After around 7 hours of pure concentration, I can finally say I LOVE THIS GAME!

In the beginning, I struggled to get used to the fighting mechanics and I didn't quite understand what the game was supposed to be about (because I wanted to give myself a blind look into the game). After looking up what the main story synopsis was, it made me understand the overall narrative a lot better. In addition, by the end of the game, I felt REALLY confident in my combat skills.

The story was incredible and the voice acting and environments were amazing! At some points in the game, I wondered if it was made in the Decima engine (because of how amazing it looked). I am beyond hyped for the upcoming Senua's Saga game now; I can't wait to play it!

Normalmente defiendo que las obras se comprometan con sus ideas, pero en el caso de Hellblade, hacer que todo orbite alrededor de la enfermedad mental de Senua juega en su contra.

Cada partícula que conforma el juego está estrechamente relacionada a la condición psicótica de la protagonista. Las condiciones físicas del escenario cambian según su estado de crisis. Luchamos contra enemigos que encarnan sus miedos. Vemos formas dibujadas en el escenario como una persona que padece psicosis ve rostros en las paredes.

Esto, que no es negativo per sé, está apuntalado por un despliegue técnico abrumador. Uno utilizado completamente para comunicar y no para adornar.

Por momentos Senua's Sacriface consigue transmitir toda su documentación y trabajo previos a través de su apartado gráfico y su sonido 3D, dejando secuencias de angustia sobrecogedora. Tanto, que me han hecho dudar a lo largo de toda la aventura si terminaría perdonando que durante la mayoría del tiempo se dedique a traducir la psicosis en ejercicios ramplones para continuar avanzando.

Idea que se cae cuando se es consciente de que por mucha tensión y angustia que experimente el jugador, jamás se acercará a las sensaciones de un paciente real. Ni siquiera la polémica decisión de resetear la partida si se muere demasiado, que valoro como uno de los puntos más acertados de la obra, consigue llegar a comunicar miedo a la pérdida real. Haciendo que en la balanza pese más el hecho de haber utilizado una enfermedad mental como herramienta y no el intento de dar a conocer y sensibilizar.

El horrendo final del juego acaba dejando claro que esto es simple mal gusto. Ni desconocimiento ni banalización, simplemente incompetencia a la hora de traducir el delicado tema de la psicosis (enfermedad mental) a un videojuego por falta de sensibilidad artística. Si Hellblade no tratase abiertamente sobre esta enfermedad, sería un juego de terror psicológico más o menos decente. Pero acaba siendo exposición de un tema delicado envuelto en un videojuego (y su connotación lúdica) por conveniencia.

I applaud this game for delivering such a great narrative in an interesting and immersive manner, and for really striving to make the whole thing tie together cleanly with no fat. I think we'd be lucky to have an industry full of people striving to make this sort of game in larger studios. You see it with indie games, but if the landscape had more like this, we'd be better for it.

Everything that happens serves a larger metaphor about abuse and trauma and mental illness that comes together in a satisfying way. obviously this is no secret when you boot the game and it mentions that it was made with the help of advisers for psychosis.

I'm a little tired of norse style aesthetics in games as there have been an onslaught in recent years, but this one deserves to be at the top of the podium.

spoiler below

I understood the metaphorical reason for the ending, acceptance of her mental illness and no longer fearing or fighting against it, as with her traumas. I'm not sure if the game is supposed to be taken literally at all, and if not, it did perfectly. If so, it's a bit weird to have Hela kill senua, then show Hela dead on the ground. I think the metaphor is the stronger ending, so i choose to take that as its only outcome

The combat feels great too. I'm not sure if the auto setting in the VR version is made a little easy or something to compensate from the weirdness that VR can bring(like the camera whipping around in a peculiar way when switching targets) but I felt like it was satisfying if a bit simple. The low UI and intuitiveness of it rewards you well for learning it.

I also played in VR as I said and I'm not sure if some of the presentational weirdness arises in the main version. It wasn't perfectly optimized, so ignoring that as it was mostly fine, the FMV characters and some of the graphical glitches were a little hard to ignore in the VR aspect. It pulled back the lens to a narrow screen for cutscenes in which the VR camera wasn't sympatico. I do hope NT, with their weird interest in VR does have some VR stuff for senua 2 when that comes around.

Eu não sei o quanto dessa frase é verdadeira, mas eu odeio amar Hellblade.
Particularmente, eu sinto zero atração por jogos narrativos em terceira pessoa com câmera over the shoulder, com corredores "abertos" e gráficos ultra realistas, que ficaram mais populares de 2013 pra cá com The Last of Us. Porém Hellblade pra mim sempre foi um jogo diferente dentro desse bolo. Desde o anúncio os temas e estéticas adotadas pela Ninja Theory me intrigavam e me causavam um desconforto "gostoso", tal qual filmes e jogos de horror. Aquele sentimento de "eu não quero ver o que vai acontecer, mas eu preciso saber o que vai acontecer". E nesse sentido, Hellblade cumpre esse papel com maestria...

Ao contrário de outros jogos que eu já escrevi a minha opinião de bosta, é impossível falar das mecânicas de Hellblade sem falar da história (dado a estrutura de seu gênero). Tudo, literalmente tudo, que acontece com a Senua tem uma explicação na lore, e isso, pra ser sincero é fantástico pra mim. Os puzzles só são resolvidos por que é a Senua enxergando eles, da forma em que ela encara o mundo a sua volta. As lutas, que ao mesmo tempo que são simples são técnicas e dependem do máximo de atenção do player, tem uma justificativa narrativa. O fato da Senua em batalha se comportar como se estivesse dançando também! Cada virgula dita ou executada "pelo jogador" tem uma explicação, e não simplesmente existe por que sim.

A direção de arte é simplesmente impecável, a Ninja Theory soube mesclar com uma delicadeza incrível cenários de horror, com a temática e ambientes celtas (não o carro) e ainda demonstrar beleza no meio deles, fazendo com que, pra mim, os gráficos mega realistas sejam só a cereja no meio de um lindo bolo.

Como o jogo (agora franquia) é sobre a Senua - sem dar spoilers -, essa é uma das protagonistas mais incríveis e bem criadas que eu já vi em um jogo. Cada movimento, linha de diálogo e ação desenvolvem brilhantemente a personagem, suas condições mentais e emoções e as vozes que a acompanham ao longo do jogo. Isso claro é um mérito gigantesco da equipe de roteiro do jogo, mas um maior ainda da Melina Juergens que faz a personagem. É impossível terminar o jogo sem elogiar a atuação dessa mulher. Todos os sentimento que as cenas e a personagem trazem (dor, sofrimento, ingenuidade, raiva, alegria, amor, ódio, etc.) são extremamente bem demonstrados em tela graças a expressões faciais da atriz, que talvez em um gráfico mais cartunesco fosse mais complicado de trazer somente com a atuação da mesma.

Talvez a frase do começo seja uma mentira mesmo! Eu realmente gostei de Hellblade, mas talvez não exatamente do jogo em si. A mensagem que ele traz no final é muito bonita; a personagem principal é sim fantástica; a forma o qual tratam pessoas com esquizofrenia nesse jogo é cuidadosa e impressionante e foge de muitos estereótipos criados em outras mídias; a mitologia nórdica é trabalhada de uma forma bem diferente e interessante em relação ao imaginário popular; os puzzles são inventivos tal qual Perspective e Portal; a trilha sonora desse é simplesmente PERFEITA, principalmente nas batalhas de Boss. Sério, dá pra passar horas descrevendo as qualidades desse jogo! Mas no final, Hellblade é uma obra incrível, mas definitivamente não é pra mim, ao ponto que o 4/5 estrelas que eu dei, são 100% por todos os elementos citados anteriormente do que necessariamente pelo conjunto da obra, ao passo que eu não me vejo rejogando ele em anos.

I can't think of angles to describe Hellblade that hadn't been already done to death in multiple video essays, but i'll try.

Senua is a character that lost for most of her life, she lost her family, she lost her way of life, and eventually she lost her lover, this final loss is the one she contests. Seeing a way to save her only living hope, she sets on her path in which you accompany her through hell and high water.

You might first think that the voices just demean and beat on you, only to discover the ways they can assist you in. There comes a line in which you doubt your senses, you doubt whether to heed their advice or ignore the voices, you live and fight and fear through senua's eyes. And that presentation was captivating.

You'll hear criticism mainly about the combat, but it makes sense from a ludo-narrative perspective once you know it, and it only adds to the intimate and overbearing quest you and senua seek to conclude.

Another solid game made by Ninja Theory with a few flaws. One of the few games to address mental health well.

Firstly, this game is pretty. The atmosphere is amazing. The beginning moments are very eerie. The voice acting sells this game. Playing it with headphones is an actual benefit.

Be warned though, this game can be triggering. The story is beautiful. It deals with a lot of heavy topics. Don't let that stop you.

Combat is a bit simplistic. It is still fun though. Some fights can be a bit infuriating. But once the game clicks, it has a great flow.

The rune puzzles are fun and not fun at the same time. At first it is enjoyable to find the runes. Later on it gets really hard and frustrating. Nothing like walking around for 10 minutes because you can't find the vague shape of a rune off in the distance.

Puzzles do vary throughout the journey. Enemies are based on areas. Each area has a gimmick. Some are better than others. Near the end there is a set of challenges that can bite me. Some are simply not fun and annoying.

Trophies are easy to get. It is one of my few platinum trophies. Look up a guide for the collectables. Everything else is a freebie. It's also a short game.

This is such a unique game. A game that should be played with headphones. It's a joy to play. I just hope you like looking around for runes. Because you will be doing a lot of that.

Hellblade is a game about loss, defeat and recovery. I think Ninja Theory made one that people are going to remember for a very long time. Or at least I will.

Senua is a pretty fantastic protagonist whose history is really well shaded in throughout the game, and we get a pretty extraordinary portrayal of her schizophrenia that not only uses incredible visuals (sometimes gorgeous and sometimes terrifying and discomforting) and great sound design to carry this along, but also portrays it well in a culture and time in history where you couldn't diagnose these things as purely mental, as the game overtakes the player along with Senua in this pit of confusion, darkness and fog.

I've seen a lot of people criticize the combat and, yes, it is simple, it doesn't need to be much else. It is a game that doesn't focus on its gameplay nor its style, but balances the two. And for the time with it, I found the combat fun, and almost all of the bosses I thought were fantastic.

Does this game have its problems? Absolutely. I think the FMV elements, while they sound good on paper, didn't really carry the vibe of hallucinations as they should have. And even though I'm not excusing it, I think it's okay. It's gonna be impossible for a video game in this medium to exactly and precisely simulate any kind of psychosis. It's a video game, above all else, not a schizophrenia simulator, but it's a game that is going for a deafeningly bleak and unsettling atmosphere, and the FMV stuff just really distracted from that. Besides, I think FMV stuff is really hard to pull off in the first place. On the other side of the game's balance, some of the puzzles can just be dumb.

I just hope the sequel can step up to this game's level, because it's one of the best efforts of the 2010s.

I do recommend Hellblade, but with quite a few caveats. I myself was not even sure that I was going to recommend it as I was playing through it. The story and character are quite engaging, but My main issues with the game are the pacing and repetitiveness - both in combat and puzzles.

Every fight is generally the same, and with that comes monotony. It just feels cheap. You enter an arena, and random dudes poof into existence. Though I will add the combat itself feels pretty good.

Otherwise, The puzzles fair a bit better. They generally have some unique elements, but they generally just boil down to walk to a fairly obvious spot and look around. The main issue with that is the really slow walking speed makes it sometimes feel frustrating.

What makes Hellblade standout though is the atmosphere and characters. I found myself getting engrossed in the environment, and the great acting of the main character. I also appreciate what it is trying to do in terms of representing mental illness truthfully. So, feel free to check it out if it still interests you with those caveats.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice intensifies the abnormalities surrounding psychosis through a visceral journey into the hellish underworld of Norse mythology, bravely blending a neurological deficiency with a dark fantastical hack-and-slash interactive experience.

WHAT I LIKED:
+ "The hardest battles are fought in the mind". Psychosis is the mental condition resulting in difficulties when determining what is reality and what is fantasy, such as suffering with delusions and hallucinations. Senua, a Celtic warrior, strives to travel to Helheim to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the Norse goddess of death Hela. Throughout her perilous journey, she becomes afflicted with a curse which conjures otherworldly enemies for Senua to combat and haunts her mind with the voices of darkness. Upon failure, the curse overwhelms her body and rots her flesh until she is no more. Ninja Theory's writer Antoniades, along with several neuroscientists and mental health specialists, sublimely supply a metaphor throughout Senua's Sacrifice that uniquely approaches the condition without forcing Senua to be a conduit for the condition. Through the use of backstory and heightened memories, Senua instantly becomes a fleshed out character without embodying the mental condition as a gimmick. She is not defined by the condition, rather the player experiences the turmoil with her. Subconsciously internalising the world to which she perceives it. It is, without a doubt, a masterful representation of a tricky mental condition to convey through art. To conceive a compelling narrative, build a melancholic world and raise awareness on psychosis, is nothing short of genius.
+ "A life without loss is one without love". Senua, captured in full motion capture by the talented Melina Juergens, is a performance to be reckoned with. The ferocity through the psychological horror. The tenacity through her unwavering determination. The fury buried deep with her, as she unleashes her anger out upon the world. It is breathtakingly intense. From the glares into the player's soul, to the vehement screams as she crumbles to the ground. For the entirety of her quest, Senua along with player will struggle to breathe. The inclusion of live action performances, reflecting her memories, and integral voice acting narration which act as verbal indications for the player, are purposefully designed to fit around Senua's condition. And it works, effortlessly.
+ "You destroyed everything! Everyone! But not me! Fight me now!". Blending a variety of genres, the core game mechanic ultimately relies on its hack-and-slash roots. Senua is provided with limited moves, such as a light/heavy attack and blocking capabilities. However the beauty of Senua's combat, despite its limitations, is how tight the controls are. Every slash of her sword and every dodge from oncoming enemy attacks felt instantly responsive, with a satisfying weight to them. The narrative is the key focus, therefore the combat's complexities are simplified to allow Hellblade to be as accessible as it can be, along with difficulty settings for the combat encounters.
+ In blindness, there can be wisdom; only by giving, can you receive in return". Along with the intense combat sequences and scenes of horrific nature, Senua has the ability to "focus" on runes and other visual distortions that correspond to the condition of psychosis. Elements and mechanics that are not visible for anyone else. These puzzling elements involve the player to use the environment to create runes, travel between a past and present world and mend broken shards to form a new path. Whilst not challenging, these moments allowed Hellblade to slow down the pace and breathe, building upon Senua as a character and the central narrative metaphor.
+ "Turn your back on death and you only see the shadow that it casts". Ninja Theory pulled one of the greatest implications in a linear game ever: permadeath. The correlation between erasing the player's save data if Senua dies too many times and the way fear is introduced to a person. The fact that this mechanic was a bluff all along proves how fear can be a catalyst for mental illness, and for many it kept them on their toes throughout the 4-5 hour game.

WHAT I DISLIKED:
- "This is the price she pays for seeing things differently". Hellblade is a work of art. It truly, truly is. A short intense gaming experience like no other. Yet, more often that not, the inconsistent pacing threw me off course. The blending of game mechanics was not as seamless as it could've been. The first act balancing the combat with the puzzle solving intuitively, as Senua faces two illusory trials. The second act, involving memory shards, was absent of combat and solely relied on puzzle solving. Then the conclusive third act, Senua approaching Helheim, focused on endless hordes of enemies to slay without incorporating any of the new puzzle mechanics that were previously introduced. From a gameplay perspective, Hellblade is too segregated and vastly ambitious with its ideas, that it cannot perfectly merge them all together in a cohesive way. Ultimately separating the supremely artistic narrative from the occasionally cumbersome core game.

VERDICT:
9/10 rune totems

Mechanically dull, visually pretty but filled with generic locations and interpretations of areas of Norse mythology and, by extension, with generic stories of legends to find. Senua's depicted life revolves around her mental illness and pain, offers no room for nuance in its depiction only the light of perfect seeming dead boyfriend and contrasted by a traumatized, confused, and tortured Senua in past and present that give you no reason to care about any aspect of the world and little reason to care about her. A poor finale with an ending and certain lines of dialogue falling more into ableism in its depiction of mental illness or utter stupidity. And for a game focused on mental illness or disability it offers extremely poor options to cater to players that would have difficulty with its focus on poorly subtitled near constant voices that are difficult to hear without wearing a headset that act as a major part of the game. A slog to get through even with its short length, likely not helped with its odd voice-over design that usually requires you to stand around to hear the story from a rune as continuing on will cause voices to play over each other, cut lines out, or drop to such a low volume that you will be unable to hear at all.

While the gameplay of Senua's Sacrifice isn't anything new—environmental puzzles and shallow combat—the depiction of psychosis was definitely unique and its most defining feature. Throughout the game various voices would commentate and either encourage or discourage Senua, a lot of the time incessantly talking over each other. Unfortunately, being sensitive to sound, the constant whispering really got to me and even made me turn it off a few times. It's just one of those things, I guess.

That said, I enjoyed the visuals, the creature designs, and the story for the most part. It also had a great atmosphere with elements of horror.

What a special and unique experience, it isn’t just any historical epic, but this game genuinely tries to do something touching with its themes and trying to spread awareness of what people in similar situations go through especially when combined with powerful emotions. As well the Audio design is just perfect. Combat was really great too, I expected it to be much weaker, but it felt thrilling in its own way! Genuinely a fun and touching game. My biggest issue was the symbol puzzles that didn’t suck on their own but the repetition that I encountered, made me slightly annoyed. Yet when I watched the documentary, I understood the purpose and how important they are and appreciated it much more. Just a great compelling game, that leaves you thinking in the end

A abordagem da narrativa tendo uma protagonista que tem esquizofrenia e psicose é uma das coisas mais originais e geniais que vi em videogame, as vozes sendo uma narradora e falando com a Senua é uma experiência única, e a história é muito Intrigante.
Porém o jogo so pode ser definido em arrastaaado. O puzzle com runas se torna extremamente repetitivo logo nas primeiras duas horas, e o combate apesar de eu ter gostado se torna bem irritante pois tem vários momentos que você não aguenta mais tantos inimigos vindo, fora alguns puzles que são bem únicos mas a quantidade em alguns momentos é desgastante. So torço que a sequência conserte o jogo.

Recommended to me by a friend. I feel like this game could benefit from a more open ended level design. Yeah I’m biased, I say that about every game, but this one especially because of the voices. Their attempts to try and disorient your sense of direction only go so far when there’s only one direction you can go. The combat is the shittiest, most shallow and clunky thing in the world with the camera getting stuck on shit, enemies capable of killing you before they’ve even fully spawned, even when it’s working correctly it’s little more than spamming the counter button to win. The rest of the game is decent though. You’ve got some competent puzzles, some creative survival horror sequences that really run with the game’s theme of psychosis, my favourite being a level where you have to navigate the pitch black darkness with your ears. I had a mixed but overall net positive time with this.

O que mais me fascinou sobre Hellblade é o quão interpretativo ele pode ser. Tudo que acontece aparenta ser uma metáfora que desafia a própria realidade e o tempo todo você se pergunta se aquilo que tu está vendo é real, ou não.

Isso é o que a psicose de Senua nos causa durante toda essa jornada e como eles conseguem manipular esse elemento com proeza criando uma das atmosferas mais perturbadoras, imersivas e pesadas que já vi em um jogo é de tirar o chapéu - e o melhor disso tudo? Fazem isso sem desrespeitar pessoas que sofrem com essa condição na vida real.

Esse jogo é carregado de mensagens, sobre a vida, sobre escolhas, sobre o futuro, passado e sobre o amor e as suas consequências, tudo isso culmina numa história profunda e manipuladora, pois, a história te engana e faz isso muitas vezes, te confunde e se tu não estiver atento, você não entenderá o que esse jogo tá tentando dizer.

Tenho muito a pensar sobre o que foi Hellblade, mas com certeza, nunca esquecerei dos momentos em que estive nesse mundo confuso e estarrecedor.