Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Beatiful graphics, outstanding sound design and a thrilling story, an epic adventure with an underlying tragedy that mirrors reality, even in the 21st century The combat is basic but serviceable, the gameplay is minimalistic, some basic puzzle solving with no HUD, but don't let this fool you, it serves the purpose of the story SOPILERS AHEAD Many games have tried to portray mental illness, usually relying on the macabre and grotesque, trying to hide the "truth" in a plot twist. That is not the case in hellblade, since the very beggining you notice something is not right and as you progress through the game the backstory is slowly revealed, there's no plot twist, there's no secret, just memories of Senua's past, slowly showing you how she was abused by her father, found her hope just to be stigmatized by her condition and finally suffered a relapse due to the trauma of Dillion's death. Because the psychosis and schizophrenia its just a backdrop, and the true journey of Senua is a duel, mourning in anger and fear the loss of her love, the only person that saw beyond her "curse" and gave her hope and peace. The sound design is amazing, sometimes I just had to stop moving just to look around and hear the voices, with their mostly negative remarks, there's no HUD, but the voices tell you all you need to know "look" ""you're in danger" "behind you" "focus", I think this decision by the developers was genius, it makes you feel more immersed, and after 9 hours of hearing them nonstop you start questioning your own sanity. I loved when Senua talked directly to me like if I was just another voice inside her head, or how strange I felt whe I was looking at the final cutscene form Hela's perspective. I truly loved this game, I am pleased I finished in a single session on the hardest difficulty, at the end I was as tired as Senua looked but all I wanted was to hug her and tell her everything was going to be ok There's no true permadeath (told you there were spoilers)

The game is superb. It is not perfect, and no game is, but I have played this game 4 times already. 4 doesn't seem much, exept that at the very core, this is a story, with inmersion game. It is not mean to be replayed multiple times. There is no rocket launcher, or special item. The achivements are quite easy to get in the first play thru even, so why play it 4 times? Well, the second was because I had just upgraded my video card and I remembered the game stuttering with everything on high on a few places so I wanted to check it out...A few hours later I was already half way thru the game. That should give you an indication. I did not mean to play the game again, and I did. Then I did again. And tonight I did again. Combat is interesting. It has been done, but it is slow and deliverate, which fits the mood of the game. Although people complain it is repetitive, there isn't much of it, and I have discovered better ways to fight. The collectibles make you wonder and explore a little, but it is not the main point of the game, and do not distract from the game (totally oposite of the Batman Arkham games). They are like 90% easy to find, because they mainly explain the backstory of Druth. The puzles, it doesn't have anything hard. Not too easy, not hard that you will need a guide. You have to enjoy the game without using extra help. Graphics are top notch. There are a few sections that look flat, but generally they fit the game perfectly. Story..Ahh, this is the main part. It is not a story full of mistery and twists, but it is a thoughtful and profound story. Half way thru the game you will have ideas on how it end, and that is OK, because how the story is delivered is the best part....which takes us to... INMERSION. This is the part that many games don't do well, but Senua is a masterpiece. The reason I played it multiple times. You have to use headphones and I generally dont. It is thought to explain, but if you have to go to hell, Senua shows you how it is done.

This game showcases an amazing use of gaming as a media to tell a compelling story and immerse the player. It is not too long, is around 50/50 on puzzle and fighting, and doesn't shy away from using cut scenes, but all of these points is balanced just as they should be for this kind of game. It is in some sense one of a kind.

Impressive voice acting, very dark atmosphere, good graphics. Fighting could have been a bit more dynamic in terms of how the character is able to move when locked onto an enemy. It becomes somewhat difficult to move around properly. Since there's no tutorial I had to look up the control scheme in the options menu which I thought could have been done better. Generally there's a lot more fighting than I expected. If you allow yourself to be immersed in the story you will forgive some of the flaws (which are certainly not game breaking) because you will be in it for the experience and it is worth it.

Best acting I've ever seen in a game (and the main character was played by their editor)! Really impactful, plenty of story, plenty to look at, and a bit of pacing between action and exploration. Great use of animation and facial expressions.