Reason for the medal: First of all, I am ashamed to give 4 stars to this masterpiece, but this is a game and I have to evaluate it as a game. Generally speaking, it deserves 5 stars very easily in terms of the subject it aims to cover and the game. The reason I deducted points is that I got bored of the game's puzzles and that the whispers Senua heard bothered my ears due to her psychosis. As for the game being a work of mastery, it has a unique plot and functioning. However, when they present such a thing as a game rather than a movie, it can remain an experience and have flaws. The strongest part of the game is the storytelling, it never tells you the keys, it doesn't tell you where to go, there are no nonsense indicators, you move with zero hud, full cinematic experience and sound. Instead of an indicator, you hear the enemy behind you whispering "there is an enemy behind you" as one of Senua's hallucinations. You fight alongside Senua and solve the puzzles consisting of her delusions by coordinating with the character as if it were your own problem. You are afraid together in the parts where Senua is afraid, you hear the disturbing sounds she hears together. You smile at the good things he sees and get disturbed by the bad things. But Senua doesn't get bored with puzzles like me :D Or she doesn't get disturbed by whispers. I wasn't as invested in the story as I was in Senua. I just moved forward wondering what would happen in the end. Parenthetically, I didn't care about his wife at all on the journey he set out to save his wife. It has a unique experience and excellent presentation compared to other games. Yes, it is a unique "experience". The things that make the game a game have been completely stripped away. If I showed someone watching it without showing me controlling Senua with the controller, it would be hard for them to understand that it was a game. That's why I have to deduct points from the subjects I'm bored with.

Gold Medal

Medal System:

0.5 stars - This game will make you its b*tch! (Coal medal)
1 star - Extremely boring (Broken medal)
1.5 stars - Boring (Empty medal)
2 stars - Not fun (Wooden medal)
2.5 stars - It could have been fun but... (Bronze medal)
3 stars - Normal fun (Silver medal)
3.5 stars - I had more fun than usual (Emerald medal)
4 stars - I had so much fun (Gold medal)
4.5 stars - I loved it but something is missing (Platinum medal)
5 stars - Special for me / my favorites (Diamond medal)

Fourth play through.

So many people who praise and highly rate this game still have caveats, like complaining about repetitive puzzles and saying “oh the combat isn’t actually supposed to be fun”

I have no idea what the fuck those people are on about.

Nome: Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice (Windows)
Plataforma: Xbox - PC
Data: 17 Abril 2024
Horas Aproximadas: 10 Horas
Dificuldade: ☐ Muito Fácil | ☑ Fácil | ☐ Normal | ☐ Difícil | ☐ Muito Difícil

Hellblade is an incredible experience
The psychotic dimension of the game is pushed to a fairly astonishing level
We are immersed in Senua's head, constantly harassed by these voices, her hallucinations and the game mechanics related to her psychosis
Melina Juergens' performance I think to date is the one that impressed me the most in a video game
She transcribes her mental disorder very well without making a ton of it and in such a poignant way.
The motion capture is absolutely perfect

Bons:
Gráficos, trilha sonora, qualidade de áudio, história
Mediano:
Combate
Ruim:
puzzles repetitivos

Ahead of the upcoming release of the sequel, I decided to return to ‘Hellblade’ to refresh my memory and to be able to notice (and hopefully appreciate) all the changes included in ‘Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2’.

The second playthrough didn’t change my general view of the game - it’s a must-play for anyone seeking a rich narrative experience with a couple of issues that hold the game back from being a true masterpiece.

The good stuff first - the game is built around a really interesting story that is told with maturity and boldness rarely seen in other games. Senua’s desperate, exhausting journey towards redemption and her gradual unlocking and analysis of past events to remove the shackles imposed by her upbringing is truly fascinating to watch. Dip all that in a healthy dose of Norse mythology, some top notch acting (Melina Juergens is a star) and you’ll end up with a truly special narrative experience. The game delves heavily into the topics of mental health and psychosis in particular, with one of its most advertised features being ‘voices in your head’ (first time in forever I played a console game with a headset, simply because it’s one of the few games where it enhances the experience significantly, even if sometimes those voices offer input on puzzle solutions too quickly). This helps tremendously in immersing yourself in the story and in sympathizing with Senua. The topic of ignorance of complex mental issues paired with religious zealotry is also an important part of the game. By the end of the story I felt truly proud of Senua, even if the final song was too cheesy and on the nose for my taste.

In a lot of ways the gameplay serves the narrative, with one of the most obvious examples being Senua searching for runes hidden in the environment. I think it’s a neat idea, however I did feel like the game relied too heavily on it - that also includes the mechanic of “look through gate to open path”, which appeared too many times for my liking.

The game breaks up the pace in a number of ways, e.g. when Senua needs to stealthily move amongst monsters made of pulsating flesh, running between sources of light to evade a ‘dragon’ or sprinting through a burning house. These are truly standout moments in the game.

A whole other thing is combat. I have a problem with it simply because I realize it was not intended to be “fun” - quite the opposite, actually. If these encounters symbolize Senua struggling to go on, her debilitating illness trying to stop her from continuing her quest, then fighting off the physical manifestations of it should be frustrating and difficult. However, I felt like the combat sections gave up on their narrative significance quite quickly and became simply a thing for the player to do (there are a few moments where it makes sense to have Senua fight off hordes of enemies, to be fair). Perhaps the developers were afraid that without them the game would be too akin to walking simulators and written off by many players disliking that particular genre. I, for one, wouldn’t mind being challenged in other ways (e.g. through more complex puzzles) to emphasize Senua’s struggles. The combat itself is pretty run of the mill, with camera being often detrimental when fighting several enemies at once. Same with switching targets - I don’t think the combat system was well designed to accommodate more than 1-2 opponents at once. Also - please, include an option to sprint next time, in some larger areas it took forever to get between points of interest.

Está mais para uma experiência do que prum jogo.

A atmosfera é maravilhosamente bem construída e te deixa imerso como se estivesse realmente dentro daquele universo, sentindo todo o medo e tensão de Senua. A história é intrigante e complexa, mas muito bem contada, tendo também vários contos que te ensinam mais sobre a mitologia nórdica.
Apesar de tudo isso, a gameplay é maçante, o que transforma as poucas 7 horas de jogo em uma eternidade. O combate é simples mas funciona por pouco tempo, o "capítulo" final é cansativo pelas incessantes hordas gigantescas de inimigos. Ponto positivo para as batalhas contra chefes que são bem interessantes.

Um jogo legal, cenas bem legais por conta da personagem ter problemas mentais, porém, algumas vezes achei a gameplay meio parada por conta da velocidade que a personagem anda, corre, etc.
A imersão que o jogo proporciona dentro da mente da personagem é incrível, a temática meio "dark" achei que ornou muito com as cenas, cenário, atitudes, etc.
Combate bem gostoso, tanto contra inimigos normais, quanto boss, a câmera não ajuda muito, mas gameplay bem gostosa apesar de tudo.
História curta, porém, por conta da velocidade da personagem e também cutcenes muito longas, o jogo pareceu bem mais maçante do que realmente é, 11h pra platina "tranquilas" algumas horas por conta das cutcenes e pegando os coletáveis. Mas bem legal o game.

Hellblade is quite a singoular experience. The main concept is exploring Senua's mind while discovering her story and her mission for redemption. Definitely a unique storytelling, especially because of the Norse setting, which also which also acts as a subject for the screenshots you will take, thanks to the wonderful technical section (there is also an in-game photo mode).

However, the gameplay is quite bland: it mainly consists of following the predetermined path and solving simple puzzles. If you really want, you can collect all the recordings to get a special achievement, but this seems to be more like a little extra added to the top of the formula rather than a challengge that makes you want to complete it.
Other than that, there's the combat system, which is quite poor as well: light attack, heavy attack, parry, dodge and camera locked on a single enemy. Everything ok, but the animations are way too slow even for a slow paced game like this. It seems like the developers originally implanted in the game a soulslike combat system but then they changed their mind, directing everything in favor of scenography rather than gameplay, which is totally fine, but in some instances it's difficult to properly respond to what's happening on the screen.

Overall, Hellblade is like a 1:1 transposition of a movie into a game: it's visually amazing and completely immerses you in its story, but it leaves behind the advantages of the medium.
I recommend to try it.