#hellblade senua's sacrifice review

[culttonotfollow]

Why I love “Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice” so much

So as I stated, I'm writing a post about my experience with this game and why I think it's as good as it is, including my favourite aspects of it. To this day it's my favourite game and one of the few I've managed to 100% complete.

This post is going to include spoilers. Do not read if you do not want spoilers.

Disclaimer out of the way, I actually want to start by saying that before this game was recommended to me by a friend (thank you, Markus- shout out to you), I had no idea what it was about other than the fact that it dealt in some way with mental health. I mostly forgot about it until I saw it on sale sometime in October (it might have been the Halloween sale), at which point I made the decision to purchase it.

To begin with, the visuals are stunning—beautiful and terrifying at the same time. And just to get mechanics out of the way so I can ramble about the story and the way it made me feel—some of the puzzles are challenging at first, but they are so rewarding after you figure them out that I almost didn't mind the difficulty. The fighting feels almost perfect, particularly with the autobalancing option.

The premise of the game is that Senua, a Celtic warrior with severe mental illness, sets out on a journey to the homeland of the Northmen after discovering what had happened to her lover, planning to enter Helheilm, the mythological land of the dead, or what would be considered hell, and retrieving his soul through bargaining with Hela (or Hel, as she's more commonly known). Throughout the entire game- with the exception of a segment in the story- she wears his skull on her belt, wrapped in a cloth.

The Game uses sound to mess with you??

The game throws you right in with whispers bouncing all around your head (even during the menu when you first open the game)- I will never not applaud Ninja Theory for their choice of using binaural sound (here is an article by Splice on what it is), otherwise it wouldn't be what it is. This is one of the few experiences where the classic "Best experienced with headphones" recommendation should be taken seriously.

As you paddle past, well, burnt, staked and hung corpses that don't make it less tense either, the voices get progressively louder and more erratic until you don't know how many there are anymore or where they're coming from, urging Senua to turn back or calling her a coward in many different ways- with the exception of a few, who actually argue with the others and encourage Senua to push on.

There have been moments when the voices stopped for a little while, but by the time I realized there was nothing in the background anymore except for my own racing thoughts, I was already somewhat uneasy.

To add on to that, one of the trials Senua goes through relies solely on intuition an hearing to get throught the darkness safely, with an extremely limited field of view. I can safely say that was when I was most terrified and hyperfocused in my 12 hours of gameplay. I have to admit after my first run I went to bed and the whispers were still there because of how much I was hearing them the past several hours.

Mindfuckery taken to the next level

I spent the majority of the game in awe, watching the story unfold in front of my eyes. A lot of games or franchises, in my opinion, struggle to make their characters feel human, but Hellblade managed to do it. Even equipped with a sword, I felt vurnelable at all times, the game does a great job at causing anxiety even during the most mundane moments.

There isn't a combat tutorial of any kind; you have to either figure out the "guide" is in the menu, or keep failing the first battle until you figure it out. The game actually only gives you a single prompt in regards to combat: Each time you fail (die), the rot on Senua's arm spreads, and when it reaches her head all progress is lost. This alone made me so much more conscious of every move I was making for over half the game, until I learned the truth.

It's not an actual mechanic, it's only put in place as a warning to add another thick layer of tension to every other already existing, anxiety inducing element of the game, and further enforce the game's primary goal of distorting your perception: what's real and what's not, what/who can you actually trust, what is the truth? It brought me anxiety to the point where it was borderline uncomfortable, and that's exactly why I loved it so much.

I spent the majority of this game in awe, just watching the story unfold. Every twist or reveal felt like a gut punch (in the best way I could mean this), and it made Senua (the girl you play as) feel human, something not a lot of games can do properly in my opinion. This game uses everything in its arsenal to create a truly dreadful experience: visuals, audio, light, combat, etc. without abusing jumpscares or scary monsters (although fighting Fenrir scared the ever loving hell out of me, but so did dealing with him in general). Rather, it capitalizes on its strongest suit: the childlike fear of what lies in the dark- what might occur if the dark really does take control.

The ending made me question my entire purpose (sort of)

It's going to sound weird, or insane, but the ending changed me as a person I think. It made me seriously reconsider some major things in my life, and take a moment to appreciate some others. It's both some sort of psychological torture or terror and an enlightening experience. It brought me to tears and left me completely speechless for what felt- and actually was- hours.

In its own very special and well done way, it's not strictly a game about a girl that's gone mad, or a quest about retrieving a soul, but it sucessfully and sensibly touches upon themes of grief, loss, and folklore. I can safely say I've never been more immersed or touched by a game on every single level. There are tens of memorable moments that I think back on, and I can't believe I got through every single one of these.

The ending took a twist for me. It was far from what I expected, but I think that's what made me as satisfied as it did- and yet it left me wanting even more. Which is why I'm so incredibly pumped for when the sequel comes out. Despite warning about spoilers, I won't actually say how it ended. I'll let whoever reads this discover for themselves one way or another.

Conclusion?

I recommend this game with my whole heart to whoever can handle these kinds of topics. It's beautiful, the story is heartbreaking, the gameplay is fun, and the visuals are beyond gorgerous.

[countlessofvoids]

They can never make me hate you Hellblade:Senua's sacrifice

[13ag21k]

Hellblade 2 Rant:

This post may lack structure and a proper way of discussing the certain issues I had with this game, I'm not a critic but a dedicated fan of 5 years of the original game who waited, and waited for the release of the second one, watched every trailer with my breath held, memorized every word, downloaded every soundtrack and made edits of it, I will be discussing why I as a fan of the first game find this sequel to be absolutely horrible, don't mind me screaming, though having played the game I'm sure you won't mind it:

The story:

The first game was good due to its deep story, it was about Senua overcoming her fears, loving herself and overcoming her father's influence, seeing through his lies and realizing that she was not cursed, but just broken and a little different, the journey is heartbreaking and also climactic moments where you as a player can't help but feel sad, happy or enraged along with her, the game did such a good job at connecting Senua to the players, you could feel her fear, despair, determination and anger, you felt weak and scared with her, the realization that everything she sees was inside her head is shocking and heartbreaking that by fighting on and following her decisions you are feeding into her delusions and she will never be free till she decides to give up her quest to bring back her dead husband, because you can't bring back the dead, the curse, the Gods are all lies and trauma induced by his father that she faces head on and acknowledges them in the end finally allowing her to see through his lies and deceit.

The second game however tried so hard to be deep, they replicated these same ideas but made it worse by turning Senua into a super hero with psychic powers, where now all of a sudden, Giants and Gods are real and not just a figment of her imagination symbolizing her inner struggles, they destroyed everything the first game represented and turned a psychological horror into a fantasy game, the characters are just miserable the whole time, just a bunch of sad people that you never feel connected to and their stories are never explored, purposeless. Senua's advices and her attempts at helping others was bleak, shallow and the lines felt like they were generated by Ai, every single damn second she was screaming that she won't give up and that her father is wrong and then fall under his spell right after blaming herself for other people's miseries, she overcame those struggles in the first game just fine and yet they tried to stretch the same themes and ideas over another 5 hours of boring gameplay. They tried to turn her into a girl boss where she can do and beat anything while doing the bare minimum, they legit turned her mental illness into a superpower, like...the first game was about the danger of her condition and her delusions and now? Well it means that she can see things others don't and save the day doing so, they merged her delusions from reality and no amount of saying "that was a metaphor" can save it from the truth.

One more thing that pissed me off was Senua almost falling in love with the man who worsened her psychosis by killing her people, taking them as slaves and murdering her husband in cold blood and ripping his ribcage open and turn it into wings for Senua to see, for her to stumble upon, for her to drown in despair and such misery that it broke her completely, I wanted them all dead, each and every one of them, they did not deserve senua to help them, nor earned her loyalty, in first minute of his introduction you know he will become a semi lover interest for her and it angered me so much.

The Combat:

The first game did it so well that I got hooked, I replayed it almost 4 times for the sake of the combat, you had to be strategic, find out the enemies weak points, block, parry, sprint and kick, evade and it was so engaging, there were many options and you could tweak the settings to make things more challenging if you wished, the enemies would attack in groups and you had to act fast and wisely to avoid certain death, all the while you felt so deeply connected to Senua that her death would bring you discomfort and the rot on her arm would grow larger, the voices inside her head,helped her during combat and gave her strategic advice when needed and their silence only brought unease, the sword felt heavy and real, you could feel each strike and got tired when you attacked fast, it felt real. There was also a lot of to move away from an enemy and think strategically, to recover plan things and then attack, to align yourself in such a way that you could strike them without letting them surround you completely.

The second game did a piss poor job at all of the above, the combat was stiff, if played on Hard mode you could not parry, evade or block any of the attacks, you couldn't even recover from evading fast enough to respond to an enemy's attack or parry it, even if you did find a weakness in an enemy you couldn't act fast enough to strike them when vulnerable and if you played it on easy mode then you could just press one button and be done for, there was no room to have fun nor anything made it engaging, the enemies would attack one by one and though some scenes were just abit cool overall it was underwhelming and the opponents never instilled as much fear as those from the previous game did, all the while you couldn't feel the sword, the voices inside your head were completely useless and whiney. There was no room to move, you were backed against a wall or unable to roll around and evade, it took a lot of time for her to recover which made her vulnerable and she got hit way more than she use her sword as expected.

The Graphics:

They were beautiful but don't expect me to give them a pat on their backs for giving me the bare minimum, I do not care about graphics if the story and combat are shit. the old Mario games are more engaging than this horrific nightmare.

The soundtracks, or Heilung:

I waited and waited as an old Heilung fan to hear more from them, to get more than one soundtrack that was not even posted on their YouTube channel, one soundtrack that was as underwhelming as the game and a few background music pieces that were actually good when played during emotional scenes or combat but that was it, I was legit expecting some sort of a mini album release since I was waiting for it since 2019, but I guess I couldn't get a single good thing out of this game.

Final words:

I've never been this disappointed by anything before, it felt like a punch to the gut or having a cold bucket of iced water thrown over me, I'm legit still shocked at how bad this game is, it did not deliver a single thing right, a company that was bought by Microsoft and had 7 years, high tech gear and equipment to develop and finish this game in a leisurely pace with a dedicated fanbase that would've waited another 7 years for its release they created this monstrosity that thank God only lasted 5 hours, why do we allow this? Since when do we settle for the bare minimum? I'm legit disgusted and hurt, will never buy a single game from this company ever again.

I better leave before I start ranting for another 5 hours *screeches in anger*

[jamiedc-they-them]

My Hellblade II review got published! Have done some articles for Blooing but this is the latest one!

[phoenixprjct]

🎮 Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is art first and game second (In-Depth Review) 🎮

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Developer (Platform): Ninja Theory (Xbox Series X)

Publisher (Release): Ninja Theory (2017)

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is art first and game second. It has perhaps the best representation of mental health the medium has ever seen and will undoubtedly hit close to home for even those that haven’t faced the psychosis Senua struggles with. Ninja Theory and Melina Juergens bring the titular protagonist to life with wonderful animations and personal experiences, showcasing significant talent in sound design and atmosphere. The latter benefits from dedicated mixing of metaphor and Norse and Celtic mythology, and the heavy story attempts to balance organic combat with repetitive puzzles. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, with a slower approach to pacing that aims to develop plot points and not player interaction, but for those looking for an honest portrayal of suffering, grief, and hope, there is no better game.

‘The hardest battles are fought in the mind…’

Never a truer word was spoken.

For the full review and more like it, follow me here and visit my site:

[imperotenebre]

Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice PS4 gameplay - prime impressioni

Platinato con piacere

[splashink-games]

Reviews Master List

All of my reviews are linked below under the cut!

Game Lists:

Games I Played in 2021

A Year of Gaming, 2022

A Year of Gaming, 2023

3 Lines on 7 Games

(Florence, Bright Memory, Framed Collection, When the Past was Around, Tametsi, Turnip Boy, AER)

(Another) 3 Games in 3 Lines

(while true: learn(), Pikuniku, Alicemare)

3 More Games in 3 Lines

(Sword of the Necromancer, Nowhere Prophet, Dicey Dungeons)

3 Additional Games in 3 Lines

(Luna's Fishing Garden, SHENZEN I/O, Mini Healer)

5 Games I Haven't Finished

(Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Disco Elysium, Spiritfarer, Rain World, Railroad Corporation)

3 Cute DU&I Puzzle Games

(Cats Organized Neatly, Dogs Organized Neatly, Feed All Monsters)

3 Unique Rhythm Games

(Soundfall, No Straight Roads, Rhythm Sprout)

5 Strategy Games I Think You Should Play

(Battletech, Wasteland 3, The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos, Fae Tactics, Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga)

Game Reviews:

A Little to the Left

As Far As The Eye

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Bread & Fred

Carto

Cassette Beasts

Cat Cafe Manager

Death end re;Quest

Dorfromantik

Edge of Eternity

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights

Evan's Remains

Hexcells

Hollow Knight

Ikenfell

Islanders

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk

Last Call BBS

Littlewood

Love is Dead

Mary Skelter: Nightmares

Melatonin

Metal Unit

Neon White

Potionomics

SANABI

Tales of Zestiria

UNBEATABLE [white label]

Unsighted

A Note On...:

A Dance of Fire and Ice

A Short Hike

Ageless

Alt-Frequencies

ANNO: Mutationem

Assemble with Care

BALAN WONDERWORLD

Bear and Breakfast

Deep Rock Galactic

Dodgeball Academia

Dragonball Z: Kakarot

Dungeon Drafters

En Garde!

Epistory: Typing Chronicles

Every Letter

Filament

Frog Corral

Garden Story

Haven

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Here Comes Niko!

Hue

Jack Move

Lil Gator Game

Little Hope

Luck Be A Landlord

Minami Lane

Minit

Monster Sanctuary

Murder by Numbers

Muse Dash

Peglin

Rhythm Doctor

Risk of Rain 2

Severed Steel

shapez

Shellshock Live

Smushi Come Home

Sticky Business

Storyteller

Sunblaze

The Looker

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

Timelie

TROUBLERSHOOTER: Abandoned Children

[chocopulse]

I don't understand. It's seriously the easiest thing in the world to not play the new hot video game everyone is talking about, even if it's not being actively boycotted! People who aren't gamers don't understand how weak and spineless the average gamer is. Even when the boycott is over "this game gone woke!" They seriously still buy it, on launch day, at full price! Sometimes they buy games that haven't even been finished and reviewed yet! And yes they do get burned almost every time!

Even if you plan to pirate it, here are some other games to pirate first

A) Dark Cloud 2

B) a pokemon ROM hack (technically not pirating)

C) the teacher dies at the end and you can't save them + Rookwood cursed anne

D) an old puzzle classic like dr Mario or Yoshi's cookie

E) hellblade: senua's sacrifice

F) one of the many games being developed on this very site

All I'm saying is if you only play new AAA games because you see ads for it and ignore all the publicly available problems, you're gross AND boring.

[puzzlegames1234]

Mental Health Games Research Hell Blade Sauna Saga #1

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice came out in 2017 and was a big hit. The game featured a lot of puzzle elements, coupled with a solid gameplay and combat system. The highlight of the game was its story and acting. The game's main character, Senua, was portrayed by the brilliant actress Melina Juergens. Her character, Senua, has a condition called schizophrenia. This condition can lead to extreme cases where people with it may develop a split personality, but in the case of Senua in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, she represents many people with schizophrenia who hear voices in their heads. Senua's voices are called "The Furies." They tell her when she is doing well, when she is doing badly, they encourage her to keep going, or sometimes tell her to give up. They even double as the game's overall UI, telling the player when they are hurt, need to dodge, or should perform certain tasks within the game world.

Now, I needed to talk about Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice because I actually did a video on the second game, Hellblade: Senua's Saga, about a week ago on my small YouTube channel. The video is an in-depth review of the entire game, and if you want to hear more of my thoughts, I've placed it as the top video in this blog post.

Hellblade's voice mechanics were introduced in the first game, and it shocked me completely. Constantly in my head, I could hear voices moving from my right ear to my left ear, non-stop. It made me feel uneasy, uncomfortable, and even gave me a slight headache. Perfect for what the game's developers intended. You see, the developers wanted to simulate schizophrenia in a way that would make players understand, without having to experience it themselves. And the game does this very well through this feature. This feature enhances both the story and the gameplay, and truly is a masterpiece of design. It represents people with this mental health condition so well, and I’m very happy I experienced, played, and enjoyed both of these games. I think this game represents those with schizophrenia very well.

#videogame#game review#pc games#games#dc comics#tag game#youtube#video games#dc universe#gaming#Youtube

[thelatenightsession]

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II (Review)

Announced at the same time as the Xbox Series X console, Ninja Theory’s sequel to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice promised a jump in visual fidelity that very few games could match. Now that it is here I think it is safe to say that the developers delivered. The story starts off with the protagonist Senua, captured and bound on a ship. She’s there intentionally, hoping to find those responsible for…

[gamereporter]

Review: Hellblade 2 é um poema cinematográfico em formato de jogo 

Texto por: Victor Candido  Em 2017 a Ninja Theory (desenvolvedora de jogos como Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, DMC: Devil May Cry e Bleeding Edge) resolveu lançar um jogo cuja experiência fugia de diversos padrões da indústria, e até mesmo dos jogos que eles vinham lançando até a data,  nascia ali Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, um jogo com foco narrativo acima da média, onde a jogabilidade simples…

[jcmarchi]

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II Review - Conquering Old Demons - Game Informer

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/senuas-saga-hellblade-ii-review-conquering-old-demons-game-informer/

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II Review - Conquering Old Demons - Game Informer

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice didn’t need a sequel. It had a clear story to tell, and it told it well with an artful (and tactful) execution of its mental health themes and a strong conclusion. But Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II builds a great case for itself by using the titular warrior’s growth to help not only herself but, for the first time, others around her, shining her in a fascinating new light. Refined gameplay and a jaw-dropping presentation make for a more wholly satisfying sophomore outing.

Since the first game’s conclusion, Senua’s a little older, a little wiser, and has more confidence in herself. Although the psychosis-induced voices in her head still pepper her every thought (headphones are highly recommended due to the fantastic and effective 3D audio), she’s largely embraced and accepted them. This time, the voices factor less directly into gameplay and are largely used as an effective storytelling flourish: audible manifestations of her innermost thoughts and anxieties. 

Senua’s journey takes her to a new land to put an end to the slavers that ravaged her homeland. As that story evolves into something far grander and fantastical, I enjoyed the new emphasis on companionship. Melina Jurgens delivers another phenomenal performance as Senua, and she’s backed by an equally impressive supporting cast. Seeing Senua interact and travel with a small cast of likable and interesting allies and use the lessons learned from her struggles to help them overcome their own darkness is rewarding. Not only does it feel like satisfying growth, but her relatable fears of leading them astray add a nice dimension to her already compelling character. Watching Senua combat old demons as they rear their heads again is also a realistic and refreshing portrayal of the constant battle that is mental health; her triumph in the first game wasn’t, and shouldn’t be, a one-time victory. 

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The adventure feels more digestible and coherent from a mainstream sense as she tackles an exciting and disturbing pantheon of deadly giants. The first game told a small, intimate story, but this tale feels closer to an epic without losing its pensive element. With a roughly seven-hour runtime, the story wisely doesn’t overstay its welcome and, like the first game, feels focused. You’re here for a good, emotional time, not a long one. 

However, now that Senua has companions to banter with, the voices she hears have an unfortunate habit of speaking up over crucial dialogue. From an artistic standpoint, and I say this as someone who has never experienced psychosis, trying to tune them out to concentrate on a conversation helped me empathize with Senua’s day-to-day experience. But as a game, the voices’ constant chatter did prove a genuine hindrance when I wanted to listen to someone else. When the game does try to separate the two, it occasionally creates an awkward conversation cadence with strange, ill-fitting pauses during talks to fit in a flurry of inner voice dialogue.

The intimate one-on-one combat encounters remain largely the same but with a dazzling visual and cinematic upgrade, minus some old annoyances. Enemies no longer blindside you from off-screen, meaning the action stays in front of you at all times. Sword duels remain a repetitive but entertaining dance of dodging powerful swings and nailing satisfying parries to fill a time-slowing focus meter that, once unleashed, allows Senua to briefly execute an unimpeded assault. While I enjoyed cutting down equally armed foes, the game admirably mixes up the enemy variety with challenging threats that scurry on their hands erratically or, most annoyingly, spew fire. Dodging the latter’s flame-based offense proved visually tricky to evade, so I often cheesed them and other nuisances by activating my focus to quickly drop them as soon as they took the field. Ninja Theory thankfully axed the first game’s creeping permadeath penalty, so dying here has no consequence, and you’re quickly thrown back into the action. 

Taking down threats leads to seamless and varied transitions to the next foe, making fights feel like an interactive cinematic in the most complimentary way. This is just a microcosm of the game’s incredible production values; Hellblade II is arguably the most beautiful game I’ve ever played. From fantastic, subtle facial animations to the superb lighting of its idyllic landscapes and the nightmarish designs of the Norse adversaries, Hellblade II is one of the few titles that truly looks next-gen. Best of all, the presumed increase in budget doesn’t result in a mere increase in fidelity. The creative artistic touches of the first game remain intact and dialed to eleven, with mind-bending kaleidoscopic effects and dreamlike lighting and visuals. Hellblade II isn’t just technically impressive; it’s genuinely alluring to stare at as an art piece. 

Exploring this stunning world is also more fun, thanks to the increased puzzle variety. The perspective-based “spot the sigil in the environment” riddles, which were enjoyable but overused in the last game, are dramatically reduced in number and spread more evenly throughout the adventure. Other challenges, such as solving illumination puzzles to navigate a dark, terror-filled cave or building paths using world-shifting magic, are adequately entertaining and make for a more well-rounded journey. Venturing beyond the generally linear paths to uncover secret totems or mystical trees that spin fragmented yarns is fun, even if the idea conceptually clashes with the otherwise narrative-focused treks. It’s tough to focus on a given conversation when I’m anxious to break away and inspect every nearby surface for a hidden path. 

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’s conclusion ends on another strong note, and despite my initial reservations about continuing Senua’s story, I walked away happy to see her conquer new monsters, both literal and metaphorical. I’m pleased Ninja Theory avoided the temptation to blow up this formula into something far bigger than needed – this isn’t Xbox’s God of War; it’s a better Hellblade. The first game is a famous example of not needing to be fun in the traditional sense to be engaging. This sequel sprinkles more broadly appealing thrills while retaining the thoughtful storytelling and artistry few triple-A games possess.

[thereasonsimbroke]

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice had received glowing reviews as it gears up for its sequel, Senua's Saga: #HellbladeII.

With a focus on true immersion, the studio's dedication to detail and innovation shines through, promising an experience like no other. Every element has been elevated from refined environments to stunning combat, drawing players deeper into Senua's world.

#MelinaJuergens's reprisal of Senua's character and her mission to raise mental health awareness adds depth to the game's narrative and performances.

With combat intricately woven into the journey and a narrative that resonates with fans, #SenuasSaga: #Hellblade II is poised to captivate audiences when it launches on May 21, 2024.

[pletnet]

Descubre el asombroso viaje de Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice en Switch, desafiando expectativas técnicas y narrativas.

Con detalles visuales impresionantes, esta versión mantiene la esencia del juego original.

Sumérgete en la intensa narrativa y aprecia el logro técnico en la consola de Nintendo. 🎮🔥

[stardryad]

Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn or Senua from Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice would look cute in your artstyle! Prompt is uh fluff? Both characters need some of that in their life so ye lol.

I chose the one I didn't know about, which was Senua! I was gonna put her on a flower crown, as that seems like my love language LMAO, but found better to sprinkle some flowers on that fur of hers 🌸

[thehallofgame]

Review: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Release: 2017

My Rating: 8.5/10

              Hellblade is a long awaited and much anticipated new IP from developer Ninja Theory. Probably best known for their work on the Devil May Cry reboot this studio also produced Heavenly Sword, a launch title on the PS3 that was received with lukewarm reception by critics but later gained a loyal fan following. When no Heavenly Sword sequel was ever made fans latched onto the announcement of similarly named Hellblade as the closest they could get. It soon became apparent that the two weren’t directly related, but considering both games feature a young, female, sword slinging lead with a drive for revenge on their minds it’s fair to say Hellblade was a worthy spiritual successor.

              In addition to a return to the formula that put Ninja Theory on the triple A map the team also had a couple of significant goals in mind for their new IP. First: feature a protagonist with mental illness, specifically psychosis and do that respectfully. They aimed to tell a deep and emotional story about this person and convey the struggles others with this condition might face and how it shapes their perceptions without succumbing to tokenism or minimalizing Senua’s condition. The second goal was a pointed effort to reinvent the thoroughly dead field of middle tier games. To this end Hellblade released for download only at an initial pricetag of $30, precisely half of a triple A game’s cost. The game’s scope was shrunk somewhat to match the price point but, honestly, I find this to be fair exchange.

While Hellblade’s graphics were sharp and the textures looked nice the game lacked the polish of higher budget games. For a game that had full body and facial animations Senua’s face and body look awkward, and her lip-syncing was often out of whack. The environments could be repetitive, and as the game takes place entirely in one area, allegedly the Norse underworld called Nifleheim, there isn’t a lot of variety in the surroundings to start with. That said the game explores several different lighting, water and fog effects to convey a multitude of different moods visually. This, combined with the excellent set and musical direction manage to convert the game into something that feels as intriguing and claustrophobic as the best psychological horror games did in their heyday.

Unfortunately they also routinely break the immersion with flashbacks to what appear for all the world to be actor footage with a few filters slapped over it. It’s hard to take these sequences of exposition seriously when you’re trying to figure out if the team bothered to suit someone up in a motion capture suit and model them or just shot some footage on their iphones.

Which is a shame because these scenes are what the core of Hellblade’s story are set in. The voices in Senua’s head, the memories that come back to her, the myths of norse mythology, all these things reflect the trials she faces and help the player piece together the story between Senua’s hallucinations and the metaphors she’s adventuring in.

Hellblade asks the familiar ‘but how much of this is really happening’ question with the firm answer of ‘yes’. Which isn’t exactly conclusive, but the story becomes more intriguing for the vaguery, and with each runestone Senua finds, and the more Viking myth we hear, the more we wonder if we’re learning about ancient heroes or Senua herself.

There’s a good twist or two along the way, but nothing mind blowing. The ending itself is rather predictable and while it seems Ninja Theory is teasing a sequel they’ve written themselves into a box it will be hard to climb out of. Likewise their exploration of Senua’s struggle with her mental illness is a little awkward. They don’t do the best job of conveying how Senua experiences psychosis beyond just the obvious symptoms of hallucination and seeing patterns where there shouldn’t be any. However, the story is good for all that, and Ninja Theory does paint a compelling case of what it’s like living with mental illness. The game explores Senua’s relationship to her parents, her fight for independence, her isolation from the rest of her community and the damage her demons do to her attempts to start over and all of those arcs feel poignant and real.

Gameplay experimented with some of these features with admirable results. As Senua progresses she’ll find her way blocked with doors and puzzles. The solution usually involves a game of perception where the player must move Senua around the map until they can use objects in the environment to line up as a symbol or path Senua has fixed in her mind. Once this pattern or secret is found the way forward will open. It’s a good gimmick, and the game rearranges and reframes this puzzle nine ways to Sunday but in the end, even in a game that can be cleared in fifteen hours or less the gimmick wears out its welcome.

Luckily, the other big gameplay hook, combat, is awesome. There is no combat tutorial, and the best the player gets is the ability to check the controls on the pause screen. Senua starts with the basic sword-fighting game set of rules: light attack, heavy attack, kick/body slam, block and dodge. Without a tutorial the player is left to figure out the gameplay controls on their own and it feels amazing. As enemies get more complicated the player will be forced to come up with more creative ideas, combos and techniques that fit their play style… and the thing is their: ideas will work. A sprint can be chained into a tackle to knock back an enemy to be followed up by several heavy strikes to batter an enemy down. Likewise, in one memorable encounter, diving beneath an enemy and lifting the sword like the hero of  a tale heard by Senua earlier will fell the boss in one hit if the timing is right.

The game’s bosses are also excellent. They feel difficult, skilled and hard to hit without being ridiculously punishing. Each has their own unique identity from Norse mythology, slow build up to their appearance and uniquely terrible visage. Yet they don’t speak. In fact the only dialogue in the game occurs inside Senua’s head. The terrible isolation, ruins and blank stare coupled with the reactionary violence of the bosses all leads to a grim, creeping psychological horror to Senua that compensates in many ways for any warts the player detect.

The game is addictive, the fast flowing combat and the strands of coherence the player picks from Senua’s memories and the constant chatter of the voices are compelling. The game also uses a clever gimmick: every time Senua dies a ‘rot’ extends further from her hand to her head with the warning that if it reaches her head she will die permanently and the game will end. This is enforced by constant auto-saving and causes a pervasive paranoia about messing up in fights. That technique goes a long way to hide the fact that while bosses are fun and dynamic they rarely manage to take Senua down. Neither do regular enemies unless Senua is surrounded, and then only because the combat isn’t well suited to mob combat.

It is in those situation that Senua’s voices come into play. They notice things the player, and Senua, doesn’t. They’ll call out when enemies flank her, or when the chain gauge discreetly indicated by the increasing glow of designs on the mirror hanging from Senua’s belt is ready for use. The chain gauge is spent by pressing the same button that causes Senua to focus when looking at patterns. The battle then slows to a crawl and allows Senua to rapidly tear through enemies and thin the competition. The gauge can also save Senua from death. If she’s been knocked down and a deathblow is coming the voices will scream for her to focus, and hitting the button will expend a charge and cause Senua to escape in the nick of time and rejoin the fray. I can’t say enough for how smooth and natural the combat feels. It might not be unforgiving enough for Dark Souls veterans but it is a great entry point for those new to precision combat games and encourages learning finesse over battering through opponents.

While Hellblade was by no means perfect it did achieve almost everything it wanted to and it was good. It’s hard to produce media with the goal of having a message and do it well. In fact it almost salves the wound of never getting another Heavenly Sword. Ultimately with its quirkiness and dark beauty Hellblade is one of, if not just really, my favorite IP of 2017. The pricepoint allowing me to buy it the day it came out doesn’t hurt my appreciation any either! I hope for the sake of gaming’s future Hellblade’s model is successful and replicable because I’d love to see a return to mid-tier, affordable gaming.