from the regimes waging a totalitarian war until collapse.
There, too, it's debatable if they even truly escaped or just died (the difference is something only the two characters would be able to even perceive).
I'm surprised to see so few mentions of all the Alien references. Most of the game's environments look like the interior of the Nostromo, even down to the inclusion of the inexplicable Purina pet food logo on the walls, the UI and sound effects for pretty much all the technology and the entire concept of androids becoming unstable and dangerous are shared with the Alien/Aliens universe. One could even argue the Penrose, as the source of the infection, is at least vaguely similar to the "Space Jockey" vessel on LV-426 that served as the source of the xenomorph infection. The nations in Signalis also bear a striking resemblance to the corporations like Weyland-Yutani in how they operate and treat their people as expendable.
Also: I'm not sure if it was intentional, but the part of the mines that were made out of the black stone pillars really reminded me of the Black Rock Quarry threshold in Control.
That's very true! Honestly, the main reason I didn't gravitate towards them is that despite adoring Alien and Aliens, my knowledge of the other movies and extended lore isn't very strong, so I tended to notice the things I do know more about like Silent Hill and Evangelion. I would love to see someone who knows more about Alien than me talk about it though because you're right, there are 100% similarities there
Wait, the Penrose was the source of the infection? I missed that.
@@madscientist2621 It's Ariane's dreams that are causing the infection I believe, and she is stil on the penrose.
@@1020justukas that's interesting. What gave you that inclination? I finished the game confused by the story, which I think is ok actually but I took to UA-cam for answers.
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before, but there seemed to be a lot of Nier: Automata references as well. The Replika/Gestalt terminology/concept, the scene where she rips the arm off of another unit to replace her own, the fake out ending, the final scene where she oddly choses choking as her euthanasia method. Just one of the possible inspirations that I don't see people discussing as much.
im too young to have experienced all of the references SIGNALIS made throughout the game, so when multiple reviews mentioned the myriad of them i was quite surprised. i think the game did its inspirations justice, they always fit in well.
I also caught most homages as well. I felt the uses of them were impactful in a good sense. Catching the references made the story and emotional beast click for me. The Eva refence was a smoking gun for me regarding the mystery of the story and found its use very pleasing. As for why they don't feel forced its because there integration is smooth and doesn't brake the flow for a cheep gag but elevates the story, scene, or moment.
15:04 the kanji behind Elster's name is 鵲 - 'magpie' (of course). But the kanji behind Ariane Yeong is 楊 - 'willow.'
And that's weird, because Yeong is a Korean name, and 楊 in Korean is "Yang" instead of "Yeong."
But 楊 is also a Chinese name. In fact, it's the name of Yang Liwei - the solo-pilot of the PRC's first manned space flight.
Is that a reference?
Huh I didn’t catch that part! Though one thing I did notice was that all the Replikas names are of birds. I wonder if that has to do with the whole bio resonance being described as the song the universe sings or something.
This reminded me that "Ariane" is the name of one of (if not the) first french space programs !
My interpretation of the game is at it follows:
although the last order for Ariane's expedition was to commit suicide, Ariane decided to disregard this order and to head back home anyway. Redirecting her ship to Rotfront, she ordered Elster to put her inside the cryopod but stay awake in case the ship goes FUBAR and needs to get euthanized.
The whole plan went to hell: When the ship started to fell apart, Elster was unable or unwilling (On one part, Elster was nearing the end of her life cycle; on the other, The manual is just so adamant to not get close to her that she may not had the will to fulfill the promise then, either way this is why you find a dead Elster on the room beside the cryochamber) to euthanize Ariane; and to insult to injury the ship crashed into Leng instead of Rotfront. Perhaps it was the ship that they dug out in the mines.
At some point, be it on the way back or after crashing, Arianes becomes conscious again. With the reactor breaking down she waited for her dead to come, unknown to her Elster has perished. Furthermore, she was unable to die thanks to the life extensión system of the chamber. She suffered an unknown amount of time, until the ship was either dug out or crash landed into Leng.
Once in Leng, she started the time loop in an effort to get free from this hell. Mind you, this is not a proper time loop as Adler thinks, otherwise there wouldn't a copius amount of Elsters in the elevator to cushion the fall nor would have Adler realized through his very own journal entries that he is relieving the same day over and over again. As such, this is only a loop for the replicants, but not for Ariane or the rest of the world.
Bioresonansce enabled her to manipulate the replicants into living the same day over and over again, to upload Original's Elster memory into newer Elsters, to mind rape Falke by trying to hijack her and even to manipulate reality. This explain the last level Rotfront and Nowhere. As said before, the whole game happens in Leng, the Rotfront level is merely a reminiscence that she has of the place. Nowhere, on the other hand, is a reflection of the tribulations she is suffering. The red landscape we see in the endings is also an attempt in creating Rotfront, which seems to be a giant red planet.
As such in this interpretation, Ariane do die in the promise ending and the lilly ending is, indeed, a happy ending. Again, this is my personal take on the game. I want a escape for our characters, for a kafkaesque nightmare is the worst type of hell.
am glad someone has a largely similar take too me. Although for me I would add that I don't think Ariane intentionally did the semi time loop I think in her lucid dreaming slumber of suffering, her nightmares bleed into the real world and altered reality itself due to her biorecanhance abilities. Which from what I though was heavily implied to basically be something like the force "the song of the universe as it were that some people could conduct".
Agree! Some people believe that everything is just inside the dream of Ariane, but that makes no sense when we try to explain why this dream has so many details about Rot-front and Leng. I think everything, or, most part of the story takes place in the real world.
I don't think Arianne did anything to change course on the Penrose when she was near the end. Rations were low, and the ship was actively falling apart. The radiation gave Arianne cancer and Elster died before se could fulfill her promise to Arianne. She likely was unstable because Arianne never read the manual about Elster's Gestalt life (I believe this is a facet or red herring as to why we are looking for Alina Seo, while coincidentally Elster's Gestalt life was Alina's comrade, Lilith) causing Elster to destabilize and be unable to fulfill her promise to Arianne before the radiation killed Elster. Arianne was loosing teeth, hair, bleeding, and was weak from the cancer that had developed. She climbed into cryo hoping it would do something to alleviate her pain, but instead she was stuck in limbo. Not really alive, but unable to die in the pod due to life support. I believe I this time, Arianne's bioresonant powers kicked in, and essentially made a recreation of what she thought Sirpenski should be. A Sirpenski that constantly loops until Elster can fulfill her promise to kill Arianne. She was never really there, that's why Adler says "It's like all the pieces are put together by someone who doesn't know how it works." This version of Adler knows reality is twisted and knows of Elster becauseof his diary. He can't remeber any of the loops, but his diaries he has wrote about Elster, and knows she will desteoy the dream world effectively ending the consciousness of anyone in the dream. In this dream world, Falke came in contact with Arianne or something from her manifestations in this dream world and was flooded with Elster's memories. That's when the cancerous sickness that prevents the Replikas from dying takes hold. It's the same suffering Arianne is living.
Finally someone talking about the fact that the planet changes. I did the artifact ending yesterday and damn... Those Planet changes were really suspect to me
Btw, your Interpretation of Nowhere is amazing. There are some notes there that agree with you. They say that it was like an hell and the only escape was death
In our opinion, the reason Signalis's homages don't feel forced is because of their integrity to the game itself. The game wears its inspirations on its sleeve, it doesn't try to hide or hint at their existence. It is the sum of its parts and more, rather than only parts of its parts and less.
I also noticed all the references you mentioned on my first playthrough (being a fan of all the aforementioned media), and I pretty much felt the exact same way you described. My best theory as to why it didn't bother me that much was because Signalis already has such a strong and unique atmosphere, story and lore that it isn't weighed down by these homages. Not to say that the game is completely novel, it's some amalgamation of cosmic horror, ps1-era survival horror, Ridley Scott, Carpenter, Lynch, various anime, cold war-era/eastern bloc imagery & probably some sci-fi literature I'm unware of. Building a story out of those influences and then ultimately making it a Sapphic romance is kind of masterclass though IMO.
Oh yeah almost forgot The Shining carpet pattern lol
Honestly i wanna applaud this video on two fronts: one being the fact that i absolutely adore a smaller creator taking a crack at a fucking brilliant game that's mostly gone under the radar and been living in my head for over a month absolutely rent free; two being that you weren't afraid to address the one glaring possible flaw with the game-- that being it's slavish devotion to its references. The amount of time you spent breaking down the usage of those references and trying to critique that usage gave a really nice tonal balance to the entire video that added a lot, and i specifically liked your lack of hesitance when it came to recognizing how split you were about the myriad references. Aces stuff, for sure.
I think part of the reason all the homages don't feel forced is that they're not really there to make you go "oh, neat reference" but very purposeful. It's like someone who looked at what a shot from a movie actually was *doing* and then replicating it rather than replicating it to be a sendup. It's not until you stare intently at it you're starting to see the building blocks of references, experiencing the gestaltzerfall of the game.
The other part is that once you get down to Kapitel 3 and start to see how the earlier sections are comprised of Ariane's life experiences remixed into, it feels natural to have remixed references to our pop culture strewn everywhere.
I feel like the Lily ending does point toward a happy ending, at least relatively speaking considering the circumstances. The presence of multiple Elsters at the site seems like whatever the ritual is it's tackling the cyclical loop of the hell they're in directly, I've seen the artifact being described as a tesseract, the symbol of the game in general and also the thing that appears on Ariane's safe in her room, and further calls the loop into question. The Lily ending is the only ending where the Red Eye is directly visible, combined with the revelation quotes giving it a religious tone. And finally Elster and Ariane are seen dancing again, not as flashback but in their current incarnation.
It's all very vague, but it's clear to me that this ending is accomplishing what Falke had thought impossible, and that is restoring a happy moment between the two, and it's also the only ending that can possibly break the loop with the powers that evokes in its imagery. I feel like they either accept their death and go out in peace, or they keep on living in the bioresonant dream as ghosts, and in that case it makes sense Elster dies because.
It's really the only interpretation I can come up with honestly. I've tried because I was scared this was another heartbreaker indeed, but the more I've thought about it and the more I find it hard to see how the ending would suggest toward something negative happening.
Your question on the homage and why I think it is ok with Signalis:
Why it is ok, for me at least
1. It is transformative, sure, the references are blatant, but they are not just hey look at thing it's from that thing, it serves a clear meaning within the world and story of signalis, it is not just a reference for the sake of a reference. It is like a Rap song sampling an old jazz hit, and transforming its meaning completely with the rap itself.
2. The references feel personal and intimate, they're not there because it's a greedy corporation out to bank on your nostalgia, it's a labor of love from 2 people, made by fans, for fans if you will. There is a sort of personal connection you feel with the creators, it is not different to you meeting a person at a bar or party only to discover you both share an immense passion for an anime, game or a band or music group.
3. I just haven't played a survival horror game in such a long fuking time that I basically used the reference as sustenence, this one is just a pure ME thing but goshdarn it if you trudge through a desert an oasis will feel great even if water is something others may take for granted or take it as mundane.
I think the least most recognizable reference is the art style of the replikants. They're major references to the artstyle of Nihei Tsutomu's BLAME! manga (and the Netflix anime movie) series. The style of the feet, the long slender frame, and the half-robotic/cybernetic half-biological human style reminds me of Cibo's design. BLAME! also has the concept of an almost never ending journey through an almost alien landscape, uncontrolled structural growths, and malignant creatures.
That moment you realize that Ariane has crimson eyes and Falke is eerily similar looking to Ariane.
Honestly the only thing I can't connect at all is if every ELSTER unit uses the memories from Ariane's Elster then they must've recovered the Penrose meaning that they likely also recovered Ariane. Why is the cycle continuing then? they'd likely open up her pod and free her from the cycle.
I've two theories.
1. We are in Hell.
2. The Penrose is what they found in the mines. And Falke demanded to examine the pod making her "sick" and restricting access to the Penrose.
Now why would they use Ariane's Elster as their base template for future ELSTER units is beyond me.
Generally with how callous the regime is to the life of the pilots sent out they might not have retrieved the pod at all as the mission was in the 3k cycles correspondence, a failure. Taking the Elster for its intrinsic value of having the best back up of the gestalt pattern and leaving someone they wilfully sent out to die.
Not saying this is absolutely how it went of course, its vague for a reason, but if the regime did take the Elster unit and leave the pod, it makes sense why all future ones want to return to the ship, because they want to fulfill the promise.
As for using that Elster unit presumably because it was the oldest, 5k + cycles of use means it could in theory be one of the oldest ones they have, and not knowing it formed an attachment to a pilot until it was way too late, or just not caring at all, thus the protocols to not give them attention or form bonds.
Its actually explained in a note you can find why they used the Ariane's Elster as the template - apparently the archive that held the original Elster template was destroyed when there was an incident in the facility that holds all of the Replika templates. The note states that they then had to used "a decommissoned penrose mission unit" instead. Of course, Ariane's Elster being on a penrose mission, heavily implying it was her they used.
Honestly, I stick for the theory that all game is one bioresonance dream of slowly dying Ariane shared with expiring Elster. Snow white world is matching the color of her hair with radiation warning monuments in the distance symbols of her radiation sickness. Mines is the place she would've been sent to had she not found a job in the military. And next comes her hometown. Well, I'm not master of the explanation but it's the theory that makes most of the sense especially with the secret ending.
@@Gizbornch Yep, the more I think about the story in Signalis as a whole, the more this theory makes sense. All the characters like Falke, Adler and Isa represent some part of Elster's fragmented dying mind which is basically invaded by this shared dream with Ariane through Ariane's unconscious bioresonance powers and their strong connection or part of Ariane's dying mind herself, since she's "the dreamer", the unconscious demiurge or god of this shared nightmare, so to speak. The only 2 characters that's real are Ariane and Elster and Elster is the main focus of the story because of the unfulfilled promise, something her dying mind obsessed with. Something she should have done but didn't, so she is compelled to go through these loops over and over again until one of them finally dies.
@@Gizbornch Actually... that makes sense.
It's implied that Eusan went so hard on the bioresonance and replikas that they just let other technology fall by the wayside, I always loved the retrofuture aesthetic
My GOTY for 2022.
With regards to the story I really can't add anything since you definitely know more than me. I've only done one playthrough. But I love how ambiguous the story is. Having few answers makes the story so haunting.
I think your theory of Lilith being elsters original neural pattern fits the story really well. Alina was to lilith what Ariana was to elster. The unit being prone to geshalt memories resurfacing and the similarities between alina and Ariana made the lines between them blur in elsters mind. In the end she was just looking for her lover.
Lilith losing Alina and not being able to fullfil a promise also makes sense considering they were at war when the photo was taken. Many tragic things can happen in the frontlines.
That line you quote in the description... It's so powerful, but so is the sound design and scene compilation - it all is so masterfully executed to create a point as sharp as a knife, one that cuts deep to your core to be sure it's message infects you. A Medium has not been able to seen such sharp chills down my spine but on a few rare occasions, to the point that I still remember every one. It was at that moment that I knew this game was going to be something special.
I think the red eye is Ariane playing the observer/host of the world/memories that was combined with falkes since both the red eye and falke are considered "godly." But reason I give Ariane the title of host as well is because she is the central connection to everything and if she were to stop observing as the "red eye", the cycle could end.
Great video. 😊
The queen herself has arrived🙇🏽♂️🙇🏽♂️
I had to double and then triple check that this was the real Suzi, thank you so much for watching and leaving a comment!
Love your videos by the way, I'm a little starstruck lmao
It's so cool that this game draws insperation from the King In Yellow. I love that anthology so much, I own multiple copies (including the one you have displayed in the video) and even did a rewrite of the mask set in modern day around 2 women in a relationship. I'm also currently working on a similar rewrite of The Demoiselle D'ys (tied with the mask for my favorite story in the book), and already wrote a story loosely inspired by it as well that is part of an anthology I'm working on.
I really like the way Signalis depicted totalitarian society. From posters on the walls and ridiculous amount of paperwork to attemps to standardize its people and create instructions for using them like tools, Eusan nation looks grotesque yet eerily realistic and believable.
you know, I love lore and plot, so I fine combed the notes and here are something I notice:
Alina and Elster's gestalt were in service in Empire war. Then one of them use the artifact (fake ending, maybe it is the Gestalt memory resurfaced), maybe to save the other, maybe this was the making of Elster replika.
After that Aline and Elster unit was working on Leng mining, where Ariane was born before going to Rotfront. Finally, Ariane went to space from there.
The player is Elter-512 from Penrose 512, Ariane ship. But the oddest thing is Falke unit seem to merge with player Elster, not Ariane, and the artifact safe in Ariane room, which is 2 rooms away from Falke boss room.
>The following is purely theory and interpretation:
The "memory" end (short playtime) vs "promise" end (long play time) ("leave" doesn't have direct opposing requirement in comparision to others) give me an idea: Elster is going back in time by sending her memory to previous Replika version. With shorter playtime, we have Ariane who had waiting so long, she forgot Elster. And the opposite for the long playtime. Which raise the question how did Elster do it, without Ariane power?
Bring us to the artifact. Ariane may be the bioresonant source, but Elster was the one with the artifact power all along. Thanks to which that Elster can save, load and insert herself into Elster units. But with Falke who is also a bioresonant, Falke involuntary merged with Elster 512 in the process. Even Alina on Leng is merging to Ariane picture. It was Elster who is corrupting everything the closer she is to the artifact.
>lore interpretation:
From the game play wise, I can say the "promise" end happened first. Because on first playthrough, you will kill, take damage and spend lot of time to explore the game. Then the later on 2nd and 3rd times your skill is enough to shorten the time play (the only way to increase "memory" requirement value) and explore more of the npcs you missed, checking secret door (increasing "leave" requirement). "Artifact" ending requires you to get AT LEAST ONE ENDING first. But "artifact" end is also what make the game start in the first place, looping everything once again for a moment of eternity. We are playing the game with a backward timeline, a mobius strip that converge at the artifact, as Elster 512.
Having just finished Signalis it really came across to me that Promise was the canon ending to break the cycle. While all the others are just different time loops/cycles. With that, picking the armor and the arm off of the Elster unit seems to be from a cycle that ended with the memory ending and not the promise, where the Elster gets there and then dies. But that’s all my opinion on the way the events play out. I will also say that I may be partially biased on my opinion because the way the “cycles”. We’re kind of explained in game makes it feel like that of 13 sentinels, where that is also a time loop, but the cannon ending is the characters breaking free of the loop. And having played that about a year ago, my mind jumped to that sort of conclusion.
Regardless, great video!
this is something that I can't confirm personally, but did read that the promise ending is also the only ending that DOES NOT include the words "wake up"
after all, the reason why we wake up is to fulfill our promise. and with our promise fulfilled. we have no reason to wake up. to exist, you could say. because the elster that promised it, is technically already dead.
One fun half-baked theory is that like in Monogatari, we're experiencing the story through Elster's unreliable perspective. Ever since she perceived herself as failing to keep her promise, the moment before her own death was stretched into thousands--the time loop simply being her own subconscious punishing her for eternity, reliving the trauma and making rationalizations for everything that's happened. Which would be similar to Silent Hill 2 where James is punishing himself for his own failure (no spoilers for that).
Although that would trivialize the whole game and its by-and-large a "just a dream" theory, its still a fun one.
What a great video! I loved how you explained the secret ending using the king in yellow, I don't think I could have understood that without you.
You 100% nailed it. "It's good tho, shut up" is the answer to why the constant callbacks aren't annoying. Because it's done so delightfully well
You've done an excellent job, not only in compiling in-game infos but above all in understanding the story and universe of Signalis. I read everything and finished the game 3 times but it was still cryptic at the end
Thank you so much for putting this together. I just finished the game today and I came out completely baffled and absolutely amazed at what was accomplished with this game. Your account and general thought-patterns around SIGNALIS is fantastic and I couldn't be happier to have found this video. Thanks so much!
One of my favourite tiny details in signalis was that when you wake up after the false ending you can still use your radio. If you look through the channels it tells you to wake up. The feeling of dread i got when i realised it wasnt over? Unparralled
I feel like the massive amount of references fits this game more than any other. Specifically because of the game's meditations on memories. References can be seen as a transplanting of memories in a narrative sense, and so the game itself is composed of original memories and memories that don't belong
really great video! i find with games like this where the story/lore is a bit of a "puzzle box", people can get too caught up on "solving" it in an "ending explained" way that misses forest for the trees. the way you teased out the references/allusions and mapped out some of the "literal" plot of the game while still focusing on the thematic & emotional core of the game was really excellent
Loved this.
One (to me) very obvious reference is that replicants refer to Bladerunner, even down to the giving them implanted memories thing. I recognised the 'images flashing inside a characters outline' from Serial Experiments Lain, but I now saw it was also in Evangelion. One thing you did not really talk about is the meaning of the actual hexagonal logo / symbol. It's on the wall of the final puzzle (not counting the safe), and shows up when you hit Falke with a spear. With a bit of imagination, it also resembles the Lily ending with the pillars, boxes and the 'nut' in the center.
You could also say the the references act as 'signal boosters' for the story :).
this is perhaps the first game i’ve played which is so loaded with metaphorical imagery, meaning beyond the surface and genuinely important and profound messages, all the while still being an amazing game mechanically
this video felt like reading an academic essay, and although I often am incredibly bored doing that, here it felt fantastic to listen to
This is the exact kind of introspective look/analysis I always crave after finishing a game I really enjoyed. Thank you for making this + instant subscribe fr
Signalis is one of those games that make me think that games can actually be considered a form of art
Best video I've seen on this game yet. Deep and thorough! I have hope there are things we are still yet to learn about the story, still so many mysteries! Would love more in this universe
I’ve seen several videos on this subject. I find your video interesting and in depth in the topics I’m more interested in. Thank you.
I found a lot of welcome humor in the references. The narrative of this game being so rich to the point of being oppressive at times earns some moments of levity that I, personally, found in these overt references.
What an excellenent and well thought out video! I beat this game on release day and got the promise ending. I just spent 1.5 days getting the other endings and I think it's the best game that's come out in a long time. That's coming from someone who doesn't even particularly like survival horror games.
I have a slightly different interpretation about some details which ultimately don't matter but I find interesting still:
I don't think Falke went into the mines to get sick, I think she went outside because Penrose-512 crashlanded on Leng. When Ariane and Elster realized their fate, they made a plan and a promise. The plan was for Ariane to get into cryo due to her rapidly deteriorating health and for Elster to steer the ship towards Leng and keep it going until they land. There they could get help. The promise was that if at any point during the trip to Leng, it becomes apparent that either Elster is about to die or the ship won't make it, Elster will wake Ariane up so they can spend their last moments together and to probably euthanize Ariane who was extremely sick due to radiation poisioning caused by the reactor coolant leaks.
Anyway P-512 crashlands on Leng and Falke goes to investigate. Ariane and Falke are both bioresonant and at least Falke is so strong that she can manipulate reality. The bioresonance causes Ariane's, Elster's, and Falke's identities and memories to mix. I think the "red eye" is a manifestation of Ariane dreaming and being extremely bioresonant and either she or Falke (in her confusion) manifest that dream into reality, or its simply a corrupted memory/poetic metaphor of the red eyed Ariane. I also think the first scene on the Penrose when Elster wakes up is actually Falke who believes herself to be Elster. We know Elster is dead and sure, she could maybe be resurrected by the bioresonant storm going on but I doubt it. After the player enters the bizarre hole in the ground into Ariene's room, whoever the character is can't really describe the items beyond a surface level description. Later near the end, when you enter the same room as Elster, the descriptions are more detailed. Elster knows about Ariane Yeong's radio, her books, the pictures of the painting, even the closet but Falke doesn't, she can only describe what she sees. Falke, who know believes she's Elster, picks up the King in Yellow and reads some passages from it (Ariane has also read or skimmed through at least hence why the book is there in the first place. The Itou bookshop had it for a while, she mentions this in one of the notes on Penrose). The content of the book gets mixed with the confusion of memories, mixed identities, and rampant self-amplifying bioresonant feedback loops. All of this with Falke's (and possibly Ariane's) insane reality manipulation powers creates a perfect mixture where reality itself starts to corrupt around them. That's how P-512 also sort of ends up in the mine and why some characters iirc believe that Falke got sick in the mines. It doesn't happen instantly though, Falke is first "just ill" and Elster's actual body is transported to the inner colony somewhere because the original neural pattern (Lilith Itou's imho as well) has been destroyed. Also Adler figures out what's going on bc he's been writing in the Shrine diary.
Falke could also just be the "patient zero" of an insanely bioresonant Ariane who's dreams twist reality without Falke's help.
Maybe that interpretation is wrong and I missed some deets, jumped to conclusions and so on (arguably it's even up to the player to decide) but of course none of this really matters, the themes and the broad strokes are the same despite the interpretation of the plot. But I think some interpretation along these lines nicely explains how P-512 got on Leng, what the conncetion is between Falke, Ariane, Elster, and the corruption.
I still remember seeing the document about Falke and felt instantly intimidated, a god-like Replika that's considered the strongest and I became very cautious when in Falkes room out of fear of her suddenly getting up and attacking
I recognized almost none of the homages or references. I've never played a Silent Hill or Resident Evil game (I've watched let's players play a couple of the newer Resident Evils but not the originals), I tried to watch Evangelion but didn't like it, I hadn't heard of The Festival or The King in Yellow. I assumed that all of the homages and text were original to the game. Learning that isn't the case, I don't feel cheapened at all. I appreciate it more now, knowing where the references come from, their significance in pop culture, and how they add to Signalas. Thank you for explaining them.
Signalas may be the first survival horror game of this kind I've personally played. I watched a youtuber play an hour of it, but I didn't wait for the next video, so I got it for myself. I'm very glad I did that.
I have to say thank you for tying up loose ends for us all. The game’s ending left me wanting to shed a tear, but my racing brain prevented it. Which made me end up at your video. Great, thoroughly explained analysis of a wonderfully somber experience of a game. Cheers!
Great video man. Enjoyed the literary analysis you put into it. Truly a fascinating story and you helped me unravel some things and clear other things up. Love the shelf in the background too, a lot of cool stuff back there :p
My opinions on the overt references is that just like everything else in the game, their inclusion is by design, to give you that deja-vu feeling, even from a meta player level, because every reference makes perfect sense without context, but if you’re familiar with the originals, you get even more of that “have i done this before?” Uncanny feeling
Thank you for making this! Ariane and Elster really do deserve some semblance of a happy ending.
Very VERY good stuff man!
And there he is, my diehard survival horror guru himself avalanche reviews in the flesh! Broski for what it's worth I bookmarked your review for this a few weeks ago and held out for my favorite let's player to play it, but after it didn't happen I said alright let's go and I started with your signalis video, read for hours various signalis discussions, and now find myself here on this video. Good stuff man lol
I just wanted to mention a point that I personally think you glossed over which could use more thought/have large implications/complications. You mention that the Elster we play is likely based off of the neural patterns of the Elster that was recovered from the Penrose program and not the original neural pattern that was lost. This assumption makes sense. You then appear to make the assumption that the Elster unit recovered from a Penrose mission refers to the Elster on the Penrose with Ariane, however. While I agree that that is likely what the devs tried to insinuate with that note, I think that there are actual issues with that assumption that require more thought. First of all, while an assumption that the recovered Elster unit was the Elster from Ariane's Penrose (Penrose-512) would coincide with the vivid memories of Ariane, it's important to note that other, non-Elster units also began to form similar visions/memories every since Falke returned from the mines and that we ourselves as the first Elster we play don't start to have them until visiting Sierpinski. Secondly, while the note references a recovered Elster unit from the Penrose program specifically, the Penrose-512 was not the only Penrose mission, nor the only Penrose mission to contain an LSTR unit. To the contrary - LSTR units were standard for each Penrose mission of which there were many. LSTR units had only two use cases - orbital ship maintenance and Penrose ship maintenance. They were ship technicians after all. We know from documents found later in the game that the ship Ariane and Elster were on was essentially catapulted out of the solar system so how would the nation of Eusan recover the Elster unit from Ariane's ship? Even if they did somehow find her ship and recover the Elster unit, wouldn't they also recover her? Also, in the PROMISE and MEMORY endings we find the original Elster unit that was with Ariane on the Penrose-512 dead in a room adjacent to Ariane's cryopod suggesting it died sometime after putting her into what was meant to be permanent cryostasis. It had clearly not been recovered. All of this is to question whether the game is *actually* referring to the Elster on Ariane's ship as the Penrose program Elster that was recovered. You're clearly led to believing so but evidence throughout the game suggests otherwise.
Where Signalis succeeds as a medium is through its usage of homages as media language without feeling like it’s being derivative, because it’s using the homages to communicate the same feelings that they did in their original work
That pose you find the Elster in to take the armor from is also the same position Elstet dies in in the Memory ending, if I recall correctly. It could be that Elster rather than the one from the Promise ending.
Or they are the same.
This is a fantastic breakdown. Truthfully, I was one of those people who caught very few of the references since I'd never seen Evangelion or Ghost in the Shell, nor had I played any previous survival horror games like RE or Silent Hill (aside from SOMA and Darkwood, which do have some light similarities to Signalis from a worldbuilding and gameplay perspective). I didn't even know The King in Yellow was a real book. Perhaps the only reference I did pick up was the "Alien" movie-looking technology and sci-fi approach. Overall I really enjoyed the game just for its vibes and visuals (and, in my opinion, very fun puzzles), though I can definitely see how not picking up on the references made a lot of the scenes go right over my head.
As for the story, one thing that I did try to piece together was the events that tore apart S-23 Sierpinski, and put shortly, I think it was exposure to radiation. I forget exactly where, but I believe at some point in the "Nowhere" segment, after having gone down very deep into the mines, there is a faded exerpt of the "Long-term nuclear waste warning message" developed for the Waste Isolation Pilot Project, which was meant to be the U.S.'s long-term nuclear waste storage. Basically the "nothing valued is here...dangerous and repulsive...message is a warning...danger is still here...to the body" message is a warning about nuclear waste storage. While I can't explain what caused the mining crew to suddenly start digging rapidly downward in the form of a vertical shaft, I think once they did get down there, the MYNA units became thoroughly exposed to radiation without realizing it. The Eusan Nation, being as protective of information as it is, clearly designed MYNA units to be resistant to radiation, but that doesn't mean they'd be aware of what it was if they encountered it. The irradiated MYNA units then went back up the elevator and that's why the human crew started dying off rapidly and the fleshy bits of the replikas started to become damaged as well.
Under this interpretation, I also considered that an Elster unit may have been sent into the mines to try and figure out what was causing everyone to become sick and die, and then Elster herself became irradiated and started dying, living out her life's memories as they slowly become corrupted by the red flesh appearing everywhere as her mind begins to degrade. It could also explain the....I don't know what they're called but the armless enemies with long noses (I call them "droop snoots")--i.e. that they're not actually made that way but that their faces have become so sick and deformed from the radiation that Elster's mind is psychologically trying to block it out and not see their faces directly. [Unfortunately, I have no idea under this theory as to why Rotfront would also be susceptible to the red flesh appearing or the droop snoot enemies being present, since it would then beg that the Elster unit dying in the mines at S-23 is remembering the life of an older, military-grade Elster unit who worked on Rotfront, unless they are somehow the same unit or transferred memories between them?]
Signalis is definitely my game of the year though. Everything about it was so cool and such an amazing experience even if I barely understood any of what was actually going on. I think my one and only issue with it is that, being a bit more of a 'casual' gamer, I find it a little sad that getting the other endings is such a complex and non-intuitive process, with very little in-game direction about there even being other endings. Not that I would've really been able to make sense of the other endings anyways, but still a bit sad that I will probably be unable to see them for myself.
To build on @woodenwaste's great points: I think the references in SIGNALIS work so well because each referential scene is used *for the same narrative purpose as in the original work*. Signalis doesn't use iits references as just aesthetic decoration. It first and foremost tells a powerful story, and uses (in my opinion very well-chosen and tasteful) references to earlier works within that story to add color and context.
Bro, I hope you will get more subscribers, because you deserve it. The amount of work you put in these videos deserves respect
This video essay was phenomenal. I came here trying to fill in some gaps in information and walked away with a much more enriched understanding of the title's plot.
Thank you, my fried. I'll be sending you an e-mail soon.
Yes! Discover another good channel with only thousands of subscriber and incredible potential to grow. Another good day to be alive!!
I think the key to making good homages and references is how you can fit them in your story. Anyone can add a scene or line that paralels one from another medium. The important part is making that homage fit in. Signalis does this perfectly because the homages fit the story and even if you are not aware what they are referencing they still retain their impact. The impact of the homage doesn't come from itself but rather how it's used.
18:00 I thought the reviving enemies were a reference to the ghosts from Silent Hill 4 that you need to take out with magic swords.
My main thoughts on the "when do homages become too much" is if the media feels like it isn't inspired by whatever homage it is trying to use, and is instead just trying to point out a reference to something. I caught a lot of the references in Signalis, but the game does a good job of making the world and story and characters feel inspired enough on their own merits. A lot of the direct references like Evangelion and Ghost in the Shell feel less like, "Remember this one scene????" and more of an inspired use of those visuals to further a narrative that is compelling on its own rights. The line is still blurry, but a soulless work is easily distinguishable from a soulful one, and I think a lot of it has to do with that kind of distinction.
I was very confused by all of the details and contradictions SIGNALIS gave me by the end of the story, but I think what's so great about the game is that they presented all of these non-sensical and dreamlike moments in a way that makes Elster's love for Ariane unavoidably clear. Even with a complete ignorance to all the references to other media or an inability to connect the many dots you come across, the horrible feeling that comes with realizing how great her devotion is and how futile her efforts are puts a pit in your stomach. I don't know if I can bring myself to touch this game for the next few years. It made me feel horrible. 10/10
Other commenters have mentioned some of the fractal geometry references in Signalis-- there's more! It's a full motif. (Ergocomix, AdmiralBazooka, and Kreygasmed covered some of this)
The school the player explores in first-person view (where we see Ariane bullied) is Mandelbrot Polytechnische Oberschule -- Mandelbrot is the creator of perhaps the most famous fractal of all, the Mandelbrot Set.
Penrose- In addition to the Penrose 512 ship being shaped like the Penrose Steps, the Penrose Program uses a Penrose Triangle as its logo. In addition, I could swear I've seen the other impossible shapes that are associated with the various doors in Nowhere as Penrose Shapes, but now that I'm trying to check myself, I can't find anything to confirm this.
Sierpinski - unsurprisingly, we see the Triforce-like arrangment of Sierpinski Triangles on a number of the S-23 Sierpinski facility's designs, plus sometimes on Elster's UI.
The common theme here is fractals -- endlessly repeating patterns where every piece is a perfect microcosm of the whole. That concept seems very tied to Signalis in general -- in the repetition of people and situations across generations, in the repetition of Replikas, and in the cycle of Elsters endlessly seeking to fulfill their promise.
There was a hidden fourth circle on the Venn diagram of Signalis's schools of references!
Holy lord. I'm going to be honest.
My journey with this game started when I was going to at first play The Witcher 3, in which I just couldn't get in.
I decided that I want some "small" games for in between.
Well, now here I'm, quite shocked at how much depth this game provides. It has fully fullfilled my Outer Wilds itch and let's me for sake even question my gaming attitude. Sadly, I must say that I didn't really took your word too serious with "must play through it", because i only had one playthrough before watching your analysis, but it shouldn't hinder my future enjoyment as I will definitely replay this beauty sometimes in the future.
Beautiful video, thank you so much for your work!!
The arm scene is almost 1 for 1 from the OG Ghost in the Shell scene when the Major tries to rip open the hatch on the spider tank, but mirrored. The gameplay is more inspired by Silent Hill 2, and the inventory reminds me more of Haydee than Resident Evil Remake.
I believe the Red Eye is mentioned as being an anticyclonic storm on the planet Rotfront orbits, leading me to believe it is a moon of Jupiter. Doesn't narrow down which of the 80 it is, but it does tell us we're still in the Sol system, and that some other named planets may also be familiar.
Awesome video, thanks for putting this all together. It helped me understand the story a little better!
I found the homages to build a sense of nostalgia and given the whole memory theme of the game I think it’s masterfully done. It’s like I’m reliving old memories but not quite
I'm leaving a comment now as I start watching this video, to please the algorithm and try to tell youtube that your content is really, really good.
You deserve more attention, absolutely
I'll leave another comment when I've finished the video
Beautiful video. I've been putting off binging a bunch of story material on Signalis, but I found some time to put this on today and it was fantastic. Thank you for your work.
I think the most interesting thing that happened to me when playing signalis was when I learned more about how bio resonance works in the second half of the game and it's like... Wait wait wait.....
These aren't really robots huh? They're a hell of a lot more squishy and biological than we thought.
That fucked with me
Considering the Eva references I think something similar is going on here.
Where they're less robots with organic components and more like living things being held back by cybernetic implants.
For me it was reading the note which described the virus breaking out. Reading that not only did the virus infect both Gestalts and Replikas, implying a shockingly similar biological build, but a note even details the symptoms that a Replika showed after infection. Headaches, fevers and even... throwing up? That implied that replikas have regular stomachs which are capable of reacting to biological infections.
I think that detail, as well as Elster describing The King in Yellow as an "ancient tome" really do a lot to suggest just how far into the future the game is set. Possibly thousands of years.
@@Crylyte I dont think it was thousand of years into the future but "long long ago in a galaxy far far away" with some similar cultural touchstone to ours like the king in yellow. The futuristic world there still use win98 and ancient radio equipments. The replikant are squishy beat inside a metal shell instead of full robo suggesting they are not capable of making these despite the enourmous needs for labors and canon fodders. Most of the technology dont suggest sophisticated computation. It's an universe that diverge significant in technological development to ours.
@@mdd4296 are you suggesting that the humanity depicted in-game isn't our own? Maybe that its a different human race somewhere else in the universe?
@@Crylyte Yeah they are either not our own (like the human in star wars) or has developed technologically very differently for some reason (like human in dune)
I think an influence that isn't as obvious in the art direction is Fear Effect series and only because that series is obscure now. The pixel art style, targeting reticle, and movement all remind me of Fear Effect.
I came to this video with the question you wind up asking in it, which I really appreciate. The weird thing about Signalis is that it borrows liberally, even excessively from other forms of media. But it also has this magnificent world building and identity all its own. The basic setting, characters, and conflict, all stand on their own and feel solid.
Which makes the weird references it keeps dropping feel completely unnecessary. They made a good thing and shouldn't need to lean on anything else. So it leaves a lot of the back half of the game in a very gray area for me. Like, its core is so solid that the constant references just feel like window dressing rather than a detriment. At the same time, I would have eased off on them a little if I were making this game.
This game is the only game in a very very long time to make me actually smile as I played it, my favorite horror game of all time, and it has my favorite soundtrack of any game I've played. I loved this game and I love this video :)
ok here's my take: signalis deals with the horror of memory, specifically the experience of memory that is not one's own. elster and falke both lose themselves in elster's promise and the promises of her past lives - elster journeys through a labyrinth of buried, foreign memories, a maze of other people. the continous sampling and quotation and reference to other works sort of allows the player to experience a labyrinth of memory alongside her, if that makes sense. there's so much in signalis that is what it looks like but is also something else buried somewhere in your sense memory
Thank you for making a great video of this underrated gem!! I have subscribed to your channel.
I knew instantly this game was gonna be reference driven when after the start sequence, Elster was looking at a mirror in a bathroom.