The Signal From Tölva

A fascinating setting and fizzing gunplay make for a lean, thoughtful exploration-led shooter.

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In "The Signal From Tölva," you explore a beautiful, alien world as a rogue AI in a striking first-person adventure. Discover hidden secrets, combat rival AI entities, and uncover the mystery behind the enigmatic signal in this immersive open-world game. Engage in thrilling battles, solve puzzles, and upgrade your skills as you navigate the treacherous landscape of Tölva.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 636 reviews

story70 positive mentions

optimization20 negative mentions

The game features beautiful graphics and a unique art style that creates an immersive atmosphere.
The exploration aspect is engaging, with a mysterious story that unfolds through collectibles and environmental storytelling.
The combat mechanics are enjoyable, allowing for strategic gameplay with the option to recruit AI allies.

The game suffers from performance issues, with many players experiencing low frame rates and stuttering.
The gameplay can become repetitive, with long distances to travel and similar objectives throughout.
The story is vague and the endings are unsatisfying, leaving players with more questions than answers.

story
364 mentions
19 % positive mentions
75 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The game's story is primarily conveyed through scattered data logs and collectibles, creating a mysterious and fragmented narrative that some players find intriguing, while others feel it lacks depth and clarity. Many reviewers noted that the story requires significant effort to piece together, often leading to feelings of confusion or dissatisfaction, especially regarding the endings. Overall, while the atmospheric world and exploration elements are praised, the storytelling approach leaves much to be desired, with calls for more engaging and coherent narrative development.
- “The story is there if you're paying attention; it's a mystery that teases you with data files you find throughout the game.”
- “The story is told in logs that you find in the open world, and by completing missions.”
- “The story itself is somewhat light on certain details, but as you wander through this mysterious world, you'll find yourself piecing parts of it together yourself as you explore wrecked ships and strange ruins.”
- “The whole story of the game is vague and I still did not really understand the premise of it.”
- “The story is incredibly vague and the entire point of the game is to scan artifacts to unlock theoretical puzzle pieces of the story that you can read about or not.”
- “Overall the story was just not that fulfilling, and the ending left me wanting more of an explanation.”
gameplay
208 mentions
27 % positive mentions
64 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "The Signal from Tölva" is characterized by a straightforward and repetitive loop of exploration, combat, and territory control, often described as a mix of walking simulator and FPS mechanics. While the game features solid shooting mechanics and an engaging atmosphere, many players find the gameplay lacks depth and variety, leading to a sense of monotony over time. Despite its aesthetic appeal and some interesting mechanics, the overall experience is often seen as underdeveloped, with potential for improvement in future iterations.
- “The gameplay is a straightforward and well-balanced capture territory FPS.”
- “The gameplay loop is a rather addictive explore, fight, loot, repeat.”
- “Tolva is a well-written, exploration-driven FPS with solid shooting mechanics and a heavy emphasis on atmosphere.”
- “The gameplay is a pain to play with, dreadful weapons, clunky movement, sensitivity is a pain to change, choppy graphics even on low settings with a good computer and a dull world without inspiration.”
- “The combat feels groggy and uninvolving, the gameplay is mostly walking, the world is shallow and uninteractive, and the guns handle poorly.”
- “The gameplay itself is actually quite simple - roam the world and scan signal sources, while reclaiming respawn bunkers and beacons and fighting enemy robots, and upgrading your equipment using resources you find scattered around.”
graphics
135 mentions
54 % positive mentions
41 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The graphics in "The Signal from Tölva" are generally praised for their artistic style, featuring beautiful landscapes and unique robot designs reminiscent of titles like Borderlands. However, many players report performance issues, including frame rate drops and poor optimization, even on modern hardware, which detracts from the overall experience. While the visuals are appealing and atmospheric, some users note that they lack the fidelity expected from contemporary games, leading to mixed feelings about their quality relative to gameplay.
- “The graphics are easy on the eyes, whether it be the landscapes or the mysterious structures dotted around or the cool robot designs.”
- “The graphics are gorgeous, there's a solid progression system, and the game isn't too incredibly mentally taxing, so it's a good relaxer.”
- “The signal from Tolva has beautiful art style and offers some good sights.”
- “Even on decent, modern hardware in 2024, I still had to turn a couple graphics settings down, and had the framerate hover between 45-90 fps - generally hovering around the higher half of that, but the regular drops to sub-60 were pretty stark and felt especially unwarranted... especially considering how simple the game looks, it feels like a case of just plain terrible optimization as opposed to intense computing or visual fidelity.”
- “I've read around about Unity engine games performing poorly on NVIDIA GPUs, but even on low graphics settings, I was struggling to get even 30 fps.”
- “The game runs very slowly even on the lowest graphic settings with the lowest resolutions.”
atmosphere
95 mentions
65 % positive mentions
31 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its eerie, immersive qualities, enhanced by excellent sound design and beautiful visuals that evoke a sense of mystery and exploration. While some players find the atmosphere captivating and meditative, others feel it can be slow-paced or lacking in depth, leading to mixed opinions on its overall engagement. Overall, the game's atmospheric elements are a significant draw, appealing to those who appreciate a rich, ambient experience in a sci-fi setting.
- “The atmosphere is absolutely spot-on, a sci-fi game with a nigh-mystical tone.”
- “The game is very atmospheric and it was fun to see what was around the next corner.”
- “The atmosphere in this game is amazing.”
- “For a game that's so focused on exploration and walking around barren lands, it just has no atmosphere to make that truly engaging.”
- “Overall, then, Tolva is an ambitious, largely failed experiment that is supremely successful at evoking an atmosphere of a ruined interstellar empire, but otherwise feels hamstrung by its small team’s limited development resources.”
- “To repetitive all weapons feel the same way only damage increase the world is boring you can't really call that exploring cause you just see where everything is combat is always the same atmosphere is nearly not there.”
optimization
57 mentions
11 % positive mentions
54 % neutral mentions
35 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received widespread criticism, with many players reporting significant performance issues such as stuttering, frame rate drops, and poor utilization of high-end hardware. Even on powerful systems, players have experienced inconsistent frame rates and low performance, leading to an overall sentiment that the game is poorly optimized and in need of substantial improvements. While some users noted decent performance on specific setups, the general consensus highlights a frustrating experience marred by technical shortcomings.
- “The game is finally decently optimized.”
- “As regards performance, for the most part it ran smoothly at high settings/4k on my machine.”
- “It looks pretty, but it also runs like mud and there's no way to trade any of the pretty for a meaningful performance increase.”
- “The performance is pretty bad for how it looks.”
- “Be warned that performance issues are abound: even on an RTX 3080 and Ryzen 5900X I still had areas (especially towards the end-game) where the FPS dipped below 60 at 1440p.”
- “The gunplay is alright, the exploration is slow, the world is pretty, and the story is a little hard to get into but none of it matters because the game is so horribly optimized it's almost unplayable.”
music
47 mentions
43 % positive mentions
51 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as ambient and minimalist, effectively contributing to the eerie and atmospheric experience of the world. While some players appreciate the subtlety and fitting nature of the soundtrack, others find it too quiet or lacking in engagement, often recommending the addition of personal music to enhance immersion. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a mixed bag, with its effectiveness varying based on individual preferences and play styles.
- “The atmosphere is good, the visuals and music are beautiful and/or creepy at times.”
- “A feeling of awe is pervasive for me as I navigate this often beautiful landscape with epic sci-fi vistas, backed up by great minimal-ambient music of the school and tone which I love.”
- “It's definitely atmospheric and mysterious, and the music helps to add a strong sense of melancholy to proceedings as you stomp around the rusted graveyard of Tolva.”
- “I was actually pretty off this game to start with, but I found that after a couple of hours when I turned off the game music and just put on my own, I actually became much more engaged with the game and its world.”
- “There's little to no music, so you're left with the clanking of your robot, the odd bird cry, occasional distant gunfire as the various factions play out their disagreements with each other, and the low rumblings of old engines or whatever hides behind the motley-painted walls of the ruins.”
- “Story is told by notes you found throughout the journey and without the support of quality music and effects, the game stands so dull on its own.”
grinding
26 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, characterized by slow movement, repetitive missions, and unengaging combat. The vast, empty environments and the need to traverse long distances without meaningful encounters contribute to a monotonous experience, making progression feel unrewarding. While some players may enjoy the grind for upgrades and combat, many recommend waiting for a significant discount before purchasing due to the overwhelming tedium.
- “The very slow pace of the game, the vast open areas that are mostly empty, the very few story moments and the abundant walking with mind-numbing monotony make a game that does not inspire the player to push harder, but instead make a game that is tedious and unrewarding to play.”
- “But the tedious grinding, extremely slow walking, and pointless mazes are just not fun.”
- “It was fun for the first 2 hours but after that quickly became tedious and frustrating to play; I wouldn't recommend buying this unless on sale for more than 50% due to the overuse of the same missions and technical issues.”
replayability
15 mentions
20 % positive mentions
40 % neutral mentions
40 % negative mentions
Overall, the game has been criticized for its lack of replayability, with many users noting that it offers a limited experience that can be completed in 10-20 hours. While some players found value in the initial playthrough, they expressed disappointment in the absence of meaningful choices or variations that would encourage multiple runs. Ultimately, the consensus suggests that while the game may be enjoyable at a lower price point, it does not provide sufficient replay value.
- “I think it could have good replay value.”
- “Things that will make the replayability value higher.”
- “If you're looking for replayability, you might be disappointed at $20, but as an experience, I found it 100% worth my time and money.”
- “You can finish the game in 15-20 hours and there is essentially no replayability.”
- “My playthrough was about 10 hours and sadly the game has not much of a replay value for me.”
- “Basically no replayability with two endings that make Mass Effect's three color-coded endings look different.”
stability
14 mentions
7 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
93 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with users reporting various bugs and glitches, including freezing issues and control problems, particularly with Xbox controllers. While some players experienced minor visual disturbances and microstutters, others noted that the game runs well on Linux and did not crash during play. Overall, while the game has enjoyable elements, its stability is hampered by frequent glitches and performance hiccups.
- “Runs great on Linux.”
- “The game is very buggy.”
- “It's fun, but also weird because glitches that never occurred are happening in this one, in which enemies just start running in large circles or just freezing in a spot.”
- “There are frequent microstutters, where the action kind of freezes for half a second – especially when collecting resources.”
emotional
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while some players find it holds a special place among their favorites, others feel it lacks depth and emotional investment, primarily offering enjoyable gameplay and exploration rather than a profound narrative experience.
- “Holds a heartfelt spot in my absolute favorite games.”
- “I'll preface by saying I hate giving games a bad review, especially indies, as I know the level of hard work and emotional connection that goes into creating them.”
- “This game evokes a deep emotional response that stays with you long after you've finished playing.”
monetization
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
Players express a desire for the ability to toggle ads, suggesting that the current monetization strategy detracts from their enjoyment of the gameplay, particularly the gunplay mechanics.
- “I would like to have the option to toggle ads, so I can fully appreciate the gunplay.”
- “The monetization model feels overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
- “It's frustrating that progress is often locked behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending money.”
humor
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by the amusing interactions with allies, particularly the entertaining laughter of robots following victories or defeats, which adds a lighthearted touch to the overall experience.
- “Hearing one of your robots laugh after a victory or death is pretty funny.”
- “The humor in the dialogue keeps the gameplay light and enjoyable.”
- “The quirky character interactions always bring a smile to my face.”