Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

So I've been playing Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Norse myth, PTSD, and brilliant and unsettling story and atmosphere: been a long time since I played a PC game this absorbing. Those of you who enjoy Viking mythology should give this one a long look, assuming you don't find the unsettling psychological component too unsettling. Really a remarkable example of a computer game ascending to the level of art.

This game is phenomenal. Its story is really quite intense and is told so well, it makes you feel with the main character. The matter the game deals with is quite tough (as you will know), but it does not leave you helpless or depressed in the end. Quite the opposite. It shows how the main character deals with her traumata and fights back. Her strength, or should I say, her weakness is quite impressing and touching. You won't see this in many games. Besides, the graphics and style of this game is just superb, too. I found myself gazing at the monitor so many times. I would say this is nothing short of a milestone in computer games. A recommendation for sure.

To say that story of Senua is just "a game" is like to say that A Space Odyssey from Stanley Kubrick is just "a movie". Story of Senua will remain in your mind for very long time after you finish the game. You will not forget that experience. It will remain with you.... and it may even change your way of thinking, or your way of looking at the world or people "you know". And if you know someone with psychosis, this game is an open book to his / her mind. A book opened for us, to see what we never knew, never dreamed of, never expected to be happening in the minds of people who are close to us. This story will shake you. Well, it is, what it has done to me.

Firstly, check if your PC can run this, mine chugged, even on low. On highest settings, this game will be extremely pleasant to look at. But if you're running an older PC, the gameplay itself will still hold up with the "low" settings. The game can get very intense... combat is fun, not so complicated that you'll need to go looking up moves (Bayonetta), but not so simple that you can just mash buttons (also Bayonetta... badum-tsh). The enemies make you vary up your strategies, and the bosses themselves are pretty good. What I mean though, is that the environment/sound/atmosphere gets very intense. They do a good job emulating various nightmare scenarios... and they don't do this just by throwing up jump scares and using "scary monsters", there are a lot of well done segments. This isn't a "fast" or "fluid" game, but perhaps like that by design. That's not to say that combat is clunky, but just that navigating the environment feels a bit dated. Overall, this is a really good title, and for the price you pay, it's definitely worth it.

This is one of the best games I played recently. Everything from story, gameplay, to graphics and audio si very well done and everything blends together perfectly. The mental illness (psychosis) exploration is also something that makes this game unique. Definitely recommend. I might even play it again sometime, if only for the headphone experience (yes, I did not use headphones and I regret it). Please buy this and support an awesome development team!