This game is like a playable art house film, and the playability adds a lot. Aside from one instance where the narrative bleeding into the gameplay kind of misses, the game from beginning to an is pretty focused with its design. It knows when to let the player take reigns and when you take it away to tell them the story. The pacing is great and succinct. The cinematography is stellar. Even the combat is good, even if it may be janky some times. It fits perfectly into what the game is going for, which is not some hack n slash Dynasty Warriors type shit.

And I love the story and setting. I actually didn't know and expect the game to be heavily based in Norse mythology, and also have one of the best, most realistic takes on it. It manages to turn something as ancient and disconnected from us as Norse mythology into a really relatable and personal story about suffering, fighting your demons, not fitting in, and the long history of women being treated like furniture throughout ages.

I really hope Hellblade 2 is firstly as good as this, and also achieves the success it deserves. These are the games that are important to gaming as an art form and we need more of. I'm gonna be super bummed if Ninja Theory suffers the same fate as Arkane and Tango games...