Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

With the coming of Hellblade 2 i feel like i could do my part and leave a comment to the first game. Many people already pointed out the repetitive gameplay, which is true, the game fights really are repetitive, you'll see the same movesets again and again, but the feedback is still satisfactory to the end. Levels are also very linear so be prepared for walking simulator in the lands of Viking madness. It's a good thing that the game is short (5-8h depending on your ability to speedrun and your will to get all collectibles), there aren't that many levels, and the amount of bosses is actually enough. Puzzles are uninspired but at least they are not really challenging and you don't have Atreus screaming his lungs every 2 seconds to help you with them. The story is good enough. You're basically one of the voices in Senua's head and since you're "new" you'll have the pleasure to discover many things. I am not a fan of flashbacks explaining the background as the story goes on, but it's good here. What's really the main selling point for Hellblade is the visuals. You could just take screenshots of the game as you progress and it would still make a good wallpaper. The faces have lots of emotions, the setting has insane details and the art direction punches your guts non stop. Each level feels unique, and cinematics should have deserved to be scene in theaters. Make sure to have at least the recommended configuration to play the game at max settings in 1080p, you won't regret it. The soundtrack is very cool, but i won't listen to it when doing parties or work from home. It's very an epic, somewhat depressing and sometimes violent OST, but it's worth listening as an audio experience too. Lots of work and love went into that game for sure. It's an insane audio-visual experience, a good story, but an average game if you put gameplay on top of everything.

After playing 3 hours and half I think I can write a review; I'm confident that the rest of the game will be more or less similar. This is not a game for action fans. There is no astounding gameplay, nor combat or puzzles. It's true: combat is repetitive, puzzles are quite boring. The action is just a pretext. It's all about narration and atmosphere, and in these two areas the game is perfect. There's a balance between psychological and magical that is respected in all the dialogues and in the whole narration. It's the story of a curse or the story of a schizophrenic girl? Or both? Or none of them? This ambiguity helps to search for a metaphorical reading, and the gameplay is all thought in that direction. All the actions you do, all the encounters and combats, have beneath them the power of a deeper meaning. So: don't ever think that this is a game for action lovers. It's not. But if you love deep (and quite disturbing) stories, told in a unusual way, this is a must play.

This product would have been a great movie but unfortunately the developers decided to publish it as a game. It is one of the very rare games I've never finished although I was very interested in the story. The fight agains the first boss was already an instant kill for my motivation. If the developers will add a pure story mode where players can skip all "fights" I may resume the game to continue the story ... as it is right now it's more a "game controler mandatory" piece of crap.

Magnificent story, which is presented in magnificent way. Graphics, music, and gameplay are important, but they are only servants or greater purpose - to tell the story of madness and how to recover mind from it. Why only 4/5? I think some fighting episodes was too hard - not because of enemies, but because of some camera issues. Also one of bosses is very hard to beat because of flashes on screen. Nethertheless, definately must-buy game.

I'm a veteran gamer, I'm not shy of challenges, but my oh my do the "boss battles" in this game detract from an incredible experience. Wonderful graphics, superb sound and atmosphere let down by a hard fighting mechanic that needs a story mode.