This review will contain minor spoilers involving a gameplay mechanic
I think if I was to describe this game in one word it would be "Uncomfortable".
I saw the press the second game was getting and since its free on game pass I was gonna just jump straight into that but I realised the first game was free as well so I thought I might as well play through it first.
The story of this game is what everyone is going to be there for. You play as Senua who has travelled to Helheim to retrieve the soul of her partner Dillion. I had no idea this game was set within Norse mythology so that was a big win for me out the gate as I love that stuff. Senua is plagued by constant voices in her head second guessing absolutely everything she does, constantly beating her down with whatever she is trying to do, so much so it can be hard to listen to at times. The main point of the game is Senua trying to overcome her grief which is shown in a lot of ways. I wont get to much into spoilers but I think the story is fantastic and kept me interested throughout the lacklustre gameplay sections
I absolutely love the character designs in this game. The Northmen all look disgusting, like hybrids of humans and animals. There are 5 enemy variants being the one with a sword, one with a hammer, one with a hammer and a shield, one massive guy with an executioner axe and one fast jumping guy with two small axe's. For the limited combat sections this game has there is enough variety to keep it interesting. I love the designs for the bosses in this game, each one towers over Senua. Valravn, Surtr Garm and Hela all look terrifying and look nothing like any designs I have seen for them previously. The game really excels off of the performances from the actors. Melina Juergens gives a fantastic performance as Senua, which I was surprised to see is her only credited acting role.
Now unfortunately the gameplay is where I would imagine the game looses a lot of people. The gameplay is very repetitive mostly revolving around perspective puzzles and small combat sections. They are cool to start with but when each area contains the exact same puzzle format it gets old fast. The game is only around 6 hours in length but took me several days to get through just to avoid burnout. The combat system is fun and I enjoyed all the segments with it but I wasn't really a fan of the "Permadeath" feature the game has. Each time Senua dies a bit more of her is covered by this black rash looking thing called "Rot" the game tells you that if you fail too many time then your quest will be over, insinuating that you have to start again. This actually isnt true as it was just a fluke which I guess was put in to further hammer in that nothing the voices tell you can be trusted. I'm not a huge fan of permadeath stuff so I was a little turned away by this but the combat is easy enough to master that it proved not a problem.
Visually this game is stunning, for being 7 years old it holds up extremely well with beautiful landscapes and extremely well designed characters as previously mentioned. Soundtrack is a banger as well. I think the place that this game excels the most is its sound design, playing this game with good headphones is a must as you can hear the voices moving around your head, it really adds to the atmosphere.
I was taken by surprise that this game is kind of a horror game at times. The whole game has a creepy atmosphere with weird voices talking to you all the time but certain segments, particularly the Garm one were genuinely scary. Add the weird 4th wall breaks when Senua just straight up talks to the unseen voices while looking straight at you and you have yourself one genuinely creepy game.
Overall I think this is a great game but is unfortunately let down by its repetitive gameplay mechanics. I would however not recommend this if you suffer from any kind of mental disorder like schizophrenia as I feel like it could be quite triggering. Good to see the developers acknowledge that with plentiful trigger warnings each time the game is loaded up. Great creepy and stressful story with amazing visuals.
I think if I was to describe this game in one word it would be "Uncomfortable".
I saw the press the second game was getting and since its free on game pass I was gonna just jump straight into that but I realised the first game was free as well so I thought I might as well play through it first.
The story of this game is what everyone is going to be there for. You play as Senua who has travelled to Helheim to retrieve the soul of her partner Dillion. I had no idea this game was set within Norse mythology so that was a big win for me out the gate as I love that stuff. Senua is plagued by constant voices in her head second guessing absolutely everything she does, constantly beating her down with whatever she is trying to do, so much so it can be hard to listen to at times. The main point of the game is Senua trying to overcome her grief which is shown in a lot of ways. I wont get to much into spoilers but I think the story is fantastic and kept me interested throughout the lacklustre gameplay sections
I absolutely love the character designs in this game. The Northmen all look disgusting, like hybrids of humans and animals. There are 5 enemy variants being the one with a sword, one with a hammer, one with a hammer and a shield, one massive guy with an executioner axe and one fast jumping guy with two small axe's. For the limited combat sections this game has there is enough variety to keep it interesting. I love the designs for the bosses in this game, each one towers over Senua. Valravn, Surtr Garm and Hela all look terrifying and look nothing like any designs I have seen for them previously. The game really excels off of the performances from the actors. Melina Juergens gives a fantastic performance as Senua, which I was surprised to see is her only credited acting role.
Now unfortunately the gameplay is where I would imagine the game looses a lot of people. The gameplay is very repetitive mostly revolving around perspective puzzles and small combat sections. They are cool to start with but when each area contains the exact same puzzle format it gets old fast. The game is only around 6 hours in length but took me several days to get through just to avoid burnout. The combat system is fun and I enjoyed all the segments with it but I wasn't really a fan of the "Permadeath" feature the game has. Each time Senua dies a bit more of her is covered by this black rash looking thing called "Rot" the game tells you that if you fail too many time then your quest will be over, insinuating that you have to start again. This actually isnt true as it was just a fluke which I guess was put in to further hammer in that nothing the voices tell you can be trusted. I'm not a huge fan of permadeath stuff so I was a little turned away by this but the combat is easy enough to master that it proved not a problem.
Visually this game is stunning, for being 7 years old it holds up extremely well with beautiful landscapes and extremely well designed characters as previously mentioned. Soundtrack is a banger as well. I think the place that this game excels the most is its sound design, playing this game with good headphones is a must as you can hear the voices moving around your head, it really adds to the atmosphere.
I was taken by surprise that this game is kind of a horror game at times. The whole game has a creepy atmosphere with weird voices talking to you all the time but certain segments, particularly the Garm one were genuinely scary. Add the weird 4th wall breaks when Senua just straight up talks to the unseen voices while looking straight at you and you have yourself one genuinely creepy game.
Overall I think this is a great game but is unfortunately let down by its repetitive gameplay mechanics. I would however not recommend this if you suffer from any kind of mental disorder like schizophrenia as I feel like it could be quite triggering. Good to see the developers acknowledge that with plentiful trigger warnings each time the game is loaded up. Great creepy and stressful story with amazing visuals.
ESPETACULAR!!!
MrBtongue tem um video publicado 11 anos atras chamado “Slow Down the Violence”, onde basicamente, critica um vicio muito comum da industria de videogames; preencher espaços com encontros violentos que não seguem nenhum propósito real dentro do jogo. No video ele usa LA:Noire como exemplo, você é um detetive, e mata dezenas de bandidos pelo jogo, mas não porque isso faz algum sentido dentro daquele universo, mas porque esse é um jogo da rockstar, e ele precisa ter tiroteios.
Nessa formula que algumas pessoas carinhosamente chamam de “filminho da Sony”, os espaços nao preenchidos por puzzles ou caminhadas contemplativas DEVEM ser preenchidos com violência, mas qual exatamente é a necessidade disso?
Hellblade é incrivel, foge bastante das representações mais tipicas da esquizofrenia. Aqui, ao inves de um surto psicotico com risadas do coringa, a esquizofrenia serve para remover qualquer capacidade de critica que a protagonista possa ter, os puzzles sao objetos que se encaixam e formam uma runa especifica, mas é obvio que a intenção não era que aquilo fosse uma runa fragmentada como o jogo faz parecer, mas a incapacidade de Senua de criticar suas próprias visões e assumir o primeiro pensamento possivel faz com que tudo aquilo se torne real.
É a gameplay do jogo se alinhando diretamente com a proposta narrativa dele, trazendo a esquizofrenia nao só como um elemento solto da personagem, mas como parte fundamental de avançar no jogo. Não estou interessado em discutir a variedade de inimigos, velocidade do combate, combos disponíveis e etc.
Ao invés disso, prefiro pensar na NECESSIDADE do combate, que aqui serve muito mais para apoiar outra mecânica (morte) do que pra se justificar sozinho.
A morte permanente descrita no jogo nao existe. Voce pode morrer infinitamente e seu progresso nunca será apagado, então é só uma ferramenta pra gerar tensão no jogador, mas como eu poderia apoiar essa mecânica em algo diferente do combate?
Minha sugestão é que, ja que a mecânica é fake, entao que ela se integre a resolução de puzzles. Como ja comentei, os puzzles estao fortemente relacionados com a esquizofrenia de Senua, ela observa padroes que nao existem de fato, mas pra ela todos fazem sentido. E se a marca no braço aumentasse quanto mais você expoe Senua a sua própria mente delirante? Ela fica repetidamente encarando essas percepções falsas do mundo e avançando no jogo com base nelas, cada vez mais se afundando na própria mente, e com isso, o jogador fica encurralado. Ele avança no jogo porque quer salvar o marido de Senue, ao mesmo tempo que a mata lentamente.
Nao sou o diretor do jogo, mas nao vejo realmente nenhum motivo para o combate ser tao desinteressante. Nao acho que os jogos devem excluir o combate, mas que essas sessões deveriam ser melhor planejadas ao inves de “um espaço entre um puzzle e outro”. A luta contra fenrir por exemplo tem um ótimo uso do combate.
De resto adorei o jogo, as vozes de senua que dao dicas, as quebras da quarta parede como se fossemos um intruso a observando, alguém com quem ela não é acostumada (uma voz nova, diferente, eu diria) e a historia fragmentada (como um relato qualquer contado por uma pessoa esquizofrênica) mostram que esse jogo tinha uma clara intençao. Nesse sentido é mais bem concatenado que Indika, com um grande ponto fraco que indika nao possui (combate).
Nessa formula que algumas pessoas carinhosamente chamam de “filminho da Sony”, os espaços nao preenchidos por puzzles ou caminhadas contemplativas DEVEM ser preenchidos com violência, mas qual exatamente é a necessidade disso?
Hellblade é incrivel, foge bastante das representações mais tipicas da esquizofrenia. Aqui, ao inves de um surto psicotico com risadas do coringa, a esquizofrenia serve para remover qualquer capacidade de critica que a protagonista possa ter, os puzzles sao objetos que se encaixam e formam uma runa especifica, mas é obvio que a intenção não era que aquilo fosse uma runa fragmentada como o jogo faz parecer, mas a incapacidade de Senua de criticar suas próprias visões e assumir o primeiro pensamento possivel faz com que tudo aquilo se torne real.
É a gameplay do jogo se alinhando diretamente com a proposta narrativa dele, trazendo a esquizofrenia nao só como um elemento solto da personagem, mas como parte fundamental de avançar no jogo. Não estou interessado em discutir a variedade de inimigos, velocidade do combate, combos disponíveis e etc.
Ao invés disso, prefiro pensar na NECESSIDADE do combate, que aqui serve muito mais para apoiar outra mecânica (morte) do que pra se justificar sozinho.
A morte permanente descrita no jogo nao existe. Voce pode morrer infinitamente e seu progresso nunca será apagado, então é só uma ferramenta pra gerar tensão no jogador, mas como eu poderia apoiar essa mecânica em algo diferente do combate?
Minha sugestão é que, ja que a mecânica é fake, entao que ela se integre a resolução de puzzles. Como ja comentei, os puzzles estao fortemente relacionados com a esquizofrenia de Senua, ela observa padroes que nao existem de fato, mas pra ela todos fazem sentido. E se a marca no braço aumentasse quanto mais você expoe Senua a sua própria mente delirante? Ela fica repetidamente encarando essas percepções falsas do mundo e avançando no jogo com base nelas, cada vez mais se afundando na própria mente, e com isso, o jogador fica encurralado. Ele avança no jogo porque quer salvar o marido de Senue, ao mesmo tempo que a mata lentamente.
Nao sou o diretor do jogo, mas nao vejo realmente nenhum motivo para o combate ser tao desinteressante. Nao acho que os jogos devem excluir o combate, mas que essas sessões deveriam ser melhor planejadas ao inves de “um espaço entre um puzzle e outro”. A luta contra fenrir por exemplo tem um ótimo uso do combate.
De resto adorei o jogo, as vozes de senua que dao dicas, as quebras da quarta parede como se fossemos um intruso a observando, alguém com quem ela não é acostumada (uma voz nova, diferente, eu diria) e a historia fragmentada (como um relato qualquer contado por uma pessoa esquizofrênica) mostram que esse jogo tinha uma clara intençao. Nesse sentido é mais bem concatenado que Indika, com um grande ponto fraco que indika nao possui (combate).
During it’s inception, Ninja Theory thought of this game as an experiment - to see if it was possible to develop a “AAA-game” with a small headcount while also tackling a topic hardly discussed in games. What came out is a dogshit imitation and implementation of both.
There is a funny interpretation to be found in Ninja Theory’s understanding of a AAA-game, as Hellblade is just a collage of high-fidelity rocks and motion capture performances funneled into a repeating on-rails flowchart of walking/dialogue/looking-at-rocks → Obligatory Puzzle → Obligatory Combat (because its a “AAA-game” of course it has to have Combat!), repeating and recycling in on itself til the credits roll. Nothing like doing Combat-Encounter #8 and you have to fight Enemy Variation 1 AND 2 in three waves after the puzzle mechanics haunt the game’s narrative: FIND THE RUNES, ENTER THE PORTALS, all padded somehow into 7 hours of playtime!? Give me a break. The Binaural audio sure is swag and all and the very tiny few moments Hellblade's Budget gets used to create harrowing and captivating imagery show glimpses of a reality where Hellblade was a 3 hour epic of just fugged up & cool shit and that would have probably been a lot better with what we got it here. It’s in its pacing and structure that Hellblade frustrate me the most: The gaming equivalent of reading a Game Design Document: it’s too rigid, too constrained by it’s listing off of 3 puzzle designs and 5 enemy types while padding you out for another 3-4 hours more than necessary. For such a nuanced topic and possibility to experience it, why did they choose to create go about it in the safest and conventional way possible rather than try SOMETHING eccentric in anything?
You can have all the professional-consultation and interviews of anecdotal retelling you want if you don’t follow up and do much with it! It really feels like they interviewed a person who said "I felt like I started seeing pattern and connections to things that weren't" and them immediately following and implementing the first thing that popped up in their heads ("RUNES BAYBEE")
It just irks me even more that it was exactly this angle they focused on entirely in their marketing and subsequent postmortem appearances - of how they depicted the most accurate example of mental-illness in vibeo jams. Fuck off.
I hope Hellblade 2 is better, hopefully with Tameem Antoniades apparently leaving the company last year.
There is a funny interpretation to be found in Ninja Theory’s understanding of a AAA-game, as Hellblade is just a collage of high-fidelity rocks and motion capture performances funneled into a repeating on-rails flowchart of walking/dialogue/looking-at-rocks → Obligatory Puzzle → Obligatory Combat (because its a “AAA-game” of course it has to have Combat!), repeating and recycling in on itself til the credits roll. Nothing like doing Combat-Encounter #8 and you have to fight Enemy Variation 1 AND 2 in three waves after the puzzle mechanics haunt the game’s narrative: FIND THE RUNES, ENTER THE PORTALS, all padded somehow into 7 hours of playtime!? Give me a break. The Binaural audio sure is swag and all and the very tiny few moments Hellblade's Budget gets used to create harrowing and captivating imagery show glimpses of a reality where Hellblade was a 3 hour epic of just fugged up & cool shit and that would have probably been a lot better with what we got it here. It’s in its pacing and structure that Hellblade frustrate me the most: The gaming equivalent of reading a Game Design Document: it’s too rigid, too constrained by it’s listing off of 3 puzzle designs and 5 enemy types while padding you out for another 3-4 hours more than necessary. For such a nuanced topic and possibility to experience it, why did they choose to create go about it in the safest and conventional way possible rather than try SOMETHING eccentric in anything?
You can have all the professional-consultation and interviews of anecdotal retelling you want if you don’t follow up and do much with it! It really feels like they interviewed a person who said "I felt like I started seeing pattern and connections to things that weren't" and them immediately following and implementing the first thing that popped up in their heads ("RUNES BAYBEE")
It just irks me even more that it was exactly this angle they focused on entirely in their marketing and subsequent postmortem appearances - of how they depicted the most accurate example of mental-illness in vibeo jams. Fuck off.
I hope Hellblade 2 is better, hopefully with Tameem Antoniades apparently leaving the company last year.
Ok, isso foi diferenciado.
Uma experiência completamente fora do comum, onde não só te faz acompanhar os transtornos de uma personagem, mas também te coloca pra experienciar o mesmo que ela de uma forma tão precisa que até assusta. Preenchendo seu conteúdo com uma aura pesadíssima, abordando temas delicados que são a base central para toda a história.
Sua atmosfera é super carregada, lhe deixando aflito o tempo inteiro, até nos momentos mais tranquilos, graças a sua direção de arte impecável, que possui um ambiente pesado e uma riqueza de detalhes que prendem sua atenção facilmente, alimentando uma carga dramática e poderosa que te faz sentir a presença daquele ambiente. Com atuações poderosíssimas, que complementam ainda mais para essa aura pesada que o jogo quer passar, e que o faz com êxito.
Um ótimo storytelling, que se desenrola de forma meio confusa à primeira vista, mas que aos poucos vai lhe dando peça por peça até que você tenha informação o suficiente para conseguir associar tudo e entender o que está acontecendo. Fazendo ótimo uso de metáforas e fortes simbolismos para moldar a narrativa e a finalizar de forma magistral.
O que você presencia aqui é sensacional.
Sua mecânica de puzzles casa perfeitamente com a temática do jogo e seu contexto, e seu combate é fluído e satisfatório, com animações bem trabalhadas e um parry maravilhoso que só faz dar mais gosto ainda de lutar.
A progressão é muito bem montada; seu ritmo vai aumentando gradativamente e de forma natural, sem se perder no caminho, sem deixar ficar enjoativo. Seu ato final é simplesmente o melhor momento do jogo, lhe deixando num hype absurdo até seu desfecho. É quase recompensador.
Uma obra prima, simplesmente, com uma beleza absurda em suas nuances.
Você é incrível, Hellblade. Obrigado por existir.
Uma experiência completamente fora do comum, onde não só te faz acompanhar os transtornos de uma personagem, mas também te coloca pra experienciar o mesmo que ela de uma forma tão precisa que até assusta. Preenchendo seu conteúdo com uma aura pesadíssima, abordando temas delicados que são a base central para toda a história.
Sua atmosfera é super carregada, lhe deixando aflito o tempo inteiro, até nos momentos mais tranquilos, graças a sua direção de arte impecável, que possui um ambiente pesado e uma riqueza de detalhes que prendem sua atenção facilmente, alimentando uma carga dramática e poderosa que te faz sentir a presença daquele ambiente. Com atuações poderosíssimas, que complementam ainda mais para essa aura pesada que o jogo quer passar, e que o faz com êxito.
Um ótimo storytelling, que se desenrola de forma meio confusa à primeira vista, mas que aos poucos vai lhe dando peça por peça até que você tenha informação o suficiente para conseguir associar tudo e entender o que está acontecendo. Fazendo ótimo uso de metáforas e fortes simbolismos para moldar a narrativa e a finalizar de forma magistral.
O que você presencia aqui é sensacional.
Sua mecânica de puzzles casa perfeitamente com a temática do jogo e seu contexto, e seu combate é fluído e satisfatório, com animações bem trabalhadas e um parry maravilhoso que só faz dar mais gosto ainda de lutar.
A progressão é muito bem montada; seu ritmo vai aumentando gradativamente e de forma natural, sem se perder no caminho, sem deixar ficar enjoativo. Seu ato final é simplesmente o melhor momento do jogo, lhe deixando num hype absurdo até seu desfecho. É quase recompensador.
Uma obra prima, simplesmente, com uma beleza absurda em suas nuances.
Você é incrível, Hellblade. Obrigado por existir.
Talvez seja por isso que as pessoas temem ver o mundo através dos olhos dela. Porque se você acredita que a realidade de Senua é distorcida, você também deve aceitar que a sua também pode ser.
I can fix her (Gaming Edition)
wow so this is how it feels to be a valorant player
Senua's Sacrifice plunges you into a world as dark and oppressive as the depths of Senua's mind. However, what makes this game truly unique is its unflinching portrayal of psychosis, voices whisper doubts and fears, the world around you shimmers and warps and distant sounds become deafening. You experience the constant battle Senua wages just to perceive reality. The story is where Hellblade shines, it's a harrowing tale of loss, grief and the fight to hold onto sanity in those moments, culminating in a powerful ending that is nothing short of phenomenal.
selling schizophrenia as an aesthetic is WILD
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.
Initially, I didn't think much of the game, but Hellblade managed to surprise me greatly. It's a complete narrative experience set in the vast Norse mythology, where we control a tormented Celtic warrior who embarks on a journey to Helheim to bring back her beloved.
The game relies on a completely introspective approach, where we are led to explore all the madness within Senua's mind through visually implemented allegories in brilliant ways to discern what is reality or illusion, as the entire atmosphere of the story is skillfully crafted to generate imminent tension in the player.
Regarding the gameplay, I can say, above all, that it has its flaws and successes. The combat system is one of the points I think deserved more refinement, not that it's bad, it works very well, being extremely satisfying, and precisely for that reason, I think it could be further explored, since the enemies have little variety, becoming somewhat standardized, I think it would be better if there were more fights in the game with greater diversity of opponents. The puzzles, despite repeating themselves a lot, manage to carry creative solutions, never making it monotonous. The exploration part is really cool (especially the scenarios that impress with the amount of detail on the Viking theme), there is a wide range of challenges to be completed, always with new mechanics to be discovered. The Boss Fights are another of its best qualities, as the design of the gods is extremely original and the battles are quite dynamic as a whole.
Hellblade manages to showcase technical and visual quality, providing a true narrative lesson through its expressive plot. Although it's a relatively short game (7-8 hours), it's an interesting journey that is very worthwhile due to its excellent voice acting, soundtrack, and atmosphere, easily making it an excellent recommendation for lovers of Norse mythology / culture.
The game relies on a completely introspective approach, where we are led to explore all the madness within Senua's mind through visually implemented allegories in brilliant ways to discern what is reality or illusion, as the entire atmosphere of the story is skillfully crafted to generate imminent tension in the player.
Regarding the gameplay, I can say, above all, that it has its flaws and successes. The combat system is one of the points I think deserved more refinement, not that it's bad, it works very well, being extremely satisfying, and precisely for that reason, I think it could be further explored, since the enemies have little variety, becoming somewhat standardized, I think it would be better if there were more fights in the game with greater diversity of opponents. The puzzles, despite repeating themselves a lot, manage to carry creative solutions, never making it monotonous. The exploration part is really cool (especially the scenarios that impress with the amount of detail on the Viking theme), there is a wide range of challenges to be completed, always with new mechanics to be discovered. The Boss Fights are another of its best qualities, as the design of the gods is extremely original and the battles are quite dynamic as a whole.
Hellblade manages to showcase technical and visual quality, providing a true narrative lesson through its expressive plot. Although it's a relatively short game (7-8 hours), it's an interesting journey that is very worthwhile due to its excellent voice acting, soundtrack, and atmosphere, easily making it an excellent recommendation for lovers of Norse mythology / culture.
It's astonishing what this team was able to create here. The artful mixing of lighting, live action footage, and excellent audio design contribute to an excellent and emotional story. The game doesn't bite off more than it can chew in both level and puzzle design, which makes for a very balanced experience.
AS VOZES DA MINHA CABEÇA!
A atmosfera desse jogo é SENSACIONAL, inclusive acho que dava pra explorar mais! Adoraria um game mundo aberto com essa mesma vibe de hellblade.
A história do jogo fica bastante da interpretação de cada um. Pra mim, durante o jogo foi bem confuso, mas consegui extrair uma mensagem bem legal do game!
Gostei muito dos puzzles também, alguns foram bem difíceis de resolver, mas foi bem divertido essa parte do jogo!
Em relação a gráficos e audio, os dois EXPLENDIDOS! As animações e os detalhes dos personagens são muito bonitos, inclusive o sistema de batalha e muito bem feito, além das vozes da minha cabeça que são muito bem implementadas, adorei!
Uma coisa que me broxou um pouco foi os créditos. Não que seja uma coisa extremamente importante, mas aquela música que colocaram não combinou nem um pouco com o clima, a não ser pela letra, mas a música quebrou um pouco o clima.
De resto, jogão! Recomendo demais, é curtinho e vale a pena sim a experiência!
A atmosfera desse jogo é SENSACIONAL, inclusive acho que dava pra explorar mais! Adoraria um game mundo aberto com essa mesma vibe de hellblade.
A história do jogo fica bastante da interpretação de cada um. Pra mim, durante o jogo foi bem confuso, mas consegui extrair uma mensagem bem legal do game!
Gostei muito dos puzzles também, alguns foram bem difíceis de resolver, mas foi bem divertido essa parte do jogo!
Em relação a gráficos e audio, os dois EXPLENDIDOS! As animações e os detalhes dos personagens são muito bonitos, inclusive o sistema de batalha e muito bem feito, além das vozes da minha cabeça que são muito bem implementadas, adorei!
Uma coisa que me broxou um pouco foi os créditos. Não que seja uma coisa extremamente importante, mas aquela música que colocaram não combinou nem um pouco com o clima, a não ser pela letra, mas a música quebrou um pouco o clima.
De resto, jogão! Recomendo demais, é curtinho e vale a pena sim a experiência!
The visuals and story telling for this are really amazing, but it takes a while to pick up. Especially early on in the game, I felt myself losing motivation very fast. (So much so that I took a 2 month break.) I'm glad I picked it back up. The combat did feel somewhat repetitive, but it was a good way to wake me up every once in a while. I mostly stuck around for the storytelling and insane visuals that come out of nowhere in the final third of the game.
I was also a little scared later on. I don't like scary stuff.
I can almost put this into a small category of games I deem interesting but portrayed with the wrong media. I feel like the story portrayed in a film would possibly be more enjoyable. I'm not sure being a game did it much justice, as it was really a story first and a game second.
5/10 I'm glad I played it, but I'm just as glad that it's over.
I was also a little scared later on. I don't like scary stuff.
I can almost put this into a small category of games I deem interesting but portrayed with the wrong media. I feel like the story portrayed in a film would possibly be more enjoyable. I'm not sure being a game did it much justice, as it was really a story first and a game second.
5/10 I'm glad I played it, but I'm just as glad that it's over.
I may have ruined it for myself by doing an impression of the voices saying stuff like "You're shit at Dark Souls" and "Nobody wants to eat your dinner" every time they started up.
The funniest shit in the world is how this game’s “mental health consultant” is the first name listed in the opening credits. Paul Fletcher must be a pseudonym for Kanye West because this game’s representation of schizophrenia feels forced at best and exploitative at worst.
I also like how the game is basically slowly walking around and looking at shapes like you're a two-year-old with occasional breaks of dogshit over-the-shoulder combat.
B-b-but bro, it’s scary voices constantly beating your eardrums! Did you play it with headphones? Yeah, I did, and the gimmick gets old super quick.
FOLLOW YOUR MIND’S EYE TO THE NEXT COMBAT ARENA SENUA. Dogshit “psychosis is my superpower” ass game.
Apparently, the ending is hilarious, but I couldn’t bear to get any further than the first two levels.
I also like how the game is basically slowly walking around and looking at shapes like you're a two-year-old with occasional breaks of dogshit over-the-shoulder combat.
B-b-but bro, it’s scary voices constantly beating your eardrums! Did you play it with headphones? Yeah, I did, and the gimmick gets old super quick.
FOLLOW YOUR MIND’S EYE TO THE NEXT COMBAT ARENA SENUA. Dogshit “psychosis is my superpower” ass game.
Apparently, the ending is hilarious, but I couldn’t bear to get any further than the first two levels.
"The hardest battles are fought in the mind..."
Even on a 4th or 5th playthrough I'm still stunned by this game. This is nothing short of a masterpiece, one of the most unique and most important games I have ever played. Its writing is endlessly quotable, packed into a tightly paced action-adventure that never drops in quality.
The gameplay has been criticised a lot, and honestly, I understand why, but I totally disagree. There is plenty of variety in its levels that mixes up the core gameplay elements; namely linear exploration, combat and puzzles. I enjoy all parts of it. What stands out the most for me though is the combat: even on this replay I discovered new combos and attacks, even on this playthrough was it extremely satisfying to fight each and every enemy.
"Hellblade" reminds me why I love video games: it offers an experience you cannot get anywhere else - one that is not only fun to play, emotionally captivating but also one that enables a plethora of analyses and discussions.
Even on a 4th or 5th playthrough I'm still stunned by this game. This is nothing short of a masterpiece, one of the most unique and most important games I have ever played. Its writing is endlessly quotable, packed into a tightly paced action-adventure that never drops in quality.
The gameplay has been criticised a lot, and honestly, I understand why, but I totally disagree. There is plenty of variety in its levels that mixes up the core gameplay elements; namely linear exploration, combat and puzzles. I enjoy all parts of it. What stands out the most for me though is the combat: even on this replay I discovered new combos and attacks, even on this playthrough was it extremely satisfying to fight each and every enemy.
"Hellblade" reminds me why I love video games: it offers an experience you cannot get anywhere else - one that is not only fun to play, emotionally captivating but also one that enables a plethora of analyses and discussions.
I've been pushing this game back further into my backlog for years now. I thought it wouldn't be to my liking, and I had heard that combat wasn't very good. But with Hellblade 2 on the horizon, I decided to give it a shot, both because I was already due for it and as a test to see if I should play the sequel. And as I found out, Ninja Theory had actually made something way beyond my expectations.
Reading comments from people online and hearing from some friends, I was expecting to dislike the gameplay, and as a "gameplay first" kind of guy, I wasn't looking forward to it. But once again, just as with ME: Andromeda, I have learned that the only way to get an accurate opinion about something is experiencing it yourself. Outside of the combat, the gameplay itself is very simple: You just move, look at and interact with things. The loop is also predictable for most of the game, most puzzles involve looking at runes from a certain angle. These puzzles are cool and not very difficult, but it gets a little repetitive by the end. If this was the entirety of the experience, while understandable considering it's a narrative focused game, I probably would've gotten bored eventually. Thankfully, the combat is good, much better than I thought, which I guess makes sense considering Ninja Theory's heritage as an action game studio.
I can understand why people wouldn't like it: It's not flashy, there's no move variety besides the basic action game stuff, and enemy variety is also a little lacking (If it had 3 or 4 other enemies it would've been perfect)... But it feels great. You can feel each hit landing, the weight behind the movements, the impact of a successful block, and so on. This all adds up to brutal encounters, which fits the theme for the series, as it was said in a recent documentary about Hellblade 2, "Senua isn't winning, she's surviving", and it's very engaging. The first time the Furies yelled at me saying "behind you!", it didn't occur to me that enemies could flank me, and all I had time to do was do a short quickstep to the right and watch as a sword barely missed Senua's head; it was after this encounter that this game hooked me for good, and it was a great use of what is probably the main gimmick of Hellblade.
Senua is a troubled individual. She suffers with schizophrenia and psychosis, and has gone through deeply traumatic events throughout her life. She's not alone, but not in a good way; the Furies - voices in her head - are there in every step of the way, whispering into your ears. They often try to make Senua doubt herself, try to hurt her with their words, or make noise in general. Their presence are a highlight, not only are they useful for gameplay purposes, they add a lot to the immersion. With all of her troubles, Senua goes on a journey against her own darkness, and to save the soul of her lover. The story and especially the narrative are phenomenal, and it progresses steadily all the way to the end, it never drags. There's not much else to say besides giving it more praise.
Even as a 2018 game, and with some noticeable blurry textures here and there, Hellblade is still a looker. Both the graphics (I used ray tracing) and the art direction are great. It's a little "gray-ish" in most parts, but this ties into Senua's perception of the world, as colors get a lot more vibrant in flashback moments. Fantastic job for a relatively small studio before they were acquired by Microsoft. Visually, from promotional material, the sequel looks insanely good, let's see how that goes.
Given the nature of the gimmicks and combat, it's no surprise that this game has outstanding audio design. When it comes to music, it's fairly simple, it's there to serve as the background noise, but it's not bad. What really shines here are the sound effects and voice acting, the main example for both being the previously mentioned Furies. Ninja Theory used binaural audio to have them whispering and talking and screaming in your ears. Senua's performance is also scarily good, it's not every day that you see someone do such an impressive and probably realistic rendition of a character with issues such as Senua's.
It's unfortunate for such an experience to end soon, but its relative short size (9 hours to beat getting every Lorestone) worked to its favor, the story and puzzles probably would've felt dragged if it was longer. But what matters is that I loved this game. It's lacking in enemy and puzzle variety, but it makes up for it with everything else. If you enjoy narrative heavy games, this is perfect for you, and I cannot wait to put my hands on the sequel.
SCORE: 9/10
Reading comments from people online and hearing from some friends, I was expecting to dislike the gameplay, and as a "gameplay first" kind of guy, I wasn't looking forward to it. But once again, just as with ME: Andromeda, I have learned that the only way to get an accurate opinion about something is experiencing it yourself. Outside of the combat, the gameplay itself is very simple: You just move, look at and interact with things. The loop is also predictable for most of the game, most puzzles involve looking at runes from a certain angle. These puzzles are cool and not very difficult, but it gets a little repetitive by the end. If this was the entirety of the experience, while understandable considering it's a narrative focused game, I probably would've gotten bored eventually. Thankfully, the combat is good, much better than I thought, which I guess makes sense considering Ninja Theory's heritage as an action game studio.
I can understand why people wouldn't like it: It's not flashy, there's no move variety besides the basic action game stuff, and enemy variety is also a little lacking (If it had 3 or 4 other enemies it would've been perfect)... But it feels great. You can feel each hit landing, the weight behind the movements, the impact of a successful block, and so on. This all adds up to brutal encounters, which fits the theme for the series, as it was said in a recent documentary about Hellblade 2, "Senua isn't winning, she's surviving", and it's very engaging. The first time the Furies yelled at me saying "behind you!", it didn't occur to me that enemies could flank me, and all I had time to do was do a short quickstep to the right and watch as a sword barely missed Senua's head; it was after this encounter that this game hooked me for good, and it was a great use of what is probably the main gimmick of Hellblade.
Senua is a troubled individual. She suffers with schizophrenia and psychosis, and has gone through deeply traumatic events throughout her life. She's not alone, but not in a good way; the Furies - voices in her head - are there in every step of the way, whispering into your ears. They often try to make Senua doubt herself, try to hurt her with their words, or make noise in general. Their presence are a highlight, not only are they useful for gameplay purposes, they add a lot to the immersion. With all of her troubles, Senua goes on a journey against her own darkness, and to save the soul of her lover. The story and especially the narrative are phenomenal, and it progresses steadily all the way to the end, it never drags. There's not much else to say besides giving it more praise.
Even as a 2018 game, and with some noticeable blurry textures here and there, Hellblade is still a looker. Both the graphics (I used ray tracing) and the art direction are great. It's a little "gray-ish" in most parts, but this ties into Senua's perception of the world, as colors get a lot more vibrant in flashback moments. Fantastic job for a relatively small studio before they were acquired by Microsoft. Visually, from promotional material, the sequel looks insanely good, let's see how that goes.
Given the nature of the gimmicks and combat, it's no surprise that this game has outstanding audio design. When it comes to music, it's fairly simple, it's there to serve as the background noise, but it's not bad. What really shines here are the sound effects and voice acting, the main example for both being the previously mentioned Furies. Ninja Theory used binaural audio to have them whispering and talking and screaming in your ears. Senua's performance is also scarily good, it's not every day that you see someone do such an impressive and probably realistic rendition of a character with issues such as Senua's.
It's unfortunate for such an experience to end soon, but its relative short size (9 hours to beat getting every Lorestone) worked to its favor, the story and puzzles probably would've felt dragged if it was longer. But what matters is that I loved this game. It's lacking in enemy and puzzle variety, but it makes up for it with everything else. If you enjoy narrative heavy games, this is perfect for you, and I cannot wait to put my hands on the sequel.
SCORE: 9/10
uma das experiências mais diferenciadas que tive com vídeo games nos últimos tempos.
é simplesmente incrível como as vozes que a Senua escuta conseguem transferir todo o sentimento de medo, angústia (...) que ela está passando naquele momento diretamente pro jogador.
a única coisa que quebra a imersão além de bugs pontuais é a forma que os puzzles são abordados, muito fácil passar 20+ min presa em algo muito tosco pela forma que eles foram feitos.
talvez eu realmente seja burra igual as vozes não paravam de me dizer :/ .... fiquei com apego emocional a elas (que dublagem foda, te amo melina juegens)
é simplesmente incrível como as vozes que a Senua escuta conseguem transferir todo o sentimento de medo, angústia (...) que ela está passando naquele momento diretamente pro jogador.
a única coisa que quebra a imersão além de bugs pontuais é a forma que os puzzles são abordados, muito fácil passar 20+ min presa em algo muito tosco pela forma que eles foram feitos.
talvez eu realmente seja burra igual as vozes não paravam de me dizer :/ .... fiquei com apego emocional a elas (que dublagem foda, te amo melina juegens)
I'm not going to come on here guns blazing defending this game. I don't know the intentions of the artists involved. Its existence may be much more cynical than I believe. It's a walking simulator. Any game that sidelines traditional 'gameplay' as much as this will ruffle feathers. But I find something beautiful in the genre. Games take so much from cinema, especially nowadays, but games like Hellblade or even Hoky Shlok, like Until Dawn (which, blazing hot take, may be the best in the style ever) feel like a genuine communion between the two mediums. But I understand. I get why you'd poke fun at a piece of art whose marketing (and opening credits) seem to foreground how 'Important' its 'Message' is. I do it all the time. It's just not what I found when actually playing it. Hellblade is a formal and narrative delight, and despite some grievances with pacing and combat, I left my time with it deeply moved.
The primary problem with Hellblade is that it is much more successful as cinema than as a video game. The combat is weighty and satisfying, but aside from the three real bosses, every encounter is virtually identical. With how frequently the game slams the breaks to drop you off into yet another one, it can feel ruinous to the game flow. In this 7-8 hour experience, the swinging and rolling have basically lost their lustre by the second hour. The puzzles are barely worth mentioning at all. The rune door pattern puzzles (though thematically satisfying) are easily the game's weakest elements and unwisely frontloaded. Eventually, someone somewhere figured out they weren't working and malformed them into encounter-oriented collectable challenges instead of actual puzzle-solving; these are better but never more than OK. There are a couple of more exciting one-off puzzle scenarios, but on the whole, the parts where you're 'playing' in the most literal sense aren't when this game is most gripping.
What I love is everything else. It is quite a visually daring piece. I lambast photorealism in video games every chance I get, but that's because it's so often in lieu of a style. When I make fun of Marvel's Spider-Man it's not because the photorealism looks bad. It's because it's pointless! You aren't using the immense pixel count to show me something novel, so why not stylise and show me something I haven't seen before? There are nondescript grey buildings outside my window right now! Hellblade's use of photorealism is so striking not because of its high-fidelity rocks and trees but because of its contrast with the stylised visual language. The general mode of play must be a relaxed over-the-shoulder shot of realistic terrain because it makes the cutscenes and hellscapes so much more off-putting. The Sea of Corpses genuinely upset me. As for if there are too many cutscenes, I view it as only right that the game is so frequently out of your control.
Now, let's be very clear. The camera work here is not what I find stunning, which is usually what we gab about with an actual film. I think the shaky cam is tastefully delivered, and they make ample use of 360 pans, but in neither instance is what the camera is doing the most exciting part. When we talk about animated movies, or at least when I do, I get very excited about the boundless camera. But here, it feels as though a locked-down camera is being used to shoot a boundless frame. The amount of visual mileage this team gets out of layers, filters, lighting, and blocking is astonishing. Part of the credit goes to Melina Juergens and her singular face (even just eye!) acting throughout the game. Senua is a fully embodied mo-cap role, which, as of 2017, could be said about, at most, a handful of performances in any medium. Still, she's greatly empowered by enveloping arching shadows, film grain and flicker, and strange reflections of live-action ghosts against which she's convincingly acting. It's dazzling!
I'll point to what the internet calls the 'Blindness Shard Trial' as the apex of this game's visual splendour. To tiptoe around spoilers, I'll tell you that during it, in essence, Senua is trapped in a memory of being trapped in her head. It's one of the many ways the game tries to literalise her dissociation visually. Here, the actual frame is swamped in constant darkness, with a black-and-white VCR buzz that makes it feel as though everything was filmed found-footage style through a security camera. Then, Senua's character model is positioned on top of the frame (still in black and white) with its normal crystal-clear resolution. It is as though she has been green-screened into her own memory, which you are now experiencing through the lens of a horror game. The disconnect here is so powerful.
But this is where we have to ask. Is this game's portrayal of psychosis a good one? That's not my call to make. I'm lucky enough not to have to live with psychosis or hallucinations of any form. So, I'm not going to speculate on whether this is exploitative. What I can say is that it is powerful. It's a shame the marketing took the tone and framed the game the way it did because this isn't trying to be a realistic, sensitive portrait of mental illness. It's not trying to capture a truth but a feeling. Once again, I don't have psychosis, all I can discuss is through the lens of my own experiences. I find how this game tackles the idea of constant war with yourself, feeling as though your internal and external are different beings, to be resonant and very affecting. Even if it takes the modes of exploitation cinema to get there, I think the actual conclusions it comes to are (if a little obvious) sweet. Perhaps it's silly that the closing to this blood-soaked psychedelic epic was that 'you're not broken because you're different' and 'we need to be able to let go of the ones we lose to mourn them properly', but it'd sufficiently won me over with its spin-cycle torture-chamber that I was legitimately happy to see the main character find any sense of closure.
Some final notes. The person who put the illusion section that early in the game should be shot. It is murderously slow for an already slow burn. I'd imagine thousands of people randomly picked that of the two opening areas to start and unceremoniously dropped the game, assuming it was all like that. I somehow haven't mentioned it yet, but the binaural audio is pretty interesting. I'm a sensitive little baby and couldn't have realistically handled it for the entire runtime, but I had it on for an hour or so, and I found it very disorienting in a good way. The permadeath fakeout is genius. The credits song is completely bogus. Likewise, the Lorestones are completely bogus. You get the sense they're included only to have some 'gamey' element for the players, but that's gas. It's the one way the game shows a smidge of embarrassment for how 'not a video game' it is, and I have no interest in that. The rest of its construction embraces its existence as an intermediary piece of art, and that's exactly what makes it special.
Why does this have a sequel? How, even?
The primary problem with Hellblade is that it is much more successful as cinema than as a video game. The combat is weighty and satisfying, but aside from the three real bosses, every encounter is virtually identical. With how frequently the game slams the breaks to drop you off into yet another one, it can feel ruinous to the game flow. In this 7-8 hour experience, the swinging and rolling have basically lost their lustre by the second hour. The puzzles are barely worth mentioning at all. The rune door pattern puzzles (though thematically satisfying) are easily the game's weakest elements and unwisely frontloaded. Eventually, someone somewhere figured out they weren't working and malformed them into encounter-oriented collectable challenges instead of actual puzzle-solving; these are better but never more than OK. There are a couple of more exciting one-off puzzle scenarios, but on the whole, the parts where you're 'playing' in the most literal sense aren't when this game is most gripping.
What I love is everything else. It is quite a visually daring piece. I lambast photorealism in video games every chance I get, but that's because it's so often in lieu of a style. When I make fun of Marvel's Spider-Man it's not because the photorealism looks bad. It's because it's pointless! You aren't using the immense pixel count to show me something novel, so why not stylise and show me something I haven't seen before? There are nondescript grey buildings outside my window right now! Hellblade's use of photorealism is so striking not because of its high-fidelity rocks and trees but because of its contrast with the stylised visual language. The general mode of play must be a relaxed over-the-shoulder shot of realistic terrain because it makes the cutscenes and hellscapes so much more off-putting. The Sea of Corpses genuinely upset me. As for if there are too many cutscenes, I view it as only right that the game is so frequently out of your control.
Now, let's be very clear. The camera work here is not what I find stunning, which is usually what we gab about with an actual film. I think the shaky cam is tastefully delivered, and they make ample use of 360 pans, but in neither instance is what the camera is doing the most exciting part. When we talk about animated movies, or at least when I do, I get very excited about the boundless camera. But here, it feels as though a locked-down camera is being used to shoot a boundless frame. The amount of visual mileage this team gets out of layers, filters, lighting, and blocking is astonishing. Part of the credit goes to Melina Juergens and her singular face (even just eye!) acting throughout the game. Senua is a fully embodied mo-cap role, which, as of 2017, could be said about, at most, a handful of performances in any medium. Still, she's greatly empowered by enveloping arching shadows, film grain and flicker, and strange reflections of live-action ghosts against which she's convincingly acting. It's dazzling!
I'll point to what the internet calls the 'Blindness Shard Trial' as the apex of this game's visual splendour. To tiptoe around spoilers, I'll tell you that during it, in essence, Senua is trapped in a memory of being trapped in her head. It's one of the many ways the game tries to literalise her dissociation visually. Here, the actual frame is swamped in constant darkness, with a black-and-white VCR buzz that makes it feel as though everything was filmed found-footage style through a security camera. Then, Senua's character model is positioned on top of the frame (still in black and white) with its normal crystal-clear resolution. It is as though she has been green-screened into her own memory, which you are now experiencing through the lens of a horror game. The disconnect here is so powerful.
But this is where we have to ask. Is this game's portrayal of psychosis a good one? That's not my call to make. I'm lucky enough not to have to live with psychosis or hallucinations of any form. So, I'm not going to speculate on whether this is exploitative. What I can say is that it is powerful. It's a shame the marketing took the tone and framed the game the way it did because this isn't trying to be a realistic, sensitive portrait of mental illness. It's not trying to capture a truth but a feeling. Once again, I don't have psychosis, all I can discuss is through the lens of my own experiences. I find how this game tackles the idea of constant war with yourself, feeling as though your internal and external are different beings, to be resonant and very affecting. Even if it takes the modes of exploitation cinema to get there, I think the actual conclusions it comes to are (if a little obvious) sweet. Perhaps it's silly that the closing to this blood-soaked psychedelic epic was that 'you're not broken because you're different' and 'we need to be able to let go of the ones we lose to mourn them properly', but it'd sufficiently won me over with its spin-cycle torture-chamber that I was legitimately happy to see the main character find any sense of closure.
Some final notes. The person who put the illusion section that early in the game should be shot. It is murderously slow for an already slow burn. I'd imagine thousands of people randomly picked that of the two opening areas to start and unceremoniously dropped the game, assuming it was all like that. I somehow haven't mentioned it yet, but the binaural audio is pretty interesting. I'm a sensitive little baby and couldn't have realistically handled it for the entire runtime, but I had it on for an hour or so, and I found it very disorienting in a good way. The permadeath fakeout is genius. The credits song is completely bogus. Likewise, the Lorestones are completely bogus. You get the sense they're included only to have some 'gamey' element for the players, but that's gas. It's the one way the game shows a smidge of embarrassment for how 'not a video game' it is, and I have no interest in that. The rest of its construction embraces its existence as an intermediary piece of art, and that's exactly what makes it special.
Why does this have a sequel? How, even?
I CAN'T EVEN THINK NO MORE MAN, GET OUT OF ME HEAD MAN, GET OUT OF ME HEAD
Cara, que jogo diferente... Uma experiência bem diferente.
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 .
11h
11h
8 horas de jogo bem aproveitadas eu diria, além disso, o jogo tem uma mecânica de luta muito boa, algo que envolve as habilidades e reações do player e deixa a gameplay mais divertida e atrativa;
Em contrapartida a história é um pouco maçante e difícil de compreende-la 100% e alguns puzzles faz você perder muito tempo de gameplay, outro ponto negativo também, e que poderia ter sido melhor aproveitado a trilha sonora baseada em mitologia nórdica no jogo;
Mas é um jogo bom e recomendo.
Em contrapartida a história é um pouco maçante e difícil de compreende-la 100% e alguns puzzles faz você perder muito tempo de gameplay, outro ponto negativo também, e que poderia ter sido melhor aproveitado a trilha sonora baseada em mitologia nórdica no jogo;
Mas é um jogo bom e recomendo.
Senua's Sacrifice é um jogo muito impressionante quando consideramos se tratar de um jogo de baixo orçamento. A qualidade das capturas de movimentos são fundamentais para a experiência, que acima de tudo, é narrativa. E neste ponto, fica evidenciado o grande respeito que este jogo tem com quem sofre de algum tipo de psicose, passando muito bem ao jogador (especialmente os que jogam com headset) o desconforto de ouvir vozes. A jornada de luto da protagonista é profunda, lúdica, e quase filosófica. Infelizmente, a bela narrativa e ambientação nórdica não são suficientes para apagar os combates repetitivos e os puzzles sem graça que permeiam todo o jogo, que só seguro o jogador pela tragédia de ver o mundo a partir dos olhos de sua grande protagonista.
I was blown away by this game when I first played it, and a recent replay in preparation for the sequel solidified my feelings about it, if slightly cooled.
Hellblade is really going for it, and succeeds in a lot of ways. The use of binaural audio for the voices is a wonderful way to make them feel overwhelming and ever present. They are constantly antagonizing Senua, expressing doubt in her quest, talking to each other, but sometimes still concerned for her. During combat they will shout at you to watch out when an enemy off screen is about to attack you. Along with the great visuals and performance from Senua, I found myself often getting very immersed in the oppressively anxious atmosphere that is created.
It goes without saying that this game is also lighter on the gameplay side of things, being very much a narrative experience. However, there is enough combat and puzzles to prevent it feeling like you are just walking forward the entire time. While the puzzles get repetitive and remain the weakest aspect, the combat is fun and both looks and feels cool once you get into the groove of it. While you are generally just hacking and slashing, there is enough flow to it that keeps it engaging.
Overall, I remain fond of Hellblade because of how hard it goes with the audio and visuals. There are few games like it, and while it stumbles in the repetitive puzzle design, it excels at creating a constant nightmare that you must fight your way through.
Hellblade is really going for it, and succeeds in a lot of ways. The use of binaural audio for the voices is a wonderful way to make them feel overwhelming and ever present. They are constantly antagonizing Senua, expressing doubt in her quest, talking to each other, but sometimes still concerned for her. During combat they will shout at you to watch out when an enemy off screen is about to attack you. Along with the great visuals and performance from Senua, I found myself often getting very immersed in the oppressively anxious atmosphere that is created.
It goes without saying that this game is also lighter on the gameplay side of things, being very much a narrative experience. However, there is enough combat and puzzles to prevent it feeling like you are just walking forward the entire time. While the puzzles get repetitive and remain the weakest aspect, the combat is fun and both looks and feels cool once you get into the groove of it. While you are generally just hacking and slashing, there is enough flow to it that keeps it engaging.
Overall, I remain fond of Hellblade because of how hard it goes with the audio and visuals. There are few games like it, and while it stumbles in the repetitive puzzle design, it excels at creating a constant nightmare that you must fight your way through.
This game is like a playable art house film, and the playability adds a lot. Aside from one instance where the narrative bleeding into the gameplay kind of misses, the game from beginning to an is pretty focused with its design. It knows when to let the player take reigns and when you take it away to tell them the story. The pacing is great and succinct. The cinematography is stellar. Even the combat is good, even if it may be janky some times. It fits perfectly into what the game is going for, which is not some hack n slash Dynasty Warriors type shit.
And I love the story and setting. I actually didn't know and expect the game to be heavily based in Norse mythology, and also have one of the best, most realistic takes on it. It manages to turn something as ancient and disconnected from us as Norse mythology into a really relatable and personal story about suffering, fighting your demons, not fitting in, and the long history of women being treated like furniture throughout ages.
I really hope Hellblade 2 is firstly as good as this, and also achieves the success it deserves. These are the games that are important to gaming as an art form and we need more of. I'm gonna be super bummed if Ninja Theory suffers the same fate as Arkane and Tango games...
And I love the story and setting. I actually didn't know and expect the game to be heavily based in Norse mythology, and also have one of the best, most realistic takes on it. It manages to turn something as ancient and disconnected from us as Norse mythology into a really relatable and personal story about suffering, fighting your demons, not fitting in, and the long history of women being treated like furniture throughout ages.
I really hope Hellblade 2 is firstly as good as this, and also achieves the success it deserves. These are the games that are important to gaming as an art form and we need more of. I'm gonna be super bummed if Ninja Theory suffers the same fate as Arkane and Tango games...
While the gameplay and mechanics can be a bit frustrating at times, this is a mesmerizing, beautiful and emotionally rewarding game, with a bold, rich and stunning story and a memorable lead performance by Melina Juergens. Highly recommend.
esquizofrenia e trevas