Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

The story follows along from begining to end. The fighting is impressive. Would have liked to see more fighiting moves. Graphics are good.

Hellblade was a fantastic experience overall but with a couple very big issues. One major issue with it was was the puzzles. I despised the many puzzles where you had to find a specific rune shape hidden somewhere in the near area. This doesn’t sound bad but it is extremely frustrating when you have found this shape and are focusing on it but the game refuses to recognize this until you move an inch or two to the right or left to get lined up just how they want it. That and sometimes the shape would not be a static image but you would have to stand in such a way that a couple tree branches form the shape. I was in an angry state by the end as these make up the bulk of the game’s puzzles. The combat itself is fairly good for the most part with the exception of the fact that the game would auto focus on a specific enemy and would switch target when it deemed it best which leaves you open to attack from other sides easier. The overall presentation of Hellblade was simply amazing. The music was well used and always fit the mood well. The voice acting was superb by all involved. The facial expressions captured for Senua were the best I have ever seen. The graphics were fantastic, everything from the clothing detail; facial features; world detail; lighting; shadows; all was just top notch and had a great direction to it. In particular there is a scene where you’re supposed to be wading through a bloody river full of corpses in what I can imagine would be representative of “Hell” that was by far the creepiest version of Hell I have ever seen. There was one scene where the lip syncing was mistimed with the voice acting but it only lasted a minute or so. I would have also liked to see an option for a map added or some kind of direction identifier as some parts were very difficult to navigate. I will also say that the representations of auditory and visual hallucinations seemed authentic and well done.

Ich kann die ein oder andere Kritik an dem Titel verstehen. Aber meiner Meinung nach, auch im Hinblick auf Erfahrungen mit psychischen Krankheiten, ist das Spiel genau so, wie es sein muss. Es braucht die langen Laufwege mit Backtracking, es braucht Kämpfe gegen annähernd immer gleiche Gegner, es ist genau richtig, dass die Gebiete logisch, historisch oder auch mythologisch betrachtet stellenweise "falsch" aussehen. All das spiegelt genau den Geist von Senua wieder. Wenn man sich auf all das einlassen kann, wenn man es versteht, dann gibt man dafür locker 4/5 Sterne. Wenn man sich davon berühren lässt, hat man eines der besten Spielerlebnisse des letzten Jahrzehnts, daher gibt es von mir 5/5.

Geez the visual are so amazing, the gameplay the voice and everything what offers are beyound remarkable I kinda say I love it. The hack and slash is awesome too idk yet if you have much combos in the game then the combination with kick and heavy attack or kick and fast attack but meh I'm here for the story Definitely I'm gonna recommend this for everyone who's interested in story to buy it. Thanks Ninja Theory for making such an awesome game. I like the combat system too 10/10

Right, negatives out of the way first: 1) you are denied a very important piece of backstory if you miss any one of the hidden collectables that are hidden in each section of the game; 2) the acting feels a wee bit melodramatic, but it works. OK, now that's out of the way, the rest of the game is an amazing, harrowing experience. The studio's prior experience with melee combat shines like a polished gem with this game's fluid combat system with seamless animation transitions. While there is not much variety in the enemies you face, I never found myself tiring from the fights. It may have been how the fights are spaced out in the game. In between fighting, the game feels a bit more like what are often called "walking simulators" (I use the term affectionately here) with a strong psychological-horror slant. There are some repetitive "find the symbol in the environment" puzzles, but just as many more unique sections.