u/Kagamid

Signalis was one of those titles on my list for a long time. Having completed it with all endings, I wanted to share why I feel this is a great horror game worth playing. Out of the gate you get the psychological horror vibes that leave you asking questions. What's happening and why will be a common feeling for a big chunk of the game. Even your characters main motivation isn't very clear for quite a while.

The story is undoubtedly the best aspect of Signalis. There's so much world building that you feel like a resident understanding the culture by the end of the game. Replikas were essentially robot creations based on the human type race of this world. The human type race were hoof footed humans called gestalts. The character designs are excellent and I loved the choice of giving everyone hooves instead of feet. It showed that they were still alien while still being human. One of the creators of Signalis, Yuri Stern, stated that reason she gave them these foot designs because "it's cute". It's up for interpretation if the gestalts actually have feet as no official design art shows anything but the hoof designs.

The files expand the universe and tell you the background of the world you're living in. I love the descriptions of every Replika's personality type, roles, likes, and dislikes. There were tips how to keep them happy or satisfied so they would continue to behave predictably and do their jobs. The records made it apparent that they were viewed by the empire more as pets with a purpose. As you visit each room for each Replika type, it was set up exactly as described in the records. It was interesting that they weren't even aware (except for one Replika) that their behavior was monitored for it's predictability. Simply acting outside of normal parameters put them on track for correction, either with or without their knowledge. But that didn't stop them from developing friendships and relationships. Something that is shown and even emphasized on several occasions as you navigate the areas.

Gestalt life wasn't much better as it was ran by a totalitarian society governed by a Grand Empress we never actually see. People were disposable and your social status greatly affected your future. In fact, it is the core cause of what happened in this story. Although by the end nothing really happens to change any of it. You'll still be left with questions by the end, although the primary story is actually quite simple. For this, I'll leave out the details to avoid spoilers.

The gameplay is very reminiscent of traditional Resident Evil games. You'll be walking around avoiding enemies while conserving resources. Aiming creates a targeting reticle which is absolutely necessary to hit your target. It plays well although there are some mechanics I would've preferred were different. Grabbing items or checking doors doesn't pause the game so you'll likely take damage if you try to quickly grab items with enemies in the area. This is especially true given this game has contact damage that can quickly wear down your health if you run too close to them. This means they don't actually have to attack you to kill you. Just running into them too many times is enough. When aiming, the cursor will sometimes drop for no reason putting you in danger until you can get it back on the enemy. This happens more often with multiple enemies at once. Overall, none of these ruin the experience enough to stop playing and the gameplay is still fun.

The graphics and sound design are also amazing. Shadows are handled perfectly and I found myself watching them as I moved on several occasions. Some areas very much take inspiration from Silent Hill, with one even sharing a name for the area. The enemy designs also seem to take inspiration from Silent Hill with warped versions of Replikas holding knives or other weapons.

Signalis is one of those games you'll be discussing for years as the story is broken up into layers that can each be examined individually. It's a must play for any classic horror game game and highly recommended.

TLDR:

Resident Evil combat with Silent Hill inspired settings and story. Unique art design and a great experience makes this worth playing.

Signalis was one of those titles on my list for a long time. Having completed it with all endings, I wanted to share why I feel this is a great horror game worth playing. Out of the gate you get the psychological horror vibes that leave you asking questions. What's happening and why will be a common feeling for a big chunk of the game. Even your characters main motivation isn't very clear for quite a while.

The story is undoubtedly the best aspect of Signalis. There's so much world building that you feel like a resident understanding the culture by the end of the game. Replikas were essentially robot creations based on the human type race of this world. The human type race were hoof footed humans called gestalts. The character designs are excellent and I loved the choice of giving everyone hooves instead of feet. It showed that they were still alien while still being human. One of the creators of Signalis, Yuri Stern, stated that reason she gave them these foot designs because "it's cute". It's up for interpretation if the gestalts actually have feet as no official design art shows anything but the hoof designs.

The files expand the universe and tell you the background of the world you're living in. I love the descriptions of every Replika's personality type, roles, likes, and dislikes. There were tips how to keep them happy or satisfied so they would continue to behave predictably and do their jobs. The records made it apparent that they were viewed by the empire more as pets with a purpose. As you visit each room for each Replika type, it was set up exactly as described in the records. It was interesting that they weren't even aware (except for one Replika) that their behavior was monitored for it's predictability. Simply acting outside of normal parameters put them on track for correction, either with or without their knowledge. But that didn't stop them from developing friendships and relationships. Something that is shown and even emphasized on several occasions as you navigate the areas.

Gestalt life wasn't much better as it was ran by a totalitarian society governed by a Grand Empress we never actually see. People were disposable and your social status greatly affected your future. In fact, it is the core cause of what happened in this story. Although by the end nothing really happens to change any of it. You'll still be left with questions by the end, although the primary story is actually quite simple. For this, I'll leave out the details to avoid spoilers.

The gameplay is very reminiscent of traditional Resident Evil games. You'll be walking around avoiding enemies while conserving resources. Aiming creates a targeting reticle which is absolutely necessary to hit your target. It plays well although there are some mechanics I would've preferred were different. Grabbing items or checking doors doesn't pause the game so you'll likely take damage if you try to quickly grab items with enemies in the area. This is especially true given this game has contact damage that can quickly wear down your health if you run too close to them. This means they don't actually have to attack you to kill you. Just running into them too many times is enough. When aiming, the cursor will sometimes drop for no reason putting you in danger until you can get it back on the enemy. This happens more often with multiple enemies at once. Overall, none of these ruin the experience enough to stop playing and the gameplay is still fun.

The graphics and sound design are also amazing. Shadows are handled perfectly and I found myself watching them as I moved on several occasions. Some areas very much take inspiration from Silent Hill, with one even sharing a name for the area. The enemy designs also seem to take inspiration from Silent Hill with warped versions of Replikas holding knives or other weapons.

Signalis is one of those games you'll be discussing for years as the story is broken up into layers that can each be examined individually. It's a must play for any classic horror game game and highly recommended.

TLDR:

Resident Evil combat with Silent Hill inspired settings and story. Unique art design and a great experience makes this worth playing.

There's a TLDR for those uninterested. I want to start by stating Resident Evil 1 Remake is an excellent game and a near perfect representation of what a remake should be. That being said I want to go over why I feel the Resident Evil 1 Remake can never replace the original by listing the key differences not reflected in the remake. The 2002 remake is such an significant departure from the execution of the original game that they are barely comparable unless you are only factoring in surface-level appearances. The remake is often regarded as 'the perfect remake' or a benchmark of what a good remake is, but it's still not accurate to consider it a replacement for the original game because they are both such different experiences.

A lot of it has to do with pacing, and freedom. The remake of the first game forces you to explore the mansion in a specific order. This is because many doors that were previously accessible in the original are now locked in the remake. To prevent Jill from just picking many of the early doors, the remake reduced her lock picking ability so she could only open a few doors and cabinets that also use small keys. The result is a slower, curated direction for the player, whereas in the original game, you're free to explore the west or east wing of the mansion in any order you decide. This lead to unique interactions as you took different paths on repeated playthroughs.

Within a few minutes of playing as Chris in the remake, you learn that your first meeting with Rebecca can only occur in the room with Richard. This means you can never have the optional meeting in the antidote room where she sprays Chris in the face. In the original this also affects whether or not Rebecca stays in the mansion or helps you fight plant 42. As Jill you actually have several decisions that decide Barry's fate which aren't as obvious as the decision "Give the gun back to Barry" found in the remake. In the original Barry can actually die at different locations depending on what you decided. These little differences created new scenes in later areas. This is something that's noticeably missing in the remake. You're also forced to take the same paths as both characters since Jill's lock pick doesn't give you access to as many doors in the remake. If you compare the flow charts of events between both games, you'd actually see that there are many more scenes missing than most believe. In the original, those scenes made multiple playthroughs feel unique and interesting as opposed to the remake which is a more linear experience.

There are also the design choices for the mansion. Some people seem to forget that the mansion is actually just a front for a research facility with illegal experiments. Sure they slept and ate in designated areas, but people weren't really "living" there so much as "working" there. This means the original modern and corporate look makes perfect sense. The remake obviously tried it's best to make the mansion scarier. But now it looks more like a deliberate "spooky mansion" which is better for gameplay but makes little sense given its actual purpose. When you think about it, why would Spencer put an old, messy looking graveyard with a secret coffin holding a bioweapon in the air in his research facility? Sure it's creepy, but does it make sense to the lore?

Obviously the other big one is that the crimson heads add a considerable pacing difference to gameplay too. This is a mixed bag, as some people enjoy the challenge while others find the need to burn bodies or face another difficult threat at random to be annoying. I'm under the impression that Capcom felt they were a bit of a miss since they're never used or even referenced again. I feel the hunters were sufficient in filling in the need for a new more dangerous enemy as you progressed later areas. The way they were presented was also much more memorable.

I also wanted to add that the lines in the original are arguably superior to the remake as well as much more memorable. In the remake we lose dialogue like the Jill Sandwich line which is iconic and was even referenced in Revelations 2. I found it interesting that they never reference the remake version of that line. Barry obviously has other interesting lines, but in the original Chris has a surprisingly large amount of lines that don't make the cut in the remake. "We got to the root of the problem" after the plant 42 fight in the original became "Yeah, it's dead" in the remake. "We must organize a search for the others and get the hell out of here!" became "Stay cool and use your better judgement" when talking to Rebecca. Let's also not forget Chris's relentless trash talk to Wesker during the Tyrant reveal. In the remake, he just calls Wesker senile after laughing. It's not a bad reaction, but the original really let's you know why Wesker hates Chris after Chris called Wesker pitiful and calls his creation a failure. He even doubles down after tyrant is defeated says Wesker is sleeping with the ultimate failure. I like to think he heard that while lying on the ground inside which also fueled his hatred for Chris.

The nutshell is that it comes down to pacing as the biggest difference. The pacing of the original game flows nicely from start to finish and lasts as long as it needs to. The remake's new mechanics, events, and level design changes make it a little more restrictive with a much slower pacing designed for that spooky experience. Whether you consider this an improvement is up to you.

It's all in the execution which combined with the changes in gameplay, visuals, and enemies, makes it a different game almost entirely. They may both use fixed camera angles and a very similar story but they are not the same. The remake certainly isn't a replacement for the original and I love them both as Resident Evil games. They are both different experiences that all Resident Evil fans should have.

TLDR:

I love both games equally but here's what the Original has that Remake doesn't:

-Greater variety in optional scenes and character interactions.

-Chris and Jill can take difference paths for non-linear playthroughs

-Campy, memorable one liners that include sassy Chris.

-Tighter pacing in gameplay with smoother flow

Read the rest for examples.