There’s something particularly unsettling about being trapped in a school with no idea what is real, but Signal Veil is adding another problem to that familiar survival horror setup – your only guide is a haunted mobile phone.
The newly announced psychological horror adventure from Serafini Productions and Time Hunters is heading to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
Inspired by the fixed-camera survival horror of games such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Signal Veil mixes that classic approach with a distinctly 90s anime-inspired visual style. The result looks set to be a deliberately uncomfortable trip through the halls of Nishikawa High School, where spirits, disappearing students and increasingly unreliable memories await.
At A Glance
- Game: Signal Veil
- Developer: Time Hunters
- Publisher: Serafini Productions
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC
- Genre: Third-Person Survival Horror
A Haunted Phone Holds The Answers
Signal Veil puts players in the role of Aki Mizuno, a teenager whose mother disappears without explanation. Before vanishing, she leaves Aki an old cellphone – except this isn’t exactly your average hand-me-down handset.
The phone can react to spirits that nobody else can see, turning it into Aki’s most important tool as she investigates the strange events taking place inside Nishikawa High School.
As disappearances begin to pile up, Aki is forced to explore the school’s increasingly threatening corridors while attempting to uncover a past hidden beneath false memories and years of silence. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s the small matter of keeping her own mind intact.
When Your Sanity Starts Fighting Back
Signal Veil isn’t simply interested in throwing supernatural creatures at the player. Aki’s mental state is another part of the horror.
As her sanity deteriorates, the world around her can change, enemies become more unpredictable and her combat becomes increasingly desperate. That should make exploration feel considerably less reliable as the story progresses, with players potentially questioning whether what they’re seeing is really happening.
The game’s visual identity also adds another layer to the setup. Classic survival horror influences are being mixed with a 90s anime aesthetic inspired by psychological horror series including Another and Jujutsu Kaisen.
Every Encounter Requires A Plan
Combat isn’t intended to be a case of emptying a magazine into anything that moves.
Resources such as medicine and ammunition are limited, while mystical weapons and improvised tools need to be used carefully. Each supernatural entity has its own behaviour, encouraging players to observe their surroundings and work out the best way to deal with whatever is stalking them.
The spirits themselves also need to be dealt with through a ritual-like process rather than simply being shot until they disappear.
The Phone Is More Than A Way To Call For Help
It is the mysterious phone that forms the centrepiece of Signal Veil’s gameplay. It can detect supernatural entities through vibrations, static and visual distortions, while its flash can be used to stun enemies. The phone’s camera can also reveal hidden objects and imprints that aren’t visible normally.
That ties neatly into the game’s exploration, where the fixed-camera perspective deliberately restricts what Aki can see. Hallways and rooms can hide threats just outside the player’s view, while limited resources mean charging into every encounter isn’t necessarily the smartest option.
The basic loop then? Detecting, provoking, stunning, exposing and finally purging supernatural threats, with the environment playing an important role in staying alive.
A New Horror Story To Keep An Eye On
Signal Veil is still in development, and there is no release date, so there’s plenty we don’t know about Aki’s strange journey or precisely when we’ll be able to step inside Nishikawa High School ourselves.
What we do have is an intriguing combination of classic survival horror ideas, psychological storytelling and a haunted phone that appears to be every bit as important as Aki herself.
Signal Veil will be coming to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
