Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Just finished playing this. I bought this 5 months ago,and shelved it in favor of other activities. Being honest: I wasn't expecting much from it. On the surface, it looked like it might be a second rate Tomb Raider clone with some mental health undertones thrown in. Having just beaten the game, I can say I was egregiously wrong. This game is, quite simply, a phenomenal experience unlike any other. Unwavering in its intensity from start to finish, the game throws you into a world filled with despair and anguish, and challenges you to be good enough to make it through. The storyline is exceptional. The cast is exceptional. The game is exceptional. With that said, the game is not a happy one: trigger warnings for mental illness, body horror, acrophobia, and general intensity. Much of the game's involves the emotional trauma of the main character, and you spend much of the game inside her head, hearing her thoughts, and experiencing her emotional state as if it were your own. This is, again, exceptionally well done...and can be jarring in just how intense it becomes. Gameplay wise, the game is hard: there is very little hand-holding, quite a lot of moderately challenging puzzles, and somewhat unforgiving combat sequences. More than once, I went from leaning back in my chair casually trying to solve a puzzle, to sitting up, aggressively gripping my mouse, and yelling at the screen as I dispatched a group of enemies. The combat system is a little tricky at first, but quickly becomes second nature, and adds an exceptionally fun aspect to what is an otherwise extremely intense game. While not for everyone, I personally loved this game, and consider it easily one of my top favorite games in recent memory. I would wholeheartedly encourage anyone who's looking for an intense, visceral gaming experience, to give this a try.

This is a a bit tricky to truly review without giving away too much. At its gameplay core, Senua's Sacrifice is a third person action adventure game about fighting through a norse underworld to get a loved one back. But, it's a *lot* more than that. The game has to be played either with headphones or a surround system to work - seriously, do *not* try it without either of those, it'll lose 90%+ of its magic. But with it, you'll get an experience unlike any other game here as voices yell at you in the back of your head, the world around you goes crazy and so do you, slowly.

Bought the game to understand the perspective of a family member with mental illness better. It was sobering and helped my understanding of her situation which simple words could never describe. Educational. Priceless. Big thank you to all the research done by the developers!

A very unique game. It is a short-ish 7-12 hours, but I found the replay value very good, not that it is much different the next time, just that I liked it that much and did not tire of it. I've played through it about 4 times and am ready for another. I'm not usually too picky about "story" but this one was very, good and well told. It is not non-stop action, it's not that kind of game, but enough to keep it moving right along. I found the combat simple, very good, and natural feeling (best on gamepad for sure, but easily played on KB+M too) once you get the hang of it. I actually wished there was a bit more "combat time". The binaural audio (crazy person voices in your ear) is super well done, and headphones really does enhance the effect.

A true contribution to the Art of the Videogame. This game is more story than game play. The game play is simple, but perfectly suited to the needs of the game itself. The true majesty of the game is it's story. Here it shines above all else. Again, not the best story ever told, but indeed the best executed for its choosen art and acting of the main character. She did an awesome job. The strength of this game is as a whole, all parts fitting together in a real masterpiece.