Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice intensifies the abnormalities surrounding psychosis through a visceral journey into the hellish underworld of Norse mythology, bravely blending a neurological deficiency with a dark fantastical hack-and-slash interactive experience.
WHAT I LIKED:
+ "The hardest battles are fought in the mind". Psychosis is the mental condition resulting in difficulties when determining what is reality and what is fantasy, such as suffering with delusions and hallucinations. Senua, a Celtic warrior, strives to travel to Helheim to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the Norse goddess of death Hela. Throughout her perilous journey, she becomes afflicted with a curse which conjures otherworldly enemies for Senua to combat and haunts her mind with the voices of darkness. Upon failure, the curse overwhelms her body and rots her flesh until she is no more. Ninja Theory's writer Antoniades, along with several neuroscientists and mental health specialists, sublimely supply a metaphor throughout Senua's Sacrifice that uniquely approaches the condition without forcing Senua to be a conduit for the condition. Through the use of backstory and heightened memories, Senua instantly becomes a fleshed out character without embodying the mental condition as a gimmick. She is not defined by the condition, rather the player experiences the turmoil with her. Subconsciously internalising the world to which she perceives it. It is, without a doubt, a masterful representation of a tricky mental condition to convey through art. To conceive a compelling narrative, build a melancholic world and raise awareness on psychosis, is nothing short of genius.
+ "A life without loss is one without love". Senua, captured in full motion capture by the talented Melina Juergens, is a performance to be reckoned with. The ferocity through the psychological horror. The tenacity through her unwavering determination. The fury buried deep with her, as she unleashes her anger out upon the world. It is breathtakingly intense. From the glares into the player's soul, to the vehement screams as she crumbles to the ground. For the entirety of her quest, Senua along with player will struggle to breathe. The inclusion of live action performances, reflecting her memories, and integral voice acting narration which act as verbal indications for the player, are purposefully designed to fit around Senua's condition. And it works, effortlessly.
+ "You destroyed everything! Everyone! But not me! Fight me now!". Blending a variety of genres, the core game mechanic ultimately relies on its hack-and-slash roots. Senua is provided with limited moves, such as a light/heavy attack and blocking capabilities. However the beauty of Senua's combat, despite its limitations, is how tight the controls are. Every slash of her sword and every dodge from oncoming enemy attacks felt instantly responsive, with a satisfying weight to them. The narrative is the key focus, therefore the combat's complexities are simplified to allow Hellblade to be as accessible as it can be, along with difficulty settings for the combat encounters.
+ In blindness, there can be wisdom; only by giving, can you receive in return". Along with the intense combat sequences and scenes of horrific nature, Senua has the ability to "focus" on runes and other visual distortions that correspond to the condition of psychosis. Elements and mechanics that are not visible for anyone else. These puzzling elements involve the player to use the environment to create runes, travel between a past and present world and mend broken shards to form a new path. Whilst not challenging, these moments allowed Hellblade to slow down the pace and breathe, building upon Senua as a character and the central narrative metaphor.
+ "Turn your back on death and you only see the shadow that it casts". Ninja Theory pulled one of the greatest implications in a linear game ever: permadeath. The correlation between erasing the player's save data if Senua dies too many times and the way fear is introduced to a person. The fact that this mechanic was a bluff all along proves how fear can be a catalyst for mental illness, and for many it kept them on their toes throughout the 4-5 hour game.
WHAT I DISLIKED:
- "This is the price she pays for seeing things differently". Hellblade is a work of art. It truly, truly is. A short intense gaming experience like no other. Yet, more often that not, the inconsistent pacing threw me off course. The blending of game mechanics was not as seamless as it could've been. The first act balancing the combat with the puzzle solving intuitively, as Senua faces two illusory trials. The second act, involving memory shards, was absent of combat and solely relied on puzzle solving. Then the conclusive third act, Senua approaching Helheim, focused on endless hordes of enemies to slay without incorporating any of the new puzzle mechanics that were previously introduced. From a gameplay perspective, Hellblade is too segregated and vastly ambitious with its ideas, that it cannot perfectly merge them all together in a cohesive way. Ultimately separating the supremely artistic narrative from the occasionally cumbersome core game.
VERDICT:
9/10 rune totems
WHAT I LIKED:
+ "The hardest battles are fought in the mind". Psychosis is the mental condition resulting in difficulties when determining what is reality and what is fantasy, such as suffering with delusions and hallucinations. Senua, a Celtic warrior, strives to travel to Helheim to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the Norse goddess of death Hela. Throughout her perilous journey, she becomes afflicted with a curse which conjures otherworldly enemies for Senua to combat and haunts her mind with the voices of darkness. Upon failure, the curse overwhelms her body and rots her flesh until she is no more. Ninja Theory's writer Antoniades, along with several neuroscientists and mental health specialists, sublimely supply a metaphor throughout Senua's Sacrifice that uniquely approaches the condition without forcing Senua to be a conduit for the condition. Through the use of backstory and heightened memories, Senua instantly becomes a fleshed out character without embodying the mental condition as a gimmick. She is not defined by the condition, rather the player experiences the turmoil with her. Subconsciously internalising the world to which she perceives it. It is, without a doubt, a masterful representation of a tricky mental condition to convey through art. To conceive a compelling narrative, build a melancholic world and raise awareness on psychosis, is nothing short of genius.
+ "A life without loss is one without love". Senua, captured in full motion capture by the talented Melina Juergens, is a performance to be reckoned with. The ferocity through the psychological horror. The tenacity through her unwavering determination. The fury buried deep with her, as she unleashes her anger out upon the world. It is breathtakingly intense. From the glares into the player's soul, to the vehement screams as she crumbles to the ground. For the entirety of her quest, Senua along with player will struggle to breathe. The inclusion of live action performances, reflecting her memories, and integral voice acting narration which act as verbal indications for the player, are purposefully designed to fit around Senua's condition. And it works, effortlessly.
+ "You destroyed everything! Everyone! But not me! Fight me now!". Blending a variety of genres, the core game mechanic ultimately relies on its hack-and-slash roots. Senua is provided with limited moves, such as a light/heavy attack and blocking capabilities. However the beauty of Senua's combat, despite its limitations, is how tight the controls are. Every slash of her sword and every dodge from oncoming enemy attacks felt instantly responsive, with a satisfying weight to them. The narrative is the key focus, therefore the combat's complexities are simplified to allow Hellblade to be as accessible as it can be, along with difficulty settings for the combat encounters.
+ In blindness, there can be wisdom; only by giving, can you receive in return". Along with the intense combat sequences and scenes of horrific nature, Senua has the ability to "focus" on runes and other visual distortions that correspond to the condition of psychosis. Elements and mechanics that are not visible for anyone else. These puzzling elements involve the player to use the environment to create runes, travel between a past and present world and mend broken shards to form a new path. Whilst not challenging, these moments allowed Hellblade to slow down the pace and breathe, building upon Senua as a character and the central narrative metaphor.
+ "Turn your back on death and you only see the shadow that it casts". Ninja Theory pulled one of the greatest implications in a linear game ever: permadeath. The correlation between erasing the player's save data if Senua dies too many times and the way fear is introduced to a person. The fact that this mechanic was a bluff all along proves how fear can be a catalyst for mental illness, and for many it kept them on their toes throughout the 4-5 hour game.
WHAT I DISLIKED:
- "This is the price she pays for seeing things differently". Hellblade is a work of art. It truly, truly is. A short intense gaming experience like no other. Yet, more often that not, the inconsistent pacing threw me off course. The blending of game mechanics was not as seamless as it could've been. The first act balancing the combat with the puzzle solving intuitively, as Senua faces two illusory trials. The second act, involving memory shards, was absent of combat and solely relied on puzzle solving. Then the conclusive third act, Senua approaching Helheim, focused on endless hordes of enemies to slay without incorporating any of the new puzzle mechanics that were previously introduced. From a gameplay perspective, Hellblade is too segregated and vastly ambitious with its ideas, that it cannot perfectly merge them all together in a cohesive way. Ultimately separating the supremely artistic narrative from the occasionally cumbersome core game.
VERDICT:
9/10 rune totems
Reviewed on Jun 10, 2022