Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Wow. The game is just an experience out of this world. Not "just some fantasy world", but the very real world inside someone's head. And made into a very good game, too. The story is interesting and well told. The graphics are excellent, beautiful and terrifying. The puzzle parts are just of the right type not to break the immersion. The fight system is rather simple, but meaningful and interesting, even though the enemies are maybe a little bit too repetitive. The acting, together with the face motion capture, was so realistic that it was sometimes easy to forget it's a game and not a movie, or reality... And after finishing the game, I recommend watching the movie about how much work was put into the game, I mean especially work with mental health specialists and patients - this makes many aspects of the game even more meaningful. It's very impressive how much effort was put in the project, especially given the difficult topic it talks about. Honestly, this game is one of the most impressive I've played in a long time.

The Bulk of the game is you running around (like a snail) completing mind nubing puzzles which consist mostly of running in a linear path and pressing a button and watching a dragged out cutscene. The main characters fighting animations are just bad, it looks like she's swinging a really heavy foam sword which after a couple hits that seem to do nothing send enemies flying even though it's the exact same hit as before. The bosses are pretty uninspired too. voice acting is not that great, music's not that great, landscapes are a mixed bag of beatiful and just a couple of rocks.

Let's get this out of the way: Hellblade is a stunning experience in terms of story, graphics, music, atmoshphere and presenation. Obviously a lot of thought and work went into this and Hellblade is an experience I would recommend readily. Even the puzzles are really well done in my eyes. The one aspect where this game falls short is in its combat. It is not interesting at all. You have two kinds of attacks, a block and dodge and that is about it. Enemies are slow and can be parried or evaded with ease most of the time. This is pretty basic and forgettable and does, luckily, not overstay its welcome. That being said, as a whole I wholeheartedly recommend Hellblade. It is one hell of a haunting and disturbing, but at the same time beautiful experience.

Ok. I suffer from anxiety issues and some other stuff, and this pretty much hit the mark on that. My "Voices" are non verbal and are more images and feelings, and are probably not as intense as this, but otherwise it pretty much nails the experience of being constantly pulled and pushed by these bloody things that will not go away. I HIGHLY recommend you play with headphones to get this experience. If you just play from a screen I can imagine it would get annoying very quickly. The world is wonderfully detailed, the acting seems to be really good, and the Developers heart seems to be in the right place with what they were trying to do. The PROBLEM is the combat. I have not played the Light heavy counter combat style of game before., and I cant do it. That second fight had be dying over and over even on easy mode. I literally have no idea what I'm doing, and my one "voices" came roaring in telling me how useless I was and I just hit the exit button as I couldn't deal with it. Couldn't the game least give a tutorial to let you know what each combat button does? And honestly, I don't think the story needs the Random combat at all. It would probably suit the Bosses, but I didn't get that far. An option to forgo most of the combat would really help, as I see people complaining about the combat all over. So ya, this is my experience of the game after a few hours of play. I would love to continue more into the game, but the first second fight is a brick wall and it's just against the most basic gits. Maybe I can pull myself together enough to try it again and learn it, but right now it will be a few days. Infuriating.

... although a bit boring one from time to time. Ok, so, let's get one thing immediately straight - if you're looking for a God of War kinda game, or even Assassin's Creed franchise - walk on, this won't cut it for you. I admit, even to myself there were a moments in game when I found it a bit dull / boring. Run, solve puzzle, fight some guys, backtrack to the doors. It gets repetitive. And running part should have been done in such way that character moves faster, not just trotting around. But anyways. Graphics: 10/10 Immersion: 9/10 Finale: 20/10 Replayability: 6/10 Story: 8/10 Innovation:: 10/10 I've just finished a game and... it ha left it's mark on me... can't remember when was the last time that the game did. Way back, in the days of Microsoft Starlancer and first Sequel of Deus Ex, I guess. But yeah. Game is more of an artistic cinematic expression attemt melded into the PC gaming world, than of an actual PC title. And as such, it won't fit to everyone. But it's a helluva beautiful experience. Would I play it again? Well, let's just say that I also own a VR version of the game, and I'm seriously considering purchase of an VR set, just due to this game. Overall verdict? Very positive, suprisingly creative experience. A tads of boringness here and there, but overall a must try, especially if you like non-generic and inovative titles.