Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Well, I just completed Senua's Sacrifice for the first time. And it was a really unique experience. This game made me feel for the protagonist (Senua) in ways never thought a video game could ever make me feel about a fictional character. It's like I wanted HER to succeed more than I wanted to complete the game. Her portrayal is so perfect, so spot on, so real that you cannot help but feel sympathy and support for her cause. This game is all about immersion and it says it so from the beginning (best experienced with headphones). And My! Oh! My! Does it deliver! Seriously, headphones are a MUST for that game. Besides immersion, the graphics are really great, especially from a small(ish) studio. And the gameplay mechanics are simple, but very functional. Combat is fun. It's not arcade style fast or dark souls tactical. It's somewhere in the middle; though closer to arcade than dark souls. It would just have been nice to have at least a mini combat tutorial in the beginning (took me a couple fights to figure out that if you focus during fights, it'll slow time and that the "melee attack" button is actually a guard breaker), but besides that, everything is seamless. Puzzles usually require you to find runes "interpreted" from the surroundings. It may sound weird, but if you've seen the dev blogs, you know why. The game is linear (sorry, no open world), but in this case, i feel it was justified to achieve the level of immersion they got. Three major things happened to me playing Senua's Sacrifice. 1- It was the first time I had the feeling of longing after completing the game. The like of feeling you get after completing an excellent book. 2- It was the first time a game got to me so strongly I just sat through the credits looking at the screen and pondering on what just happened. Is it really over? Am I going to miss the little voices? Should I play again right now? Or maybe I was just sitting in awe at the incredible uniqueness of that game and the courage of the dev team to picture such a special and strong protagonist. So, to the devs, my deepest thanks go to you. This was an experience to remember.

This is an incredibly unique and well-made game with stellar production values including top notch graphics, phenomenal voice acting, and an engaging story. It has passable combat and fairly easy to solve perspective-based environmental puzzle mechanics, but it is very much primarily a story-driven game. I definitely would recommend this game, if nothing else, for its incredibly unique experience. Gameplay: The gameplay is story-driven and involves a mix of solving perspective-based environmental puzzles interspersed with light combat sequences. I personally found the environmental puzzles pretty easy since all they really require is looking at the environment and thinking about how various pieces could be combined. However, I suspect that impatient gamers might not enjoy this particular aspect of the game since it does take a bit of patience. That said, given a huge part of the game is about seeing things from a different perspective, I feel it fits very well. The combat is decent in that you have a reasonable combination of moves-- light sword attack, heavy sword attack, kick, evade, sprint, block, focus -- along with a perfect counter and dodge system that help you build up focus where you can activate a sort of frenzy mode. It also handles multiple enemies quite well with the voices in your head providing guidance such as saying "Behind you!" and "Evade!" when this things really are happening in the game. I feel like the primary weakness with the combat that only makes it passable is there really isn't much variety in the types of enemies and you only have a sword the entire game, so it does get a bit repetitive by the end. Graphics: The graphics are definitely one of the strong points of this game and are absolutely gorgeous. They are incredibly detailed and range between photo realistic to intentionally surreal. The graphics showcased in the trailer videos do accurately depict the in-game graphics unlike so many trailers these days. Sound: The sound is another superbly well done area of the game. It has a ton of atmosphere and makes use of binaural audio that make headphones really important and truly provides a great 3D perspective to the sounds. You can tell which direction things are coming from and the game has various mechanics that evne take advantage of this fact. The voice acting is excellent and the way in which it is used is likely what makes this game so unique. The cacophony of voices in your head constantly give you conflicting information such as one of them mocking you while another encourages you makes it so you have to learn what to listen to and what not to listen to. A+! Replay Value: This is one of the few negatives of the game and a primary reason I only rated it 4 stars despite having so many other fantastic qualities. There is basically no replay value at all since once you have solved the puzzles and been through the story, nothing will change on future plays. Fun Factor: I really had a blast playing this game. It's the first game in a while that binge played from start to finish without stopping. The story really drew me right from the start and kept me engaged all the way to the end.

The game is a very pretty walking simulator with time gating puzzles and some cookie cutter combat tacked on. The overall difficulty is very easy. The story and main character, Senua, are the principle marketing pieces and Ninja Theory mostly succeded in their design, especially considering the size of the team, but don't expect some masterpiece. Objectively, the best part of the game is the tech (graphics, motion capture) and the environmental design. You're gonna spend the vast majority of the time walking around, backtracking and watching countless in-game cinematics, so you might as well enjoy the polish of the Unreal Engine. The worst part of the game is the slow movement speed, even while running and the constant backtracking interrupted by poor combat mechanics that demands very little skill from the player. That being said, you won't miss much by grabbing some popcorn and just watching a Youtube playthrough. The game is 100% linear, there are no branching story paths and has almost no replay value. Worth it on sale since if you want a more relaxing game but at full price, there are far better options.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a game that left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, the game's graphics and sound design are outstanding, delivering a truly immersive and atmospheric experience. The use of binaural audio is particularly impressive, creating a sense of presence that few other games can match. However, where Hellblade falls short is in its gameplay. While the combat can be satisfying at times, it ultimately feels repetitive and lacks the depth of other action games. Additionally, the puzzles can be frustratingly obtuse, requiring trial and error rather than clever thinking to solve. Overall, while Hellblade's technical achievements are impressive, the gameplay leaves something to be desired. If you're looking for a game with stunning visuals and audio, it's worth checking out. But if you're looking for engaging gameplay that will keep you hooked for hours, you may want to look elsewhere. Horizon Zero Dawn Forbidden West is on my PC wish list next!

+ Great graphic design + Flawless sounds and music (headphones are a must) + Good storytelling + Challenging boss fights - Repetitive, basic and sometimes "unfair" fighting mechanics (5 basic enemy types, if you get encircled there is no way to fight and enemies can spawn behind you, lock on system is very limiting and you get stuck in environment) - Puzzles become tedious and boring after a while - Has some part that are a walking simulator (backtracking etc.), -/+ No replayability and short game time but it is reflected by the price Conclusion: It has shown some serious dedication from the devs and thanks that it is worth the price. If they manage to improve upon basic gameplay loop in the future it will be great.