The voices in my head told me to make a Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice thread

henke on 25/7/2018 at 20:26

Lucky's Tale did make me a bit queasy. Edge of Nowhere was fine, but then again the camera constantly points in one direction in that one.

Sulphur on 12/7/2019 at 16:36

(https://graceinthemachine.wordpress.com/2019/07/04/hellblade-senuas-sacrifice-trauma-and-the-power-of-editing/) Here is a different take on Hellblade by someone with depressive disorder. I've never read something I disagreed with more but had to acknowledge that maybe there's a fair point in there. I'm not particularly ~~sold by~~ invested in the politics of selling trauma and capitalism (the tenor of the writing is an unhappy preachiness), but I can acknowledge that yes, maybe it would have been good if Senua's story wasn't just about her illness. At the same time, it's a powerfully told tale that feels emotionally truthful, and the author doesn't acknowledge this, so I'm half-inclined to dismiss the writing as criticism for the sake of it.

But then, it also reminds me of another piece from a non-neurotypical player that also criticised how the game seemed to be constructed for the mainstream instead of actual verisimilitude. So now I have no idea what to feel. Well. Maybe it's okay to feel conflicted for the moment.

WingedKagouti on 12/7/2019 at 17:00

Quote Posted by Sulphur

But then, it also reminds me of another piece from a non-neurotypical player that also criticised how the game seemed to be constructed for the mainstream instead of actual verisimilitude. So now I have no idea what to feel. Well. Maybe it's okay to feel conflicted for the moment.

After having played some of Hellblade, my feel of the game is that it was made as a game first with the exploration of mental issues being a secondary concern. It could potentially have made more impactful statements on the subject, but the gameplay would likely have suffered, which in turn would have reduced some of the positive buzz it garnered (impacting sales of the game).

To me Ninja Theory managed to strike a good balance between the two aspects.

Tomi on 9/2/2020 at 20:03

Started playing Senua's Sacrifice today, as I wanted a little break from Ori and the Blind Forest. Well, this is certainly something a bit different. I'm only a few hours in, but woah, it's been quite an experience so far. I didn't expect the game to be this heavy! I've enjoyed the journey though and I'm looking forward to how things turn out, it should be quite interesting.

I also gotta say that this game looks absolutely fantastic. It doesn't go too over the top with the visual effects, but there's still a lot going on all the time. And if possible, the audio is even better... You really need headphones to get the most of it. The gameplay itself is a bit meh, like just about everyone has probably pointed out already, but I'm cool with that - Senua's Sacrifice is more about the story anyway. In fact I really like the fact that I don't need to perform any acrobatics here or find any collectibles or explore hidden places for once. The combat is simple but surprisingly fun, the boss fights especially are very intense!

Inline Image:

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/796511002083015831/B7907B5DEB90FB783140B93FE9F33414B972D4BA/
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter...

Tomi on 14/2/2020 at 19:08

Quote Posted by Sulphur

I suppose so, but it'd be in poor taste to have Senua in a sequel if they plan on it, at the very least.

This is probably old news for some people already, but Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga is supposed to come out late this year. Senua didn't really need a sequel, but oh well. Here's a trailer that doesn't really tell anything about the game, apart from the fact that it still looks good and Senua is apparently very angry now.

[video=youtube;kQf-FmKa-rA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQf-FmKa-rA[/video]

Anyway, I just finished Senua's Sacrifice. It's certainly quite a unique experience, and its art direction is really amazing. The different locations are interesting and really well designed. But the game is all about the story really, and it's kind of a mixed bag. I watched the "making of" featurette that provides some interesting background information about some design decisions and the whole mental illness thing, and it really makes me appreciate what the game is trying to do even more, but at times I think that they go a bit too far and try to be too deep. Towards the end the story turns a bit too strange for my liking (I don't know how realistic or unrealistic that is, as I have no personal experience with psychosis...) and I started to lose my interest, but fortunately the game ended pretty soon when it got to that stage. Like many others, I don't know what to make of the ending either, I thought it was a bit pretentious maybe, but it's also entirely possible that I just didn't get it.

Inline Image:

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/794259586449525539/23FDABC32D076E84A7943985483A42700E6B8FD4/

The actual gameplay isn't the strong point of Senua's Sacrifice, but it does its job at carrying the story forward. The puzzles where you have to align things to make certain things magically appear are quite imaginative and really fun at first, but they also start to get a bit repetitive when there's not much else to do in the game. The combat is also surprisingly fun and they at least feel really intense, even though they're actually very simple. And yeah, they soon get repetitive too.

Senua's Sacrifice is a really unique and interesting game that luckily ends before it gets way too repetitive. Definitely worth playing if you're looking for a good story and like your games weird. Recommended!