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.
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.
The biggest thing wrong with this game is that the combat eventually gets very mashy/same-y. But honestly it's great at making you feel like you're doing a good job fighting stuff.
The story is unreal and the message of being able to overcome/accept the darkness within yourself is just absolutely incredible.
The story is unreal and the message of being able to overcome/accept the darkness within yourself is just absolutely incredible.
This game has some good ideas and the voice acting is really good, but the puzzles are so annoying and they're like 90% of the game. The combat is also comically bad, with a hilariously large parry window and an awful camera that is always locked onto an enemy
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.
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.
Better than I thought it would be considering the person who gifted it to me said "average gameplay, phenomenal premise". While his statement may ring true, I do think Hellblade achieves its own goals rather nicely. It's a game that relies heavily on its presentation and not simply graphically. The protagonist, Senua, suffers from what appears to a modern player as some sort of psychosis. The interesting part lies in the fact that the game takes place in the eighth century, and as far as Senua is concerned, this is her reality, and everyone else shuns her as cursed. This lends the game a very unique perspective not often seen, and this is portrayed visually and aurally with artifacts and minor light hallucinations occasionally peppering the screen, and numerous voices which constantly fill the surround channels at varying distances. It's very artistically interesting to step into the shoes of a character like this and one that feels not only highly immersive but also highly respectful to those suffering from it in real life. While I wasn't fully on board with the game's writing at the beginning, and unsure how to feel throughout, by the time the game ended I felt that Ninja Theory had done a great job telling a story that felt very intimately personal yet grand in scale despite the relatively small scope. Senua comes out of her shell as the narrative progresses and it's satisfying to see her become more confident in her abilities and quest, before finally coming to terms with the fact that not all of her problems were her fault. Uncovering the game's story through creatively told flashbacks at key points in the game feels like unraveling the bandaged head tied to Senua's hip, and by the conclusion, it all felt satisfying. While I'm not sure how the lore tomes tie into the game's narrative or themes, it is fun to hear Druth tell his stories.
The main make-or-break here is going to be the game design for most people, though I found it to be competent enough to be unproblematic. The combat isn't anything special, in fact, it's probably been seen in tons of other games in the same generation alone. Even in hard mode, it's not particularly challenging after a couple of hours and you really can just spam the dodge to escape all enemy attacks. Despite this, there's enough enemy variety to keep things varied enough, and you can't use the same strategy with all of them. The game probably could have benefitted from more of that, but what's here is fine. There is a visceral feeling nature to the combat and I think the visual feedback as well as seeing your enemies visibly represent the damage they've taken through different animations does make it satisfying at the very least, even if it's relatively simple and not particularly creative. The puzzles are generally fine as well. They require you to locate patterns within the environment, forcing you to view the game world from a variety of unusual perspectives to progress. While nothing mindblowing, these puzzles can often be clever and do require you to think outside of the box. Sometimes I felt they overstayed their welcome and had wished for a return of combat, but Hellblade generally gives you enough new puzzle mechanics to not be boring. The only outright bad part of the gameplay I'd say is a fire maze near the end of the game, which requires you to locate these patterns while on the run from a burning wall of flame. It requires a lot of random running around and trial and error before you get it right, but not in a way that feels like you've overcome it, rather feeling as if you got lucky. Despite this, I think Hellblade's gameplay is largely serviceable, nothing too special but with memorable moments here and there. Not bad at all, but you'll be playing this for the story.
Hellblade was made with a team of around twenty people, which makes the game's visual presentation all the more impressive. It genuinely matches the quality you'd see in a lot of AAA games from the mid-2010s, featuring well-defined environments, decent texture quality, and phenomenal character models. Seriously, Senua's model looks damn near lifelike, with an impressive amount of fidelity and great facial animation enhancing the emotion of the story. With a lesser art team, the game's story wouldn't be as effective as you wouldn't connect to Senua's emotions on a sensory level. Ninja Theory also updated the game to take advantage of ray-traced shadows and reflections, both of which look fantastic and add heavily to the realism of the game world. Occasionally there'd be a low-resolution texture in plain view, but this wasn't a frequent issue. I also loved the incredibly creative blending of live-action footage with the in-engine graphics during cutscenes, which was not only neat from a visual standpoint but also pulled off well. If there's anything about the presentation I wasn't a huge fan of, it's that the monster designs aren't all that unique. They're largely fine, but they don't strike me as particularly creative, simply representing distorted people. Valravn was the exception, whose mangled raven-like design reminded me of something from a more creative version of Silent Hill Downpour. The game also runs pretty well at max settings with ray-tracing and balanced DLSS at 1440p, usually averaging around 80-100 FPS depending on the sequence. However, like a lot of Unreal Engine 4 games, Hellblade does occasionally suffer from annoying shader compilation stutter. While much less egregious than a lot of games, it's still distracting when it happens. While I suppose that's the consequence of having a loading-screen-less game world, it doesn't make it pleasant either. The game's soundtrack is also very good, featuring very Nordic-inspired composition and instrumentation. It feels appropriately epic when it needs to, with Hela and River of Knives being good examples. It can also be appropriately atmospheric when need be, though the ambient tracks I found less interesting when divorced from the context of the game.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice isn't going to be a game that appeals to everyone, but I feel that it's a good game that achieves the specific goals that Ninja Theory set out. With its respectful portrayal of psychosis, its rare and fascinating perspective, and strong visual and aural presentation, it does make for a unique game experience in terms of immersing yourself into the shoes of someone different from yourself. However, the gameplay isn't anything all that special, and if you require every game you play to be mechanically innovative, Hellblade will not appeal to you. Despite this, it still comes recommended from me.
The main make-or-break here is going to be the game design for most people, though I found it to be competent enough to be unproblematic. The combat isn't anything special, in fact, it's probably been seen in tons of other games in the same generation alone. Even in hard mode, it's not particularly challenging after a couple of hours and you really can just spam the dodge to escape all enemy attacks. Despite this, there's enough enemy variety to keep things varied enough, and you can't use the same strategy with all of them. The game probably could have benefitted from more of that, but what's here is fine. There is a visceral feeling nature to the combat and I think the visual feedback as well as seeing your enemies visibly represent the damage they've taken through different animations does make it satisfying at the very least, even if it's relatively simple and not particularly creative. The puzzles are generally fine as well. They require you to locate patterns within the environment, forcing you to view the game world from a variety of unusual perspectives to progress. While nothing mindblowing, these puzzles can often be clever and do require you to think outside of the box. Sometimes I felt they overstayed their welcome and had wished for a return of combat, but Hellblade generally gives you enough new puzzle mechanics to not be boring. The only outright bad part of the gameplay I'd say is a fire maze near the end of the game, which requires you to locate these patterns while on the run from a burning wall of flame. It requires a lot of random running around and trial and error before you get it right, but not in a way that feels like you've overcome it, rather feeling as if you got lucky. Despite this, I think Hellblade's gameplay is largely serviceable, nothing too special but with memorable moments here and there. Not bad at all, but you'll be playing this for the story.
Hellblade was made with a team of around twenty people, which makes the game's visual presentation all the more impressive. It genuinely matches the quality you'd see in a lot of AAA games from the mid-2010s, featuring well-defined environments, decent texture quality, and phenomenal character models. Seriously, Senua's model looks damn near lifelike, with an impressive amount of fidelity and great facial animation enhancing the emotion of the story. With a lesser art team, the game's story wouldn't be as effective as you wouldn't connect to Senua's emotions on a sensory level. Ninja Theory also updated the game to take advantage of ray-traced shadows and reflections, both of which look fantastic and add heavily to the realism of the game world. Occasionally there'd be a low-resolution texture in plain view, but this wasn't a frequent issue. I also loved the incredibly creative blending of live-action footage with the in-engine graphics during cutscenes, which was not only neat from a visual standpoint but also pulled off well. If there's anything about the presentation I wasn't a huge fan of, it's that the monster designs aren't all that unique. They're largely fine, but they don't strike me as particularly creative, simply representing distorted people. Valravn was the exception, whose mangled raven-like design reminded me of something from a more creative version of Silent Hill Downpour. The game also runs pretty well at max settings with ray-tracing and balanced DLSS at 1440p, usually averaging around 80-100 FPS depending on the sequence. However, like a lot of Unreal Engine 4 games, Hellblade does occasionally suffer from annoying shader compilation stutter. While much less egregious than a lot of games, it's still distracting when it happens. While I suppose that's the consequence of having a loading-screen-less game world, it doesn't make it pleasant either. The game's soundtrack is also very good, featuring very Nordic-inspired composition and instrumentation. It feels appropriately epic when it needs to, with Hela and River of Knives being good examples. It can also be appropriately atmospheric when need be, though the ambient tracks I found less interesting when divorced from the context of the game.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice isn't going to be a game that appeals to everyone, but I feel that it's a good game that achieves the specific goals that Ninja Theory set out. With its respectful portrayal of psychosis, its rare and fascinating perspective, and strong visual and aural presentation, it does make for a unique game experience in terms of immersing yourself into the shoes of someone different from yourself. However, the gameplay isn't anything all that special, and if you require every game you play to be mechanically innovative, Hellblade will not appeal to you. Despite this, it still comes recommended from me.
Very engrossing and unique game (at least in my experience) that's the perfect length, and is extremely interesting. I'm extremely glad I didn't play this on a console, as I wouldn't have played with headphones on. PLEASE play this with some headphones; it does a fantastic job in immersing you into Senua's role.
The combat feels nice, and I grew to love the visual puzzles more and more overtime after a sort of lukewarm introduction to their implementation and frequency. And as weird as this sounds, the collectables in this game are about as numerous as they should be; there isn't an overabundance of them, but there is enough of them to do a bit of exploring off the beaten path. Plus, hearing more of Norse legends is always hella cool.
The art direction was also great; I really enjoyed how they blended live action footage with the already nice graphics. The clash they sort of create made me uneasy in a way to only immerse me more in the world. Not to mention there's some cooooool hellish visuals that were really interesting to just sit there for a moment and watch. I highly recommend this game, it's absolutely worth the praise it's been getting.
The combat feels nice, and I grew to love the visual puzzles more and more overtime after a sort of lukewarm introduction to their implementation and frequency. And as weird as this sounds, the collectables in this game are about as numerous as they should be; there isn't an overabundance of them, but there is enough of them to do a bit of exploring off the beaten path. Plus, hearing more of Norse legends is always hella cool.
The art direction was also great; I really enjoyed how they blended live action footage with the already nice graphics. The clash they sort of create made me uneasy in a way to only immerse me more in the world. Not to mention there's some cooooool hellish visuals that were really interesting to just sit there for a moment and watch. I highly recommend this game, it's absolutely worth the praise it's been getting.
"In this waking nightmare where all dreams come true...
You searched for control, a way to pull through...
When you were in love you left him in tears
To smother your furies and banish your fears...
But in darkness they came, through stormy black seas
They raided these shores... Do you still hear his screams?
And now... that you're home... he's so far away...
They've taken his soul... To these gods you cannot pray...
They can break you, but not your promise.
Even death won't keep you apart.
Through this darkness you will find him.
In your sword still beats - a heart.
You fought for love unspoiled by your darkness within.
You fought for your dreams, now there is no way to win.
In the head of his corpse lies the seat of his soul,
So you must carry his vessel and bring him back home."
You searched for control, a way to pull through...
When you were in love you left him in tears
To smother your furies and banish your fears...
But in darkness they came, through stormy black seas
They raided these shores... Do you still hear his screams?
And now... that you're home... he's so far away...
They've taken his soul... To these gods you cannot pray...
They can break you, but not your promise.
Even death won't keep you apart.
Through this darkness you will find him.
In your sword still beats - a heart.
You fought for love unspoiled by your darkness within.
You fought for your dreams, now there is no way to win.
In the head of his corpse lies the seat of his soul,
So you must carry his vessel and bring him back home."
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.
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.
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.
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.
Um bom jogo com uma história muito boa. Design de áudio e gráficos impressionantes, só os puzzles e combates que são meio rasos e as vezes chatos e repetitivos. Recomendo
Obs: zerei e platinei com 12h
Obs: zerei e platinei com 12h
Yeah man this is my "The Last of Us", in the way people adore it to death. Following the development of this game so closely up to release, experiencing said release moment, and beating the game is one of those experiences I still hold dearly, and this replay reminded me of that; This game is quite literally the reason why I pursued game design, and it put me on the path I'm in now
Holy shit what a stellar piece of art. The concept was crazily innovative. The amount of experimental shit done in here in order to convey the main character's thought process is extremely impressive. The combat is fun but the camera is so damn clunky, sometimes it completely blinds you if you go near a wall and you get whooped by the enemies as a result. But yeah like I said it's fun but it lacks any sort of depth to it, it's your usual parry, evade and attack kind of thing but the parrys feel so good when you time it properly and there are moments when the voices in your head help you if there's an enemy attacking you from behind so you can parry in time to save your ass. The idea of Auditory hallucinations during combat is so damn good, sometimes you get demotivated by those voices when in a fight and sometimes they guide you and kinda motivate you to push through, the implementation of that is just chefs kiss. They're annoying and pestering you all the time giving you a slight glimpse of how it feels to be in such mentally unstable and anxious state of mind. The Valravn puzzle was a pain in the ass to finish other than that all the puzzle/walking simulator segments were fun albeit time consuming; the alphabet/symbol matching one grew too old too quickly and that is what they stuck with until the end. Again goated atmosphere and goated sound design. The story is kinda messy and it's probably intentionally done that way since the protagonist is kind of insano. The graphics seemed too good for a 2017 game, the second game will definitely push some boundaries in that aspect. The ending dragged on a bit but what an amazing game nonetheless. Also congrats Microsoft on killing the 2nd game even before it's arrival with absolutely no marketing whatsoever, gotta be the most dumbass corpo to ever exist.
I really don't understand what people see in this title. The psychosis representation is well done and the pattern identifying gameplay is interesting because it's indicative of paranoia - but that doesn't make the game any better.
I could rant about just about every section of the game, but in the interest of my own time I'm going to keep my critique brief:
- The graphics are technically nice, yet every area looks the same and the whole game is far too dark.
- I didn't care one bit for Senua, her journey or any of the other "characters" in the plot. The narrative was entirely ungripping to me.
- The puzzle design is loathsome. I know it's subjective but I never had any clue what the game wanted from me, and when I eventually fumbled my way to a solution it still made no more sense. It's all so obscure and poorly informed to you.
- The combat sucks. I have the feeling that's the point, but it didn't need to be so plentiful if it was meant to be bad. I did, however, like the final boss encounter (the music and the "let go" solution was cool).
I know this game is entirely unique (excluding the existence of the sequel) and that the developers should be praised for their creative vision, but I really didn't get on with this game at all. It is a very short game and yet I spent most of it just begging for it to end. I know it's a representation of Hel and that it isn't supposed to be fun, but I don't think that's an excuse for being just plain not very good.
I could rant about just about every section of the game, but in the interest of my own time I'm going to keep my critique brief:
- The graphics are technically nice, yet every area looks the same and the whole game is far too dark.
- I didn't care one bit for Senua, her journey or any of the other "characters" in the plot. The narrative was entirely ungripping to me.
- The puzzle design is loathsome. I know it's subjective but I never had any clue what the game wanted from me, and when I eventually fumbled my way to a solution it still made no more sense. It's all so obscure and poorly informed to you.
- The combat sucks. I have the feeling that's the point, but it didn't need to be so plentiful if it was meant to be bad. I did, however, like the final boss encounter (the music and the "let go" solution was cool).
I know this game is entirely unique (excluding the existence of the sequel) and that the developers should be praised for their creative vision, but I really didn't get on with this game at all. It is a very short game and yet I spent most of it just begging for it to end. I know it's a representation of Hel and that it isn't supposed to be fun, but I don't think that's an excuse for being just plain not very good.
Abuse and Trauma. Psychosis and Stigma. Grief and Acceptance. Love and Loss. Redemption and New Birth. Somehow, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice masterfully presents these themes in the single piece of interactive media that I believe transcended the simple experience of a video game. Every piece of Senua’s journey is carefully chosen and crafted to present her story through every aspect of gameplay and every cut-scene. Throughout the entire experience, I felt more identified with Senua than with any other video game protagonist whose body I have inhabited.
The thing that elevates Hellblade to the status of masterpiece is that it is quite possibly THE most important story ever told in video games... The empathy the game creates for Senua is unmatched within the medium, and significant because it allowed me (a white, American male without disability) to feel the pain of an ancient woman dealing with trauma and mental illness in a culture that did not understand and only deepened her sense of responsibility for her pain. My heart broke like nothing else has ever caused.
I must acknowledge that the game’s combat is fairly problematic, with bad camera angles and an awkward always-locked-on mechanic that led to many frustrating deaths and extended battle scenes, but even so, it feels untrue to this game to give it anything less than a perfect score. You cannot miss this game.
(Platinum Trophy #16 on 1/25/2020)
The thing that elevates Hellblade to the status of masterpiece is that it is quite possibly THE most important story ever told in video games... The empathy the game creates for Senua is unmatched within the medium, and significant because it allowed me (a white, American male without disability) to feel the pain of an ancient woman dealing with trauma and mental illness in a culture that did not understand and only deepened her sense of responsibility for her pain. My heart broke like nothing else has ever caused.
I must acknowledge that the game’s combat is fairly problematic, with bad camera angles and an awkward always-locked-on mechanic that led to many frustrating deaths and extended battle scenes, but even so, it feels untrue to this game to give it anything less than a perfect score. You cannot miss this game.
(Platinum Trophy #16 on 1/25/2020)
I really like what they're aiming for here, I've never played a game with these themes before and found it very interesting. I just have some problems with how it is sometimes confusing to navigate in the games environments, and know what you're doing with the puzzles, and some parts of the combat make the gameplay a bit wonky. I also thought the story has some confusing parts that makes me wanna go see explanations on the internet, but maybe that's just me being dumb.
The audiovisual presentation is pretty cool and unique, but the game is really repetitive and boring. The "puzzles" are not really creative and it's basically a walking simulator with nice cutscenes.
I was reeeeally looking forward to this after Enslaved from Ninja Theory, but after 3 hours I don't think I would recommend it.
I was reeeeally looking forward to this after Enslaved from Ninja Theory, but after 3 hours I don't think I would recommend it.
I love it formally and mechanically. It's like Dear Esther meets God of War, which is pretty cool. It's all light combat, environmental puzzles and straight up story (almost entirely voiceover). In a lot of ways it's my ideal game set up.
It's weird though because what it reminds me most of is the movie, The Revenant, which I hated. A lot of long takes. A lot of staring down the lens. A lot of mud and blood and shit. A lot of "harrowing anguish". And I don't know what it means for me that when a game does something a movie I hated did, I actually dig it (The Last of Us 1 and 2 kind of similiar). My only guess is because games are steeped in certain (very teen-friendly) aesthetics and tropes that when something kind of breaks through those barriers I get carried away.
Like this is sort of the inverse of God of War. God of War presents on the face a very literal fantasy world, where mythology is vibrant and alive. But all the gore and violence is still cartoonish. None of the characters feel like real people. Even in 2018's God of War, it's basically just an R-rated MCU movie. And the stakes... aren't there because it feels so fake.
Whereas Hellblade's reality is our reality. It's all mud and sticks and fire and blood and burnt, gored bodies strewn up all over the world like Christmas decorations. It's more natural and rustic. And the Norse mythology that runs through the game is filtered through dreamscapes/psychosis; it's a formalist unreality that God of War only kind of gets into at the end of III. And Senua is not Kratos. She's vulnerable and alone, and (initially (sigh at an upcoming sequel)) not a console mascot whose fate is kind of predictable. She's more human and relatable.
Where this game falls down for me is... well I don't know if it falls down but what I don't like about it is how it uses mental illness/psychosis as a device to obfuscate backstory. And it doesn't only use it for that. But I couldn't help but feel this game would be better if it were blunter. If Senua's backstory wasn't a puzzle to be revealed over time. If Senua's mental health didn't also skirt into "is she crazy or a genuine soothsayer". Part of this game feels designed to make you google "what was REALLY happening" afterwards.
I don't know, despite -- or maybe because of -- the immediate and showy mental health advisor credit that opens the game, it seems like "mental health" is something they stuck on as a gimmick, like someone's pitch was "what if you play as a crazy person" and it sprang from there. And I don't know if that's the case a all but it's the impression they leave by opening the game that way. And I don't know how much research they did and how much care they put in, but the portrayal was so extra and overwrought and lacking in subtlety it doesn't wind up feeling all that delicate. That credits winds up feeling like insurance.
Despite all that I liked how hopeful the game kind of felt by the end. How much the game recognised your mental health is something that isn't conquered but how equilibrium is learning to live through it and with it.
Part of me wishes this could have just been as scaled down narratively/thematically as it was mechanically. Been more Valhalla Rising, less The Revenant.
It's weird though because what it reminds me most of is the movie, The Revenant, which I hated. A lot of long takes. A lot of staring down the lens. A lot of mud and blood and shit. A lot of "harrowing anguish". And I don't know what it means for me that when a game does something a movie I hated did, I actually dig it (The Last of Us 1 and 2 kind of similiar). My only guess is because games are steeped in certain (very teen-friendly) aesthetics and tropes that when something kind of breaks through those barriers I get carried away.
Like this is sort of the inverse of God of War. God of War presents on the face a very literal fantasy world, where mythology is vibrant and alive. But all the gore and violence is still cartoonish. None of the characters feel like real people. Even in 2018's God of War, it's basically just an R-rated MCU movie. And the stakes... aren't there because it feels so fake.
Whereas Hellblade's reality is our reality. It's all mud and sticks and fire and blood and burnt, gored bodies strewn up all over the world like Christmas decorations. It's more natural and rustic. And the Norse mythology that runs through the game is filtered through dreamscapes/psychosis; it's a formalist unreality that God of War only kind of gets into at the end of III. And Senua is not Kratos. She's vulnerable and alone, and (initially (sigh at an upcoming sequel)) not a console mascot whose fate is kind of predictable. She's more human and relatable.
Where this game falls down for me is... well I don't know if it falls down but what I don't like about it is how it uses mental illness/psychosis as a device to obfuscate backstory. And it doesn't only use it for that. But I couldn't help but feel this game would be better if it were blunter. If Senua's backstory wasn't a puzzle to be revealed over time. If Senua's mental health didn't also skirt into "is she crazy or a genuine soothsayer". Part of this game feels designed to make you google "what was REALLY happening" afterwards.
I don't know, despite -- or maybe because of -- the immediate and showy mental health advisor credit that opens the game, it seems like "mental health" is something they stuck on as a gimmick, like someone's pitch was "what if you play as a crazy person" and it sprang from there. And I don't know if that's the case a all but it's the impression they leave by opening the game that way. And I don't know how much research they did and how much care they put in, but the portrayal was so extra and overwrought and lacking in subtlety it doesn't wind up feeling all that delicate. That credits winds up feeling like insurance.
Despite all that I liked how hopeful the game kind of felt by the end. How much the game recognised your mental health is something that isn't conquered but how equilibrium is learning to live through it and with it.
Part of me wishes this could have just been as scaled down narratively/thematically as it was mechanically. Been more Valhalla Rising, less The Revenant.
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.
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.
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.
When I first played this game I didn't understand and find this voices disturbing, but when I played again it became clear to me that this game very unique in terms of the content itself "psychosis". There are not mutch kinda stuff in video game industry and I hope they'll deliver us a good sequel as well.
I played Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice after it was in my backlog for almost a year it seems. And boy was it worth the wait. I should have played it sooner, but at least it's played.
The story is ver enthralling. I love Senua as a character, who isn't just a one or two-dimensional character. She has multiple layers that you get to experience. The way it tells its story is interesting and very well done!
The combat is engaging. You feel every hit you take or that you bring to an enemy. Especially, the ones you take. I do enjoy exploring the world as well. It's a bleak world sure, but you learn so much lore within your adventure that I just appreciate a lot.
(Review From 2021)
The story is ver enthralling. I love Senua as a character, who isn't just a one or two-dimensional character. She has multiple layers that you get to experience. The way it tells its story is interesting and very well done!
The combat is engaging. You feel every hit you take or that you bring to an enemy. Especially, the ones you take. I do enjoy exploring the world as well. It's a bleak world sure, but you learn so much lore within your adventure that I just appreciate a lot.
(Review From 2021)
Wonderfully unique, dark, one hell of a psychological tale. Intense combat at times, fun puzzles and a truly special story makes Hellblade a game people should at least try once.
Since the newest trailer for the 2nd game looked kind of neat from a directing and editing standpoint, I was curious to finally try this out.
This is exactly what I cannot stand about a lot modern video games. Just full on blast pretentious "we aren't like those other video games, we are... Hollywood. And video game systems are cringe".
The concept itself, great idea. Execution is insanely annoying and falls flat.
Combat is horrendously simple for a game that genuinely does not offer any other interactivity than its combat. It reminds me of licensed games that usually just slap the most straight forward combat system they can think of, while not engaging the player with anything else. Enemy variety essentially does not exist.
The whole game is just making you walk forward while being blasted with voices, the novelty of this wears off instantly. Then stopping you at obvious doors to spawn the same enemies over and over or gracing you with a "puzzle", which makes you look at surrounding garbage.
Literally just looking around with your camera, to form rune shapes by aligning objects like twigs or fences to match the shape superimposed on your screen. It will also tell you when you are near such matching objects through visual and audio cues, essentially removing even the tiniest bit of player agency in the only section of players interacting with the game.
Fuck "games" like this.
This is exactly what I cannot stand about a lot modern video games. Just full on blast pretentious "we aren't like those other video games, we are... Hollywood. And video game systems are cringe".
The concept itself, great idea. Execution is insanely annoying and falls flat.
Combat is horrendously simple for a game that genuinely does not offer any other interactivity than its combat. It reminds me of licensed games that usually just slap the most straight forward combat system they can think of, while not engaging the player with anything else. Enemy variety essentially does not exist.
The whole game is just making you walk forward while being blasted with voices, the novelty of this wears off instantly. Then stopping you at obvious doors to spawn the same enemies over and over or gracing you with a "puzzle", which makes you look at surrounding garbage.
Literally just looking around with your camera, to form rune shapes by aligning objects like twigs or fences to match the shape superimposed on your screen. It will also tell you when you are near such matching objects through visual and audio cues, essentially removing even the tiniest bit of player agency in the only section of players interacting with the game.
Fuck "games" like this.
I really loved the premise of the game, beautiful haha next-gen graphics but with actual gameplay, compelling Celtic mythology and a very enticing atmosphere.
Jogaço da porra, absolute cinema
Só que assim: que história eles vão contar no 2? Porque a desse é tão fechadinha que eu não vejo razão pra contar outra, então espero que a Ninja Theory surpreenda (de novo).
Só que assim: que história eles vão contar no 2? Porque a desse é tão fechadinha que eu não vejo razão pra contar outra, então espero que a Ninja Theory surpreenda (de novo).
Esse jogo é uma experiência única, MUITO lindo, difícil achar algo tão bem feito, o combate é muito gostosinho e os puzzles funcionam muito bem, mas claramente o foco é a narrativa e sinceramente, É MUITO BOM.
Toda a jornada da Senua é intensa e retrata temas sensíveis e doenças mentais da maneira mais criativa e madura que já vi em uma obra, fazendo a personagem crescer MUITO pra mim, amo muito a Senua, uma das melhores personagens femininas nos jogos pra mim. O jogo conta com toda uma ambientação da mitologia nórdica muito boa, cheio de historias e um universo próprio que faz você se sentir na pele da Senua mesmo, me senti imerso no game e na mente da Senua a cada segundo que passava jogando.
Toda a jornada da Senua é intensa e retrata temas sensíveis e doenças mentais da maneira mais criativa e madura que já vi em uma obra, fazendo a personagem crescer MUITO pra mim, amo muito a Senua, uma das melhores personagens femininas nos jogos pra mim. O jogo conta com toda uma ambientação da mitologia nórdica muito boa, cheio de historias e um universo próprio que faz você se sentir na pele da Senua mesmo, me senti imerso no game e na mente da Senua a cada segundo que passava jogando.
selling schizophrenia as an aesthetic is WILD
wow so this is how it feels to be a valorant player
História muito foda, ver o desenvolvimento da Senua (ficando maluca) é angustiante , o que definitivamente era um desejo dos diretores, a experiência é aprimorada com o trabalho de áudio que é do caralho, transmitindo as vozes da cabeça da personagem. Porém, em algumas ocasiões o game não explica o que quer do jogador, por muitas vezes me peguei perdido voltando de onde eu tinha acabado de sair. Os puzzles, outra parte que eles focaram bastante, são maneirinhos depois que você pega o jeito. No geral, é interesssante, ansioso para jogar a continuação .
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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.
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.