The Story of Signalis
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 มิ.ย. 2024
- Creepy, Surreal, and Haunting, Signalis takes inspiration from the classic Survival Horror games of years past to craft an experience that is like very few others. The story of the game deals with topics like conflicting identities and the unreliability of dreams & memories which can make it hard at times to discern what's going on in the story, so let's go through the game, complete with all its endings, to see if we can unravel the story of Signalis!
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:12 - Background of the World
08:34 - The Itous & Ariane
20:26 - Dream World & Sickness
30:35 - Elster's Journey
34:29 - Endings
38:44 - Outro
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games like signalis anyone? doesnt have to be horror but preferably have the same melancholic nature
Transistor by Supergiant Games is the closest in my opinion. Its more action-focused and some parts are more upbeat than Signalis but the sadness never disappears. Especially if you know the twist of the game.
I just finished Hyper Light Drifter and it has similar vibes. Completely different gameplay though (great in it's own regard).
@@bw-mx1dy Yeah, i have absolutely no idea why the two connected in my mind. They are my 2 favorite games of all time. Both have amazing storytelling.
If you haven't already gotten the recommendation, definitely SOMA by Frictional Games. Think Signalis but 1st person and under the ocean, it has a really similar melancholic vibe.
@@indiexplorergames For sure Soma, has great existentialism and all. I'm very bad with horror games but Soma and Signalis were exceptions because of how compelled to them.
I'm pretty sure the secret ending implies that the dream has been altered by nostalgic memories to a positive dream of the dance, allowing the characters to live a happier existence immortalized inside of the dream
That’s what I had interpreted
At least they are happy. :)
The only problem with that is with the statement that something repeated loses its meaning so it would eventually lose its meaning to the characters
But their dance doesn't have to be repeated forever! It is quite possible that, having broken the cycle, they simply found themselves in some state between life and death, or in the wreckage of Penrose, who somehow returned to space again or ended up in some separate dimension, I don’t know, but the point is that time is again goes on as usual (although it is not known what it will bring later, so perhaps the adventures of these two are not over yet), and they are free to do what they want in each other's company (and with each other! :3) in Penrose or in that reality in which they find themselves (perhaps they will even be able to get to the Isle of the Dead from Ariana’s paintings, using bioresonance or something else). This is my interpretation (perhaps a little naive) of the ending of Artifact, but in the first part I am confident almost entirely based on my personal observations and also the observations of some redditors. If you're interested, google these Reddit threads (I'm not attaching a link because I don't know how TH-cam will react to this) "Finally Got the Artifact Ending" (a piece of theory in the comments) and "Artifact Ending and Thoughts".
Or it happens before the promise ending where Ariane remembers Elster after countless loops of memory ending so she goes through the loop one last time to keep her promise
Moral of the story: Always read the manual
Unless it's a 737 MAX MCAS situation where the information is never made available until people are dying too many times to ignore anymore.
But it’s not fun that way…
The horror of having someone else's love for another worm its way into your brain - that is terrifying
I think that was the real Sierpinski mining facility and that they uncovered an artifact that started resonating with Ariane mixing her dreams with reality and also starts resonating with the replikas of the facility (one of the Kolibri units you can talk to mentions that all the other replikas started resonating with someone else). also I believe at some point the Penrose either crashed on some alien world or was brought into the dreamworld created by Ariane.
I could see it! So the setting is in the Real World, but all the surreal things (like Elster, Nowhere, the Sickness) are things projected from Ariane's mind and manifesting in the Real World?
The other Elsters were made from our main Elster, as the other ones have been unrecoverable lost. The other dead Elsters are models made from our compromised Elster.
Kind of like how Alyssa's nightmares were being brought to life due to a combination of her powers and the ritual her mother put her through to try and bring the orders 'god' into the world through her...
I don't know if this was already said but: the sic pillars and the lilies is probably a reference to the six of cups tarot card. A card that indicates nostalgia for a time where the querent was happy and at peace.
Signalis: came for the survival horror, stayed for the robot space lesbians
Personally, I believe that all the events that took place in the game are indeed real. I do subscribe to the Eldritch gods theory (primarily due to the significance of the King In Yellow book in the story). I also believe that all 3 of the endings are canon and happen in order: Leave, is the start of Elster’s infinite journey to reach her promise with Ariane (as she becomes all the other dead Elsters we see in the game). Memory: After many cycles, Elster finally reaches her goal, but it wasn’t enough, as Ariane does not remember who she is. This Elster would succumb to her wounds and become the very Elster we take out new arm and chassis from. In both of these endings, Elster succumbs to the influence of the King in Yellow. Promise: the final true ending, where the cycle is finally broken. Elster is able to move on and allow Ariane’s infinite suffering to end. And with that, she was able to break free from the influence of the King in Yellow.
I also personally think that the secret 4th ending of the game is the worst ending, as it does not reach resolution: Elster’s own stubbornness and love for Ariane prevents her from fulfilling their promise, and instead, by performing the ritual, Elster creates her own “ideal” ending by perpetuating the cycle and taking control of it. It is a perversion of love, as she no longer takes into account what Ariane would have wanted (to die on her own terms), but instead what she herself wants: to be with Ariane regardless. A very selfish ending which shows Elster overcoming the influence of the King in Yellow, and using it for her own benefit.
There’s probably holes that I haven’t accounted for in this theory, but it’s just a personal headcanon with what little I understood from playing he game. I hope this shares a different perspective for others and that’s all
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! I love to hear other interpretations, so it's very much appreciated!
If you wouldn't mind, do you mind elaborating a bit more with regards to how the King in Yellow ties into the overall story and Elster's journey? I'll be honest: I didn't look into the King in Yellow, so I don't really have a good grasp of all the Eldritch elements of the story. I'd love to be clued in more to how it ties into everything!
Thanks for watching !
For the endings; Elster slumps down into the same position in both Promise and Memory. The Elster we use to repair ourself with could actually have achieved either ending! It's a never ending cycle, the game makes this clear. Only the artifact ending seem to offer a way out.
@@SquatchGamingChannel I think it really depends on whether Ariane read the actual King in Yellow book, or if her KiY is actually the play the real world book references. You probably know this, but in the KiY book there's a play titled King in Yellow which infects and drives mad any who reads it. This play if obviously banned by all nations, but some are too curious and gets their hands on it anyway, with tragic results. That last part might sound like someone we know huh?
Though personally I think it's not the play, but the actual book. Ariane read the book when she was young, but don't show signs of eldritch madness until she's in her delirious cryosleep aboard the Penrose. But that's of course up to interpretation. If we don't accept actual eldritch meddling, it can easily be explained by Ariane being so deeply influenced by the book from a young age that it affects her dreams in the cryopod, causing the events of the game to have eldritch influences.
Regardless there are many similarities between the KiY and Signalis, with homages, corresponding lore and places, and even corresponding characters (Like Adler having commonality to the Pallid Mask). There's a lot but I'm not that well wised in KiY lore so can't write down much.
Then there's the meta idea/meme that Signalis IS the KiY play, as the game has a way of really digging its talons into people playing it and refusing to let go until us fans go mad.
Wait, WHAT eldritch gods? There’s nothing to suggest that any Lovecraftian entities actually exist within the story. The only supernatural forces at work is the phenomenon of Bioresonance, and that seems to come from very select, very rare people.
I thought they literally broke existence with the help of resonance and swooped into another world where they are doing well. Seems like a good explanation.
This is one of my favorite interpretations so far. Though something I'd like to add to it, I think people forget that Falke's mind specifically was touched by Ariane's and somewhat merged, and she went into a coma too. I think this is why we see Sierpinski station and its staff, even though Ariane had never been there.
I just want to point out that the star system is in fact our own. The orrery only shows inhabited worlds, and all of those as described line up perfectly with their corresponding planets of our solar system. Venus is Buyan (toxic atmosphere with floating colonies which is actually an IRL proposed colonization plan for Venus), Earth is Vineta (Blue ocean homeworld), Mars is Kitezh (Red deserts, need I say more?) etc. It's unclear if this is our future, alternate reality, or just the game's dream logic, but it is our actual home.
Yes, another hint is oort belt mentioned in penrose briefing documents
I also thought about this. The propaganda posters, the German wordings all have a resemblance with what was used in fascist Germany during WW2. My theory was that the game takes place in an alternate reality where the Germans won WW2 and at some point started with space travel and replicas.
Take note that the flag of the eusan nation shares a striking resemblance to the DDR, East Germany
I'm sorry for all the words I mispronounced in this video (I know there are SEVERAL) - I'm just an American with little exposure to other languages, so please forgive me! I hope you were able to enjoy the video nonetheless though! Thanks so much for watching!
German here: you did good
American that can’t speak any other languages here: I assume people who spoke those languages don’t mind
As a german i say:👍
Hey, absolutely fine. You did really well, especially saying Things like Gestalt, probably not the easiest to Say for someone who has very little to no exposure to german. Just a tip incase german does ever come up in a game You want to make a Video about, Es at the end of german words are usually said. Eule, You said very well and Falke aswell just the E would have been said.
Hey I got a game for you to do a vid on its called vambrace cold steel
You did what nobody else could. You actually explained the story. Lots of love dude, love the vid, and the game. Also, imo, it is possible that all the theories are right, in the entirety as the bioresonance, is something not bound by any laws of logic, as it seems to be a universal, and ultimate power shaping the universes, and the cycles Elster is going through.
He's not the only one who has tried to make sense of the story I've seen other youtubers try to convey it
I've seen one other video for signalis they did a pretty good job of explaining everything in pretty good detail.
A Signalis video was something i did not expect but it's a very pleasant surprise
I can still hear "ACHTUNG ACHTUNG" in my head
Honestly I think the dream world theory makes the most sense to me. Looking back at silent hill, they also had a sort of dream world created by Alyssa and it was all filled with interpretations of her misery and pain. The way you described it sounds exactly like that and thinking back when I played it, it makes so much sense. Now I'm sad thinking about the pain Elster and Arianne went through.
I loved playing signalis. I'm glad that you did a summary of this.
There were a ton of recommendations/requests for it last year when it came out. Took me a while, but I got around to it! Lol. Plus, it's because of people like you who keep coming back to watch that I'm still making these, so the thanks is all yours! :)
Watching this video, internalizing how everyone interprets it differently, and ending with an anecdote on the Eye, made me realize of an in-game lesson taught to you: roughly pareidolia, the phenomenon of seeing something of significance in something mundane.
The eye is thusly explained as a natural phenomena of Buyan’s weather. But after everything we experienced, who is to say that it really is an eldritch god? The same could be said of internalizing whether or not all of the game took place in a Dream world or the real world?
Signalis is truly a chilling game that lives on in your head long after clearing it.
This game deserves so much more love than it's gotten. But it's important to remember that very little of the lore is set in stone.
I have to say I only discovered your channel recently, but this is one of my favorite channels I have come across. Thank you
Awesome to hear, man. Thank you for watching! I know uploads are infrequent, but if it wasn’t for people like yourself being so willing to take the time to watch these, I wouldn’t be making them, so the thanks is all yours!
I was just thinking about when you'd tackle SIGNALIS, and lo and behold, this pops up in my notifications.
SIGNALIS is definitely one of the most abstract games I've played in a long time in regards to it's narrative. It's like being given a ton of LEGO pieces but with no instructions. The pieces are given to you, but what you make of the plot is entirely up to you in that regard, it's very ambitious for an indie game, let alone one made by just two people.
I do have to say that Elster and Ariane's dance is one of my favorite gaming moments in recent memory. Such a happy moment for what is otherwise a tragic story between these two, especially considering that none of the endings turn out happy for them.
Another excellent video Squatch! These videos help to understand stories like these more. Keep up the good work!
FYI I got the "Memory" ending on my first playthrough.
Thanks, David! You took the words out of my mouth. In fact, the ambiguity of the plot was very daunting for me when making this video, and I almost backed out of making it! I stuck with it though, and think it turned out pretty good.
And I also got the Memory Ending when I played, but I had so much leftover Ammo and Health items at the end of the game that I was sure I was getting the Leave Ending. Didn’t turn out that way though! Lol.
@@SquatchGamingChannel Well I (and everyone else) am glad that you stuck with it and decided to do a video on it. It's always interesting to hear someone else's interpretation of something to get another perspective on it.
@@SquatchGamingChannel And yet you went with an authoritative description of things as full context as your core tone! I kid, I kid, but man, this game really resists hard lore solve as a fair approach. It feels like so much of the ambiguity is meant to allow the emotional tone just ram right through all the gamer-brain pattern-sorting we reflexively do on things like this.
What's the memory ending? I just got the regular bit-ahh ending of "Promise" because I played the game just casually.
@@Saint_Wolf_ The Memory ending is Elster coming across Ariane in the cryopod but Ariane wakes with no memory of Elster or their promise and as such Elster is unable to fulfill it and sits by Ariane and succumbs to her wounds.
In order to unlock this ending you have to have a balanced play style. Don't spend too much time to complete the game (6-7 hours), kill most enemies you come across while avoiding others, conserve your ammunition, don't get hurt or die often, heal frequently, etc.
Honestly, I think this is one of the best games I've ever played. The ending cutscene for the "promise" ending almost made me cry.
Legit this is the best explanation. All the others explained the gameplay mechanics and what happens at each level, it was like watching a gameplay all over again but with words. I wanted a video that actually explained the lore like this one lol.
I'm so glad that you decided to tackle this confusing, but amazing game, this 100% deserves a subscribe.
Thank you for a wonderful accounting of so many important details to the plot! I just completed the game today and had missed a lot of the connections you highlighted. The story was so moving, so captivating: I will be in awe of it for weeks!
Thank you so much for putting this absolute banger of a video together, helped me so much with finally understanding the games story! :)
This is the best video I've seen on the subject yet. I needed this to solve all my doubts and confirm my theories. Thank you.
One of the better analyses out there! Thank you for making this. :)
Thank you for making a video about this underrated gem!
I've been looking for story explanations for this game all the ones I looked at just didn't make sense to me but you finally made it make sense thank you
Thanks for the video. Really good efficient consensus of the game. I appreciate it, great job.
Squatch, bro, why do you always cover all the games I like the most? Another awesome video, thank you for your work!
This game has been on my wishlist for a while now, seeing you cover it is enough for me to buy it!
Hope you enjoy the trip, man!
This was a great "short" video to explain this game. I saw some multiple hour videos and I was hesitant to commit that much time. Might give them a watch now.
good timing, i just finished this game a few weeks ago and its been living rent free in my head
I guess it was just meant to be! Lol.
Thanks for watching! Hope it cleared some things up for you!
Absolutely fantastic story breakdown and investigative journalism. Outstanding!! 👏🫡
great job! I just finished the game and was a bit confused about it all lol but you really helped flesh it out! :)
Best explanation video on this game so far
Its still crazy to me that 2 people made this game from Germany and one of them is of course Asian which is why they also nailed the anime style, actually anime, mangas etc. Have been always popular since the 90s and 2000s over here in Germany, so it was fun to play it when I discovered it when it was released, also the game makes me seriously think that Japan and Germany won WW2, took over the world and then expand through out the galaxy soooo yeah, just saying lol
Also I got the Promis Ending on my 1st playthrough and even though its a sad ending, I still consider it as a the true and good ending imo even though there is no true ending etc.
Would love to play a sequel or maybe a prequel because this game gives me the vibes that there will be a prequel in the future or a game set within the same universe but somwhere else in the galaxy of Signalis
Yeah, it’s amazing to see the things that people who are dedicated can make! I know I wouldn’t be able to put in the amount of work to make a game. Lol. I hope the Devs are proud of what they made because they 100% should be.
I’m pretty sure that I saw one of the Developers say something similar: that there was no “true ending” as all of them are “true endings,” so I agree with you there. I got the Memory Ending in my first play through.
Idk, I feel like a sequel or prequel could take away from the ambiguity of what we experience in this game. Like it would give definitive answers on whether the events were real or not. Would take skillful navigation of the story to keep the spirit of the first game intact, I think.
Thanks for watching!
I was wondering if you'd do this game, felt like a fit for your vibe.
Thanks for all the content
Great stuff, man, i guess ill have your vids as a companion this whole day!
Keep up the good work! You earned a subscription :)
This is such a complex story. Thanks for sharing your interpretation.
If someone didn't give me something to hold on to, I think I'd think about the game for the rest of the year. great vid :^)
Everytime I watch one of your new videos I get to know a story of a game which I will 99% play and I have this weird feeling when I am playing through the game and I know what will happen because I watched your video xD
your video is the ONLY one actually explaining the story (even if its your interpretation). congratulations my friend.
This game was a fever dream (quite literally lol). I am absolutely obsessed with the story and only discovered it because it was leaving the xbox game pass. I didn't have as much time to play it as much as I wanted to but was able to discover the "memory" ending. It's been days since I have finished the game and I'm still thinking of it and what I've missed. I wish I had more time to discover the other endings and was a bit confused by the story (I'm sure I would've put the pieces together with each playthrough).
This is how I discovered your video and I must say, this clears up a lot of my questions. The only other question I have is the significance of the game's story and the king in yellow book. I'm sure there is much to delve into there. This video was done really well and I was captivated from beginning to end just like I was with the game. Thank you o7
Also, REMEMBER OUR PROMISE!
Thanks. I’m such an idiot when it comes to understanding stories sometimes, but this helped me put everything together.
I just finished signalis and got the “Memory” ending, and I realized something during the credits. It made me tear up
Spoilers!
As you might know,
The last scene is where the player “Elster” stays besides Ariane “the white haired girl”
And then Elster says that she wants to stay by Ariane’s side for a bit longer. If you play with a controller, you can actually feel the controller vibrates like a heartbeat. The heartbeats are active during credits, even during the results screen. I believe this is intentional. You the player are the one who decides to end her cycle, thus ending her life. To continue you must hold any button, they don’t want you to ACCIDENTALLY press a button and end the cycle.
This made me feel so much guilt knowing that I’m the one who will end her cycle.
So I turned off the game without skipping the RESULTS screen
god damnt hat hits even harder u.u
I’ll be sure to play the game first then what this vid saw a review of it and since I respect your input I’ll be sure to get the game as soon as possible love you vids as always man!
So good to see you, Martin! Still sticking around after all these years, huh? Lol.
Awesome. Appreciate the support, man! Hope you have fun with the game! It's a wild one!
At first I bought Signalis because I was interested in the style and visual elements of the game, seeing it be heavily inspired by the likes of resident evil and silent hill. Finishing the game I was heavily torn as I was left with more questions than answers, and I as I played through the game more I felt like I was slowly understanding the world itself. I love your interpretation of the story as it helped me clear most, if not all confusions I had with my playthrough. You and a couple of other content creators have inspired me to eventually make my own video on this game, and I will do my best to credit any references I make to your interpretation and content. Thank you!
Let me know when it’s done! I’d love to watch it! And if there’s anything I can do to help, like letting you see my script or (try) to share video clips with you, let me know and I’ll do my best to help!
@@SquatchGamingChannel Thank you!
I love your videos. I can only say I want more!
Very nice interpretation. I also liked your video overall.
So - Danke schön! 👍🏼
He back with da content we don't deserve, but truly neeed o7
Nah, you guys deserve it for all the support I've had from you! Really appreciate it!
Thanks so much for watching! Hope you enjoyed! :)
I got the bad ending today but I knew there had to be multiple variants. After watching this video, it feels like you and I played a completely different game. Thanks for the video!
Same here. I missed alot of this. Enjoyed the game though.
Amazing captions! 👍
great video hommie
I love your content, can't wait to see you have next
Thanks a lot, man! I’m going to be tackling Iconoclasts next, which has been requested/recommended a couple times over the years.
I think that will come out sometime in April, but could bleed into May depending on how much is there. At the very least, I want to get it done before Darkest Dungeon II comes out in May!
Thanks for the detailed explanation, it gives comtext to the game's more confusing story aspects.
Here are some of my additions to your theory which I literally got in a fever dream last night:
1. I think you are correct that the game might take place in a dream-like alternative dimension. I think it's similar to a place like Silent Hill, where there is the normal world and the there is the corrupted world often created from a trauma induced mind. There's even a level called "Nowhere" that also exists in Silent Hill. I remember the Silent Hill movie ending with Rose stuck in an alternate world than her husband Christopher. Also whenever the cycle resets you don't see other dead replikas, you only see Elster's bodies. If it all was real the cycle would also affect the other replikas.
2. Falke's introduction image at the end looks exactly like Ariane when she wakes up in the pod in the promise end, except for the brown hair. Either the Falke units are based on Alina Seo or Ariane Young, which looks like Alina, projects herself on the Falke unit. If it's all a dream then maybe all replika units in this dream are based on people that Ariane met in her life. Towards the end where you can read the medical files on the computer, there is only one male person on the list called Nikolai Nguyen. He could be the model for the Adler unit.
3. Falke's corruption: For this I have 2 theories.
A) Finding Ariane at the ship might have corrupted her mind after realizing that it's just an endless dream.
B) Ariane and Elster are in love. Falke might feel the same love being based on Ariane. The jealousy after realizing that Elster is looking for Ariane rather Falke might have corrupted her. The 2nd story in The King in Yellow titled "The Mask" does talk about a triangle relationship. By Elster killing Falke towards the end, Elster fulfills "the promise" of having Falke killed. Falke's last words are "Now we are one", followed by "I've been waiting for this for a long time."
4. SIGNALIS, the game's name. I wonder if this cosmic signal might be Ariane's love to Elster, which is amplified by her bio resonance abilities. In a similar case in the movie Interstellar the protagonist manages to contact his loved ones from an alternate dimension in a worm hole through the power of love.
5. Endings:
A) Leave: I think this might imply that the curse/dream is over. The sky has changed from red to blue. While it's all over Elster arrived too late and Ariane disappeared making it impossible for Elster to fulfill the promise.
B) Memory: I am not fully sure, this is just a theory: There is an achievement in the game called "Löcher - Ship of Theseus" you get that for dying 16 times, in the game's diagnostics menu you can see parts of Elster being replaced visualized via some triangles becoming red after each death. The ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus' paradox, is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. This would imply that Elster died so often that she is completely replaced and Ariane cannot recognize her in the Memory ending. The ending guide which I found doesn't support my theory, but this otherwise makes sense in my opinion.
These are just some thoughts from me. Not sure how they align with other theories.
Finally someone I can understand explaining 🎉
A consice, logical, linear explanation. Thank you
Awesome video. thank you
The events of the three main endings certainly occurred, as in the Artifact ending we get to see all the other Elster units made it to the ritual, and their design suggests they died during certain events of the story before they made it. The leave is likely the first Elster who made it, unwilling and unable to overcome the horrors. Survive it, yes, but not overcome. She leaves in defeat and dies. The next Elster who makes it survived and overcame the horrors, but did not find her memories. The next Elster again makes it, but now finds her convictions and memories, and fulfills the promise she made. She lays her lover to rest, but wakes up again, born once more into the nightmare.
In my opinion, the final ending is the true one, with the Artifact representing and end to the cycle and instead becoming something more, where Ariane and Elster are able to find a new life. Placing lilies at the ritual site represents accepting the grief, but also a rejuvenation and becoming something more. Ariane awakes as a new godling, a highly powerful bio resonant, but no longer within the nightmare time loop, as Elster finally found the keys to end the loop, and Ariane found the sanity when she received her lover, and the dance symbolizes her first step in gaining control over her power: she is healthy, standing in her lover’s arms, dancing. I believe that the dance represents the two women finding solace, and with Ariane’s power and dreams, and Elster’s capability and devotion, the nightmare comes to and end, and Ariane is able to conjure a happy dream to finally have a happy end with eachother.
man I just finished the game and damn I understood literally next to nothing from the game lol. Great video man
Very thorough take. I'm still curious about the ritual Isa was performing in the opening sequence. It's real quick, but you see her slice her hand, and then blood hits that symbol used as the game's logo, and throughout the game. (Perhaps a unique interpretation of the yellow sign?) It feels like that must be significant, somehow...
Yeah, I know the section you’re talking about! Maybe she was doing it to try and bring Eri back to life? Not really sure. Bet someone out there has a theory about it though!
Thanks for watching!
So I think most of the game happens inside the dream world, which is a projection of both reality and Ariane’s mental state.
The first ending mentioned in where the protagonist fails to have the resolve to kill her loved one, thus unable to gain the resolve to truly leave the dream world, which she dies and restart.
The second ending is where she is able to reach her loved one, but due to the protagonist skipping everything to reach her, it most likely influenced her memories, which caused her to loose any memory related to the protagonist.
The third ending is where the protagonist is able to reach her loved one, and because she fully explored the dream world, and thus was able to escape the dream world with her loved one’s memory of her still there, which led her to be able to finally fulfill her loved one wish.
The secret ending is where the protagonist does a religious-eusque action, which most likely related to something within the book of the King in Yellow (like someone else mentioned), which either A: fulfilled the protagonist’s dream of spending time with her loved one, or B: let her loved one fully access the conductor powers, which gave her the ability to basically say fuck all to how shit works in the universe and does what she wants to do the most.
The more you watch/play the more the game goes from good to great
I kind of agree with you that this is all a dream reality that was created by Ariane, as it would explain all the strange, out of nowhere transition of Elster from one location into a completley different one, not to mention all the bodies of previous Elster versions.
Now, as to why this is all happening...well, this is just my opinion, but I believe that Ariane wanted to actually PUNISH Elster for not killing her at her request while Elster was still alive, thus prolonging Ariane's suffering. I think that Ariane used her newly awakened bioresonance powers to construct a dream reality where her memory based version of Elster would be constantly punished by constantly failing to find Ariane and end her suffering. However, despite all of that, there is a part of Ariane that wanted "Dream Elster" (I'll refer to her from now on as 'D.Elster' for short) that WANTED D.Elster to eventually succeed in freeing her from the pain...it's just that she wanted to torment her a lot before letting her to finally succeed.
However, and this is why I believe Dream Adler ('D.Adler' for short) was starting to act up weird, while Ariane was tormenting D.Elster, the part of Ariane that didn't want to die from her cancer began to fear the idea of D.Elster actually giving Ariane the death that she desires, so in her dream world, Ariane chose D.Adler to eventually become a tool that will go up against D.Elster, in order to stop her from killing Ariane, by having him slowly realizing that he is in a loop, and having him eventually not only become more and more hostile towards D.Elster, but also causing him to infect Dream Falke ('D.Falke' for short), in order to turn her into the ultimate obstacle for D.Elster to overcome, if she was committed to killing Ariane.
Overall, I think that the events of most of the game are basically Ariane's own psyche waging a war against itself, as her cancer is slowly ravaging both her body and her mind. the part of her that wants to die, as represented by Dream Elster, is trying to overcome the part of Ariane that fears death and refuses to die, as represented by the infected replikas, and Dream Adler and Dream Falke. I think that this is a very well crafter idea for a story, and I would've loved to see it as a game movie...if not for the fact that there is no voice acting, and WAY TOO MUCH stuff to read.
i just finished the game yesterday so this was perfectly timed :D
It was just meant to be. Lol. Hope it cleared some things up for you!
Thanks for watching!
Great breakdown of the events leading up to the start of the game.
As you expected, I don't fully agree with your analysis. I'll contribute this observation I made during my playthrough that I haven't seen anyone else really address: If the Penrose-512 ended its mission drifting lost through space, then why is it always being shown as crashed on the surface of a planet or other large surface at the beginning and the end of Elster's journey?
My theory is the Penrose actually succeeded in its mission to find a new world out in the stars. Long after Ariane was stricken and immobile, by some miracle or autopilot programming, the Penrose crashed on this distant planet (or object) mostly intact. Whatever it is, the Penrose definitely landed on something. Maybe with a gate on its surface and a hole leading deeper inside.
I still really appreciate your vid though, we can all chose how we see things through our own eyes.
[Warning: this comment is VERY long. Sorry lol.] When it comes to the breakdown of the history of the Empire of Eusan and the Eusan Nation I think this story analysis is the best I've seen bar none. Your analysis of the lore of the background settings and the relationship between the two waring nations was SO in depth. Amazing job. That said, I noticed some slight inconsistencies from what the game tells us/does not tell us in your analysis of the concrete lore (not the subjective lore) that, while small, I thought might be worth pointing out. Additionally, thinking more on these inconsistencies raised additional questions for me that I hadn't thought of prior to watching your video.
It is certainly known that Lilith Itou was a veteran of the war fought on Vineta and that she, in some capacity, served with or was alongside Alina Seo who bears a striking resemblance to Ariane. We surmise as much through the singular picture we find of her standing next to Alina Seo. There is a heavy suggestion that the LSTRs neural pattern *may* have been based off of Lilith Itou but this is never really confirmed. As a matter of fact, we further know through lore later in the game that modern LSTR models are not based off of a pure gestalt neurological pattern like other models but, rather, are based off of *a copy of a neuro pattern retrieved from a decommissioned LSTR unit recovered from the Penrose program* due to the central neural archive containing the only records of this particular pattern being destroyed during the war. I was actually slightly surprised this point never made it into your analysis but, as the game never expands on this concept further and it doesn't change the fact that the original pattern came from somewhere, I suppose it perhaps was not worth mentioning. Regardless - whether Lilith is the original pattern Elster is based on seems to be implied but never confirmed. Likewise, whether Lilith is the mother of Erika and Isa or whether she is of some other relation is never really confirmed in the game from what I can tell either - all we have is the similarity of her name and the photo associating her with Alina Seo. The main points of contention I had with your early analysis, however, was in regards to the Itou sisters. In your analysis you suggest that Lilith Itou moved to Rotfront after the war where she then gave birth to Erika and Isa. While it is a small error, this timeline of events does not line up with what the game plainly informs us. In addition to never confirming Lilith as the mother of Erika and Isa, the game makes particular note of the fact that Erika and Isa themselves are *"Vineta-born"* and had moved at some point from Vineta to Rotfront. In other words - assuming Lilith is their mother, Lilith did not move to Rotfront until after she conceived the Itou twins. IF Lilith is indeed their mother then she gave birth to them on Vineta prior to their moving to Rotfront. Complimenting this, when looking through the emails during the Rotfront section of the game there is an email between a block Protektor and Isa and Erika's mother asking for access to their book store for "patrol". The email specifically states that Isa and Erika were born on Vineta. It also, conveniently, is signed by "Itou" but does not list the full name of the sender. There also seems to be a mild insinuation that some of the Itou sisters' local peers viewed them as untrustworthy/as foreigners. We see as much in the assessment written by Ariane's teacher in which she partially attributes Ariane's behavior to her association with "those Vinetan-born Itou sisters". Finally, the Itou sisters' book store was known for carrying banned literature - literature that was, presumably, banned due to being publications of, or at the least publications sympathetic to, the Empire. In a playthrough of the game we find one such book - the book explaining bio-resonance - on the bookshelves in the back room of their book store. All of this circles back to the fact that Erika and Isa were not born on Rotfront as you suggest in your analysis - they were born on Vineta. Their medical records, also accessible on the computer in Rotfront, even list their places of birth as Vineta. Thinking more on this fact which I had simply accepted as truth and had moved on from previously, though, has led to some additional questions bubbling up for me that I will hit on later in this comment. The final point of contention I had with your early analysis is the assumption that Erika and Isa died during compulsory military service. I don't necessarily dispute that this is possible but rather, to my knowledge, there is simply no evidence or even suggestion that this is how they died - the theory that they died during compulsory military service is entirely speculation and I think it should have been identified as such. To my knowledge we honestly don't know how the Itou sisters died. One popular theory I've seen is that they were incorrectly identified as and arrested under the suspicion of being Imperial spies and had somehow died following their arrest. During the Rotfront section of the game we see communications between two Protektors discussing the suspicion of an Imperial spy in the area and the negative consequences that would befall the block warden if they don't find the spy before a special team sent from Heimat (if I recall correctly) to root out the spy does. We also see through various lore drops throughout the game that the Itou family were viewed suspiciously by locals. And as you point out in your analysis, we later find a note by the actual spy indicating that they are leaving for Kitezh, insinuating that they escaped. As such, it goes to reason that the block warden never found the spy (and was likely punished in some way) OR whoever they identified as the spy was not, in fact, the actual spy. This is all, of course, speculation however. My whole point here is that the game doesn't tell us how Erika and Isa die - it only insinuates that they were dead well before the events involving the Elster we play in Rotfront take place.
Knowing that the Itou sisters were born on Vineta and were known for carrying publications related to the Empire while on Rotfront, the questions that have begun to arise for me are: were they born before or after the war and, similarly, had their mother lived on Vineta prior to the war breaking out or did she settle there after the war before moving to Rotfront? If their mother lived on Vineta prior to the war then she would, presumably, have been a citizen of the Eusan Empire when the war broke out, not the Eusan Nation. And yet Lilith Itou, who in this analysis we *presume* is their mother, is clearly depicted as having fought alongside Alina Seo. Assuming that Lilith Itou was their mother, if she lived on Vineta when the war broke out then wouldn't she more likely have been a soldier under the Eusan Empire, not the Eusan Nation? I suppose one could argue she possibly aligned with and defected to the revolutionary army when it invaded Vineta. Alternatively, it's possible that she joined the revolutionary effort on Heimat and then was sent to Vineta were she fought in the war. If this were the case, however, and she is indeed the Itou twins' mother, then this means she must have settled down on Vineta for a period of time (presumably after the war), giving birth to the twins on Vineta before moving to Rotfront. And then there is always the possibility that neither of the above is true and that Lilith Itou is actually a more distant relative - say an aunt or a cousin - to the Itou sisters. That said, I find it a strange coincidence that the Itou family, at least in part, seems to originally hail from Vineta, owns so much banned literature which was published under the Eusan Empire, and is the subject of so much suspicion if they weren't Vinetan residents prior to the war which would suggest that they were citizens of the Eusan Empire at the onset of war on Vineta, not the Eusan Nation.
Hey, Shaun! Don't be sorry! You're evidently very passionate about the game and its story, and that's not something to be sorry about at all! I think it's great!
Yeah, you're right. I never *meant* to insinuate that the Itou Twins were born on Rotfront (especially with all of the evidence to the contrary), but it kind of came out that way with the way I wrote it. Whoops! I must've been so focused on segueing into their lives on Rotfront that I didn't put enough thought into making sure the way I wrote things was accurate.
And, yeah, you're right about how I should have framed their fates as well since it's not outright stated what happened. I just thought it was most plausible that young people that died unexpectedly most likely died when they were forcibly conscripted into the military. That theory you explained with the spy on Rotfront being tied to their deaths is a really interesting theory too! I like that one a lot and totally fits with the world!
Thanks for pointing those out! Love getting feedback like this because it really pushes me to do better, so I appreciate you taking the time!
Lastly, with regards to your questions around Lilith, I think that's part of what makes the story of the game so compelling for a lot of people. There are gaps or things left vague in the story which keeps us thinking about the game long after we've played it because we want those answers. It's not a feature that's liked by everybody, but really resonates for the people that do like it. Makes us want more, and I know I'd love to see another story set in the Signalis universe at some point if the developers choose to make another. It would be interesting to see the direction they take!
Thanks for watching, man, and taking the time you spent watching and sharing your thoughts! Really appreciate it! Hope you enjoyed the video outside of those gripes you had! :)
@@SquatchGamingChannel Thanks so much for your reply to this! I wasn't really expecting a reply and was surprised to read it! Regardless of the small points of criticism I had (which are of course also rooted in personal opinion) I feel like your explanation and analysis of the story is the absolute best and most in-depth I've seen so far!
That said there seems to be an update! I was watching a recent playthrough of the game and when the player got to the part where they were reading the emails on the computer in Rotfront I was shocked to see that the email sent from the Itou sisters' mother was signed with a first name! This is clearly new as in my playthrough, your play through, and many other play throughs this email was signed with only the last name "Itou". But in the most recent playthrough I was watching the email sent by the Itou sisters' mother was signed by "Anja Itou". To my knowledge Anja Itou never comes up at any other point in the story currently but I thought this fact might interest you as it now seems to prove that Lilith Itou is, in fact, *not* the Itou sisters' mother. We don't know exactly what her relation to them is - perhaps she is an aunt or their grandmother? All we seem to know now is that Lilith Itou is not their mother.
Of course, man. Thanks again for taking the time to comment! :)
Have you had the chance to watch the video made by Indie Xplorer? I haven't made the time yet, but it looks like it's much more in depth than mine, so I'd be interested to hear if they point out anything I missed!
Wow, really? Gotta love it when future updates/patches include information that clarifies things! Although I won't lie and say I'm not a little bit annoyed that it makes me outright wrong, but it's all good!
@@SquatchGamingChannel No - I hadn't! I went and looked it up after reading your comment and you're right - they went super in depth! Thanks for telling me about it! That said I still think you did a better job of covering the geopolitical relationship between the Nation of Eusan and the Eusan Empire.
Yeah, I could see how that would be somewhat frustrating haha. I feel like that's what's so difficult about analyzing this game - you have to be VERY careful what you categorize as fact and what you categorize as speculation/dominant theory as so much of this game's narrative is conveyed through context and insinuation lol. In this particular example I think most people assumed Lilith was Isa and Erika's mother. I myself even thought this was the most likely scenario as I said in my original comment but what led me to point it out was, even though I thought it was the most likely case, I felt strongly that the game never confirmed this - only suggested it. It wasn't until a couple of days ago that I saw a more recent playthrough where the devs updated the email to read "Anja Itou". It's crazy how much impact this simple change to add the first name has as I recall people fervently debating whether Lilith was the Itou twin's mother and now it appears that that question has been put to rest lol.
Anywho, thanks so much for your analysis, again, and thanks for the recommendation!
Really liked this one.
I knew this was gonna get covered at some point
Saved so i can watch you and bricky for signalis
Gotta stay with the theory that an Ancient Eldritch God is just Pleased to see some good lesbian romance
oooooo hype, I owm this game but havent gotten around to playing it yet, I really ought to aye
Hey finally someone that came to the same "it was all in le head" theory as me! Only difference is that i thought the dead elster you get the armor from was the promise one, because i forgot to check the memory ending lol
Amazing video my guy!
How did Adler retain his memories over and over again? Was he affected in a different way than Fawlk?
I understood every word that was said in this video but the full picture has left me baffled and I almost want it to stay that way. I absolutely need to play this game with people smarter then me and I know just the boys to do it with. Thank you Squatch, this was a great watch and I'm definitely gonna have to play this myself
I think Leave ending explains how the Eusan Nation found the Penrose and retrieved Elster's body under the assumption it's was LSTR-512 when it was simply another Elster that gave up just as Memory and Promise being bootstrap paradoxes for Elster's armor.
Just discovered your channel and this video was great, a good interpretation that I hadn’t heard before. What do you think the idea behind the king in yellow is? This was the only point you didn’t touch on but it seems that this is still a mystery.
This is my theory if the games narrative. This is my opinion and what I got from my three playthroughs. This is a very cerebral game and can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. This is just my interpretation:
All of this happens both within and out of LSTRs mind on a way. With the exception of two points in the game, the part where we find Ariane and dance, as well as the memory and promise ending.
We know that LSTRs gestalt memories are from Lilith Itou who was in a relationship with Alina seo. We also know that LSTR fell in love with Ariane while they were on their mission. We also know that their mission failed. They have been stuck in the void of space essentially slowly dying. It’s torture and they made a promise that LSTR would kill Ariane. Before that could happen though, due to Ariane constantly doing things around LSTR that the files say would cause a persona breakdown, LSTR had a breakdown in persona and forgot everything as well as went into a deactivated state.
It’s from that that I believe the whole game is based on Ariane, after putting herself in partial cryostasis, uses her bioresonance (from which we know that the first Replikas were made possible) to probe and manipulate LSTRs deactivated mind to try and get her to remember. To try to get her to fight off and repair her degrading persona or psyche and reactivate for long enough to die together like they wanted.
I believe that every memory and most places in the game exist in the real world, but due to LSTRs damaged psyche, it’s twisted and warped. It’s been combined and muddled with her gestalt templates memories.
We can draw lots of links between the different replikas personalities and our own minds. Kalibris are highly emotional and can represent emotion. ADLRs are very logical and controlling. FLKR is the commander of everything which makes me think that she represents LSTRs damaged mind as a whole.
ADLR is the primary antagonist, or framed that way. I believe that he embodies LSTRs desire not to return and see her loved one die by her hand. Which is why we see him trying to stop us.
I believe that all of the dead LSTR units we see are prior attempts the two (Ariane and LSTR) had made to bring LSTR back. To repair her damaged mind. Not only that, but FLKR represents the mind as a whole, their need to become one was the repair needed to deactivate. Everything was orderly and working properly until FLKR came back and was infected. This represents the first breakdown in LSTRs mind that snowballed into near entire system breakdown and the chaos we see throughout.
We can see through the game that gestalt are effected much faster than replikas by this “disease”. They decay quickly. This represents the organic life breaking down faster than machine. We see this in notes, I’m gameplay, as well as the enemies. They clearly have a lot of their organic parts decayed yet still operate. The dissolving of Isa is just one part of a larger breakdown in both Ariane and LSTRs mind. The facilities gradually gets twisted and consumed by flesh. I because this represents a ticking clock. The final attempt the two have at repairing LSTR before complete shutdown.
The leave ending is a failure to reactivate.
The memory ending is a success to reactivate but at the cost of Ariane losing her memory. LSTR choosing instead to spend the little time they have left together despite her not remembering.
The promise ending is a success not only in reactivating LSTR but Ariane keeping her memories so that they can fulfill the promise they made.
The secret ending shows that Ariane, the eye, us the god if this dreamworld and through their combined sacrifice, they are able to live out one final dream of themselves dancing together.
i wonder if you'll make more videos about signalis, this game is awesome
I don't have any plans as of now, but if more content comes out for the game, I may revisit it!
Thanks for watching!
you should cover armored core since the new is coming up idk just spit balling youre my fav over view guy cause you explain stuff completely for the most part.
I've never played any of the Armored Core series - does have a pretty in depth story? Could be interesting...
I'm not sure I'll make a video on it though. I tend to shy away from doing videos on Triple A/Big Budget Video Games because they don't do well on my channel (look at the Last of Us and Bioshock videos I've done and compare them to the ones I've done on indie games - pretty notable difference!), but never say never! If I feel up to it, I may do one
Thanks for the suggestion, man! I really appreciate it! And thanks for the kind words! Capturing most of the overall story is what I aim to do with these videos, so it's nice to hear that it's appreciated!
This channel is criminally slept on
Comes with covering games that don't have huge audiences. Lol. Happy to hear you enjoy the videos though! Thanks so much for watching!
I like to interpret that the things are actually manifesting in reality. That through bioresonance Ariane is affecting places she has a strong attachment (not positive but attachment nonetheless) to, and her influence is affecting other bioresonant beings including replikas. The red eye in the sky in rotfront and whatever artifact they found in the mines in Siepinski might be Ariene's influence manifested.
The reason the twins and Adler with Falke are important are because they are pairs that resonate and are similar to Ariane and Elster, if there is even a single reference to Erika being even a little bit bioresonant (Havent found any) we would even have a stronger tie to who the pair represents. Falke isnt holding Elster's memories, she is holding Ariane's and is pissed that the promise isnt being held.
During the game the only ones that notice the repetition are Elster, Isa and Adler, and in their pairing those other two represent Elster. The idea of the promise has them going forward, they dont hold a promise but Ariane's influence makes them carry that feeling from Elster. Adler towards Falke, Isa torwards Erika. Isa realises there is no promise when she sees her and her sister's memorial. I believe Adler is somewhat resisting the influence.
Dredge just came out on Thursday, I had recommended haiku the robot on your hyper light drifter video, but I'm about 8 hours in and I still only have a vague idea of what's happening, dredge is a lovecraftian horror fishing game that has a unique story that I think would be great if you spelt it out in one sitting, I don't want to spoil much but think of the don't starve together sanity meter, how you start seeing shadow creatures, in order to get some really vague lore about the creature infesting the area, you have to be insane which isn't much fun since you can still be hit while in the text box, I'm hoping this didn't spoil too much, and I know you already gave a schedule for this year, but if you get the chance I would reccamend this one at some point
Hey, Feardrill. Just finished playing Haiku the Robot! I had a ton of fun with the game, just like I felt I would. Totally loved it! I'm hoping to make a video for the game sometime this year, but it won't be the next one I do (Darkest Dungeon II just came out, so I'm going to focus on that). It might actually be okay that I hold off because there's supposed to be another update to the game sometime this summer. Maybe that'll add even more lore to the game! I still have to play through Corrupt Mode too. I've seen a bit of the new lore in that (mainly just the ending), but you mentioned there's a statue you have to get to in 23 minutes for something? Would you happen to know if that adds any lore or was just a speedrunning challenge type thing?
Anyways, just wanted to give you an update, and let you know your requests aren't falling on deaf ears! :)
Although, it'll probably be a while before I get to Dredge. Looks pretty crazy though! Lol.
@@SquatchGamingChannel thanks for the heads up, as far as the statue goes I'm not too sure if it adds anything lore significant, I think it would kinda cool to mention saying that the bunker might still be collapsing as an explanation for the statue not appearing there after the time limit, but as far as I'm aware of it doesn't do much, also I can't wait for the darkest dungeon 2 explanation, and then as far as dredge, as interesting as it is a game when I finally went and did the lore, I was disappointed, but there is going to be a dlc later this year in either q3 or q4 that might flesh it out a little more, crossing my fingers it does, but otherwise good luck and enjoy the suffering of corrupt mode!
From what I gathered the whole thing is simulated within Ariane's mind nothing can really be determined as real. Though I'd wager that Elster did really die and Ariane is stuck on the ship (crashed or drifting can't be sure.) Trapped in her own nightmare she manifested everything based on her memories and imagination. Including Elster. That's why it's always a loop, because you can't actually kill Ariane within the dreamworld no matter how much she wishes it to happen.
you did the thing!
Sure did! Thanks for requesting the game, man. Sorry the wait was so long, but hope you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching! :)
Cannot believe everything happened because someone didn't read their manual
1:33 ROCK AND STONE.
Ik this is meant to be serious, but I still instantly thought of that
Just wonderful! Both detailed and easy to understand.
What I really like is all the German terms used in the world. Yes, the developers are German, but they managed to both strike a sense of familiarity and make something new.
Most notably, they combined Chinese and German influences in the Eusan nation. Look at all the names at 9:52 for example. Those are very Chinese/Asian last names with German first names.
The propaganda used by the nation evokes our past government's efforts as well, yes the 3rd Reich but also very heavily from the GDR and the Soviet influences.
This maybe means that... if we could assume that the humans here came from the Earth, at some point Germany and China entered into some kind of alliance. As far as I know, I don't think we've seen what the Empire is like though, so it might be something completely different over there.
Edit: Oh and I do believe it's Chinese and not Japanese, despite what the artstyle might suggest. We don't see any Japanese text and the Chinese characters used are simplified. I don't remember any Japanese names either, so it is very likely Chinese.
Thank you
33:51 I had a mini heart attack at this part as it breifly convinced me that this game was some Dead space off shoot for a minute.
I kind of came to the conclusion that there is a "dream world" and a cosmic being is making it bleed into reality. It lay dormant until Ariane's suffering awoke it, and she somehow became intertwined with it's power, amplifying her own abilities.
I feel like the secret ending takes you from the dream world to reality. Looking over Bioresonance gave me the thought that perhaps doing whatever the hell that was within the dream world allowed for Ariane to unknowingly fight against the cancer within her body. This theory is full of holes like "Why is Elster in the white armor if she never got that in the real world" and such but I think it's at least worth a thought.
The most likely outcome however is that the suffering is removed from the Dream World, and Ariane can now live the peaceful life she wanted with Elster even though it isn't real
FOUND NEW INFO!
The Red Eye isn't any sort of Eldritch being at all. The "Red Eye" is a phenomenon witnessed by those who live in Rotfront that is essentially a weather pattern that takes the shape of an eye staring down at them. People have come to give this eye meaning, often equating it to the watchful eye of the nation... so the eye at the end isn't some outer being. It's basically her knowing that the ever watchful eye of her overbearing nation is always there.
Cyberpunk mixed with Lovecraft?? A dream come true
One of the more curious questions I have is what's the source of broadcast choice for the safe for the secret ending, if this is a dream world, does that mean she somehow came across the process through a resonance. Or was it there because resonance powers only people like Ariane can hear the universe broadcasting codes?
What are the purpose of these codes anyway?
Perhaps the lily ending really is calling a God or some sort, and being granted peace or health. They were dancing in the current Penrose. Perhaps there was a happy ending after all
1:32 ROCK AND STONE, BRUDDA!
Probably will stream the game again, overall even getting all the achievements was fun
One thing that i find most depressing after my playthrough to try and get the artifact ending is that despite all that effort and determination i didnt help eulster achieve anything i couldnt finish her promise and end ariane suffering i couldn’t even make use of herself as assistance for future eulster all i did was prolonging the suffering of two lives that was already in pain and doom all those around them like adler, faulk and the numerous infected replikas
this game deserves a triple A remake, one of the greatest stories I ever heard.
That would be awful. The game is perfect in its current rendition