ما وراء تضحية سينوا | Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

لم يتبقى الكثير على الجزء الثاني من هيل بليد، لهذا أقدم هذا الفيديو عن الأستديو الصانع للعبة هيل بليد، وسبب تميّزها وقوّتها.. استمتعوا

https://youtu.be/66TvGl513PI

When I first played this game in 2019, I really loved the story, Senuas character and the way her mental illness was presented, and the overall presentation from her perspective, along with the general art direction. I found the combat fine but nothing exceptional. Thats more or less where I stand now, but I feel even stronger on the story of grief and acceptance told through a very unique perspective. The combat, sure, its not amazing, but its passable and doesn't make the game any worse by existing. Really though, this is an incredibly well told story with one of the best characters in video games, with a performance by Melina Juergens that rivals any of the best game performances ever. Definitely a must play just to experience it, very excited for the sequel.

I generally don't care about the appearance of characters but this game is so distractingly ugly that I don't even want to continue. There's no style here. It's just ugly realism. It has cool concepts but everything is so ugly. Senua herself occupies this really weird state of uncanny valley where she doesn't look human but you don't know why. She also has her jaw agape all the time and it's really awkward and takes me out of it.

I would genuinely go as far to say the cover art is false advertising because her mouth is open all the time. Like seriously, why did they make her do that? She looks like a Fallout 4 character, it's terrible!

CLOSE YOUR DAMN MOUTH.

The experience Hellblade gives you is very introspective, its anxiety ridden and powerful but above all its a beautiful one. Knowing only that the game delves into mental health struggles and shining a light onto someone suffering from psychosis, I wanted to finish this before the sequel released and im so glad I did.

Hellblade strengths lie in its storytelling, vague dialogue allowing the player to sort of insert their own experiences into what the game is describing, feelings of loss, trauma, the fear of death and uncertainty its all very strong stuff that the game is able to bundle into its 5~ hour runtime and it never feels rushed or unneeded.

The environments are dreary and bleak, lots of muted colours and dark areas that really hammer in those feelings the game wants you to feel, but as the game describes in its own way, that in those depressing landscapes hold a sort of beauty that once you overcome hurdles you begin to appreciate more and more.

The one thing Hellblade falters in is its use of combat. For bosses I felt like the combat worked, it was weighty and cinematic and failure to parry or dodge, you felt the impact of messing up. The issue then comes in the minor enemy encounters generously sprinkled throughout the game, they suck and got annoying fast. Just having wave after wave of enemies varying in what combination they spawned in was frustrating and slightly took away from some moments proceeding those fights.

Overall the immersive experience Hellblade gives you is immaculate, its messages and portrayals are potent and it leaves you with a sense of melancholy, where you arent sure if things will get better but the experience you were put through has given you insight onto how you could be better.

"The hardest battles are fought in the mind, not with the sword."

𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖🎐Discover a rich mosaic of Norse mythology intertwined with Senua's personal journey. Through hidden lorestones and symbolic puzzles, the game invites you to delve deeper into Senua's past, unraveling the mysteries of her troubled mind and the world around her. It's a narrative experience that rewards exploration and reflection, offering layers of depth beyond its intense combat and striking visuals. However things can get repetitive fast so theres that :'). But, if you ever feel overwhelmed, just take a break and remember: even Senua needs to step away from the chaos and listen to the whispers...lol. ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐

An excellent game with probably the best sound design in any video game. While the story and audio are sublime, there are still some flaws I hope are ironed out in the sequel. The combat, while functional is incredibly bland and repetitive. Combat encounters are far and few in between so it doesn't hurt the experience too much, though they are the worst parts of the game by far. While the puzzle designs are pretty amazing, the game keeps going back to the "look for the symbol in the environment" and hardly shakes up the puzzling with new mechanics.

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.

"It is the will of the gods."
"Fuck the gods!"

Replaying this one was an odd experience. I first played this nearly 6 years ago, gave it much high praise, then slowly moved on to forget what exactly I loved about it. All I remember was that it was a great standalone story, until the unexpected announcement of a sequel had me itching to return.

To put it brief, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice holds up, for what it tries to do. I had played this before 2018's God of War and vividly remember enjoying this interpretation of Norse mythology even more... but it's a different interpretation. Hellblade simply nails its narrative; a brief hero's journey and love story, centered around a young warrior who suffers with severe psychosis. The 3D audio is, of course, incredible at immersing the player into Senua's mind while adding a bit more flair to the game's combat and puzzles. It's also often horrific, and with its hyper-realistic art direction and surreal designs (including actual live-action shots), the story ends up becoming fucking awesome and heartpounding. Some of the boss designs genuinely made me uncomfortable, which is a merit to the world crafted here. By the time the player rolls credits, this becomes one of those experiences where they will browse the internet for some video essays analyzing what just occurred. It's not a power fantasy, but a simple story about overcoming your flaws and dealing with loss.
And, most of all, the actor performances, both in voice and motion capture, are some of the best I've seen in the medium. Melina Juergens is absolutely insane, among the rest of the cast.

Where I think Hellblade falls a bit flat though is in its gameplay. As stated, the 3D audio cues of Senua's voices add a neat addition to combat and puzzles, often aiding the player with cryptic hints or warnings. However, the game focuses just a bit too much more on puzzles than combat, and the puzzles that are there mostly consist of the same loop of lining up in-world objects to create runes or pathways. Even the combat, while decent to control, lacks the depth you typically find in action games of this nature, focusing purely on parrying, evading, and attacking. Sequences later on also swarm you with enemies, which can encumber your strategies in combat. As the narrative builds, these moments of gameplay ultimately slow down the process.

Do I recommend Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice to anyone? With its short length and good accessibility, absolutely. Just be aware that this experience shines more in its cinematic narrative and immersion than its gameplay. Maybe drop the difficulty down, if you don't wish to be challenged by its shortcomings.

At the beginning of this game there is a trigger warning for those that suffer from mental disorders like mental psychosis or schizophrenia and, I gotta say, I think those warnings are justified. This game was stressful to play. Gorgeous visuals, incredible acting performances, and flawlessly executed sound design lend to this games stress-inducing effectiveness.

The story is very powerful and was, obviously, carried by Senua's character. Her struggle with the darkness, her anger, her fear, her anxieties, and her loss were all so tragic and made for a compelling protagonist. Her performance by Melina Juergens might be the most impressive video game performance I've ever seen and that elevated the game to the next level.

As far as gameplay goes, Hellblade is 80% a walking sim with some puzzles and combat sprinkled in. If you're looking for fun gameplay, this is not a game I would recommend. They had some neat perspective altering puzzles, but other than that the puzzles didn't do anything particularly exciting. The combat was, however, much more appealing. I actually like the philosophy of having "simplistic" combat for a game like this; it didn't need to be anything more than it was. Walking sims work for me when they don't overstay their welcome, and at a tight 6 hours this game certainly did not.

Overall, this game is hard to recommend. It's very arthouse and niche. But to the right gamer this, this game is a masterclass in both storytelling and visual design philosophy.