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Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice |OT| The Mid-Tier, in Limbo
- Thread starter Wozman23
- Start date
SunhiLegend
Member
You're too good for this world.
BoxManLocke
Member
I'm at the
boss. It has some really cool mechanics, including those that make use of the headphones.
However I just spent what felt like 20 minutes slashing the fuck out of it only to die without any idea if I was close to the end of the fight or not. Didn't really like that.
I kept the difficulty on "Auto", does that mean it adapts depending on how many times you die ? Considering switching to easy for this one.
giant dog
However I just spent what felt like 20 minutes slashing the fuck out of it only to die without any idea if I was close to the end of the fight or not. Didn't really like that.
I kept the difficulty on "Auto", does that mean it adapts depending on how many times you die ? Considering switching to easy for this one.
The game seems to be selling relatively well. It's currently at 96k on SteamSpy, however there's a lag of a few days and the number hasn't yet plateaued, so it's most definitely crossed the 100k mark.
Darkstorne
Member
It's really good. I usually game on PC but picked up the OG PS4 version so my girlfriend could join in too with the story and puzzles (combat is less frequent than most games fortunately, so makes it more social), and I've been amazed at how damn good it looks. Kinda like how Horizon Zero Dawn still looks mind-blowingly good on the OG PS4.
O.DOGG
Member
I'm really missing this option too. It would be great if the game unlocked chapters for replay like in say Inside/Limbo so you can go back and redo certain parts or find missing lore stones.
Darkstorne
Member
At least it's an excellent proof of concept though, and if it sells well they should be encouraged to build on it with future games in this vein. I keep thinking how similar the level design is to games like Vagrant Story, which gets me pumped for a game like this with NG+ that opens up new passageways with secret bosses and extra story beats and perspectives on repeat plays, building your character's stats each time through, crafting new weapons and upgrading existing ones. Add new weapon styles and assign them to the D-Pad and there's your robust combat system.
As much as I adore open world RPGs, it's great to see a dev remind us all why linear experiences shouldn't be going anywhere.
Fuck, came to ask if there is an option. Missed 1 or 2 runes in the beginning
right now I have to make the Sharddungeons
Bottom of the barrel.
Wesley-Sigma
Member
I also hate gameplay.
Darkstorne
Member
So far for me (about 3 hours in) nope. There are horror elements, but they're incredibly well designed and usually down to subtle visual cues and audio design. I hate horror games specifically because of jump scares, but I adore this.
What a beautiful, moving game. I played through it twice this weekend, and listening to all the lore and story bits again resonated with me just as much the second time. Ninja Theory deserves a whole lot of accolades for this one... it's just such a bold direction to take a game in. It's stunning what Melina Juergens was able to accomplish with no background in this type of performance. I think it may be my personal GOTY at this point.
Script of the Bridge
Banned
It's definitely mine, much preferred it to horizon.
None that I remember. Some very disturbing audio work though.
ScientificPizza
Banned
i just can't stand the combat in this game
If that's your thing, fine. That's not what I was saying though.
ArkhamFantasy
Member
Uh oh we got Sunhi on board? yessssssssss
HueyFreeman
Banned
For the life of me I cannot understand why developers in 2017 release an adventure game like this without chapter select. It is free advertising with streamers etc to say nothing of when friends are physically at your place.
It's serviceable. With a nice pair of headphones the sound quality can be fine. Im sure audiophiles find a lot to be desired but I enjoy it when I use it.
How should I play it with headphone if I only have a audiojack?
kittoo
Cretinously credulous
Yeah that fight pissed me off. It's such shitty design. It goes on forever and I have no idea how close I am to killing it since there is no health bar or any other indication. Then there is this mechanic where the boss spews 'darkness' and everything literally goes black. I get it that I am supposed to use sound, but then there are these red flashes in the darkness which are relenetless. They are distracting and heavy on eyes. Oh and while I am supposed to use to the sound, the 'voices in the head' just wouldn't shup up. 'she is hurt', 'there is blood!', 'evade!!!', 'get up get up get up', 'she is going to die', 'he is spewing darkness!' 'hahahaha'. Shut the fuck up!!! It's incredibly stupid that in a fight where the only clue is sound and I am supposed to focus, there are incessant 'voices and flashes to distract. Frankly I was tired of the 'voices by the time. I tried playing with headphones but that was hell to me. The 'voices shouldve been far far less vociferous.
That fight sucked donkey balls. Almost gave up on the game there.
I love that game and big big thanks to Ninja Theory.
I t is not a perfect game, but did it grab me and never let me go.
Second playthrough for the lorestones and pacing is better, because now I know what to do and where to go.
Thanks again and hope Hellblade sells well and more.
I t is not a perfect game, but did it grab me and never let me go.
Second playthrough for the lorestones and pacing is better, because now I know what to do and where to go.
Thanks again and hope Hellblade sells well and more.
I personally thought it was simple and effective. What is it that you don't like about it?
freeofgreed
Member
Platinum this last night. I Really loved it.
-The game looked far better than I thought it would, and I'm surprised NT could pull off such a gorgeous game with only ~20 people.
-The story was amazing as well and was an incredible Journey.
-The atmosphere and horror elements were incredible. The imagery in this game beats almost every horror game I've played.
-The sound design was fantastic as well, normally this is something I don't pay too much attention to but it blew me away in this game. all the voices in her head, especially Zynbel's, were amazing as was the rest of the voice cast.
-Gameplay was good for the most part, combat was very weighty but I felt that added to the tension. And I liked a good number of the puzzles.
My main dislikes were..
-the Shape puzzles. I get what they were trying to do here but these were pretty annoying.
-I also dislike the save system, no Manuel saves or even a chapter select is pretty lame.
-Also some combat sections go on for far too long. The 3rd boss and the one after
being the worst offenders.
But overall I really enjoyed this. Definitely going on GOTY list later on.
-The game looked far better than I thought it would, and I'm surprised NT could pull off such a gorgeous game with only ~20 people.
-The story was amazing as well and was an incredible Journey.
-The atmosphere and horror elements were incredible. The imagery in this game beats almost every horror game I've played.
-The sound design was fantastic as well, normally this is something I don't pay too much attention to but it blew me away in this game. all the voices in her head, especially Zynbel's, were amazing as was the rest of the voice cast.
-Gameplay was good for the most part, combat was very weighty but I felt that added to the tension. And I liked a good number of the puzzles.
My main dislikes were..
-the Shape puzzles. I get what they were trying to do here but these were pretty annoying.
-I also dislike the save system, no Manuel saves or even a chapter select is pretty lame.
-Also some combat sections go on for far too long. The 3rd boss and the one after
she gets her second sword
But overall I really enjoyed this. Definitely going on GOTY list later on.
It's not a horror game nor is it scary, it's more uncomfortable and stressing though.
Armoured Priest
Member
Focus breaks the darkness
That fight did take me two tries. The second time went a lot quicker.
This was such an awesome game. I had high hopes for this game, and I'm glad it, by and large, seems to have lived up to them more or less on all fronts.
I think a couple of the final combat sequences are a bit longer than they need to be, but I understand why they were that way...it's to set you up to struggle for as long as you can in that last fight until they finally drop you...or you let go. As another poster mentioned, a reflection of the gods struggle at Ragnarok.
As another poster mentioned, a reflection of the gods struggle at Ragnarok.
Peotical Injection
Member
Beat this last night. Got hooked and couldn't put it down. It was absolutely terrifying.
This game is Silent Hill 2 good. Great job Ninja Theory.
This game is Silent Hill 2 good. Great job Ninja Theory.
Doubtful, it's self published entirely by NT.
Humdinger
Member
Just finished.
Impressive visuals. Some scenes were just crazy.
I liked the combat in general, but it got relentless and too difficult for me at times, so I turned it down to Easy. I loved the visual effect when you'd time a parry just right.
I liked the story, although I'm pretty sure I don't understand everything I'm supposed to. There were points where things felt a bit pretentious to me. Generally, though, they did an admirable job with a difficult, original subject.
I'd like to go back and replay it again sometime, now that I have a better grasp of the story they're trying to tell. I'm pretty sure I could appreciate things on a deeper level on a second run.
Impressive visuals. Some scenes were just crazy.
I liked the combat in general, but it got relentless and too difficult for me at times, so I turned it down to Easy. I loved the visual effect when you'd time a parry just right.
I liked the story, although I'm pretty sure I don't understand everything I'm supposed to. There were points where things felt a bit pretentious to me. Generally, though, they did an admirable job with a difficult, original subject.
I'd like to go back and replay it again sometime, now that I have a better grasp of the story they're trying to tell. I'm pretty sure I could appreciate things on a deeper level on a second run.
theechrisfox
Member
I have actually enjoyed the combat, though there doesn't seem to be much of it at all.
I can't stand the "puzzle" solving. It really kills the flow for me.
supernormal
Member
I've only played a little bit over an hour. Probably some of the most immersive sound ever. Way too many times I turned around in real life thinking I heard something behind me.
Marvel
could never
I'm nearly done.
This is a terrifying , depressing, awful experience tbh I can't wait to stop lol. They nailed it.
Incredible game so far, only negatives I can think of are:
Too many rune puzzles
No executions, combat could have really shined from 2 or 3 unique finishing moves like Ryse had. (Though ryse had tons more)
This is a terrifying , depressing, awful experience tbh I can't wait to stop lol. They nailed it.
Incredible game so far, only negatives I can think of are:
Too many rune puzzles
No executions, combat could have really shined from 2 or 3 unique finishing moves like Ryse had. (Though ryse had tons more)
You're about half-way through.
ScientificPizza
Banned
I'm the complete inverse. I just find the combat to be so simple and mindless and takes way way too long
They need to half the amount of combat encounters and half the health of the regular enemies imo
So that part
is infuriating me.
I started over so many times already, sometimes it seems like
I keep getting all 3 runes, then can't find my way back to the door
Is there any map of that area that could help me progress strategically or something?
edit: managed to beat it.
edit2: and now I'm done with the game. Was worth the $40.
where you have to run from the fire entity while trying to find the 3 runes
I started over so many times already, sometimes it seems like
even just the darkness itself starts to kill me?
I keep getting all 3 runes, then can't find my way back to the door
without getting caught in a corner by the stupid range of the fire.
Is there any map of that area that could help me progress strategically or something?
edit: managed to beat it.
edit2: and now I'm done with the game. Was worth the $40.
So I'm caught in an awkward position.
I've always viewed Ninja Theory as the kind of guys that are super enthusiastic about making games, but end up falling short for various reasons. This is to say, I've always wanted them to succeed at making a fantastic game and always saw them as the underdogs that I rooted for. They've also had really noble ambitions. They are trying to make their way in this games market with a modest budget and putting out a modestly priced but high quality product on their own terms? I think that unless Hellblade was widely reported to be a complete disaster, I probably would have bought it out of sheer principle.
Thankfully, Hellblade wasn't a disaster at all. A lot of people seem to really like it, judging from reviews and from this thread. Which unfortunately is kinda why I feel like the odd man out in saying that I don't like it that much...well, I don't like it as a whole that much. When everything comes together, the game sings. There's a lot to praise about Hellblade.
The main thing I think we can unequivocably praise is the art direction and graphics. We have some BEAUTIFULLY rendered environments that I only kept stopping in surprise to see how well put together they are. And most of the effects of Senua's psychosis are very well realized. Similarly, the sound is great. At it's highest moments, the game really gets you in this paranoid state of mind that puts you in an intense state of unease. So, presentation wise, top notch stuff when everything works.
I can also praise the combat. It's simplistic, and maybe even annoying in some parts, but it FEELS great to hit an enemy. There's just this big personal satisfaction to how you attack them and how the wounds show up on their body as an indication of how much health they got left. They're fantastically designed too. They all look very cool.
The only problem is that I feel the game comes together the way it should for maybe 10-20 minutes every hour. Which isn't to say it's terrible those other 40-50 minutes, but it's a noticably less fun experience. I hate how slow Senua moves, even in the running animation, is annoying when you're making any kind of long traversal and just want to get to an area. And while many areas look very nice, they're also 95% noninteractive and linear. People have well established by now how the rune hunting puzzles can suck.
And the story.....Well, I see a lot of praise for it, so I might be on my own here, but a lot of it just doesn't work for me. It's a story largely centered around Senua's relationships with various people as they affect her in some way, but they all take place in the past, so it's largely about learning the large roles they had in her life through flashbacks, and that makes it a pretty passive story. But more than that, since it is all flashbacks, and since a lot of these characters are depicted not by in game models but by life action actors overlaid the game screens, the effect just comes off....very wierd to me. A sort of visual dissonance, especially with how most of the actors don't interact with each other so much as act at Senua. And Senua herself often acts at the player with her scenes of mostly breaking down. I tried to get into it, but it rarely ever worked for me.
The game is at it's best the closer Senua and I are one. If I feel unnerved as she does by the voices in her head, by the fucked up stuff she's seeing, etc. There are a good number of those moments, with my favorite probably being
.
But at the end, where
, I was completely out of it and not engrossed in the experience at all.
Overall, I don't regret buying it. And I guess I don't regret playing it either. But I'm probably never going to touch it again after this. Ninja Theory is a developer I want to succeed...and I guess they have with the general audience. But they haven't made a game I personally can call great. It's possible they might not be able to with me. They seem obsessed with going out of their way to use facial capture and stuff to carry the emotions of their stories, like a David Cage that's more competent or like they're trying to be Naughty Dog, the other studio that's well known for getting high quality performance from capture animation. I don't know if that's true, it's just the impression I get from how they're games are made. And I think it's the wrong call, for a lot of different reasons, but mainly because try as they might, Ninja Theory just aren't as good at crafting these kinds of stories.
But this is their best effort yet. I hope they come out of this with nothing but success so they can make that wonder game they hope to make one day. Or maybe they just did and it just happened not to wow me. Which is fine, as long as it wows someone.
I've always viewed Ninja Theory as the kind of guys that are super enthusiastic about making games, but end up falling short for various reasons. This is to say, I've always wanted them to succeed at making a fantastic game and always saw them as the underdogs that I rooted for. They've also had really noble ambitions. They are trying to make their way in this games market with a modest budget and putting out a modestly priced but high quality product on their own terms? I think that unless Hellblade was widely reported to be a complete disaster, I probably would have bought it out of sheer principle.
Thankfully, Hellblade wasn't a disaster at all. A lot of people seem to really like it, judging from reviews and from this thread. Which unfortunately is kinda why I feel like the odd man out in saying that I don't like it that much...well, I don't like it as a whole that much. When everything comes together, the game sings. There's a lot to praise about Hellblade.
The main thing I think we can unequivocably praise is the art direction and graphics. We have some BEAUTIFULLY rendered environments that I only kept stopping in surprise to see how well put together they are. And most of the effects of Senua's psychosis are very well realized. Similarly, the sound is great. At it's highest moments, the game really gets you in this paranoid state of mind that puts you in an intense state of unease. So, presentation wise, top notch stuff when everything works.
I can also praise the combat. It's simplistic, and maybe even annoying in some parts, but it FEELS great to hit an enemy. There's just this big personal satisfaction to how you attack them and how the wounds show up on their body as an indication of how much health they got left. They're fantastically designed too. They all look very cool.
The only problem is that I feel the game comes together the way it should for maybe 10-20 minutes every hour. Which isn't to say it's terrible those other 40-50 minutes, but it's a noticably less fun experience. I hate how slow Senua moves, even in the running animation, is annoying when you're making any kind of long traversal and just want to get to an area. And while many areas look very nice, they're also 95% noninteractive and linear. People have well established by now how the rune hunting puzzles can suck.
And the story.....Well, I see a lot of praise for it, so I might be on my own here, but a lot of it just doesn't work for me. It's a story largely centered around Senua's relationships with various people as they affect her in some way, but they all take place in the past, so it's largely about learning the large roles they had in her life through flashbacks, and that makes it a pretty passive story. But more than that, since it is all flashbacks, and since a lot of these characters are depicted not by in game models but by life action actors overlaid the game screens, the effect just comes off....very wierd to me. A sort of visual dissonance, especially with how most of the actors don't interact with each other so much as act at Senua. And Senua herself often acts at the player with her scenes of mostly breaking down. I tried to get into it, but it rarely ever worked for me.
The game is at it's best the closer Senua and I are one. If I feel unnerved as she does by the voices in her head, by the fucked up stuff she's seeing, etc. There are a good number of those moments, with my favorite probably being
one of the trial of the warriors, the one where you spend your time in the dark and you have to avoid the fucked up monsters in the dark
But at the end, where
Senua monologues her feelings to Hela
Overall, I don't regret buying it. And I guess I don't regret playing it either. But I'm probably never going to touch it again after this. Ninja Theory is a developer I want to succeed...and I guess they have with the general audience. But they haven't made a game I personally can call great. It's possible they might not be able to with me. They seem obsessed with going out of their way to use facial capture and stuff to carry the emotions of their stories, like a David Cage that's more competent or like they're trying to be Naughty Dog, the other studio that's well known for getting high quality performance from capture animation. I don't know if that's true, it's just the impression I get from how they're games are made. And I think it's the wrong call, for a lot of different reasons, but mainly because try as they might, Ninja Theory just aren't as good at crafting these kinds of stories.
But this is their best effort yet. I hope they come out of this with nothing but success so they can make that wonder game they hope to make one day. Or maybe they just did and it just happened not to wow me. Which is fine, as long as it wows someone.
Trigonometrize.
Member
So you'd be okay with the game shelving the story for five hours every hour and just sending waves of enemies at you?
Finished the game this morning. My favorite part was
Walking up to the tree. Where Sanua first meets Dillion. Its like the only time she ever felt "good" besides whatever love she got from her mother. Melina Juergens sold the the character's emotions perfectly. The music was really good here too.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Didn't they say they only needed 200K for this to break even?