Topher
Gold Member
Took me nearly 10 hours, but I tend to take breaks and leave the game running. So probably around 8 hours of actual playtime.
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Took me nearly 10 hours, but I tend to take breaks and leave the game running. So probably around 8 hours of actual playtime.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Took me nearly 10 hours, but I tend to take breaks and leave the game running. So probably around 8 hours of actual playtime.
100% achievements took me 11hrs 5min exactly.
Gamer_By_Proxy
Member
Took me just under 9 hours and I know I paused some here and there cause it kicked me off the Xbox cloud. I played most of it streaming to my Steamdeck.Took me nearly 10 hours, but I tend to take breaks and leave the game running. So probably around 8 hours of actual playtime.
The more I think about this game the worse it gets in my eyes. Ha! The lack of boss fights and that crawling part right after the long ass cave part. When she started crawling I thought the game was fuckin with me.
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Mr Moose
Member
Took me nearly 10 hours, but I tend to take breaks and leave the game running. So probably around 8 hours of actual playtime.
It must count paused time, right? I paused a few times for coffee/pizza breaks and watching random YouTube videos (also played Honkai Star Rail while I was walking at the start of this game).
ChorizoPicozo
Member
are you related to Punished Miku?
Gamerguy84
Member
I'm just glad my style of game seems to be acceptable again. There for a while it was like everyone against 3rd person, cinematic, story driven games. There were entire threads dedicated against them.
Bernardougf
Gold Member
Ohh its very much acceptable now... its a miracle!
Freelance Yakuza
Member
Hellblade is like a 3D FMV game.
That said,I played 40 minutes of Hellblade II. It's interesting, yes. These 40 minutes were better than the first hour of the previous game, but there was much less gameplay.
If they took the first boss battle and used it to expand throughout the game, we'd have something really cool here.
Maybe there's a timeline where the dev opted to release it as a series or movie and found success. I wish I could say they chose the wrong medium, but I honestly doubt it would have an audience.
If Xbox were in a better place, I think we'd have more people defending the game and saying it's something experimental with potential for the future.
That said,I played 40 minutes of Hellblade II. It's interesting, yes. These 40 minutes were better than the first hour of the previous game, but there was much less gameplay.
If they took the first boss battle and used it to expand throughout the game, we'd have something really cool here.
Maybe there's a timeline where the dev opted to release it as a series or movie and found success. I wish I could say they chose the wrong medium, but I honestly doubt it would have an audience.
If Xbox were in a better place, I think we'd have more people defending the game and saying it's something experimental with potential for the future.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
You've made 8 posts in this thread, the first one you made after playing the game, you're showing interest in it.
Play it through, it's a relatively shorter 8~10 hour game. You might end up enjoying the whole thing.
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Bernardougf
Gold Member
If xbox was in a better place, with good market position and especially good/great games in a constant stream.. this game would be irrelevant and receive the grade and attention it really deserves... if anything all this is a direct consequence of the ridiculous line up in the last 4 years and the last failures... its making this tech demo look like something it was never meant to be.
Toots
Gold Member
Why don't you post it here for everyone to see ?
Sorry aa it's just that "queue" is french slang for dick, so you talking about the size of it forced me to do it 
Instead of asking to not bully,why not ask that person to stop doing the same shtick every single time for every xbox game
FIREKNIGHT2029
Member
A week after launch and the game is completely dead on Steam...
Skifi28
Gold Member
I could tell you which exclusive requires more button presses to kick ass.
what's sure is that one is selling at least ten times more than the other
Gambit2483
Member
The one with actual gameplay systems and mechanics?
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
Does anyone know when FSR3 support for the game on console is going to roll out? Digital Foundry had their hands on it, but doesn’t appear to have been rolled out yet.
Topher
Gold Member
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
Denton
Member
Finished it today.
Yeah this ain't in chief. Sure, audiovisual spectacle with photogrammetried assets up the ass, but both story and gameplay were weak. Weaker than in the first game by significant margin. Plus the first game had that amazing ending where that cool music was playing during the final fight. Nothing like that here, the final boss fight is utter shit.
6/10 and that's just because I am a graphics whore and did enjoy first three chapters.
Best stonework in a game to date though
Yeah this ain't in chief. Sure, audiovisual spectacle with photogrammetried assets up the ass, but both story and gameplay were weak. Weaker than in the first game by significant margin. Plus the first game had that amazing ending where that cool music was playing during the final fight. Nothing like that here, the final boss fight is utter shit.
6/10 and that's just because I am a graphics whore and did enjoy first three chapters.
Best stonework in a game to date though
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Balducci30
Member
Just got gamepass again to play this. It’s… fine? It’s like a game compiled of those parts in Uncharted where you had to crawl under a car or something.
Also, who in their right mind starts a game with an incredibly slow walking sequence through a barren rocky surface for 20 minutes?
Also, who in their right mind starts a game with an incredibly slow walking sequence through a barren rocky surface for 20 minutes?
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semiconscious
Gold Member
whew! a whole new level of total immersion...
HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
Yup, the rocks (and much of the environment geometry) are some of, if not the, best out there. Just wish the texture maps were a little bigger, but otherwise, I totally agree!
Denton
Member
It is some of the best out there, but also, it is very reminiscent of years old UE5 demos (and it almost plays like one) so I find it hard to find it THAT impressive. It is a good advert for quixel megascans though.
HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
Y'know, I actually agree. I wasn't as impressed as I usually am with games pegged as "best looking" and part of it is because of how sterile it is...
- For instance, when Senua exits water, she does not drip. Hair/clothes practically look the same.
- Then, there's the up close textures. The game makes wonderful use of AF, but it's also a double-edge, as the environment often looks flat up close. Water isn't as rich and detailed as I've seen out of other games, and the sky looks like a typical generic UE5 engine map (I work with UE often and it reminds me of personal projects).
All told though, I'm not trying to bash the game. Its lighting is seriously good, Senua (in cutscenes) can look almost real, and the overall image is incredibly pleasant on the eyes. If the things mentioned were top notch, it would be virtually unrivaled visually for me.
Bungie
Member
Expecting it to have a Rockstar games level of attention to detail when it's only 70 people in the entire studio vs studios with 1000s plus some even have outsourced development to other studios for additional help. Seems like since the game looks so good, you have unrealistic expectations for every aspect of the game.
HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
I suggested nothing of the sort. I said if it had improvements, it would be about the best it gets (in totality). I didn't say they had to be the absolute best or that every aspect of the game "had to be Rock* level "- whatever that means).
Sounds like you read something that doesn't exist.
Bungie
Member
If this game had any of the improvements you mentioned to in this thread alone, in my opinion is at a unrealistic level of devs, money & time for what Ninja went to accomplish, also would add more time to the dev cycle, possibly more bugs just to "impress you" because even games you've used as comparison are studios that exceed them in all these aspects I've mentioned. If you can't see what they accomplished as impressive when it comes to best looking & the size of the team. I really stick by what I said, you're unrealistic no matter the "ifs"
HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
I said I wasn't as impressed as I normally am with top-tier lookers, not that the game wasn't impressive. Can't have a proper discussion if the context completely eludes you.
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Bungie
Member
By all means discuss haha I feel most people whos played Hellblade II has seen/played a top-tier looker & still is just as impressed from this game by the general reaction we've seen, even top tier games you've posted with screenshots don't have it where clothes get completely soaked/wet when in water. So that's why I mentioned Rock* level etc.
HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
I am not as impressed with certain aspects of the game. That doesn't mean it doesn't look good and I never suggested that it didn't. You're missing the point.
Not every piece of the best looking games are the best looking either (which is irrelevant anyway because I never said they did). Hellblade II is only under the microscope because it is the newest release.
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Bungie
Member
I completely see where you are coming from but personally think the aspects that weren't impressive to you wouldn't have been worth the effort, to focus on these little attention to details would have been nice to some but sadly doesn't make sense for a studio of this size to focus on things most people unless looking through a microscope would matter too but hey! I'm the same way, when I really enjoy something, I get into wishful thinking mode where I'm saying things exactly like you! haha
Balducci30
Member
The graphics in the game are so far beyond everything else on my TV. But I do honestly think they can do a more “open” game with this level of quality. Like shits streaming instantaneously, there’s a bunch of stuff where I feel like they could make a resident evil type game on a similar level
AmuroChan
Member
The completionist in me forced me to finish the game, but man this game was not fun to play. Beautiful game sure, but the actual gameplay was just not very good. Every fight is 1v1 and the combat lacked depth and variety. In addition, the pacing was abysmal, which is hard to do in a short game. There were some stretches in the game that literally made me sleepy. The story and themes did not connect with me at all like the first game did.
HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
Indeed. But it goes hand-in-hand. Ninja Theory’s talent is in the presentation, which is evident, but it also means the gameplay lacks as a result. What’s there works, it’s just lacking.
Similar to my minor gripes with The Order (a game I thoroughly enjoyed). I was digging the weighty gunplay, but it was just too short and the boss battles were tedious and repetitive.
Denton
Member
Same here. I literally had to shut the game twice because my eyes started closing. As soon as I shut the game off I sprang to life.
This game took 70 people five years...and they had ready engine and many assets from quixel megascans. And it is 100% linear 7 hour game with almost no game mechanics to speak of.
Meanwhile something like Kingdom Come Deliverance was made by 20-120 devs in 5 years, and is 100+ open world RPG with shit ton of deep mechanics, 4 hours of high quality cutscenes and fantastic visuals.
I find it hard to be too impressed by Ninja's output here.
AmuroChan
Member
The Order was a flawed game no doubt, but at least I found the setting and world interesting. And the gameplay, while not revolutionary, was adequate IMO. It's a standard cover-based shooter and I didn't find it offensive. HB2 was just boring. I didn't care about the story or the world, and the combat was completely one note.
Bungie
Member
Firstly, Kingdom was not made in 5 years, took longer. Also cost 35 million dollars to make. Hellblade II started development in an unknown time in 2020, so not 5 years.
While Kingdom Come did deliver... The topic with the person was about best looking games to them and what they wanted for it to be up there. Kingdom did a good job with having the Bethesda effect which is being like how did they make a game so big! I love the game & it's quite the feat, just not visually.
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Denton
Member
Full production only started after kickstarter in 2014 (and it shipped in 2018). Before then they worked on pre-production and prototype when Warhorse had about 20 people. The 35 million figure has long been debunked by Dan Vávra btw, actual budget was around 15-20 million incl. marketing. Second game will have closer to 45 though.
But ok, I see the original trailer for Hellblade 2 was released in december 2019 and they said they had nothing other than that trailer when they announced it, so its development was from 2020 - 2024. To be honest, I am still not particularly impressed.
buenoblue
Member
Just finished the game. Played on PC 4070ti, 65 inch QD OLED and full Atmos with height speakers and game was an amazing showcase for tech. Game ran great 4k dlss quality, frame gen getting 80-90 fps.
But man what a missed opportunity. If they let you explore the world in an open world way, added an upgrade path for skills and combat, maybe collectables and crafting, then this could have been a epic 9/10 game.
But the game is just lacking on every level apart from graphics.
Shame really. I did enjoy it for what it was but what the fuck were they doing for 7 years? Modeling rocks?
But man what a missed opportunity. If they let you explore the world in an open world way, added an upgrade path for skills and combat, maybe collectables and crafting, then this could have been a epic 9/10 game.
But the game is just lacking on every level apart from graphics.
Shame really. I did enjoy it for what it was but what the fuck were they doing for 7 years? Modeling rocks?
Finished it today. Game is just dull. Slow walking, awful puzzles and very basic combat. Graphics are great but landscapes and views are disappointing for a game taking place in Iceland. I think it’s the claustrophobic camera and that most of the game takes part at night or in misty weather.
BigLee74
Member
Finished.
Plenty long enough for me - certainly took longer than the 5 or 6 hours you see being banded about, and I didn’t even go collecting.
As for the game itself, meh. Some interesting areas and ideas, some amazing graphics, but overall I still preferred the first one.
I honestly think both the puzzles and combat were worse than the first. How can that be? Admittedly the fights looked amazing, but they boiled down to spamming dodge, swiping, focus, kill. Very little variation or skill involved.
Still, I enjoyed it for what it was, and it was definitely better than a lot of games I have played this year.
Scrapes a 7/10.
Oh, and I was always amazed that everything that looked like a pre-rendered cutscene was actually in engine, and you could still go into photo mode and move the camera about etc. Very very impressive!
Plenty long enough for me - certainly took longer than the 5 or 6 hours you see being banded about, and I didn’t even go collecting.
As for the game itself, meh. Some interesting areas and ideas, some amazing graphics, but overall I still preferred the first one.
I honestly think both the puzzles and combat were worse than the first. How can that be? Admittedly the fights looked amazing, but they boiled down to spamming dodge, swiping, focus, kill. Very little variation or skill involved.
Still, I enjoyed it for what it was, and it was definitely better than a lot of games I have played this year.
Scrapes a 7/10.
Oh, and I was always amazed that everything that looked like a pre-rendered cutscene was actually in engine, and you could still go into photo mode and move the camera about etc. Very very impressive!
Alan Wake
Member
Gosh yes. I was waiting for something to happen, some big revelation but it's just... meh. Some tense moments, sure, but not enough to warrant its length. It gets a little better after that, though.