Firstly, I thank you a lot for this video, was searching for content like this since I first got the very first ending, the fake one, and when I started a "new game" it blew my mind and I was crazy searching for explanations, again thank you very much! Secondly, here are my toughts: I think the reason why you get the endings is related to the outcome itself, first you get the "coward" ending, which is the ending most dead Elsters we see laying around get, which means you are not trying hard enough, you need to be more aggressive. And then you get the Memory ending, trying to be more aggressive, you start to remember the promisse intensely and getting more frustrated while failing, and then Ariane still doesn't remember you, this gets you more and more frustrated. And then the Promisse ending, that I too recognize as the true ending, after failing a lot of times, being more and more aggressive, you finally manage to make her remember. Up until you succeed you fail a lot of times, and the white armor is passed on to a new Eslter. The Artifact one is a very complex one for me to argue, summing it up I think this one is related to Ariane mostly, maybe you managed to trap yourself on an infinite circle to please your needs, to blind yourself from her death, which is why the model is named "ghost". Also, the name of the keys are a hint that leads me to this line of thought: Love, Sacrifice and Eternity... All linked to a dilusional reality to get stuck on, dancing with her like she always wanted it to end, forever... With her loved one. What an amazing piece of video-game, I expected 10% of what it delievered, thought it was going to be a space RE with great replay value, but not because of it's story, mostly because of it's gameplay, like a roguelike or a Capcom classic NG+ stuff. But it ended up being one of the best games I've ever played, and one of the best survival horror games ever made, sitting right next to stuff like Sillent Hill 2, and I'm not even exaggerating.
I totally and 100% agree with everything you stated, it is easily one of the best games ive ever played. You know when something is exceptionally made when you have dreams about it afterwards.
I have to wonder if Ariane didn't become the consciousness of the Eldritch Machine (the gate you walk through in the very beginning and throughout the endings) and becomes the giant red eye in the sky if you complete the *Artifact* ending. On the *Signalis* complete soundtrack page, someone suggested that Ariane and her Elster were crashed on that outer rim world, but with the help of the Eldritch Machine it projects her mind to Falke and is what effects the mining colony (the replicants and humans are infected with Ariane's cancer, as well as the mining colony itself). It is another Elster unit starting up in the restroom of the colony that is seeking information, and it is when Falke is defeated that she says "we are one" and Ariane takes complete control.
Did i like get the story in the wrong order then?😭 my first playthrough i got the promise ending and felt so confused. Maaaan now i feel like i missed out on the right order
@@shadowstorm9191 No, there's no real "order" to the endings. As mentioned things are left pretty open ended leaving the consumer to sit and theorize on what they gave you. All of the endings you can consider "isolated". As far as I'm aware, it isn't like Nier where there really is a true ending so it's up to the player to decide their own.
I’m so blown away by this game. For a $20 indie title created by two people, they topped pretty much every triple A horror title out there right now. I can’t wait to see what they do next. Great video.
@@CitizenPoe I think that's exactly the problem 343 has with halo as well. They can't do basic things because the UI they made themselves doesn't support it. That doesn't happen with a smaller team. It just cant
I would assume the Lily ending was basically the aftermath of the Memory ending considering their implied survival and that Elster was teaching the amnesiac Ariane to dance as a way for her to remember their relationship.
I think you are right. The endings seem to have an order with the Lilyending being the end of a fork. So you have the Memory ending that splits into either Promise, or Lily. While Leave obviously means we end up as one of the failed instances we encounter in the Red Desert. So the order would be Leave > Memory > Promise OR Lily.
@@CrestOfArtorias This is very late but I would like to add to this: Lilly and Promise are basically complete opposites. Promise: Sacrificing yourself for everyone else Lilly: Sacrificing everyone else for yourself
@@deltavee9903 I love the Lily ending, but it just feels so wrong. Like, what happens after the couple stop dancing? Is the entire universe at risk? Is the cycle of Elster and Ariane over? These are the reasons as to why i love this game.
Promise was the ending I got playing through on Survival. I am going to replay the game going for Artifact. I find that Artifact is interesting because it plays into the LSTR unit's known "defects" and warning that you should *not* befriend an LSTR unit. Because Elster became attached to Ariane/Alina. She decided to doom souls and create a terrible loop all for the sake of not losing Ariane.
@@seekyunbounded9273 Gestalt is a german word for Shape, in order to have a shape you need something that forms it. so humans have that shape Replikas replicate. just a little explanation
I got the promise ending on my first attempt, as I was so invested into the game and immersed myself into every single detail given... I cried my f*cking eyes out... And I am so split on the secret ending... I want to get it... But I actually feel like I should let it rest. What a game... An absolutely fantastic dystopian sci-fi horror tragedy. AAANNNDD made by only two people from my own country. Masterpiece, just like this video.
I don't know how I did it, but I managed to land the Promise ending first time. I'm really glad that I did too. It felt both melancholic and satisfying... What a game.
Same! I loved this game to death, but wouldn't be able to go on a second playthrough. The feeling of closure and melancholy from it really made me feel very satisfied.
Lucky bastard. I had no idea skipping fights was gonna affect the ending I got. When I saw enemies respawn after death, I didn't see the point in trying to put them down, unless i had a thermite available...
I also got the Promise ending on my first playthrough. I'm usually overcautious when playing a survival horror game for the first time, so I'm constantly returning to the item box to leave and pick stuff before going on too far and for that same reason I'm quite sure I killed almost every enemy. Somehow I managed to beat the game without dying a single time (which gives less points for the promise ending) despite almost always having my health in yellow but I did manage to get to the 12 hour mark. It felt very rewarding that this game gives you a better ending for actually putting more effort and time in the game, unlike RE where they give a worse grade the more saves you make or the more time you take to complete the game.
I feel like the 4th ending is something very different. The players that get it tried extremely hard to finally make sense of everything, to finally tie everything together into one happy and true ending. But they are presented with two things: a reward, that the lovers are finally able to dance with another again through the power of their unity, as the grave was what Elster's Gestalt had made for her fallen comrade and likely lover, Alina, and a tesseract, as it's called in the game files. An impossible object for this world, followed by an impossible scene of them dancing again. It does not make sense. And to me it is a clear nod to the player meaning something like "Hey, thank you for showing how invested you are in the game's background, in every single detail, and as a reward, have this cute scene of them dancing again, what you wanted to look for here. Is it even a good end? Does it entail something even worse? Who knows. But after all that, Achtung. Warning. Wake up. You are missing the point. You already got the answers after the first end, why keep looking when there are only questions? It's art." It does not have to make sense and Signalis intentionally does not in order to nod towards the greater picture. Like the painting that reoccurs in the game, "Die Toteninsel": Are it two lovers departing from death, letting go together in their final moments? Are they alife do they make it out of there? While reasonable questions at first, it would seem silly to ask these to the painter as if it really happened, since you already got the message when you first saw it. To quote Noclips recap (ua-cam.com/video/x_sOosz_3KM/v-deo.html): "It's like going into a restaurant and eating the menu". It's like watching a beautiful play the message you already understood after watching it the first time, but instead of applauding and going home with the messages you go back, cycle after cycle again, review it, changing and corrupting your impression again and again, you sneak backstage to look at the props, just to get a hint of what it all means when you already had it given to you. There is no truth that can make you go insane. The King in Yellow, wherein one goes insane if they read the second chapter, does not exist in reality. And the truth at the second chapter, the end of not the game, but the entire work you experience, that you try to avoid by trying to make acute sense of it, it is not horrifying or insanity driving at all. It's that it's a piece of artwork that intentionally does not provide clarification. "THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK". The links are missing intentionally. Wake up, and take home what it already gave you: A beautiful presentation of love, eternity and sacrifice. Of what a society that aims towards putting people in tight little groups of personalities that can easily be tended to implies for the individual. And finally, of how art should be viewed.
Fake ending caught me off guard, but my curiosity was at its peak and I got the Promise ending. Incredible survival horror game. Next to the dead space remake I’ve never felt so stressed, it was truly exciting. May try the artifact ending after I’ve had a week to process the promise ending.
I hope they make a sequel sometime. I really like the universe they created, and it would be a great way to expand on some of the mysteries of the story and world. I haven't been this fascinated by a game in a long time and can't wait for more of their future works!
i think the 3 keys from artifact also symbolize the other 3 endings, eternity = leave Love = memory sacrifice = promise, artifact is a meta ending the player would normally never obtain without finishing the game at least once
im surprised no one talking about the synopsis of the wikipedia which mentions another theory for the whole game that rather than eldritch abomination causing all this, its all in their imagination due to radiation poisoning from the crashed ship which explains a lot why she cant sleep and feels herself dying real time as id imagine she melts into flesh soup which does happen to lethal dose radiation poisoning and would explain the alzheimers/ dementia like memory shifts and losing touch with reality that would make one believe its an eldritch horror. another hint to this is the graphite plates you carry that she mentions feels warm, could be radioactive graphite that is constantly fucking with your memory since its mentioned its hot and radioactive metals tend to be hot but due to its radiation not heat. which really fks with my head since its up to interpretation. thats not even talking about the theories on who the spy was and how the hints seem to indicate it might have been arianas mom all along. regardless i didnt hate the endings but disliked how sad they all left me...wished for a joke ending to wash the sadness away or non cannon happy ending ;_; if you want to read about the horrors of radiation poisoning i recommend reading or watching a video about hisachi ouichi
Indeed! I haven't looked at Wikipedia yet but this was my interpretation as well. I thought the infected enemies and the masses of flesh represented the spread and damage of metastatic tumours in her body due to radiation poisoning. And all the "eldritch" references being a product of her mind reconstructing memories, using all the literary and artistic references in her life, in the context of cancerous mutations of her own body killing her as well as the radiation poisoning itself and also a perfect explanation for the ominous "red eye" as the originator/author of the "infection"; her own eye colour. It even lines up elegantly with the prominent imagery and symbolism of Arnold Böcklin's and Eugen Bracht's paintings in the game. Journey towards death, the unknown, oblivion. I interpreted "The Promise" also in the same context. The dying and unraveling mind's desperate efforts to hold onto the memory of love, to remember. Reminds me a bit of Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind. There are likely other, perhaps allegorical layers, for instance the theme of Bioresonance which perhaps played a part in shared or exchanged memories between her and Elster, but I still need to think on it (I have just finished the game a couple hours ago). All in all, a heart-breakingly beautiful game.
I mean, when you are exploring the crashed penerose ship, the message from command to gestalt officer are literally to not try and prolong your suffering, as the radiation might leak inside from the reactor.
The fact that this game creates such an intriguing sci-fi distopian world and blends in body and cosmic horror so well without compromising either component is amazing. The game also doesn't abswer anything despite likely providing the player with everything they need to know. The fact that we can deduce what may have really happened without ever really knowing for sure makes the game insanely replayable, but also horror stems from not understanding the scary things we encounter. The lack of answers means that a sequel, should it take a similar route, would not go the way of RE games or Dead Space wherein out understanding of the lore detracts from the horror.
Great video man! I only have one nitpick, which is the interpretation of the eye in the sky. The Red Eye is mentioned a few times in Signalis and it’s primarily a Rotfront folklore thing. Rotfront is a moon orbiting a gas giant with a perpetual storm, similar to our Jupiter. Jupiter’s storm is even called the Red Eye. (Side note: there’s a cool theory that Signalis is taking place in our solar system but all of the planets have different names) Rot front’s citizens attached the symbolism of their oppressive Nation to the ever-watching Red Eye that hung in the sky. You can interpret the Red Eye as Big Brother and the fear of being watched. You could see the red light on security cameras as red eyes, cameras that are ever present in many of this game’s halls. You’re being watched by someone but it’s never made clear WHO is watching. In the Artifact ending, the Red Eye even looks like a camera lens. This could represent the overwhelming presence of the Nation even at this stage of the story. It could also represent the Red Eye of Rotfront, meaning the Red Space is Rotfront in some way. I don’t think this is where Penrose ended up, but it might represent Ariane never truly escaping Rotfront no matter how far she ran from it. It still bothers her, hell, it’s her final struggle that we fight through for the last level. I don’t know the answers but the Red Eye in the Artifact ending feels incredibly important, to remind you that the Nation is a big player in this and the true Antagonist. It is not Adler, not Falke, not Ariane, but the totalitarian regime that created this waking nightmare in the first place. But that’s my take. Bonus easy-to-miss detail: there is a red light at the back of Replika eyes. You can see it clearly on Elster in some close-up shots. At 7:04 you can see it fading as Elster dies. What does this mean? I don’t know but it definitely feels purposeful.
i adore this deeper inspection of the eye, and its something ive been debating revisiting as a topic as well. I think that the eye certainly could be representative of the state observing in even now, showing that even in this pocket reality she still finds no solstice. Also the fading of the eye i saw as the death of the replika system, symbolic of flatlining, we also see this in the fakeout ending.
I also noticed the cameras following Elsters's every move. I think it was Adler who was behind this. I think the red light in the replica eyes symbolizes the presence of life, the same that in some media, when a character dies, the "shine" in their eyes disappears as their soul fades away.
@@JaY4553 I like to think of it as just another symbol of the totalitarian state, like the posters or the shaded term on the first floor. I still wonder what they banned.
Love the analysis. I'm not sure if people noticed, but a lot of either Elster's memories or Alina seo and Lilith itou's memories were told through the flashing imagery. The ritual pillars at the end with the lilies on the center pillar were the same events that happened on Vineta to the 0512 infantry division. Elster, Alina, and Isa's mother were apart of that unit. One of the images shows them all deceased in a trench (except 2) (rebecca Liang & who knows, either Alina, Anna or Lilith). After that image another image showing us Vineta and the 6 ritual pillars(including lilies) with one soldier standing in front of the center pillar(same as lily ending.) I think the lily ending is going through Elsters recounts of the war on Vineta. (Love, sacrifice, and eternal oath) All of this imagery happens after beating the flesh maze and before stepping into Rotfront btw.
I absolutely love this game. I love that you can't dismiss everything as a dream or some cosmically influenced reality and that the line between what could be real and what isn't is just too blurry. There's just so much to bite into, like the personality quirks Elster's have and Ariane doing exactly what she shouldn't have, and just so many ways to interpret this. Honestly, I think the artifact ending is the true ending, Elster's are unique in that rather than being given stimuli to remain stable, people are strictly told not to give it stimuli. An LSTR who not only is given stimuli but even falls in love with another person is what started this entire situation, the Penrose mission goes wrong, Ariane is in critical condition and Elster rather than doing their job and mercifully ending their bleak situation, being incredibly unstable and their entire persona degraded at this point, just puts everyone into a loop of suffering. The question remains whether this was caused by Ariane being incredibly bioresonant, some cosmic eldritch influence, or a mix of both. Perhaps Ariane's consciousness woke up whatever was in the mining facility and caused the infection in the first place.
tossing some more thoughts in the ring that I've heard elsewhere- 1) at least the 3 main endings are 'canon' and happen in a certain order: memory (that elster is indeed the one we later take parts from), promise, leave (the sky changes- its less solid red and now more "normal" looking). I think theres some plot holes here, and I'm not sure I fully agree, but its a nice thought. 2) the lily ending is referencing a part of the book A King In Yellow. I have not read it, this is purely from another video, but lilies are also key to that short story, as is the theme of tragedy and bitter sweet happy endings- featuring a loved woman who falls sick, is frozen in time, and later comes back to life to be with the one she loves. I think you ARE right to some degree that this is just starting another cycle- nothings ended here, so much as its just been changed. theyre still in limbo, just... together. this combined with elster falling / dying in that sequence, as a sort of additional sacrifice, idk, maybe theyre both ghosts. Not necessarily in a supernatural sense, but in a sort of... ghosts as memories / ghosts out of time / ghosts going through the motions of their lives for all of eternity sort of way (which also explains the nature of the penrose in that scene- the ship continues to decay, and they continue to dance, in a constant loop). Idk I have more thoughts for sure, but I wanted to contribute this to the discussion 😊
I got the promise ending. Thought it was super sad but one that made a lot of sense all things considered. Wouldn't have thought there'd be other endings if I hadn't been told.
I was not willing to accept any of the normal endings on my playtroughs so I went for lily and thought it's the best one. But now that I've watched your video and thought about it, I don't think it actually fixes anything, since the red desert and the eye in the sky are not likely to be a preferable alternative to just ending it all at the cost of comparatively little suffering. As much as my heart wants Elster and Ariane to be happy, it's just not one of those stories, and I can only hope that wherever they went, they'll be together there... Thank you for your thoughts, you've made a great video.
I like to think this whole game is in their head. The gestalt pilot survived till the ship started breaking down and no more spare parts was available and rations were going down. They had yet to find a planet at all. Of course they didn't accept death and ELSTAR tried many times to fix the ship but couldn't. So radiation poisoning kicked in and she watched her love deteriorate before her eyes wishing for death but also afraid to die. So she got put into a cryo pod, but since this gestalt pilot has that weird psychic stuff that also makes the replikas work she was able to still communicate with her companion. Eventually she made her promise to kill her even though the replika had fallen deeply in love with her and couldn't do it. Eventually the replika reached the end of it's life cycle and shut down in a corner, but that just wasn't good enough for the dying lady in cryo was it? Her unstable psyche and pain from this poison made her try and get the replika to get up one final time to just kill her and put her out of her misery. What we see in the game is the replika going through that hell, the deformed bots you see are all suffering from radiation poisoning. You go through this and fail in the leave ending, and it just keeps looping. The gestalt keeps going and trying, even when she does succeed in the memory ending sometimes she can't even remember the replica or the promise because the radiation just did that much damage to her. So the loop happens again and again until you get the promise ending. Where you finally kill her and the loop ends, and you, heartbroken and not having anything else to live for while also being WAY past your expiration date finally shut down and die next to the one you loved. As your bodies are encased in this metal coffin for however long this ship floats in space for or you already crashed on a planet and you're still doomed anyways. That is my interpretation of this, for the secret ending I honestly have no clue lol. Could be the replika using her physic stuff to just live and dance with the ghost of her love forever.
I was killing almost everything I saw and got around 11 hours of playtime but still hadn’t got the promise ending. Great analysis btw. Hope the game will get more recognition it definitely deserves it.
@@Cristiferbeast Just finished the game, 9 hours play time, two deaths, was fighting when have to (113 kills) and avoiding enemies when i can, took 700 hp damage in whole playthrough, always was at top health and got "Memory"
@@Cristiferbeast My stats were 12:48:45 total game time, 0 deaths, 2033 dmg taken, 1788 total healing, 122 enemies killed and 380 shots fired and I got the promise ending.
Dang, how'd you all beat it so fast? My total playtime was like 20 hours! One death, can't remember how many kills. Memory ending, which, based on the description of the other endings, I prefer.
7:13 “Ending a nightmare is far better than being stuck in it forever” So I lost my memories in 2015, started to get them back in 2021 in march(?) During any time after 2015 I really couldn’t even be around people who were my friends at the time because they reminded me of the person I lost. Summary I promised to keep her cousin happen and well the person I promised that to offed themselves; I can go into detail on discord. This was in 2012, September 23rd. Her cousin basically used her name and ‘I’ll do it like my cousin’ as threats for years; it was later revealed she basically was the person who caused the ‘offed’ of the person I liked. I didn’t really gain much from this outside of a conversation topic and being able to talk with 3 of the remaining people from that time which I had to seek out. That being said I don’t have much of a memory between 2016 and 2021 and I get ‘kicked out of the drivers seat’ whenever I ‘find certain landmarks’ in memory. The best way to put it. In all honesty the nightmare I lived was the happiest years of my life and I would go back to that time if possible if only to relive it again.
I got the promise ending in my first playthrough, because i am always really aggressive when playing these games, never staying in save room, i constantly use up all the ammo and switches weapons every time i save, which i am really happy about it is indeed my favourite ending
for me looks the lily ending like a sequel-bait, because the cube on the grave + the pilars around them represented the signalis logo, and the material of the cube is the same in the story "the mask", that could mean, it takes a time and then Signalis returne. Like the woman they wake up after 1 or 2 years, i guess. This ending is more a for the player, not for LSTR, i guess.
Great analysis! I think there could be an argument that Ariane is already trapped in the cycle regardless of what we do. I mean the real elster seems to be dead and everything that happens seems to be within Ariane's dream contained within the flesh god/artifact, so the artifact ending could be seen as the only way of granting her some measure of peace in this situation they've become trapped in. Then again I think you're right that the tone of that ending seems pretty negative, and I didn't know about the detail of the tendrils on the model, so Its definitely ambiguous at best.
I came here looking to find out what the game was about not even knowing there were multiple endings, and I FELL FOR THE FAKE OUT ENDING AND QUIT CONFUSED?!
Just thought it’s worth mentioning- grober is actually großer, a unique letter in german. The O should sound like a long O and the b (or ß if the game files have it) should sound like a sharp s, something like grOsser
A highly significant game in which the characters' stories are interwoven and forced to encounter significant emotional challenges. When I finally went back to play the old game after two years (today), it was the "promise" ending. My global time: 24:31:28.92
The whole Circle aspects with the different endings heavily remind me of Madoka Magica and it's Rebellion Movie. Elster is Homura, going through repeated circles to help Madoka which is Ariane in this case
I felt that the artifact ending was the beginning of the cycle. Remember our promise at the end symbolizes the cycle is yet unfinished. Promise is the main ending.
Funny how I got the best ending (promise) just by being a dumbass and spending hours trying to figure puzzles (total playtime 19 hours)... in the end I went on a killing spree because i kept going back and forth between rooms to get puzzle pieces and many enemies were in my way.
I got the promise ending first time i played and was pretty confused since i didn't know any other ending and what it truly meant so thank you for putting this out there.
I got the promise ending. Can you maybe make a video explaining the game in whole. I think I got some of the things but damn, It's really difficult to understand. This is kind of my understanding. Elster units are all the same so during some of the endings you will see a dead Elster unit inside of Arianes ship which is the previous Elster that tried to get to Ariane?The same as Falke and Falke is saying that we are one so if I figured, that dude Adler programmed the Falke unit to stop Elster to break the cycle of the nightmare. The same with Isa, she was also trying to get to Ariane but she failed. So in the promise ending ( which is considered to be a good ending, you decide to break that cycle by killing Ariane so that Elster units and Ariane can finally rest? It's really confusing.
I do agree. The story is so strange. These are all androids, they have biological parts thought and all the same units for example all Elsters have the same mind since they used a specific individual to create these personalities for each type of android. BUT seems that there are variants and it even says in the files you find. This is why the Elster we play is unique and is in love with Arianne and likes things that other Elsters don't like.
Personally, I consider Promise and Artifact to be the "true" endings. Promise is the melancholic finale. You finally free Ariane from her torment and die by her side. I consider Artifact to be almost an "epilogue" someone else mentioned the artifacts symbolizing the other three endings, and the lillies symbolizing my personal theory that Lilly Itou was the gestalt pattern that the LSTR replikas were based on. I see Artifact as Elster realizing everything. Finding a way to escape the cycle by finding her own past. Both in the loop, and out of it. She and Ariane are united, forever able to slow dance, beyond the confines of their torment. They've effectively risen above it, and now exist as with the red eye. That's my take, at least.
No wonder I got the promos ending, I spent most of my time removing all enemies and wondering trying to figure out the puzzles lol (48hr playtime and 200 enemies "killed")
Promise Is the first one I got lol. I am very much confused on the general plot of this game (how much of it is or wasn't real) but this universe has so much potential as does this dev team, I am so excited by what they do next.
So, according to this guide, the true ending means that I just need to play the game the way I usually play. Since I'm a "kill all foes that can die" kind of player.
A year late but I think most of your interpretations are fairly good. I do think there’s a bit more nuance to the leave ending. Before seeing the cutscene the game asks lstr if she’s ready to go home. One interpretation is that because lstr failed to resolve her memories as lstr, and instead returned to Liliths home. The artifact ending is more interesting. To me it seems to mirror a story in the king in yellow. One where two scientists find a substance that turns organic matter to beautiful marble. (The Lilly flower is a reference to this story, as the very same flower was the first thing they turned to marble.) Thus the question, does the artifact ending preserve Lstr and arianes love? Or tarnish it. There is some implication that Artifact does end the cycle despite not fulfilling the promise. Throughout the game on nearly every single background there is an eye that can only be seen by brightening the image. The cutscene where Ariane dances with lstr in artifact is the only time this eye is absent from the background. Despite this, it is shown inside tge cutsdene before the dance happens, maybe the flash is representative of the eye closing? To me, artifact does not end the cycle. Unless you interpret artifact as an impossible outcome done by merging different outcomes of the cycle, Falke is never confronted, even if arianes cycle ends, I beleive falke will continue to corrupt reality.
I remade this video alot later into my journey into this game, and i agree that there is certainly more nuance to the traditional endings then i portray in this video and that the KIY also plays a much more major influence then i allude to here
I finished the game yesterday, I got the gist of the story but the thing that I didn't understand the most was Falke, I get that she was tainted by the memories of Elster but I don't get why she's the final boss and tries to stop you, I get it with Adler (from what I've understood he tries to stop you because if you succeed you'll kill Ariane, and that will destroy this whole reality she created including Adler himself) but with Falke it doesn't make sense, if anything she should actually help you given that she has the memories of Elster and therefore knows of the promise
I’m not 100% sure, but it’s likely that Falke wanted Ariane to herself, and due to Ariane not wanting to see her prevented Falke from reaching the Penrose. So falke tries to prevent anyone from reaching her since she herself can’t.
Really good analysis of the game, didn’t even know the game had various endings until I checked out this video thank you so much!! I even got the promise ending the true ending 🎉🎉
just finished this game and got the Promise ending! wanted to find a video like this and see what the other endings were about. i absolutely love this game
How has no ever mentioned in the leave ending you clearly have black hair(not blue) as if you are lilith ( the gensalt elster is based off) i have no idea what this would mean but i got the leave ending my first playthrough and noticed it right away
I honestly belive this game has no ending, it all just repeats, getting more corrupted with each cycle. If the solution would be for them both to die, then there would be no cycles to begin with. Arian will die from the radiation posioning and Elster from w/e kills her. As such, it can be argued that their deaths are what restart the cycle. I belive the diffrent endings to each taking place in a different cycle; the leave ending being where Elsther loses hope unable to face Arian, dying outside the ship before waking back up in the Penrose. The Promise ending where she attempts to stop the cycle by killing Arian (on the second playthrough after the fake ending we can see a fleshy growth where Arian is suppose to be, possibly being her regenerating). The Memory ending being a sort of acceptance that she can't really escape - but if she's fast enough she gets to spend a moment of respite with Arian before they both die and it all starts over again. And lastly, the artifact ending being a sort of manipulation of the nightmare, making a small world (through the ritual) for them to be together for whatever time they have before it probly starts all over again. I got the leave ending on my first playthrough. I killed many enemies, burned their corpses and generally spoke with everyone and took my time. Based on how you arrive at certain endings, the promise ending should be the first ending you get, as it requires you die a few times, and be at low health for some length of the game. The leave ending have some strange requirements, like checking doors (alot) and spending alot of time at the Beach and inside the Penrose - But this might have changed, if new information have surfaced since I last checked. But it's so cool how the game really makes you reflect and think abouth all aspects of the story! I've heard many interesting takes on what really happens, for instance, that they never leave the ship after it crashed, and that it all takes part in their minds, in a state of psycosis and their increasing radiation sickness. And the cycles only being them hallucinating, before Elsther realizes what's going on and puts them both out of their misery. What a fantastic game.
Thanks for the discussion! I got the Leave ending on my playthrough. I'm a bit conflicted about the Leave ending being a punishment for playing "cowardly" (unless of course it's indeed what the devs had in mind). Primarily because my take on the game being Survival Horror is that you'd want to conserve your resources as best you can - that means being careful, avoiding enemies you can, and so on. So while I agree the Promise ending is a lot more conclusive, it's bit sad that playing more carefully and conservatively results in the "worse" ending :(
I played trying to conserve as much ammo as possible, but I did kill a few enemies to avoid nuisances, especially the ones near the safe rooms. It is also important to note that there are times when you can pass areas without being seen by enemies by being stealthy. If you also talk several times, they tell you different things, with the NPCs you meet at the beginning, this makes you end up getting the end Memory. The Leave ending I think is obtained if you spend too much time without killing enemies, bosses don't count, stealth doesn't work too many times and you don't waste time talking to NPCs
Interesting, I got the fake one, but without Elster acquiring the Falke armor. The arm was broken leaving Elster to die next to the Penrose. Not sure how I got that, but love the game regardless! Going in for a second play through now.
I just got the memory ending on my first playthrough. Hoping to get the promise playthrough next. Such a beautiful game. I do hope for a sequel with a better inventory system. Otherwise i loved this game
I finished this game a few minutes before write this comment. I got the end "Promise". My 3 neurons were like: "Now what?...Warzone?....Warzone....¡3 hours of Warzone!" i got more questions than answers, but all my brain capacity was used in the puzzles so i need to turn of my brain a little bit. But Signalis is definitely awesome...
I got the memory ending my first run, when I play survival horror games I play it like chess, If I don't like a enemies placement, they die. So I did a lot of killing early one in ch 1, ch 2 I had more freedom in dodging so I did that. The fact that the enemies are basically crimson heads really deterred killing aswell, as that goes against ammo preservation. Thanks for the video because i don't know if I will go for the other endings, but it I do, I atleast know to go crazier with non boss ammo.
i was so thankful to to have the game reward me for playing like an idiot (aka not hoarding ammo carefully, generally being a bit reckless, taking a ridiculous amount of time to do things) with the PROMISE ending. it's impossible to really call it a "happy" ending, but it's what the characters (and the world itself) needed. i was worried going into the final stretch of the game, because i knew in a vague sense that there were multiple endings, and most of the time when that's the case i end up with a really bad ending for my first time playing through a game. thank you signalis for rewarding my more chaotic gameplay.
The way to acquire certain endings is a bit strange, IMO. I got the Memory ending first and after going trough everything only for Ariane not to remember you just hurts. I would have gotten the Promise ending by dying 3 more times (tried this with the last save), which isn't exactly "harder" IMO. Still, seeing all endings es part of the cycles makes this amazing.
all i can say is that the developers are a fan of the monogatari series and watched all the animated series by Studio Shaft, the visuals with the "scene intentionally left blank" just screams Monogatari series and Shaft studio as a style. The only thing this game lacked is the head tilt
Cool video, I agree with your interpretation of the endings. Personally, I find the "leave" Ending hardest to achieve. Looking around the place while not taking damage or killing the enemies is pretty difficult or at least as annoying as checking all clearly closed doors. If you actually speed run the game you usually get the "memory" ending. On my first run I usually left enemies alone if they weren't in my way, definitely talked as much to NPC a possible, looked at everything in the dream sequences and I still got the "promise" ending. To be fair I considered a lot of enemies to be in my way, took a lot of damage, and only healed if the lost health fitted the healing item I had on hand.
I think it's really important to understand the importance of Bioresonance and Arienne's potential as a (likely) member of the Empress' lineage. It feels heavily implied that the metaphysical abilities give those with that connection the ability to manifest their desires over reality - even when those desires are subconcious, which is especially relevant for how Arianne had suffered the effects of radiation poisoning, likely without knowing her own heritage or potential with Bioresonance. The effects of the poisoning definitely could affect how her Bioresonance manifest throughout the game. She never intended for the loop, and it's amplified her power and instability. Going through all the endings eventually manifest the Lily ending, which seems to show the representation of the other endings combining into Arianne finally being able to manifest an end to the loop where she and Elster dance eternally, coming out of it evolved at the cost of the world around them - which was likely dead the moment Adler released a confused, poisoned Arianne to experiment on. Her promise wasn't to kill her in the end - it evolved into what they promised during that dance, and so as indicated by the keys required for the lily ending - they get to break free of the loop, and nothing else matters but their love.
Hey so idk about my ending I tried to rip off the doors and my arm came off but my character never got back up she died in the snow after sliding off the top I got an achievement called DAS ENDE it was nothing u showed here in the description of the achievement just says Fail.
I'm not really good at understanding cryptic stories. But I loved this game and appreciate your video! To me, I thought the game was about the seed ship constantly searching for a suitable planet for many years. Over time, the two characters cycle going in and out of stasis over and over to maintain the Penrose and check the ship status. Eventually, they run out of supplies, and the Penrose crash lands on some planet. It's mentioned in the game that it'd be a kindness to let the replika kill you should you not find somewhere in time, "take comfort in the knowledge others will succeed where you fail". I thought maybe the trauma activated Ariane's latent "bioresonant" powers. The kindness doesn't just end Ariane's suffering but also breaks the mental prison that she has trapped everyone in. But like I said, I'm never very good at piecing these things together.
Q: When i have finished the game and picked up Photo Module again i found out that there were pics from previous playthrough. That gave me a little theory that there might be no final ending and the time loop is endless. Even on NEW profile pictures were still there. Do you think it is intentional from devs or just a bug/glitch ???
Hmm that’s very interesting, it plays into the meta theory that the player counting to play continues the cycle. However I’d wager that’s just a gameplay mechanic to save screenshots for the player if they are in a device that makes accessing them hard
@@Cristiferbeast Also did you notice how there are a lot of "6" scattered around ? -6 planets -Rule Of Six about equipment load -6 spears around Falke during her fight and six spear hits to kill her -6 Plates in Nowhere puzzle -6 locks on King In Yellow book -6 sacrifices in secret ending -This portal icon in main menu having 6 angles, but I guess it's just game's Solar System/ how the Artifact looks like -In cutscene after Elster "dies" in prologue, six droplets of blood drop on portal icon. There are always six BUT where they drop is randomized
I dont think cycle can be broken by killing Arienne. Because all 3 "main" endings can still run one after another. I dont think there is good or bad endings at all. To understand why promise is not "good ending" or "canonocal" or "ending for all of this". You have to look at the scene after fake ending. Even if LSTR kill Arienne "red eye" will just ressurect her thru "meat bubble" that we see after fake ending. Scenes can play out the same as after "memory" ending. (cryo chamber-dead-lstr-i made a promise part) I would gladly elaborate more but english is not my native language. But to put it simple I draw some parallels with The King in Yellow book. Which there is a lot. I never in my life went extra mile to understand something game related. How can you tell that i love Signalis?
This game is amazing, first for the fake ending. Only achieved the memory ending. The best ending for me is the promise, because as in life in general, when you have someone you love, like a father or a girlfriend, and you lose for breaking up or even by death, that bond if you don't let it go and go on with life, pursuing your our things, it will just make you and other people suffer. The level of attachment Elster had with Ariane, shows how much she suffered several times and in the bad endings, she didn't have the courage to let her go, and fulfill the promise she made, that could finally set her free.
I just finished the game and got the Promise endings. Took about 9 hours because first playthrough and I got lost but I took down/killed 99 enemies and used healing items a lot. I kinda stopped shooting everything once I saw them get up again though and tended to just take down the enemies in the large rooms so I don't know how I got it. Maybe because I died 10 times (3 to the final boss) I don't know but I think I like the Promise one the most. It ends the nightmare and while their both dead, Ariane remembers you and you both die together. Its a bittersweet ending to an amazing sci-fi horror title I bought on a whim last week on the Switch store.
The exact symbolism has been theorized greatly but one possible meaning could be a representation of the purgatory or eternity without death that Ariane wishes to escape. With the interior of the island supposed to represent death, and the water representing the river styx, so only when we return to the island and enter the boat can we begin to truly help Ariane pass away.
On a more art history note, Die Toteninsel is well-regarded as having been strong inspiration amongst surrealist art, being the basis of work for paintings done by Dalí, James Gleeson, Clerici, H. R. Giger, amongst others. One may say that art in its whole is the ultimate expression, sharing, and amalgamation of the dreams of many, with each subsequent viewer and painter to add their own elements to it. I would also like to make the observation that Böcklin is widely known to have painted five versions of Die Toteninsel, one of uncertain variation, and one Die Lebensinsel, The Isle of Life. For the second version, upon a visitor to his studio's request after being awed by the "dream image" that was the first painting, he added a coffin and female figure, in allusion to the visitor's husband's death from diphtheria years earlier. He then went back to add these elements to his first painting, for which he now called these works Die Gräberinsel, Tomb Island. The fourth version was acquired by Baron Heinrich Thyssen, and was destroyed during a bombing, only to survive as a B/W photograph. On the year of his death, Böcklin may have painted a much lesser-known sixth version of Die Toteninsel, which many note to be stylistically inconsistent (and much less regarded) compared with his earlier works, and speculated to actually have been completed by his son, Carlo. Lastly, the Die Lebensinsel has a notable motif of the swan, symbolically associated with love, aether, and mysticism. Five endings, five paintings. Something ... maybe?
I got Promise ending on Survival. I felt like I played more like the Memory ending players. I mainly tried to avoid the corrupted Replikants but I did take my time through the game reading all the notes and figuring out what to do next instead of rushing it through. Surprisingly tho I killed a lot more Replikants than I thought and with my longer playtime I got the Promise ending which I am grateful for since I do see that ending as the best. I would want the cycle to end and since even Ariane wanted this it makes sense for it to be the ideal ending. Funny thing though I still had the Ammonia bottle I thought I needed it for the final boss or ending but it turns out that bottle was to wake Isa up to acquire the Rifle. I never got to use the rifle :( I am also sad that Isa is dead but I guess she was dead a long time ago anyway. At least everybody doesn't suffer anymore. Amazing game and very very sad. Game of the Year in my opinion. One of my top 10 games now.
On my first playthrough (blind) I got the Leave ending but I think it didn't made sense in my case. I killed practically everything, and didn't got injured most of the time, also I didn't died once. When I saw my Elster walk away it didn't make any sense, I felt punished with that ending for being efective during the playthrough. If Elster avoided most enemies the leave ending would make sense as you explain, but not after going like a Terminator during the entire game just to leave at the very end. What do you think of this particuar case?
So damage taken also contributes to Promise, so taking low amounts of damage, talking to tons of NPCs, and if you finished it quickly would mean you didnt get enough points to get Promise and instead got Leave which is the middle point between the two endings.
Its Chaos !!! The rise of the thinking machines :)) Ariane became... is becoming a Chaos God thru' this Event Horizon kinda thing :)) ...being bio-resonant (psyker) and all that :)) The artifact is rly important... I think Ariane's signals resonate not just with the later Elster units, that are based on an old Elster unit found... with her original neural pattern person lost (Itou ?)... so she resonates with the planets too, being part of the gameplay. Synchronicity starts and all the Elsters... keep their promise and more. Falke is affected too... pretty bad. The bioresonant tech is not fully understood and I think is unknowable. :) The Artifact... the dance we see again... in the 4th dimension ! ? ...an upper domain... of ...dream ? !!! The game is a masterpiece :)
I would like to say that in my first run, i got the fake ending, but it was different. My android broke her arm, then stodd in the sand, and simply died. that's it.
Just finished my first (maybe only) playthrough. It's a beautiful, intense game. Sometimes frustrating. I got the Promise ending. It's funny that it is perhaps the 'best' or truest ending, as I thought to myself "this must be the bad ending" lol. Knowing how the other three endings play out now, I can see how the finality of death for both Elster and Ariane is the best possible scenario. I am curious if anyone can explain the difference between Alina and Ariane. I realized right away the original photo had white hair and after picking up the KIY it changed to brown. I always figured there was some warping of reality (KIY is the antag of the D&D campaign I'm in). So much of the game is abstract, but what was clear pretty quickly is there was a powerful bond between this human and android (replika) that transcended... space, time, reality, etc... Really enamored with the quality of this game made by TWO PEOPLE. It's insane. This is why indie games these days are the way to go. AAA titles has bloated into tumors that can't produce artistry - or at least it's very rare. Too many cooks in the kitchen?
The last ending requires too much leaps in logic and assumptions to work, honestly feels like an ending that wasn't finished. Tho the confirmation of the Lovecraftian God's presence is pretty dope.
Got the Promise ending first time, wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Looking back at the alternatives I feel very fortunate. Going back again for a more "meta" ending just wouldn't be the same.
Its an ok game. The lack of inventory space and removal of a map at certain points of the game really draws out mundane tasks in the game and inflates the game time unnecessarily.
Firstly, I thank you a lot for this video, was searching for content like this since I first got the very first ending, the fake one, and when I started a "new game" it blew my mind and I was crazy searching for explanations, again thank you very much!
Secondly, here are my toughts:
I think the reason why you get the endings is related to the outcome itself, first you get the "coward" ending, which is the ending most dead Elsters we see laying around get, which means you are not trying hard enough, you need to be more aggressive.
And then you get the Memory ending, trying to be more aggressive, you start to remember the promisse intensely and getting more frustrated while failing, and then Ariane still doesn't remember you, this gets you more and more frustrated.
And then the Promisse ending, that I too recognize as the true ending, after failing a lot of times, being more and more aggressive, you finally manage to make her remember. Up until you succeed you fail a lot of times, and the white armor is passed on to a new Eslter.
The Artifact one is a very complex one for me to argue, summing it up I think this one is related to Ariane mostly, maybe you managed to trap yourself on an infinite circle to please your needs, to blind yourself from her death, which is why the model is named "ghost". Also, the name of the keys are a hint that leads me to this line of thought: Love, Sacrifice and Eternity... All linked to a dilusional reality to get stuck on, dancing with her like she always wanted it to end, forever... With her loved one.
What an amazing piece of video-game, I expected 10% of what it delievered, thought it was going to be a space RE with great replay value, but not because of it's story, mostly because of it's gameplay, like a roguelike or a Capcom classic NG+ stuff. But it ended up being one of the best games I've ever played, and one of the best survival horror games ever made, sitting right next to stuff like Sillent Hill 2, and I'm not even exaggerating.
I totally and 100% agree with everything you stated, it is easily one of the best games ive ever played. You know when something is exceptionally made when you have dreams about it afterwards.
I have to wonder if Ariane didn't become the consciousness of the Eldritch Machine (the gate you walk through in the very beginning and throughout the endings) and becomes the giant red eye in the sky if you complete the *Artifact* ending.
On the *Signalis* complete soundtrack page, someone suggested that Ariane and her Elster were crashed on that outer rim world, but with the help of the Eldritch Machine it projects her mind to Falke and is what effects the mining colony (the replicants and humans are infected with Ariane's cancer, as well as the mining colony itself). It is another Elster unit starting up in the restroom of the colony that is seeking information, and it is when Falke is defeated that she says "we are one" and Ariane takes complete control.
Did i like get the story in the wrong order then?😭 my first playthrough i got the promise ending and felt so confused. Maaaan now i feel like i missed out on the right order
@@shadowstorm9191 No, there's no real "order" to the endings. As mentioned things are left pretty open ended leaving the consumer to sit and theorize on what they gave you. All of the endings you can consider "isolated". As far as I'm aware, it isn't like Nier where there really is a true ending so it's up to the player to decide their own.
I’m so blown away by this game. For a $20 indie title created by two people, they topped pretty much every triple A horror title out there right now. I can’t wait to see what they do next. Great video.
@@CitizenPoe I think that's exactly the problem 343 has with halo as well. They can't do basic things because the UI they made themselves doesn't support it. That doesn't happen with a smaller team. It just cant
This is what happends when the devs make a thing they wish to make :)
beating triple A is not a high bar right now.......💀
I would assume the Lily ending was basically the aftermath of the Memory ending considering their implied survival and that Elster was teaching the amnesiac Ariane to dance as a way for her to remember their relationship.
I'd definitly preffer a happy ending like that after all the suffering and darkness that happened in the game.
I think you are right. The endings seem to have an order with the Lilyending being the end of a fork.
So you have the Memory ending that splits into either Promise, or Lily.
While Leave obviously means we end up as one of the failed instances we encounter in the Red Desert.
So the order would be Leave > Memory > Promise OR Lily.
@@CrestOfArtorias This is very late but I would like to add to this:
Lilly and Promise are basically complete opposites.
Promise: Sacrificing yourself for everyone else
Lilly: Sacrificing everyone else for yourself
@@deltavee9903 True that
@@deltavee9903 I love the Lily ending, but it just feels so wrong.
Like, what happens after the couple stop dancing? Is the entire universe at risk? Is the cycle of Elster and Ariane over?
These are the reasons as to why i love this game.
Promise was the ending I got playing through on Survival. I am going to replay the game going for Artifact.
I find that Artifact is interesting because it plays into the LSTR unit's known "defects" and warning that you should *not* befriend an LSTR unit. Because Elster became attached to Ariane/Alina. She decided to doom souls and create a terrible loop all for the sake of not losing Ariane.
my comprehention of these titles are mess, is ariae the ballet dancer ones who require mirror and music?
@@seekyunbounded9273 Ariane is the white haired Gestalt.
@@Upsetkiller456 and Gestalts are suposed to be humans?
@@seekyunbounded9273 Yeah
@@seekyunbounded9273 Gestalt is a german word for Shape, in order to have a shape you need something that forms it. so humans have that shape Replikas replicate. just a little explanation
I got the promise ending on my first attempt, as I was so invested into the game and immersed myself into every single detail given... I cried my f*cking eyes out... And I am so split on the secret ending... I want to get it... But I actually feel like I should let it rest. What a game... An absolutely fantastic dystopian sci-fi horror tragedy. AAANNNDD made by only two people from my own country. Masterpiece, just like this video.
This means you are smarter than Elster, stopping the cycle instead of leaning into it. Its hard, been there. :)
Just finished it rn, got the promise ending too, what a rollercoaster this game has been
I don't know how I did it, but I managed to land the Promise ending first time.
I'm really glad that I did too. It felt both melancholic and satisfying...
What a game.
i got it too! the promise ending gave it such a silent hill 2 feeling of making peace with a difficult situation!
Same! I loved this game to death, but wouldn't be able to go on a second playthrough. The feeling of closure and melancholy from it really made me feel very satisfied.
Lucky bastard. I had no idea skipping fights was gonna affect the ending I got. When I saw enemies respawn after death, I didn't see the point in trying to put them down, unless i had a thermite available...
I also got the Promise ending on my first playthrough. I'm usually overcautious when playing a survival horror game for the first time, so I'm constantly returning to the item box to leave and pick stuff before going on too far and for that same reason I'm quite sure I killed almost every enemy. Somehow I managed to beat the game without dying a single time (which gives less points for the promise ending) despite almost always having my health in yellow but I did manage to get to the 12 hour mark.
It felt very rewarding that this game gives you a better ending for actually putting more effort and time in the game, unlike RE where they give a worse grade the more saves you make or the more time you take to complete the game.
I also got it on my first playthrough!
I feel like the 4th ending is something very different. The players that get it tried extremely hard to finally make sense of everything, to finally tie everything together into one happy and true ending. But they are presented with two things: a reward, that the lovers are finally able to dance with another again through the power of their unity, as the grave was what Elster's Gestalt had made for her fallen comrade and likely lover, Alina, and a tesseract, as it's called in the game files. An impossible object for this world, followed by an impossible scene of them dancing again. It does not make sense. And to me it is a clear nod to the player meaning something like "Hey, thank you for showing how invested you are in the game's background, in every single detail, and as a reward, have this cute scene of them dancing again, what you wanted to look for here. Is it even a good end? Does it entail something even worse? Who knows. But after all that, Achtung. Warning. Wake up. You are missing the point. You already got the answers after the first end, why keep looking when there are only questions? It's art." It does not have to make sense and Signalis intentionally does not in order to nod towards the greater picture. Like the painting that reoccurs in the game, "Die Toteninsel": Are it two lovers departing from death, letting go together in their final moments? Are they alife do they make it out of there? While reasonable questions at first, it would seem silly to ask these to the painter as if it really happened, since you already got the message when you first saw it. To quote Noclips recap (ua-cam.com/video/x_sOosz_3KM/v-deo.html): "It's like going into a restaurant and eating the menu". It's like watching a beautiful play the message you already understood after watching it the first time, but instead of applauding and going home with the messages you go back, cycle after cycle again, review it, changing and corrupting your impression again and again, you sneak backstage to look at the props, just to get a hint of what it all means when you already had it given to you. There is no truth that can make you go insane. The King in Yellow, wherein one goes insane if they read the second chapter, does not exist in reality. And the truth at the second chapter, the end of not the game, but the entire work you experience, that you try to avoid by trying to make acute sense of it, it is not horrifying or insanity driving at all. It's that it's a piece of artwork that intentionally does not provide clarification. "THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK". The links are missing intentionally. Wake up, and take home what it already gave you: A beautiful presentation of love, eternity and sacrifice. Of what a society that aims towards putting people in tight little groups of personalities that can easily be tended to implies for the individual. And finally, of how art should be viewed.
Fake ending caught me off guard, but my curiosity was at its peak and I got the Promise ending. Incredible survival horror game. Next to the dead space remake I’ve never felt so stressed, it was truly exciting.
May try the artifact ending after I’ve had a week to process the promise ending.
Is “Leave” truly the worst? You get to see and feel the planet you lands on, plus the warmth of the sun. It seems the most peaceful
I hope they make a sequel sometime. I really like the universe they created, and it would be a great way to expand on some of the mysteries of the story and world. I haven't been this fascinated by a game in a long time and can't wait for more of their future works!
I'd like to see the enemy faction too.
I also was really impressed by the Lore. The combination of ScFi/Horror/Nationalism/Comunism/Clones is just amazing, a World I wanna know more of it
@@joshuaverde5362 need a game running from the perspective of the empire.
I for one don't want a sequel. The game is perfect already as is, and would like to see what else these devs could make.
@@Swordmaster7th i agreed totally with you, i would more likely to see a DLC with more lore, something like "what was before the tragedy"
i think the 3 keys from artifact also symbolize the other 3 endings, eternity = leave Love = memory sacrifice = promise, artifact is a meta ending the player would normally never obtain without finishing the game at least once
im surprised no one talking about the synopsis of the wikipedia which mentions another theory for the whole game that rather than eldritch abomination causing all this, its all in their imagination due to radiation poisoning from the crashed ship which explains a lot why she cant sleep and feels herself dying real time as id imagine she melts into flesh soup which does happen to lethal dose radiation poisoning and would explain the alzheimers/ dementia like memory shifts and losing touch with reality that would make one believe its an eldritch horror. another hint to this is the graphite plates you carry that she mentions feels warm, could be radioactive graphite that is constantly fucking with your memory since its mentioned its hot and radioactive metals tend to be hot but due to its radiation not heat. which really fks with my head since its up to interpretation.
thats not even talking about the theories on who the spy was and how the hints seem to indicate it might have been arianas mom all along.
regardless i didnt hate the endings but disliked how sad they all left me...wished for a joke ending to wash the sadness away or non cannon happy ending ;_;
if you want to read about the horrors of radiation poisoning i recommend reading or watching a video about hisachi ouichi
Indeed! I haven't looked at Wikipedia yet but this was my interpretation as well. I thought the infected enemies and the masses of flesh represented the spread and damage of metastatic tumours in her body due to radiation poisoning. And all the "eldritch" references being a product of her mind reconstructing memories, using all the literary and artistic references in her life, in the context of cancerous mutations of her own body killing her as well as the radiation poisoning itself and also a perfect explanation for the ominous "red eye" as the originator/author of the "infection"; her own eye colour.
It even lines up elegantly with the prominent imagery and symbolism of Arnold Böcklin's and Eugen Bracht's paintings in the game. Journey towards death, the unknown, oblivion.
I interpreted "The Promise" also in the same context. The dying and unraveling mind's desperate efforts to hold onto the memory of love, to remember. Reminds me a bit of Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind.
There are likely other, perhaps allegorical layers, for instance the theme of Bioresonance which perhaps played a part in shared or exchanged memories between her and Elster, but I still need to think on it (I have just finished the game a couple hours ago).
All in all, a heart-breakingly beautiful game.
I mean, when you are exploring the crashed penerose ship, the message from command to gestalt officer are literally to not try and prolong your suffering, as the radiation might leak inside from the reactor.
That is the lamest explanation for this whole story someone could come up with
@@dddoodles Not at all and it is not even entirely an interpretation :-]
@@denizsi its literally "it's all a dream" bs that stuff literally ruins entire series
0:54 Fake Ending
1:36 Leave Ending
2:57 Memory Ending
5:36 Promise Ending
7:16 Lily/Artifact Ending
The fact that this game creates such an intriguing sci-fi distopian world and blends in body and cosmic horror so well without compromising either component is amazing. The game also doesn't abswer anything despite likely providing the player with everything they need to know. The fact that we can deduce what may have really happened without ever really knowing for sure makes the game insanely replayable, but also horror stems from not understanding the scary things we encounter. The lack of answers means that a sequel, should it take a similar route, would not go the way of RE games or Dead Space wherein out understanding of the lore detracts from the horror.
Great video man!
I only have one nitpick, which is the interpretation of the eye in the sky.
The Red Eye is mentioned a few times in Signalis and it’s primarily a Rotfront folklore thing. Rotfront is a moon orbiting a gas giant with a perpetual storm, similar to our Jupiter. Jupiter’s storm is even called the Red Eye. (Side note: there’s a cool theory that Signalis is taking place in our solar system but all of the planets have different names)
Rot front’s citizens attached the symbolism of their oppressive Nation to the ever-watching Red Eye that hung in the sky.
You can interpret the Red Eye as Big Brother and the fear of being watched. You could see the red light on security cameras as red eyes, cameras that are ever present in many of this game’s halls. You’re being watched by someone but it’s never made clear WHO is watching.
In the Artifact ending, the Red Eye even looks like a camera lens. This could represent the overwhelming presence of the Nation even at this stage of the story. It could also represent the Red Eye of Rotfront, meaning the Red Space is Rotfront in some way. I don’t think this is where Penrose ended up, but it might represent Ariane never truly escaping Rotfront no matter how far she ran from it. It still bothers her, hell, it’s her final struggle that we fight through for the last level.
I don’t know the answers but the Red Eye in the Artifact ending feels incredibly important, to remind you that the Nation is a big player in this and the true Antagonist. It is not Adler, not Falke, not Ariane, but the totalitarian regime that created this waking nightmare in the first place. But that’s my take.
Bonus easy-to-miss detail: there is a red light at the back of Replika eyes. You can see it clearly on Elster in some close-up shots. At 7:04 you can see it fading as Elster dies.
What does this mean? I don’t know but it definitely feels purposeful.
i adore this deeper inspection of the eye, and its something ive been debating revisiting as a topic as well. I think that the eye certainly could be representative of the state observing in even now, showing that even in this pocket reality she still finds no solstice.
Also the fading of the eye i saw as the death of the replika system, symbolic of flatlining, we also see this in the fakeout ending.
I also noticed the cameras following Elsters's every move. I think it was Adler who was behind this.
I think the red light in the replica eyes symbolizes the presence of life, the same that in some media, when a character dies, the "shine" in their eyes disappears as their soul fades away.
I interpreted the Red in the Replika eyes as Arianes Biolumence(?) power that shes uses to revive Elster in each cycle.
I wonder if it isn't a *Blade Runner* reference?
@@JaY4553 I like to think of it as just another symbol of the totalitarian state, like the posters or the shaded term on the first floor. I still wonder what they banned.
Love the analysis. I'm not sure if people noticed, but a lot of either Elster's memories or Alina seo and Lilith itou's memories were told through the flashing imagery. The ritual pillars at the end with the lilies on the center pillar were the same events that happened on Vineta to the 0512 infantry division. Elster, Alina, and Isa's mother were apart of that unit. One of the images shows them all deceased in a trench (except 2) (rebecca Liang & who knows, either Alina, Anna or Lilith). After that image another image showing us Vineta and the 6 ritual pillars(including lilies) with one soldier standing in front of the center pillar(same as lily ending.)
I think the lily ending is going through Elsters recounts of the war on Vineta. (Love, sacrifice, and eternal oath)
All of this imagery happens after beating the flesh maze and before stepping into Rotfront btw.
I absolutely love this game. I love that you can't dismiss everything as a dream or some cosmically influenced reality and that the line between what could be real and what isn't is just too blurry. There's just so much to bite into, like the personality quirks Elster's have and Ariane doing exactly what she shouldn't have, and just so many ways to interpret this. Honestly, I think the artifact ending is the true ending, Elster's are unique in that rather than being given stimuli to remain stable, people are strictly told not to give it stimuli. An LSTR who not only is given stimuli but even falls in love with another person is what started this entire situation, the Penrose mission goes wrong, Ariane is in critical condition and Elster rather than doing their job and mercifully ending their bleak situation, being incredibly unstable and their entire persona degraded at this point, just puts everyone into a loop of suffering.
The question remains whether this was caused by Ariane being incredibly bioresonant, some cosmic eldritch influence, or a mix of both. Perhaps Ariane's consciousness woke up whatever was in the mining facility and caused the infection in the first place.
To get promise, kick monster ass, don't be afraid to bleed, let yourself go critical often, save few times, take your time.
Thanks for saying they have lesbian love... I swear 99% of the content on internet says they are just friends/roomates.
there's no way people say that they're good friends, that's gotta be ironic. they literally kiss. they literally dance together
@@AnOriginalBreakfast friends can dance like that BUT NOT LITERALLY KISSING EACH OTHER LMAO
Why does it matter?
Why does it matter?
Why does it matter?
tossing some more thoughts in the ring that I've heard elsewhere- 1) at least the 3 main endings are 'canon' and happen in a certain order: memory (that elster is indeed the one we later take parts from), promise, leave (the sky changes- its less solid red and now more "normal" looking). I think theres some plot holes here, and I'm not sure I fully agree, but its a nice thought. 2) the lily ending is referencing a part of the book A King In Yellow. I have not read it, this is purely from another video, but lilies are also key to that short story, as is the theme of tragedy and bitter sweet happy endings- featuring a loved woman who falls sick, is frozen in time, and later comes back to life to be with the one she loves. I think you ARE right to some degree that this is just starting another cycle- nothings ended here, so much as its just been changed. theyre still in limbo, just... together. this combined with elster falling / dying in that sequence, as a sort of additional sacrifice, idk, maybe theyre both ghosts. Not necessarily in a supernatural sense, but in a sort of... ghosts as memories / ghosts out of time / ghosts going through the motions of their lives for all of eternity sort of way (which also explains the nature of the penrose in that scene- the ship continues to decay, and they continue to dance, in a constant loop). Idk I have more thoughts for sure, but I wanted to contribute this to the discussion 😊
I got the promise ending. Thought it was super sad but one that made a lot of sense all things considered. Wouldn't have thought there'd be other endings if I hadn't been told.
I was not willing to accept any of the normal endings on my playtroughs so I went for lily and thought it's the best one. But now that I've watched your video and thought about it, I don't think it actually fixes anything, since the red desert and the eye in the sky are not likely to be a preferable alternative to just ending it all at the cost of comparatively little suffering.
As much as my heart wants Elster and Ariane to be happy, it's just not one of those stories, and I can only hope that wherever they went, they'll be together there...
Thank you for your thoughts, you've made a great video.
I like to think this whole game is in their head. The gestalt pilot survived till the ship started breaking down and no more spare parts was available and rations were going down. They had yet to find a planet at all. Of course they didn't accept death and ELSTAR tried many times to fix the ship but couldn't. So radiation poisoning kicked in and she watched her love deteriorate before her eyes wishing for death but also afraid to die. So she got put into a cryo pod, but since this gestalt pilot has that weird psychic stuff that also makes the replikas work she was able to still communicate with her companion. Eventually she made her promise to kill her even though the replika had fallen deeply in love with her and couldn't do it. Eventually the replika reached the end of it's life cycle and shut down in a corner, but that just wasn't good enough for the dying lady in cryo was it? Her unstable psyche and pain from this poison made her try and get the replika to get up one final time to just kill her and put her out of her misery. What we see in the game is the replika going through that hell, the deformed bots you see are all suffering from radiation poisoning. You go through this and fail in the leave ending, and it just keeps looping. The gestalt keeps going and trying, even when she does succeed in the memory ending sometimes she can't even remember the replica or the promise because the radiation just did that much damage to her. So the loop happens again and again until you get the promise ending. Where you finally kill her and the loop ends, and you, heartbroken and not having anything else to live for while also being WAY past your expiration date finally shut down and die next to the one you loved. As your bodies are encased in this metal coffin for however long this ship floats in space for or you already crashed on a planet and you're still doomed anyways. That is my interpretation of this, for the secret ending I honestly have no clue lol. Could be the replika using her physic stuff to just live and dance with the ghost of her love forever.
I was killing almost everything I saw and got around 11 hours of playtime but still hadn’t got the promise ending. Great analysis btw. Hope the game will get more recognition it definitely deserves it.
To my knowledge it is 12hrs to achieve +2 to the Death stat. But i agree 100% amazing game
@@Cristiferbeast I got promise ending after 9 hours
@@Cristiferbeast Just finished the game, 9 hours play time, two deaths, was fighting when have to (113 kills) and avoiding enemies when i can, took 700 hp damage in whole playthrough, always was at top health and got "Memory"
@@Cristiferbeast My stats were 12:48:45 total game time, 0 deaths, 2033 dmg taken, 1788 total healing, 122 enemies killed and 380 shots fired and I got the promise ending.
Dang, how'd you all beat it so fast? My total playtime was like 20 hours! One death, can't remember how many kills. Memory ending, which, based on the description of the other endings, I prefer.
7:13
“Ending a nightmare is far better than being stuck in it forever”
So I lost my memories in 2015, started to get them back in 2021 in march(?)
During any time after 2015 I really couldn’t even be around people who were my friends at the time because they reminded me of the person I lost.
Summary I promised to keep her cousin happen and well the person I promised that to offed themselves; I can go into detail on discord.
This was in 2012, September 23rd.
Her cousin basically used her name and ‘I’ll do it like my cousin’ as threats for years; it was later revealed she basically was the person who caused the ‘offed’ of the person I liked.
I didn’t really gain much from this outside of a conversation topic and being able to talk with 3 of the remaining people from that time which I had to seek out.
That being said I don’t have much of a memory between 2016 and 2021 and I get ‘kicked out of the drivers seat’ whenever I ‘find certain landmarks’ in memory.
The best way to put it.
In all honesty the nightmare I lived was the happiest years of my life and I would go back to that time if possible if only to relive it again.
I got the promise ending in my first playthrough, because i am always really aggressive when playing these games, never staying in save room, i constantly use up all the ammo and switches weapons every time i save, which i am really happy about it is indeed my favourite ending
for me looks the lily ending like a sequel-bait, because the cube on the grave + the pilars around them represented the signalis logo, and the material of the cube is the same in the story "the mask", that could mean, it takes a time and then Signalis returne. Like the woman they wake up after 1 or 2 years, i guess. This ending is more a for the player, not for LSTR, i guess.
Great analysis! I think there could be an argument that Ariane is already trapped in the cycle regardless of what we do. I mean the real elster seems to be dead and everything that happens seems to be within Ariane's dream contained within the flesh god/artifact, so the artifact ending could be seen as the only way of granting her some measure of peace in this situation they've become trapped in. Then again I think you're right that the tone of that ending seems pretty negative, and I didn't know about the detail of the tendrils on the model, so Its definitely ambiguous at best.
I came here looking to find out what the game was about not even knowing there were multiple endings, and I FELL FOR THE FAKE OUT ENDING AND QUIT CONFUSED?!
LMAO ITS OKAY LOTS OF PEEPS DID
Just thought it’s worth mentioning- grober is actually großer, a unique letter in german. The O should sound like a long O and the b (or ß if the game files have it) should sound like a sharp s, something like grOsser
Thanks for the video! Just finished the game (with the Memory ending) and the video helped to understand a little bit better!
A highly significant game in which the characters' stories are interwoven and forced to encounter significant emotional challenges.
When I finally went back to play the old game after two years (today), it was the "promise" ending. My global time: 24:31:28.92
The whole Circle aspects with the different endings heavily remind me of Madoka Magica and it's Rebellion Movie. Elster is Homura, going through repeated circles to help Madoka which is Ariane in this case
Or it may be Higurashi no nako koro ni?
@@Sons_of_Thoth not enough gay but also valid :D
Btw, I say this as a complimentn , just so you know ^^
@@electricheart7965 gotcha m8 ^_^
I thought Elsr was dancing with a dead body.
I thought there was 2 dancing ghost
I felt that the artifact ending was the beginning of the cycle. Remember our promise at the end symbolizes the cycle is yet unfinished. Promise is the main ending.
Funny how I got the best ending (promise) just by being a dumbass and spending hours trying to figure puzzles (total playtime 19 hours)... in the end I went on a killing spree because i kept going back and forth between rooms to get puzzle pieces and many enemies were in my way.
I got the promise ending first time i played and was pretty confused since i didn't know any other ending and what it truly meant so thank you for putting this out there.
I got the promise ending.
Can you maybe make a video explaining the game in whole. I think I got some of the things but damn, It's really difficult to understand.
This is kind of my understanding.
Elster units are all the same so during some of the endings you will see a dead Elster unit inside of Arianes ship which is the previous Elster that tried to get to Ariane?The same as Falke and Falke is saying that we are one so if I figured, that dude Adler programmed the Falke unit to stop Elster to break the cycle of the nightmare. The same with Isa, she was also trying to get to Ariane but she failed.
So in the promise ending ( which is considered to be a good ending, you decide to break that cycle by killing Ariane so that Elster units and Ariane can finally rest?
It's really confusing.
Explaining the game as a whole would be hours XD, but I intend on slowly explaining parts of the game overtime as I come to understand it
I do agree. The story is so strange. These are all androids, they have biological parts thought and all the same units for example all Elsters have the same mind since they used a specific individual to create these personalities for each type of android.
BUT seems that there are variants and it even says in the files you find. This is why the Elster we play is unique and is in love with Arianne and likes things that other Elsters don't like.
@@Safersephiroth777 Your Elster unit is different because Arianne has made her listen to music, love art, love love... So that is the main difference.
@@djukafox Yeah I said that. Apparently they can have different personalities depending on the circumstances.
Personally, I consider Promise and Artifact to be the "true" endings.
Promise is the melancholic finale. You finally free Ariane from her torment and die by her side. I consider Artifact to be almost an "epilogue" someone else mentioned the artifacts symbolizing the other three endings, and the lillies symbolizing my personal theory that Lilly Itou was the gestalt pattern that the LSTR replikas were based on.
I see Artifact as Elster realizing everything. Finding a way to escape the cycle by finding her own past. Both in the loop, and out of it. She and Ariane are united, forever able to slow dance, beyond the confines of their torment.
They've effectively risen above it, and now exist as with the red eye. That's my take, at least.
First ending I got is the promise ending, now I gotta get the others
I’m glad I was able to kick enough ass the first time to be able to get the promise ending and be able to end the loop.
The replica enshrined in the lower left of the artifact end is the woman wearing glasses that was reflected in the PV.
No wonder I got the promos ending, I spent most of my time removing all enemies and wondering trying to figure out the puzzles lol (48hr playtime and 200 enemies "killed")
I agree with you. The Artifact ending always made me doubtful about it but then you cleared this up evidently.
Lots of Thanx❤
I am so happy i got the promise ending on my first playthrough without trying
5:00 promise ending and memory ending both use the same falke sprite tho, not just the memory ending
Promise Is the first one I got lol. I am very much confused on the general plot of this game (how much of it is or wasn't real) but this universe has so much potential as does this dev team, I am so excited by what they do next.
Got promise first time around thinking it was the bad on. Dam was I wrong
So, according to this guide, the true ending means that I just need to play the game the way I usually play.
Since I'm a "kill all foes that can die" kind of player.
To get promise yes, thou some wager that promise isn’t exactly the “good ending”
So just play whatever way you want
@@Cristiferbeast Though of the Main 3, it's certainly the better one, as it is the ending where the promise is fulfilled.
Never even occured to me that the dead Elster with armour is the one from the memory ending!
A year late but I think most of your interpretations are fairly good.
I do think there’s a bit more nuance to the leave ending. Before seeing the cutscene the game asks lstr if she’s ready to go home. One interpretation is that because lstr failed to resolve her memories as lstr, and instead returned to Liliths home.
The artifact ending is more interesting. To me it seems to mirror a story in the king in yellow. One where two scientists find a substance that turns organic matter to beautiful marble. (The Lilly flower is a reference to this story, as the very same flower was the first thing they turned to marble.) Thus the question, does the artifact ending preserve Lstr and arianes love? Or tarnish it.
There is some implication that Artifact does end the cycle despite not fulfilling the promise. Throughout the game on nearly every single background there is an eye that can only be seen by brightening the image. The cutscene where Ariane dances with lstr in artifact is the only time this eye is absent from the background. Despite this, it is shown inside tge cutsdene before the dance happens, maybe the flash is representative of the eye closing?
To me, artifact does not end the cycle. Unless you interpret artifact as an impossible outcome done by merging different outcomes of the cycle, Falke is never confronted, even if arianes cycle ends, I beleive falke will continue to corrupt reality.
I remade this video alot later into my journey into this game, and i agree that there is certainly more nuance to the traditional endings then i portray in this video and that the KIY also plays a much more major influence then i allude to here
@@Cristiferbeast Cool, Lemme take a look!
I didn’t even know my ending was fake till now lmfao
I finished the game yesterday, I got the gist of the story but the thing that I didn't understand the most was Falke, I get that she was tainted by the memories of Elster but I don't get why she's the final boss and tries to stop you, I get it with Adler (from what I've understood he tries to stop you because if you succeed you'll kill Ariane, and that will destroy this whole reality she created including Adler himself) but with Falke it doesn't make sense, if anything she should actually help you given that she has the memories of Elster and therefore knows of the promise
I’m not 100% sure, but it’s likely that Falke wanted Ariane to herself, and due to Ariane not wanting to see her prevented Falke from reaching the Penrose. So falke tries to prevent anyone from reaching her since she herself can’t.
Really good analysis of the game, didn’t even know the game had various endings until I checked out this video thank you so much!! I even got the promise ending the true ending 🎉🎉
Damn I was playing too conservative thinking why bother wasting the ammo if they're gonna come back and got the bad ending
just finished this game and got the Promise ending! wanted to find a video like this and see what the other endings were about. i absolutely love this game
How has no ever mentioned in the leave ending you clearly have black hair(not blue) as if you are lilith ( the gensalt elster is based off) i have no idea what this would mean but i got the leave ending my first playthrough and noticed it right away
I honestly belive this game has no ending, it all just repeats, getting more corrupted with each cycle. If the solution would be for them both to die, then there would be no cycles to begin with. Arian will die from the radiation posioning and Elster from w/e kills her. As such, it can be argued that their deaths are what restart the cycle.
I belive the diffrent endings to each taking place in a different cycle; the leave ending being where Elsther loses hope unable to face Arian, dying outside the ship before waking back up in the Penrose. The Promise ending where she attempts to stop the cycle by killing Arian (on the second playthrough after the fake ending we can see a fleshy growth where Arian is suppose to be, possibly being her regenerating). The Memory ending being a sort of acceptance that she can't really escape - but if she's fast enough she gets to spend a moment of respite with Arian before they both die and it all starts over again. And lastly, the artifact ending being a sort of manipulation of the nightmare, making a small world (through the ritual) for them to be together for whatever time they have before it probly starts all over again.
I got the leave ending on my first playthrough. I killed many enemies, burned their corpses and generally spoke with everyone and took my time. Based on how you arrive at certain endings, the promise ending should be the first ending you get, as it requires you die a few times, and be at low health for some length of the game. The leave ending have some strange requirements, like checking doors (alot) and spending alot of time at the Beach and inside the Penrose - But this might have changed, if new information have surfaced since I last checked.
But it's so cool how the game really makes you reflect and think abouth all aspects of the story!
I've heard many interesting takes on what really happens, for instance, that they never leave the ship after it crashed, and that it all takes part in their minds, in a state of psycosis and their increasing radiation sickness. And the cycles only being them hallucinating, before Elsther realizes what's going on and puts them both out of their misery.
What a fantastic game.
video just made me realize i deleted the game too early after the fake ending 😭
Thanks for the discussion! I got the Leave ending on my playthrough. I'm a bit conflicted about the Leave ending being a punishment for playing "cowardly" (unless of course it's indeed what the devs had in mind). Primarily because my take on the game being Survival Horror is that you'd want to conserve your resources as best you can - that means being careful, avoiding enemies you can, and so on. So while I agree the Promise ending is a lot more conclusive, it's bit sad that playing more carefully and conservatively results in the "worse" ending :(
I think the game is meant to be played more akin to Resident Evil. Shoot them zombies! But I get what your saying
I played trying to conserve as much ammo as possible, but I did kill a few enemies to avoid nuisances, especially the ones near the safe rooms. It is also important to note that there are times when you can pass areas without being seen by enemies by being stealthy. If you also talk several times, they tell you different things, with the NPCs you meet at the beginning, this makes you end up getting the end Memory. The Leave ending I think is obtained if you spend too much time without killing enemies, bosses don't count, stealth doesn't work too many times and you don't waste time talking to NPCs
Interesting, I got the fake one, but without Elster acquiring the Falke armor. The arm was broken leaving Elster to die next to the Penrose. Not sure how I got that, but love the game regardless! Going in for a second play through now.
Yo yo! That ending means you havent finished the game yet! Reload and there is more to play!
Oh dang! Thank you so much, I know what I am going to be doing today. I appreciate it!@@Cristiferbeast
I just got the memory ending on my first playthrough. Hoping to get the promise playthrough next. Such a beautiful game. I do hope for a sequel with a better inventory system. Otherwise i loved this game
I finished this game a few minutes before write this comment. I got the end "Promise".
My 3 neurons were like: "Now what?...Warzone?....Warzone....¡3 hours of Warzone!"
i got more questions than answers, but all my brain capacity was used in the puzzles so i need to turn of my brain a little bit.
But Signalis is definitely awesome...
I got the memory ending my first run, when I play survival horror games I play it like chess, If I don't like a enemies placement, they die. So I did a lot of killing early one in ch 1, ch 2 I had more freedom in dodging so I did that. The fact that the enemies are basically crimson heads really deterred killing aswell, as that goes against ammo preservation. Thanks for the video because i don't know if I will go for the other endings, but it I do, I atleast know to go crazier with non boss ammo.
i was so thankful to to have the game reward me for playing like an idiot (aka not hoarding ammo carefully, generally being a bit reckless, taking a ridiculous amount of time to do things) with the PROMISE ending. it's impossible to really call it a "happy" ending, but it's what the characters (and the world itself) needed. i was worried going into the final stretch of the game, because i knew in a vague sense that there were multiple endings, and most of the time when that's the case i end up with a really bad ending for my first time playing through a game. thank you signalis for rewarding my more chaotic gameplay.
The way to acquire certain endings is a bit strange, IMO. I got the Memory ending first and after going trough everything only for Ariane not to remember you just hurts. I would have gotten the Promise ending by dying 3 more times (tried this with the last save), which isn't exactly "harder" IMO. Still, seeing all endings es part of the cycles makes this amazing.
all i can say is that the developers are a fan of the monogatari series and watched all the animated series by Studio Shaft, the visuals with the "scene intentionally left blank" just screams Monogatari series and Shaft studio as a style. The only thing this game lacked is the head tilt
Cool video, I agree with your interpretation of the endings. Personally, I find the "leave" Ending hardest to achieve. Looking around the place while not taking damage or killing the enemies is pretty difficult or at least as annoying as checking all clearly closed doors. If you actually speed run the game you usually get the "memory" ending. On my first run I usually left enemies alone if they weren't in my way, definitely talked as much to NPC a possible, looked at everything in the dream sequences and I still got the "promise" ending. To be fair I considered a lot of enemies to be in my way, took a lot of damage, and only healed if the lost health fitted the healing item I had on hand.
I think it's really important to understand the importance of Bioresonance and Arienne's potential as a (likely) member of the Empress' lineage. It feels heavily implied that the metaphysical abilities give those with that connection the ability to manifest their desires over reality - even when those desires are subconcious, which is especially relevant for how Arianne had suffered the effects of radiation poisoning, likely without knowing her own heritage or potential with Bioresonance.
The effects of the poisoning definitely could affect how her Bioresonance manifest throughout the game. She never intended for the loop, and it's amplified her power and instability.
Going through all the endings eventually manifest the Lily ending, which seems to show the representation of the other endings combining into Arianne finally being able to manifest an end to the loop where she and Elster dance eternally, coming out of it evolved at the cost of the world around them - which was likely dead the moment Adler released a confused, poisoned Arianne to experiment on.
Her promise wasn't to kill her in the end - it evolved into what they promised during that dance, and so as indicated by the keys required for the lily ending - they get to break free of the loop, and nothing else matters but their love.
How is promise the hardest ending to acquire when you need to finish the game in six hours to get the memory ending? That a much harder requirement
Hey so idk about my ending I tried to rip off the doors and my arm came off but my character never got back up she died in the snow after sliding off the top I got an achievement called DAS ENDE it was nothing u showed here in the description of the achievement just says Fail.
My first ever play through btw
That means you got the fake ending, the game isn’t over yet reopening your save will continue it 👍
@@Cristiferbeast ya I just now literally finished it and I got the she didn't remember me
I'm not really good at understanding cryptic stories. But I loved this game and appreciate your video!
To me, I thought the game was about the seed ship constantly searching for a suitable planet for many years. Over time, the two characters cycle going in and out of stasis over and over to maintain the Penrose and check the ship status. Eventually, they run out of supplies, and the Penrose crash lands on some planet. It's mentioned in the game that it'd be a kindness to let the replika kill you should you not find somewhere in time, "take comfort in the knowledge others will succeed where you fail". I thought maybe the trauma activated Ariane's latent "bioresonant" powers. The kindness doesn't just end Ariane's suffering but also breaks the mental prison that she has trapped everyone in.
But like I said, I'm never very good at piecing these things together.
Q: When i have finished the game and picked up Photo Module again i found out that there were pics from previous playthrough. That gave me a little theory that there might be no final ending and the time loop is endless. Even on NEW profile pictures were still there. Do you think it is intentional from devs or just a bug/glitch ???
Hmm that’s very interesting, it plays into the meta theory that the player counting to play continues the cycle.
However I’d wager that’s just a gameplay mechanic to save screenshots for the player if they are in a device that makes accessing them hard
@@Cristiferbeast Also did you notice how there are a lot of "6" scattered around ?
-6 planets
-Rule Of Six about equipment load
-6 spears around Falke during her fight and six spear hits to kill her
-6 Plates in Nowhere puzzle
-6 locks on King In Yellow book
-6 sacrifices in secret ending
-This portal icon in main menu having 6 angles, but I guess it's just game's Solar System/ how the Artifact looks like
-In cutscene after Elster "dies" in prologue, six droplets of blood drop on portal icon. There are always six BUT where they drop is randomized
I dont think cycle can be broken by killing Arienne. Because all 3 "main" endings can still run one after another. I dont think there is good or bad endings at all. To understand why promise is not "good ending" or "canonocal" or "ending for all of this". You have to look at the scene after fake ending. Even if LSTR kill Arienne "red eye" will just ressurect her thru "meat bubble" that we see after fake ending. Scenes can play out the same as after "memory" ending. (cryo chamber-dead-lstr-i made a promise part)
I would gladly elaborate more but english is not my native language. But to put it simple I draw some parallels with The King in Yellow book. Which there is a lot. I never in my life went extra mile to understand something game related. How can you tell that i love Signalis?
This game is amazing, first for the fake ending. Only achieved the memory ending.
The best ending for me is the promise, because as in life in general, when you have someone you love, like a father or a girlfriend, and you lose for breaking up or even by death, that bond if you don't let it go and go on with life, pursuing your our things, it will just make you and other people suffer.
The level of attachment Elster had with Ariane, shows how much she suffered several times and in the bad endings, she didn't have the courage to let her go, and fulfill the promise she made, that could finally set her free.
I just finished the game and got the Promise endings. Took about 9 hours because first playthrough and I got lost but I took down/killed 99 enemies and used healing items a lot. I kinda stopped shooting everything once I saw them get up again though and tended to just take down the enemies in the large rooms so I don't know how I got it. Maybe because I died 10 times (3 to the final boss) I don't know but I think I like the Promise one the most. It ends the nightmare and while their both dead, Ariane remembers you and you both die together. Its a bittersweet ending to an amazing sci-fi horror title I bought on a whim last week on the Switch store.
Can anyone explain why the Isle of the Dead painting is so heavily referenced in this game? What's the meaning behind that?
The exact symbolism has been theorized greatly but one possible meaning could be a representation of the purgatory or eternity without death that Ariane wishes to escape.
With the interior of the island supposed to represent death, and the water representing the river styx, so only when we return to the island and enter the boat can we begin to truly help Ariane pass away.
On a more art history note, Die Toteninsel is well-regarded as having been strong inspiration amongst surrealist art, being the basis of work for paintings done by Dalí, James Gleeson, Clerici, H. R. Giger, amongst others. One may say that art in its whole is the ultimate expression, sharing, and amalgamation of the dreams of many, with each subsequent viewer and painter to add their own elements to it.
I would also like to make the observation that Böcklin is widely known to have painted five versions of Die Toteninsel, one of uncertain variation, and one Die Lebensinsel, The Isle of Life.
For the second version, upon a visitor to his studio's request after being awed by the "dream image" that was the first painting, he added a coffin and female figure, in allusion to the visitor's husband's death from diphtheria years earlier. He then went back to add these elements to his first painting, for which he now called these works Die Gräberinsel, Tomb Island.
The fourth version was acquired by Baron Heinrich Thyssen, and was destroyed during a bombing, only to survive as a B/W photograph.
On the year of his death, Böcklin may have painted a much lesser-known sixth version of Die Toteninsel, which many note to be stylistically inconsistent (and much less regarded) compared with his earlier works, and speculated to actually have been completed by his son, Carlo.
Lastly, the Die Lebensinsel has a notable motif of the swan, symbolically associated with love, aether, and mysticism.
Five endings, five paintings. Something ... maybe?
I got Promise ending on Survival. I felt like I played more like the Memory ending players. I mainly tried to avoid the corrupted Replikants but I did take my time through the game reading all the notes and figuring out what to do next instead of rushing it through. Surprisingly tho I killed a lot more Replikants than I thought and with my longer playtime I got the Promise ending which I am grateful for since I do see that ending as the best. I would want the cycle to end and since even Ariane wanted this it makes sense for it to be the ideal ending. Funny thing though I still had the Ammonia bottle I thought I needed it for the final boss or ending but it turns out that bottle was to wake Isa up to acquire the Rifle. I never got to use the rifle :( I am also sad that Isa is dead but I guess she was dead a long time ago anyway. At least everybody doesn't suffer anymore. Amazing game and very very sad. Game of the Year in my opinion. One of my top 10 games now.
Great video but one minor gripe is that the English subtitles were filled with typos
I can see what I can do to fix that
This is a brilliant analysis! Thank you! :)
In the Leave ending, you can see that she's discarded her armor near her collapse in the desert.
On my first playthrough (blind) I got the Leave ending but I think it didn't made sense in my case. I killed practically everything, and didn't got injured most of the time, also I didn't died once. When I saw my Elster walk away it didn't make any sense, I felt punished with that ending for being efective during the playthrough. If Elster avoided most enemies the leave ending would make sense as you explain, but not after going like a Terminator during the entire game just to leave at the very end. What do you think of this particuar case?
So damage taken also contributes to Promise, so taking low amounts of damage, talking to tons of NPCs, and if you finished it quickly would mean you didnt get enough points to get Promise and instead got Leave which is the middle point between the two endings.
GOT THE PROMISE ENDING AS MY FIRST ENDING AM DA BEST YAY
Just finish the game like 30 minutes ago ando got the memory ending
This game... really hits
Enyoyed every second of it
Its not a game. Its a fooking art
End our nightmare
Its Chaos !!!
The rise of the thinking machines :))
Ariane became... is becoming a Chaos God thru' this Event Horizon kinda thing :)) ...being bio-resonant (psyker) and all that :))
The artifact is rly important... I think Ariane's signals resonate not just with the later Elster units, that are based on an old Elster unit found... with her original neural pattern person lost (Itou ?)... so she resonates with the planets too, being part of the gameplay.
Synchronicity starts and all the Elsters... keep their promise and more. Falke is affected too... pretty bad. The bioresonant tech is not fully understood and I think is unknowable. :)
The Artifact... the dance we see again... in the 4th dimension ! ? ...an upper domain... of ...dream ? !!!
The game is a masterpiece :)
on the leave ending you can see the armor Elster got, I interpreted she just put it off
I somehow got promise on my first playthrough and on my second one i got memory despite being even more aggressive in that playthrough
Muchas gracias por este video. Esto hace que mi obsesión por Signalis sea aún más grande
I would like to say that in my first run, i got the fake ending, but it was different. My android broke her arm, then stodd in the sand, and simply died. that's it.
Literally everyone gets the fake ending?
This guy and this game were meant to be
Вопрос к тому кто субтитры делал: сколько с утра литров спирта выпил? Ютубовский перевод местами лучше, чем та ахинея
They told me to play this game knowing as little as possible. When I beat it I still knew as little as possible. 😂
Just finished my first (maybe only) playthrough. It's a beautiful, intense game. Sometimes frustrating. I got the Promise ending. It's funny that it is perhaps the 'best' or truest ending, as I thought to myself "this must be the bad ending" lol. Knowing how the other three endings play out now, I can see how the finality of death for both Elster and Ariane is the best possible scenario.
I am curious if anyone can explain the difference between Alina and Ariane. I realized right away the original photo had white hair and after picking up the KIY it changed to brown. I always figured there was some warping of reality (KIY is the antag of the D&D campaign I'm in). So much of the game is abstract, but what was clear pretty quickly is there was a powerful bond between this human and android (replika) that transcended... space, time, reality, etc...
Really enamored with the quality of this game made by TWO PEOPLE. It's insane. This is why indie games these days are the way to go. AAA titles has bloated into tumors that can't produce artistry - or at least it's very rare. Too many cooks in the kitchen?
one is gestalt of the other one maybe
The last ending requires too much leaps in logic and assumptions to work, honestly feels like an ending that wasn't finished. Tho the confirmation of the Lovecraftian God's presence is pretty dope.
Got the Promise ending first time, wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Looking back at the alternatives I feel very fortunate. Going back again for a more "meta" ending just wouldn't be the same.
I had got a different ending? I was fighting a big 4 arm walking monster I’ve never seen any of these endings??
You did not finish the game, that is the fake out ending
@@Cristiferbeast wow! This game is amazing this whole time I thought I finished it and it caught me. Thanks!
Its an ok game. The lack of inventory space and removal of a map at certain points of the game really draws out mundane tasks in the game and inflates the game time unnecessarily.
great video! but i wish you would show us more relevant images than the bossfight footage
perfectly fair! i tried improving this in future videos, but ill double down on my efforts!