Finished this today. Goddamn what a fucking ride. Narrative/art/sound-wise, this is one of the top ones. Puzzles took too much room in the game and i'd preferred if they'd removed some and kinda mixed those encounters together into a big puzzle or set-piece.
Combat was pretty fun but i feel like the game would have been for the better if it didn't do the whole hack n slash locked room thing, making you fight a bunch. Made the encounters feel drawn out considering how many they would throw at you.
But maaan, the soundtrack, the binaural audio, the fucking art of this viking hellscape, the storyyy. Fuuuck, this is top notch.
Edit: Also holy shit, this game got really fucking scary. Can these devs do a full fledged horror game next, pls.
I know a plague came and killed the village and Dillion's father and he blamed Senua for it but what happened after that? His body was flayed and hung up but by who? I missed it I think. Unless we get the answers at the end
I know a plague came and killed the village and Dillion's father and he blamed Senua for it but what happened after that? His body was flayed and hung up but by who? I missed it I think. Unless we get the answers at the end
Dillion was killed off by the Viking invaders (called northmen in the game). He was strung up as part of a ritual sacrifice by the Northmen. After seeing her lover strung up like that Senua really lost her mind, and her mental illness got worse. She then went on her quest to try and revive Dillion
Dillion was killed off by the Viking invaders (called northmen in the game). He was strung up as part of a ritual sacrifice by the Northmen. After seeing her lover strung up like that Senua really lost her mind, and her mental illness got worse. She then went on her quest to try and revive Dillion
I'm looking forward to coming back and reading through all the spoiler tags when I'm done! I just thought I'd just play Hellblade in segments, but now it keeps itching away at my brain, I keep wanting to know what happens next! No plot spoilers, but puzzle mechanics -
I really love the perspective puzzles/illusion/bringing pieces of the world into focus, etc, it's refreshing. It also ties in as a nice metaphor for Senua's mental state.
I'm really surprised how hands off this game is - I spent ages trying to 'focus', thinking I wasn't lining up Senua correctly to the stone tablet. I headthunked when I checked the controls. I don't mind it, though. It's like with
Valravn's areas
- I was a bit bewildered what I was supposed to do at first, but then you start putting the pieces together, and get a nice ah-ha moment of satisfaction. Very refreshing. It took me awhile to realize the runes on the lodestones changed after you found one. It seems like I've missed four from earlier on, argh. I really enjoy them, I keep trying not to miss any.
I also didn't realize how focus could work in combat until 3/4 of the way through the second boss - I thought it was a boss-only thing! Combat got a lot easier, lol. That being said, the combat is responsive enough, though I wouldn't mind more variety. I haven't died yet, but it makes for such an interesting threat in combat. If there hadn't been a fourth-wall breaking warning, I wouldn't be remotely as tense in combat. It's partially out of genuine care for Senua, and also because I don't want to lose progress. (From what I've seen mentioned on GAF and other places,
there seems to be more going on with the permadeath
, but I'm hoping I don't find out.) I was grumpy when the corruption spreads regardless, I'd been trying so hard to keep Senua's darkness at bay!
I don't think the game puts its best foot forward with
Surtr's
level in a lot of ways, but it is a good tutorial to the game's mechanics. I'm assuming you could have done
Valravn's first
, if you wanted to? That would have been a bit of a shock.
Valravn's
levels are fantastic, I loved how each new area built on something you learnt in the last. My nerves got a bit shredded with
Valravn's song
, but then I suddenly went, fuck you, I'm not afraid of you. That being said, due to the binaural sound,
when it's coming from behind you? aarrghhh
I wasn't expecting the game to have a bit of an Zelda vibe, in hub worlds leading to 'dungeons'/areas, etc. I'm surprised how mundane and grounded the world is, too - as opposed to God of War, which was huge and grandiose. Hellblade's approach isn't a bad thing, it almost makes it more unnerving. More cost efficient, too, I'm sure. I love all the god designs that I've seen thus far. nope.
Voice work is utterly superb all-round, as is Senua's mo-cap work. Thousand yard stare, right, there. Incredible. I'm surprised how emotionally invested I am in Senua's quest, and it's quite an interesting subversion to have a female lead
trying to save and avenge her lost male love. There have been a lot of discussions about how female leads often lose their sexuality, or don't have male love interests, so a portion of the playerbase doesn't feel uncomfortable playing a female lead. Not that there is anything like a sex scene that I've seen in Hellblade, but it's just nice to hear the genuine love and affection Senua has for Dillion, and the love he had for her. The voices talk about how much Senua loves him, how he made her feel - I can't remember the exact wording, but one of the whispers was talking about the smell of his neck? (I'm too scared to check the exact spelling on his name, in case I get spoiled - but I'm guessing its Dillion? I should put on subtitles, d'oh.) Anyway, for a character that isn't present, they've done a great of building up how much she cares for him, and why she would care for him. Also, the reveal with what had happened to him? NOPE. Dillion's voice work is also great, I wasn't expecting live action footage of him. Bit jarring. This is all going to end so horribly, isn't it.
I'm surprised how much I don't mind the voices. They're useful - extra useful in combat, too - but still have a great interaction layer of sometimes making you second guess yourself. Or they argue between themselves! They are a very weird comfort in such a bleak and lonely world. Again, props to the great voice work, and the main female voice sounds a bit like Cate Blanchett. I mean, I know it's not Blanchett, but her voice is so soothing! It's like getting to hang out with a Greek chorus (Norse chorus?), as we watch Senua on her adventures.
Playing as Senua is interesting, too, because normally when I play games, I'm in the headspace where I'm kinda the character, but I'm really just a partner to the character, helping them out. Because the voices specifically differentiate myself as something apart from Senua, my time with Senua compounds this usual partnership/protagonist feel, but also it also feels quite different again. I wish I could explain it more eloquently! On the one hand, I feel quite separated from her, like I'm watching a character in a film, because the voices acknowledge both her and I exist independent from each other. Yet, because I control her movements and am hugely sympathetic to her plight, I feel quite melded with her. I presume all the voices are apart of Senua - as am I, because I am controlling her. Instead of being an outside influence, are we just facets of her? It's such a fascinating combination of being simultaneously detached yet irrevocably ingrained. It's a very unique experience, I wish I could express it better!
Finished the game in a couple of sittings. It was really great, despite the fact that the voice directing and writing style of Ninja Theory put me off a lot.
It is absolutely a visual masterpiece and it has probably the greatest UI design along with dead space. The character of Senua was pretty decent and the other characters surrounding her made the quest believable. Blending Celtic culture with Norse mythology via a traumatized female warrior with a
psychosis
is an absolutely brilliant concept.
I still have some complaints about the use of enemies and the ending combat sequences to be incredibly repetitive. It reminded me of Vampire Bloodlines (an unfinished product throwing tons of enemies at you at the end). Then I also think that the voice directing is over-dramatic to the point of ridiculousness and the voice acting is sometimes a bit awkward that brought me out of the experience.
But otherwise without a doubt Ninja Theory's best game. I always thought their previous games ranged from forgettable to subpar, so this is a huge step up for the studio and it's the first time they've made an interesting experience (for me at least). I still think they need someone to pull in the drama and over-acting, but after 4 games, I don't expect the ones in charge to change course.
Great game and congrats to everyone involved. Clearly a labor of love and dedication, it shows a lot.
I played til Surt and I want to love it, but it's not grabbing me completely yet. I love the tone and setting, but the gameplay is not doing much for me and I feel like the running speed is too low. iirc you can remap and I may assign it to X as well.
Is it normal that they don't tell anything about some of the combat features? I never heard anything about kicking shields or even using that focus feature in combat with R2.
The font for the menus is also weird, feels like a placeholder font that they just kept.
I played til Surt and I want to love it, but it's not grabbing me completely yet. I love the tone and setting, but the gameplay is not doing much for me and I feel like the running speed is too low. iirc you can remap and I may assign it to X as well.
Is it normal that they don't tell anything about some of the combat features? I never heard anything about kicking shields or even using that focus feature in combat with R2.
The font for the menus is also weird, feels like a placeholder font that they just kept.
Yeah, there are no tutorials or anything so you need to figure out the combat moves yourself (or look them up online). I didn't know about some of the stuff you could do till I was more than halfway through the game (the running attacks, for example).
Yeah, there are no tutorials or anything so you need to figure out the combat moves yourself (or look them up online). I didn't know about some of the stuff you could do till I was more than halfway through the game (the running attacks, for example).
Just wanted to add that the voices do give you combat tips throughout the game though. Such as when you're getting surrounded and should move around, when someone is gonna attack from behind so you can parry or dodge, when you should focus if the enemy is invulnerable, etc...
And some stuff outside the basic moves doesn't unlock till later in the game like the focus.
This game is so heavy to me. I literally have to stop playing it so I can walk away and deal with it.
First time I have ever had to take a game slowly because of the content. I am nearing what I think is the end, and normally that puts me into overdrive, but I just can't. Done for the night.
Holy shit people weren't exaggerating at how good the audio is with headphones. Only about an hour in and I'm blown away. This audio takes you STRAIGHT into this world and creates an encroaching, claustrophobic atmosphere from the get go.
This small, focused, story heavy game hasn't come at a better time for me. Can't wait to blast this over the long weekend
So I booted up this game and really liked it... But something is bugging me.
Hela isn't a proper word for Hel, Hel was the name of both the goddess and the place.
It's not game ruining but it irks me after how much attention they put into it, I can translate all the runes into proper words and it's so impressive but then they borked it with that.
fire dude chasing and having to find the runes in the maze
was a bunch of bullshit. mostly because it wasn't clear to me what the fuck was going on. I died like 4 or 5 times just trying to walk forwards to the door. I had to go to youtube to get it. I think that segment could have used some warning or clearer direction before throwing you in. It really stood out as odd to me. I beat the game and that was the only part I had an issue with.
Just beat it tonight. I've always loved ninja theory's previous games, warts and all, there was always something of value in going through their games. And this is by far their best game yet. Senua carries this game from start to finish in an almost one act play. Top visuals, amazing audio design and a game that kept me unsettled the whole way through. Something I can't say happens often outside horror games. It's gameplay loop could use a bit more variety but i never got too bogged down with it.
And given how many start'stops this game had they have a great foundation moving forward.
After that it's time to take a breather and then switch to something lighter in Uncharted LL!
I loved it. There were some gameplay mechanics that were annoying and tiresome by the end, but I was so immersed in Senua's emotional journey into (and out of) darkness that the sum vastly outweighed the parts. This game is one of the very few that felt like an experience to me rather than a video game.
Congrats to Ninja Theory on creating a one of kind experience that gave me a new perspective into psychosis and mental illness.
I saw earlier in the thread that if one collects all the lodestones, there's a slightly difft ending? If this is true, what are the differences?
Just finished and this will definitely be like Journey as others have said: one of my favorite experiences, but not one of my favorite "games". Ninja Theory made some really important art here and I hope it is successful enough that other developers start to take more chances as well.
Just finished... what a cool-ass game. The combat became a little trying towards the end, but everything else was fantastic. Wonderful performances, gorgeous and varied environments, interesting level design and puzzles... it hit all the right notes for me.
I finished the game but I feel like I messed up during the final battle.
The boss was just waiting in the center the of the arena while I was busy with normal enemies. After beating dozens of them them I eventually died. I couldn't retry. The game just gave me an ending sequence.
I finished the game but I feel like I messed up during the final battle.
The boss was just waiting in the center the of the arena while I was busy with normal enemies. After beating dozens of them them I eventually died. I couldn't retry. The game just gave me an ending sequence.
I'm near the end of the game and don't want it to end. This is the first time that I've played a game this generation and have said "wow" every few seconds of playing. It is by far the best iteration of UE4 to date. If this game could have been as long as a game like Dark Souls, then it would be the ultimate Action/RPG game. I would imagine pushing this game to that scope would take years and years. Finally a company that understands how to light a scene realistically using the limited features and tech of today's graphics hardware. I believe this is the first implementation of using the GI engine called Enlighten (the replacement for the older 'ahead of it's time' GI engine developed by Epic). I feel like I'm finally playing a version of Deep Down.
I finished the game but I feel like I messed up during the final battle.
The boss was just waiting in the center the of the arena while I was busy with normal enemies. After beating dozens of them them I eventually died. I couldn't retry. The game just gave me an ending sequence.
I'm not a fan of this mechanic (I'm looking at you too Halo Reach), but this is by design.
You're meant to figure out that Senua holding onto Dillion is a hopeless battle. She needs to let go before she can begin to emerge from the darkness. The voices of the Furies will tell you during that fight to "let go, you've fought enough" if you're near death. The gamer in me kept fighting, but I knew I had to let go as the player and let her feel defeat.
for me, that's when the game's biggest strengths came together. Overall though I just want to be done, because the gameplay is dragging it down completely. I'm tired of the constant silhouette & perspective puzzles, that aspect is so one-note throughout. They also
avoid combat
for the longest time, only to
throw so much in your face at once that you immediately get tired of it again.
Just finished it, and really loved it. There's some things that could be improved in some ways, but all-in-all it's really great and hope they improve on similar ideas in a future project.
I just had the difficulty on Auto and it was pretty easy, and I can definitely see myself playing through some time in the future on Hard.
Finished it last night. What a ride. I was following it for just over a year, and had fairly reasonable expectations.
But Ninja Theory literally blew my mind! What an emotional powerhouse! The performances, the visuals, the music, just the creativity in some of those later stages.
And that freaking ending!
This is one of those games that left a powerful, memorable impression and ill not forget it for a long time to come.
That's my way of saying it was a resounding success.
I got this on release and only really put the time into it today, too much time in the sense that I kept thinking "I must be near the end!" for multiple hours until I actually DID reach the end.
So I kinda took in too much at once, the simplistic puzzles and combat really were getting a bit much but I simultaneously feel that the simple style of combat works strongly as a base throughout. And some of the earlier boss encounters were neat.
I pretty much purchased the game entirely to see it tackle mental health, it's a damn bold play and some of it hit close to home (not anything to do with psychosis fortunately).
Strong ending and I was making liberal use of camera mode (even at the most jarring times, hey can I move around the camera during this finale?...I can!).
Not sure if it's one of my games of the year but it's a game I appreciate for multiple reasons, right down to that mid tier price point.
Finished this today. Goddamn what a fucking ride. Narrative/art/sound-wise, this is one of the top ones. Puzzles took too much room in the game and i'd preferred if they'd removed some and kinda mixed those encounters together into a big puzzle or set-piece.
Combat was pretty fun but i feel like the game would have been for the better if it didn't do the whole hack n slash locked room thing, making you fight a bunch. Made the encounters feel drawn out considering how many they would throw at you.
But maaan, the soundtrack, the binaural audio, the fucking art of this viking hellscape, the storyyy. Fuuuck, this is top notch.
Edit: Also holy shit, this game got really fucking scary. Can these devs do a full fledged horror game next, pls.
Finished it last night. What a ride. I was following it for just over a year, and had fairly reasonable expectations.
But Ninja Theory literally blew my mind! What an emotional powerhouse! The performances, the visuals, the music, just the creativity in some of those later stages.
And that freaking ending!
This is one of those games that left a powerful, memorable impression and ill not forget it for a long time to come.
That's my way of saying it was a resounding success.
Started playing this yesterday on pro, is it just me or the 60 htz its blurry as hell? Its the first game i decided to use the hight resolution mode instead, i just switch to 60 htz on combats.
Finally finished it. What a game. A very important subject matter which I feel they absolutely nailed. So glad I used headphones throughout. Really dropped me into her world/mind.
One of my favourite games (experiences) this year for sure. And a memorable one at that. Ninja Theory did good.
I finished it today too. Overall it was an amazing experience from start to finish.
Some parts of the game (like mentioned few posts above) were too much, and i had to pause the game. But it's another NT game that i really, really enjoyed, and one of my favorite games ever i would say.
I had a freaky nightmare after I beat this game. Somewhere between being asleep and awake I was lying in bed hearing the voices from the game and knowing I had to do something but not sure what. But the voices wouldn't let me go back to sleep. It was some real fever dream shit.
I think this game affected me in ways I don't quite understand.
Jesus. I'm playing on a Pro and on a 4K tv and it's marginally worse than the snaps you took. I'm kinda taken aback by how light the colors look and how ugly it is on my display
I had a freaky nightmare after I beat this game. Somewhere between being asleep and awake I was lying in bed hearing the voices from the game and knowing I had to do something but not sure what. But the voices wouldn't let me go back to sleep. It was some real fever dream shit.
I think this game affected me in ways I don't quite understand.
When they put so much effort into recreating the abyss that is severe mental illness, it's unsurprising that one might be changed when looking long into it. That's some crazy shit tho, bud. It brought back rough memories about a psychotic break I had. Strangely, I think having experienced that helped me not get as disturbed by the game.
I'll also confirm that headphones make it seem like you're hearing voices to the point of it becoming irritating in long sessions (which is exactly the point).
Fantastic game and an important one; both in the subject matter and business model. You did well, Ninja Theory. I'd say it's their best game to date.
