The voices in my head told me to make a Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice thread - by Thirith
Thirith on 2/10/2017 at 07:45
Perhaps this is an instance of closing the barn door after the horse went and posted in the "NOW what are you playing?" megathread, but here goes anyway...
I've been playing Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice recently. I've enjoyed most of Ninja Theory's output, even if they're often only okay games elevated by their story, aesthetics and atmosphere, and I liked what I heard about the game's attempt to address the issue of psychosis, though it's risky to do something like that justice in a game.
While I definitely like how Hellblade puts us in Senua's head, not least by means of a fantastic use of binaural sound, I have to say that I especially enjoy the game for its aesthetic pleasures. It is probably one of the best-looking games I've ever played, and its art design is also pretty unique, or at least I can't remember any games that went for this sort of look and pull it off. I also enjoy how Hellblade interweaves mythology and psychology; Senua's quite clearly troubled, but in the world the game depicts it's impossible to clearly delineate mental illness from the world of gods and monsters, apparitions and magic.
At the same time, the game itself does become a bit repetitive, and it's not a long game to begin with. I expect that I'm about an hour away from the end and I'm definitely ready to move on. I wonder how much I'll think of the game in one or two years' time, but as an experience, in the moment, it's worth playing IMO.
Though one thing that's important for anyone who's interested but hasn't played it yet: A) Play it with headphones and B) switch off any 3D sound 'enhancements' your system has. Skip either of these and chances are you'll get a severely compromised version of the binaural sound, a feature that I think is pretty unique in games and that IMO is one of the things Hellblade does best.
WingedKagouti on 2/10/2017 at 11:13
It's a game I want to play at some point, but my current mental health makes it feel like a bad idea to dive into it at the moment.
Thirith on 2/10/2017 at 11:45
If I may ask, what's your current mental health situation? I can definitely imagine Hellblade making for a deeply unpleasant experience if the way it expresses its protagonist's psychosis resonates too intensely with your own situation.
Sulphur on 2/10/2017 at 12:47
Agreed. I found it to be a powerful experience in the end, and it's for the same reason I wouldn't recommend playing it too soon, WK.
WingedKagouti on 2/10/2017 at 13:45
I'm currently battling with a depression rooted in various childhood experiences and how they relate to my current situation. I am getting professional help with it, but while Hellblade doesn't seem like it would resonate too much, I don't want to risk it affecting me in my current state.
Thirith on 2/10/2017 at 14:27
Sorry to hear that, WingedKagouti, that's shitty. While Senua doesn't suffer from depression, the story is pretty heavily about her own traumas, including childhood one, so yeah, you're probably right not to touch it at the moment.
scumble on 2/10/2017 at 16:49
I'd recommend something light and casual WK. At least in my experience any game with an intense experience or potential frustration is not helpful if you're depressed. I'm thinking of something like Slime Rancher, which wouldn't be good if cute stuff makes you angry...
I'd like to play it just to have an opinion on it, but I'm drowning in games, mostly RPGs.
Thirith on 6/10/2017 at 12:04
I finished Hellblade and would definitely recommend it to anyone who can forgive a game for being mediocre as a game if it does interesting things with mood, atmosphere and storytelling. Having said that, I'd say that I admire Hellblade more than I like it. As the credits rolled, I felt exhausted more than anything, and while that is an interesting and unusual feeling for a game to evoke, I'm not quite sure what I'll take away from the experience. It did give me a glimpse into the world of a psychotic (and from what I've read, it does this pretty well), but after the first hour or two it didn't altogether build on this except in terms of the story. It's already a short game, but IMO it might have been better if it had been one or two hours shorter, because there were definitely moments when I thought, "Oh, they're doing that again", and there is an element of diminishing returns to how they use sound, visuals and gameplay to put us inside Senua's head.
Volitions Advocate on 7/10/2017 at 12:42
Ugh, I just watched a youtube video titled "The REAL problem with Hellblade nobody mentioned" thinking it would be an interesting thought on the narrative.
Nope. It was a youtube reviewer complaining about a review embargo. They claim it's for the benefit of the consumer, but it's really just that they want to beat each other to the punch for views.
Mr.Duck on 9/10/2017 at 19:11
I loved it.
<3