I was 22 when I had my first psychotic episode. I had dropped everything and moved to Austin with a girlfriend who was not a good fit for me, pursuing my dream of (somehow) becoming a professional actor. None of this was going well; the relationship and the jobs I was working were all dead ends that I wasn't really acknowledging or dealing with.
Eventually all the stress and self-deceit came to a head in a giant fight, and I started thinking things that were decidedly false. I came to believe that I was the center of a conspiracy of surveillance, Truman Show style, that was being run by my friends. Every detail that I noticed confirmed this: I saw a car make a weird U-turn which to me was proof positive that it was following me. A dump truck passed the window with a flashing yellow light; this was clearly someone trying to signal to me that they were in on the conspiracy. A cat sitting on the hood of a car must have been some kind of sophisticated spy camera.
I never experienced hallucinations, I was never violent and I didn't cackle maniacally like every single clueless, no-effort depiction of mental illness in Hollywood and elsewhere. The only thing that was missing was my capacity to critically examine my own ideas.
You know how when you're thinking super hard about something for a long time, and you finally figure it out, and you get that big rush of endorphins like "ahhhhh I finally got it." It's a great feeling, but you have to work to get there right? You have to come up with and reject a lot of ideas before you find the one that fits. Well, I was having that "ahhhh" feeling with every fleeting notion. You don't realize how many thoughts you reject as nonsense until you lose the ability to do so.
You might see a squirrel run toward you and think "Wouldn't it be cool if that was some kind of little robot?" then immediately reject that idea without a second thought. That rejection is what was broken in me; even the most momentary flight of fancy became the unassailable truth. I saw the squirrel and it was self-evident that it was being remotely-controlled as a way to keep tabs on me. Not a single thought in my mind that any of this stuff was wrong.
Public mental health facilities in Texas at the turn of millennium were about as you'd expect. I was there involuntarily and kept trying to escape, so I spent a lot of the first few days restrained (more than 20 years later I still get a panicky feeling in my chest when I think about being strapped to that bed). I was shot up with Haldol that left me a drooling, twitching mess. At no point did I receive anything resembling therapy. After a few weeks the doctor assigned to my case finally came back from vacation and I seemed fine so they basically shrugged and let me go.
"Depression with psychotic features" they called it that first time. Eventually, after experiencing more episodes and being institutionalized and re-diagnosed a few more times, they settled on the diagnosis of Bipolar I disorder and I've been stable on lithium for over a decade now. I was lucky and got basically the happiest possible outcome. I don't think that's the case for most people dealing with mental health issues, especially psychosis.
Mental health is like sexuality, in that we as a society are obsessed with it but only seem to engage with it in the most unhealthy ways. In our entertainment media, references to insanity are constant. Calling someone's sanity into question is an easy and common insult. After every mass shooting, the airwaves are crammed with politicians scapegoating the mentally ill. We're finally to the point where (in some circles) it's considered unacceptable to use "gay" or "retarded" as insults, but nobody bats an eye if you call someone "crazy" or "psycho".
But for all of that, it's basically unheard of for someone in power to say anything meaningful about mental health. When Hollywood approaches the topic, the results are universally rancid. Games tend to fall into two camps: crazy-person-as-horror-villain studio hack jobs, or autobiographical indies that actually bring some experience to the picture.
And that's why Hellblade stands out so much to me. It's not an indie; it has the full weight of a storied and talented (albeit small) studio behind it. But they've done the work to actually try to depict psychosis in a realistic way, that brings the player into the experience as an exercise in empathy, not just a cheap aesthetic choice.
It was a marvel to me how the puzzles in the game are built around seeing patterns that aren't really there, exactly like I did during my psychotic episodes. The scene where all the trees have eyes, but they're really just tricks of the light, was so incredibly true to my experience. I never saw things that weren't there; I saw things that were there but misinterpreted them in critical ways, just like Senua.
And Senua? Possibly my favorite protagonist of any game. Melina Jeurgens gives it so much of herself, and her character design is such a breath of fresh air in an industry full of gross fan service. She looks like a real person! She's still pretty, but doesn't look like a RealDoll that someone dressed up in cosplay gear.
I could only play this game in short sessions because it's so damn intense. The story hits hard, and Senua's agonizing deaths were challenging. Mechanically, the game is really quite light. Only a couple gameplay verbs are made available as the story progresses very linearly. Hellblade aims to challenge the player on a sensory, emotional and intellectual level more than a gameplay one. For me, it was deeply effective and affecting.
With the sequel on the horizon it's exciting to imagine what Ninja Theory has in store for us next. It really feels like the conversation around mental health is starting to turn; the crazies are finally out telling their stories, taboos and misinformation be damned. I love how indie developers have stepped up and started raising the level of discourse around mental health and I really hope that more and bigger studios follow suit. Fear of retaliation or judgment can make mental illness a really isolating experience. It really does feel good to feel seen, and playing a game like Hellblade is really great reminder that I'm not alone.
Eventually all the stress and self-deceit came to a head in a giant fight, and I started thinking things that were decidedly false. I came to believe that I was the center of a conspiracy of surveillance, Truman Show style, that was being run by my friends. Every detail that I noticed confirmed this: I saw a car make a weird U-turn which to me was proof positive that it was following me. A dump truck passed the window with a flashing yellow light; this was clearly someone trying to signal to me that they were in on the conspiracy. A cat sitting on the hood of a car must have been some kind of sophisticated spy camera.
I never experienced hallucinations, I was never violent and I didn't cackle maniacally like every single clueless, no-effort depiction of mental illness in Hollywood and elsewhere. The only thing that was missing was my capacity to critically examine my own ideas.
You know how when you're thinking super hard about something for a long time, and you finally figure it out, and you get that big rush of endorphins like "ahhhhh I finally got it." It's a great feeling, but you have to work to get there right? You have to come up with and reject a lot of ideas before you find the one that fits. Well, I was having that "ahhhh" feeling with every fleeting notion. You don't realize how many thoughts you reject as nonsense until you lose the ability to do so.
You might see a squirrel run toward you and think "Wouldn't it be cool if that was some kind of little robot?" then immediately reject that idea without a second thought. That rejection is what was broken in me; even the most momentary flight of fancy became the unassailable truth. I saw the squirrel and it was self-evident that it was being remotely-controlled as a way to keep tabs on me. Not a single thought in my mind that any of this stuff was wrong.
Public mental health facilities in Texas at the turn of millennium were about as you'd expect. I was there involuntarily and kept trying to escape, so I spent a lot of the first few days restrained (more than 20 years later I still get a panicky feeling in my chest when I think about being strapped to that bed). I was shot up with Haldol that left me a drooling, twitching mess. At no point did I receive anything resembling therapy. After a few weeks the doctor assigned to my case finally came back from vacation and I seemed fine so they basically shrugged and let me go.
"Depression with psychotic features" they called it that first time. Eventually, after experiencing more episodes and being institutionalized and re-diagnosed a few more times, they settled on the diagnosis of Bipolar I disorder and I've been stable on lithium for over a decade now. I was lucky and got basically the happiest possible outcome. I don't think that's the case for most people dealing with mental health issues, especially psychosis.
Mental health is like sexuality, in that we as a society are obsessed with it but only seem to engage with it in the most unhealthy ways. In our entertainment media, references to insanity are constant. Calling someone's sanity into question is an easy and common insult. After every mass shooting, the airwaves are crammed with politicians scapegoating the mentally ill. We're finally to the point where (in some circles) it's considered unacceptable to use "gay" or "retarded" as insults, but nobody bats an eye if you call someone "crazy" or "psycho".
But for all of that, it's basically unheard of for someone in power to say anything meaningful about mental health. When Hollywood approaches the topic, the results are universally rancid. Games tend to fall into two camps: crazy-person-as-horror-villain studio hack jobs, or autobiographical indies that actually bring some experience to the picture.
And that's why Hellblade stands out so much to me. It's not an indie; it has the full weight of a storied and talented (albeit small) studio behind it. But they've done the work to actually try to depict psychosis in a realistic way, that brings the player into the experience as an exercise in empathy, not just a cheap aesthetic choice.
It was a marvel to me how the puzzles in the game are built around seeing patterns that aren't really there, exactly like I did during my psychotic episodes. The scene where all the trees have eyes, but they're really just tricks of the light, was so incredibly true to my experience. I never saw things that weren't there; I saw things that were there but misinterpreted them in critical ways, just like Senua.
And Senua? Possibly my favorite protagonist of any game. Melina Jeurgens gives it so much of herself, and her character design is such a breath of fresh air in an industry full of gross fan service. She looks like a real person! She's still pretty, but doesn't look like a RealDoll that someone dressed up in cosplay gear.
I could only play this game in short sessions because it's so damn intense. The story hits hard, and Senua's agonizing deaths were challenging. Mechanically, the game is really quite light. Only a couple gameplay verbs are made available as the story progresses very linearly. Hellblade aims to challenge the player on a sensory, emotional and intellectual level more than a gameplay one. For me, it was deeply effective and affecting.
With the sequel on the horizon it's exciting to imagine what Ninja Theory has in store for us next. It really feels like the conversation around mental health is starting to turn; the crazies are finally out telling their stories, taboos and misinformation be damned. I love how indie developers have stepped up and started raising the level of discourse around mental health and I really hope that more and bigger studios follow suit. Fear of retaliation or judgment can make mental illness a really isolating experience. It really does feel good to feel seen, and playing a game like Hellblade is really great reminder that I'm not alone.
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.
ESPETACULAR!!!
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.
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).
Fun fact: Melina Juergens, the actress who portrays Senua, didn't have any prior experience with acting before this game. Actually, she was a video editor for Ninja Theory and was invited to perform the role while they were looking for an actress. Finally, after seeing her perfomance they gave her the role.
This "game" if you even can call it that, is pretty boring.
There is a lot of care and detail put into the idea of how a person with psychosis sees the world, which I appreciate, but the execution of the game and it's story is so bad that it would have been better off as a movie.
Typical gameplay:
- press forward to walk for 5 minutes, hearing incessant voices and dialogue in your head over and over
- find a "puzzle" where you press a button to focus in on something, then look around to find another thing that looks like it
- do some combat I guess, which is serviceable, but very basic
- experience the "story" which is almost entirely exposition dumping and a narration that is so far up it's own ass trying to be interesting
Maybe you'll love the game based on the merit of it's pros, mainly the stunning visuals and mocap, and the respectful treatment of mental illness. However, this one really didn't do it for me. There are better games out there that tell better stories and do a better job telling them.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
1/2 ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
There is a lot of care and detail put into the idea of how a person with psychosis sees the world, which I appreciate, but the execution of the game and it's story is so bad that it would have been better off as a movie.
Typical gameplay:
- press forward to walk for 5 minutes, hearing incessant voices and dialogue in your head over and over
- find a "puzzle" where you press a button to focus in on something, then look around to find another thing that looks like it
- do some combat I guess, which is serviceable, but very basic
- experience the "story" which is almost entirely exposition dumping and a narration that is so far up it's own ass trying to be interesting
Maybe you'll love the game based on the merit of it's pros, mainly the stunning visuals and mocap, and the respectful treatment of mental illness. However, this one really didn't do it for me. There are better games out there that tell better stories and do a better job telling them.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
1/2 ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
Captivating and horrifying, worth playing for the story and atmosphere alone given that it's not a massive time commitment. That being said, I found the actual gameplay segments to be the weakest part of the game beyond the first 90 minutes, as fighting waves of the same handful of enemies and repeating variations of the same awkward visual puzzles became super repetitive. It works in some cases, but I found the set pieces and narrative to be hands down the best aspects of the game.
More engaging and intuitive puzzles with more enemy and combat variety will guarantee the sequel to be a home run, assuming it can match this game's narrative strengths.
More engaging and intuitive puzzles with more enemy and combat variety will guarantee the sequel to be a home run, assuming it can match this game's narrative strengths.
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
aqui temos uma adaptação PERFEITA da mitologia nórdica, incrível como a Ninja Theory conseguiu produzir algo desse nível mesmo com uma equipe tão limitada.
sério, a qualidade desse jogo é impressionante principalmente na atmosfera e o aúdio, ESPECIALMENTE o aúdio, jogar isso aqui de fone é inacreditável, a aflição aumenta 10x mais e a experiência melhora em dobro, as vozes e sussuros parecem ecoar dentro da minha própria cabeça, ao mesmo tempo que é desconfortável sinto uma pitada de capricho IMENSA que os dev colocara aqui. Basicamente todos os aspectos de Hellblade são ÓTIMOS, desde historia (MARAVILHOSA, SÉRIO) até o combate simplista, meu único probleminha com foi uma pequena queda de ritmo em determinado ponto da trama mas nada que afete drasticamente minha opinião sobre esse JOGAÇO!!!!
sério, a qualidade desse jogo é impressionante principalmente na atmosfera e o aúdio, ESPECIALMENTE o aúdio, jogar isso aqui de fone é inacreditável, a aflição aumenta 10x mais e a experiência melhora em dobro, as vozes e sussuros parecem ecoar dentro da minha própria cabeça, ao mesmo tempo que é desconfortável sinto uma pitada de capricho IMENSA que os dev colocara aqui. Basicamente todos os aspectos de Hellblade são ÓTIMOS, desde historia (MARAVILHOSA, SÉRIO) até o combate simplista, meu único probleminha com foi uma pequena queda de ritmo em determinado ponto da trama mas nada que afete drasticamente minha opinião sobre esse JOGAÇO!!!!
Hellblade? Hell, made me want to watch a movie instead. Senua sacrificed fun so the cutting edge effects and textures could live.
The story stuff is sometimes actually incredible. This girl goes through a lot of horrible things to just get by and you want to see her make it through. The game part of the game is torturously boring. The entertainment is the cutscenes and not all the visual tricks to pad the runtime and mask loading.
I have been thinking that these folks should make movies ever since they released Heavenly Sword on the PS3. Even the DMC reboot had good cutscene direction and these folks are clearly skilled in that way.
It beats spending time making games that are not really games but are kind of enough of a game to qualify as a game but there's a clear lack of investment in the game part of the game. You know what I mean? It's that kind of game. By that I mean a game enough to be put on game pass but barely passes as a game.
The story stuff is sometimes actually incredible. This girl goes through a lot of horrible things to just get by and you want to see her make it through. The game part of the game is torturously boring. The entertainment is the cutscenes and not all the visual tricks to pad the runtime and mask loading.
I have been thinking that these folks should make movies ever since they released Heavenly Sword on the PS3. Even the DMC reboot had good cutscene direction and these folks are clearly skilled in that way.
It beats spending time making games that are not really games but are kind of enough of a game to qualify as a game but there's a clear lack of investment in the game part of the game. You know what I mean? It's that kind of game. By that I mean a game enough to be put on game pass but barely passes as a game.
O foco desse jogo é literalmente em narrativa, a gameplay com a espada é bem limitada e não oferece quase nenhum desafio e algumas partes de só andar para frente me deixaram bem entediado em certos pontos, porém a história me envolveu, os traumas da Senua e tudo o que ela passa, conseguem transmitir essa mesma sensação para nós (me senti até meio maluco em alguns momentos).
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a clinically and historically supported analysis of psychosis through the lens of a Norse epic about death and the incredible courage required to be able to look stare it in the face and not be afraid. There are many games about death, loss, acceptance and clarity, but rarely is what the hero trying to rid themselves of, is you. Senua fights with every possible intrusive thought from herself--curiosity, fear, anger, suicidal ideation--but she is also very much fighting for control of her life. The very act of inhabiting her body and as an anonymous player and having control is intrinsically tied to the condition she faces. She wants freedom from herself and from the influences of anything other than her true self.
an experience like no other. if you play this game with headphones on you are in for a treat. senuas voices in her head are really convincing and you can never really tell where this game is going. while i would say the presentation is near perfect here the gameplay is not as good. its quite repetitive and often has puzzles that go on for way too long. still, as an overall package the game is pretty great and i definitely want to go back to it (its been a while) before the sequel comes out
Very special experience. The sound and music outstanding - recommended to use headphones. The game-play is little bit slow - good mix between puzzles and fights that are tough. The plot for my view is not so interesting so i found my self not even listening to Brut at some point of the game.
Um projeto ambicioso, que apesar de suas ressalvas, se destaca principalmente por seus acertos, e se mantém como sólido.
Muitas das sensações a respeito de alguns elementos foram agridoces para mim, hora parecia estar agradável, hora parecia estar arrastado ou não funcionando como deveria.
Apesar de inicialmente parecer interessante, a resolução dos puzzles se tornou cansativa e até mesmo insuportável em alguns pontos depois de um certo tempo, e sendo os mesmos uma grande fatia do que nos faz progredir, é um problema considerável.
Já o combate, é mais complexo, e pode até ser algo pessoal, mas foi me passada a impressão de que o sistema não foi feito pensado no combate com múltiplos inimigos, em trechos nesse contexto, as opções pareciam disfuncionais, não senti que estava agradável, mas em combates diretos contra um único inimigo, em especial contra chefes, foi o exato oposto, as mecânicas de combate são mais fluidas e bem mais divertidas.
No entanto, deixadas as ressalvas, é preciso comentar a respeito do que fez Hellblade fazer o barulho que fez quando foi lançado, o primor técnico no que se diz respeito a experiência audiovisual.
É impossível pensar em Hellblade sem relacionar com a necessidade e recomendação de se usar fones de ouvidos para uma experiência completa, e não é a toa. O trabalho feito com a ajuda de neurocientistas na retratação da psicose através dos visuais e principalmente das vozes é sublime, a imersão é inigualável e a mensagem é forte.
Alinhado a uma trilha sonora fantástica, um storytelling impecável e uma atuação de primeira classe de Melina Juergens como Senua, Hellblade é espantoso, principalmente se lembrarmos que tudo partiu de um estúdio independente.
Apesar de gostar do que vi, eu não sei se recomendaria com tanta segurança para qualquer pessoa, mas é definitivamente um trabalho artístico que merece ser experienciado pelo máximo de pessoas possível.
Muitas das sensações a respeito de alguns elementos foram agridoces para mim, hora parecia estar agradável, hora parecia estar arrastado ou não funcionando como deveria.
Apesar de inicialmente parecer interessante, a resolução dos puzzles se tornou cansativa e até mesmo insuportável em alguns pontos depois de um certo tempo, e sendo os mesmos uma grande fatia do que nos faz progredir, é um problema considerável.
Já o combate, é mais complexo, e pode até ser algo pessoal, mas foi me passada a impressão de que o sistema não foi feito pensado no combate com múltiplos inimigos, em trechos nesse contexto, as opções pareciam disfuncionais, não senti que estava agradável, mas em combates diretos contra um único inimigo, em especial contra chefes, foi o exato oposto, as mecânicas de combate são mais fluidas e bem mais divertidas.
No entanto, deixadas as ressalvas, é preciso comentar a respeito do que fez Hellblade fazer o barulho que fez quando foi lançado, o primor técnico no que se diz respeito a experiência audiovisual.
É impossível pensar em Hellblade sem relacionar com a necessidade e recomendação de se usar fones de ouvidos para uma experiência completa, e não é a toa. O trabalho feito com a ajuda de neurocientistas na retratação da psicose através dos visuais e principalmente das vozes é sublime, a imersão é inigualável e a mensagem é forte.
Alinhado a uma trilha sonora fantástica, um storytelling impecável e uma atuação de primeira classe de Melina Juergens como Senua, Hellblade é espantoso, principalmente se lembrarmos que tudo partiu de um estúdio independente.
Apesar de gostar do que vi, eu não sei se recomendaria com tanta segurança para qualquer pessoa, mas é definitivamente um trabalho artístico que merece ser experienciado pelo máximo de pessoas possível.
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.
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.
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.
Exemplo de resiliência.
Não é a primeira vez que nos deparamos com personagens psicóticos, transtornados ou com uma bagagem emocional pesada como Isaac Clarke, Max Payne, entre outros. Aqui, acompanhamos a árdua jornada de Senua, uma jovem guerreira que tenta encontrar paz para o seu amado e acima de tudo, para si mesma.
A junção das mitologias nórdica e celta não poderiam ter culminado em uma atmosfera melhor para essa narrativa. Desde os mitos distorcidos que assombravam as mentes desvairadas daquele período até o politeísmo emaranhado nas vidas de todos que se deixavam guiar por ele! Diante disso, temos uma protagonista atormentada, lutando para superar a escuridão que toma conta do seu ser enquanto tentamos entender mais sobre o passado, traumas e perdas que a fizeram chegar a esse ponto.
Falando das mecânicas, o combate é um pouco decepcionante, porém, aceitável e conta com esquivas, um sistema de parry "OK", ataques rápidos e fortes. Alguns puzzles são frustrantes mas bem elaborados, havendo alterações nos cenários em que se encontra e mudando a perspectiva do jogador, oferecendo desafios interessantes. O trabalho de áudio é admirável e a parte visual dispensa comentários, principalmente na versão de PC, que recebeu atualizações trazendo suporte a DX12 e Ray Tracing.
Sendo sincero, só resolvi dar uma chance por conta da sequência já anunciada, entretanto, posso dizer com tranquilidade que o saldo foi positivo. A experiência em si consegue ir além do substancial e se faz bastante necessária em questões importantes, abordando com certa sensibilidade temas delicados e relevantes.
Não é a primeira vez que nos deparamos com personagens psicóticos, transtornados ou com uma bagagem emocional pesada como Isaac Clarke, Max Payne, entre outros. Aqui, acompanhamos a árdua jornada de Senua, uma jovem guerreira que tenta encontrar paz para o seu amado e acima de tudo, para si mesma.
A junção das mitologias nórdica e celta não poderiam ter culminado em uma atmosfera melhor para essa narrativa. Desde os mitos distorcidos que assombravam as mentes desvairadas daquele período até o politeísmo emaranhado nas vidas de todos que se deixavam guiar por ele! Diante disso, temos uma protagonista atormentada, lutando para superar a escuridão que toma conta do seu ser enquanto tentamos entender mais sobre o passado, traumas e perdas que a fizeram chegar a esse ponto.
Falando das mecânicas, o combate é um pouco decepcionante, porém, aceitável e conta com esquivas, um sistema de parry "OK", ataques rápidos e fortes. Alguns puzzles são frustrantes mas bem elaborados, havendo alterações nos cenários em que se encontra e mudando a perspectiva do jogador, oferecendo desafios interessantes. O trabalho de áudio é admirável e a parte visual dispensa comentários, principalmente na versão de PC, que recebeu atualizações trazendo suporte a DX12 e Ray Tracing.
Sendo sincero, só resolvi dar uma chance por conta da sequência já anunciada, entretanto, posso dizer com tranquilidade que o saldo foi positivo. A experiência em si consegue ir além do substancial e se faz bastante necessária em questões importantes, abordando com certa sensibilidade temas delicados e relevantes.
"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.
impressionante condensação de tantos temas tão profundos, talvez os mais profundos de todos, num jogo tão curto e simples, sinceramente admirada por todo esse empenho em expressão. em alguns momentos parece uma instalação virtual, como um trem fantasma cibernético, um pesadelo digital que você entra e só sai ao discernir entre a infinitude de símbolos que te cercam como se livrar de uma escuridão que é tudo que você se lembra.
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.
Não sou lá fã dos puzzles, entretanto a narrativa e storytelling do jogo é ótimo. Ambientação incrível principalmente com fones de ouvido que aumentam demais a experiência, recomendo pra quem tiver paciência pra tankar uns puzzle paia
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.
Sights & Sounds
- When running well (more on that in a minute), the game looks gorgeous. The character modeling, animation, and texture work during cutscenes is particularly great
- The lack of a motion blur toggle was a bit annoying
- The music is haunting, foreboding, and sparse until the credits where it takes a dive for the cheesy
Story & Vibes
- The entire story is pretty depressingly bleak--up to and including the ending and the game's take-home message about letting go
- This is all compounded by the apparently realistically depicted auditory and visual symptoms of psychosis. As the title screen notice reports, the developers interviewed neuroscientists and people with psychotic symptoms in order to provide a window into that world, but I'm no mental health professional, so I can't comment on the accuracy
- Senua's backstory is revealed bit-by-bit, and every one of those bits is depressing. Particularly dour "highlights" include the fate of her mother, the cruelty of her father, and the story of her and her lover
- As good as the story is, it drags a bit in the middle
- Depending on how gripping you find the story and setting, I'd suggest going into the ending blind. The ending is so good and unexpected if it hasn't been spoiled for you
Playability & Replayability
- Despite the sub 9-hour run length, I'm not sure I'm going to revisit this one. Not because it's bad, but because it's taxing
- When I say "taxing" I mean both emotionally (if the story resonates with you) and in terms of the difficulty
- The first and most prominent element of the game's difficulty is the looming threat of permadeath. Dying causes a dark mark to creep a little further up your arm, and dying too many times causes it to eventually reach your head. When this happens, you have to start the game over
- That makes combat a bit more stressful. Resist the urge to button mash. The game rewards good dodge timing (few i-frames), parrying (though learn to recognize the differences between each enemy and boss's light vs. heavy attacks), and guard breaking (with your kick)
- You do get a pretty significant weapon upgrade about 3/4 of the way through the game, and it makes the combat feel way more fun. That said, the game drags in the middle half before you get that upgrade
- There's no shame in lowering your difficulty if you're worried about losing your progress. If you insist on keeping your difficulty on hard, do your best to save your deaths for combat and not the puzzles and stealth segments
- If you feel stuck on one of the puzzles, remember your focus key/button, especially on rune doors. I though I was progression-blocked at one point until I remembered to use it on one
Overall Impressions
- Take some time early on to tweak your settings. On my setup, I found just running it in 1080p was the quickest way to solve the graphical stuttering
- My setup isn't a world-beater by any means, but the game still seems poorly optimized to me. I've run other games with similar or higher graphical capabilities on their highest settings at a great framerate, but I just could not get this one to work perfectly. Compare your specs to mine to see if you'll have an better or worse time running this game
Final Verdict
- 8/10 The price is a little steep for the package. It's a great game that unfortunately gets bogged down a little bit due to how it drags in the middle (you're too weak and not enough of the plot is unveiled). Could be optimized a little better too. In any case, it's definitely worth it during a good sale
- When running well (more on that in a minute), the game looks gorgeous. The character modeling, animation, and texture work during cutscenes is particularly great
- The lack of a motion blur toggle was a bit annoying
- The music is haunting, foreboding, and sparse until the credits where it takes a dive for the cheesy
Story & Vibes
- The entire story is pretty depressingly bleak--up to and including the ending and the game's take-home message about letting go
- This is all compounded by the apparently realistically depicted auditory and visual symptoms of psychosis. As the title screen notice reports, the developers interviewed neuroscientists and people with psychotic symptoms in order to provide a window into that world, but I'm no mental health professional, so I can't comment on the accuracy
- Senua's backstory is revealed bit-by-bit, and every one of those bits is depressing. Particularly dour "highlights" include the fate of her mother, the cruelty of her father, and the story of her and her lover
- As good as the story is, it drags a bit in the middle
- Depending on how gripping you find the story and setting, I'd suggest going into the ending blind. The ending is so good and unexpected if it hasn't been spoiled for you
Playability & Replayability
- Despite the sub 9-hour run length, I'm not sure I'm going to revisit this one. Not because it's bad, but because it's taxing
- When I say "taxing" I mean both emotionally (if the story resonates with you) and in terms of the difficulty
- The first and most prominent element of the game's difficulty is the looming threat of permadeath. Dying causes a dark mark to creep a little further up your arm, and dying too many times causes it to eventually reach your head. When this happens, you have to start the game over
- That makes combat a bit more stressful. Resist the urge to button mash. The game rewards good dodge timing (few i-frames), parrying (though learn to recognize the differences between each enemy and boss's light vs. heavy attacks), and guard breaking (with your kick)
- You do get a pretty significant weapon upgrade about 3/4 of the way through the game, and it makes the combat feel way more fun. That said, the game drags in the middle half before you get that upgrade
- There's no shame in lowering your difficulty if you're worried about losing your progress. If you insist on keeping your difficulty on hard, do your best to save your deaths for combat and not the puzzles and stealth segments
- If you feel stuck on one of the puzzles, remember your focus key/button, especially on rune doors. I though I was progression-blocked at one point until I remembered to use it on one
Overall Impressions
- Take some time early on to tweak your settings. On my setup, I found just running it in 1080p was the quickest way to solve the graphical stuttering
- My setup isn't a world-beater by any means, but the game still seems poorly optimized to me. I've run other games with similar or higher graphical capabilities on their highest settings at a great framerate, but I just could not get this one to work perfectly. Compare your specs to mine to see if you'll have an better or worse time running this game
Final Verdict
- 8/10 The price is a little steep for the package. It's a great game that unfortunately gets bogged down a little bit due to how it drags in the middle (you're too weak and not enough of the plot is unveiled). Could be optimized a little better too. In any case, it's definitely worth it during a good sale
Eu por sofrer com psicoses,sendo diagnosticada com esquizofrenia sempre fiquei com pé atras do medo da obra ser preconceituosa como a maioria das obras que personagens são esquizofrenicos
Erro meu,é uma obra que sua representatividade me fez ser tocada tanto,tudo que a obra fala em relação a sua patologia faz e é super respeitosa com ela, eu nunca me senti como se uma obra tivesse falando diretamente comigo sobre certos assuntos, todo o audio do jogo e toda a maneira que é muito fiel como uma pessoa com psicose se sente em diversos assuntos
fico feliz que a historia tem um final feliz pra personage mmesmo com tanta coisas ruins que acontecem e aceitam que ela é do jeito que ela é mesmo tendo suas complicações da vida
eu não consigo expressar em palavras o quanto esse jogo me tocou,a gameplay não é la dessas coisas, vc só anda faz um puzzle bem meia boca e tem batalhas bem meia bocas, porem a historia e como ela foi tratada com respeito me fazia chorar a cada momento que eu percebia que oque a personagem estava sentindo é igual o que eu mesma sinto e toda a historia e todo o sistema de audio ultrapassa o loop de gameplay pra mim. isso me faz mais animada pra jogar sua continuação
Erro meu,é uma obra que sua representatividade me fez ser tocada tanto,tudo que a obra fala em relação a sua patologia faz e é super respeitosa com ela, eu nunca me senti como se uma obra tivesse falando diretamente comigo sobre certos assuntos, todo o audio do jogo e toda a maneira que é muito fiel como uma pessoa com psicose se sente em diversos assuntos
fico feliz que a historia tem um final feliz pra personage mmesmo com tanta coisas ruins que acontecem e aceitam que ela é do jeito que ela é mesmo tendo suas complicações da vida
eu não consigo expressar em palavras o quanto esse jogo me tocou,a gameplay não é la dessas coisas, vc só anda faz um puzzle bem meia boca e tem batalhas bem meia bocas, porem a historia e como ela foi tratada com respeito me fazia chorar a cada momento que eu percebia que oque a personagem estava sentindo é igual o que eu mesma sinto e toda a historia e todo o sistema de audio ultrapassa o loop de gameplay pra mim. isso me faz mais animada pra jogar sua continuação
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)
unsettling in the best way imaginable
"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 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐
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 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐
Review EN/PTBR
It's like you're on a discord call with your friends giving you backseat all the time
A very well executed work of art with an excellent narrative using Norse (Nordic) mythology very well and an incredible soundtrack, a well done combat that you can get the hang quickly even without a tutorial and one of the best games to use 3D sounds leaving you crazy
I think it's incredible how in the middle of combat several times Senua's voice's saved me by saying "BEHIND YOU" or "WATCH OUT"
I recommend to everyone this incredible journey to the path of darkness for the salvation of the soul of the one you love.
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É como você estivesse em uma call no discord com seus amigos dando backseat no teu ouvido toda hora
Uma obra de arte muito bem executada com uma excelente narrativa utilizando muito bem a mitologia nórdica e uma incrível soundtrack, um combate bem feito e que você pega rápido o jeito mesmo não tento HUD ou tutoriais e um dos melhores jogos a usar sons 3D te deixando louco
Eu acho incrível como em meio ao combate diversas vezes a própria voz da cabeça da Senua me salvou por dizer "BEHIND YOU" ou "WATCH OUT"
Recomendo a todos essa jornada incrível ao caminho da escuridão pela salvação da alma daquele que você ama.
It's like you're on a discord call with your friends giving you backseat all the time
A very well executed work of art with an excellent narrative using Norse (Nordic) mythology very well and an incredible soundtrack, a well done combat that you can get the hang quickly even without a tutorial and one of the best games to use 3D sounds leaving you crazy
I think it's incredible how in the middle of combat several times Senua's voice's saved me by saying "BEHIND YOU" or "WATCH OUT"
I recommend to everyone this incredible journey to the path of darkness for the salvation of the soul of the one you love.
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É como você estivesse em uma call no discord com seus amigos dando backseat no teu ouvido toda hora
Uma obra de arte muito bem executada com uma excelente narrativa utilizando muito bem a mitologia nórdica e uma incrível soundtrack, um combate bem feito e que você pega rápido o jeito mesmo não tento HUD ou tutoriais e um dos melhores jogos a usar sons 3D te deixando louco
Eu acho incrível como em meio ao combate diversas vezes a própria voz da cabeça da Senua me salvou por dizer "BEHIND YOU" ou "WATCH OUT"
Recomendo a todos essa jornada incrível ao caminho da escuridão pela salvação da alma daquele que você ama.