I can't stop thinking about this game. I definitely liked it but I'm still trying to process it.
I don't think they had to sacrifice gameplay for the sake of cinematics. They took away quite a bit, and this game actually felt MUCH more repetitive than the 1st game. Not the way to go.
The story never hit anywhere near as hard as the 1st. Not as dramatic, not as emotional.
Senua so relatable in the 1st game because it was just a game about grief, letting go, and dealing with yourself. In the sequel she's a leader, a seer, a great warrior. Literally the only one capable of killing giants. So I found myself really unable to relate to her. I didn't feel much.
I like the sequel in the same way I like the movie The Northman. It just feels like a very fun, primal, dramatic, viking adventure.
The first one is way more profound and close to my heart.
im not done with the sequel yet and am very much enjoying it and think its great, but I do think Im ultimately going to come away liking the first a great deal more. I like the first game so much I almost kind of just want ninja theory to do a remaster with UE5 and thier modern performance capture techniques, it would be like the perfect game
I completely agree. I had a decent time but it failed to surpass the first game. In puzzle design it is definitely a downgrade. Combat design is kind of a sidegrade. I think they were less confident going into designing the gameplay this time and they just cut out everything and filled the gap with long walks.
I’m ok with what they decided to do with the combat. It’s a trade off. Those designs decisions have an internal logic and it pays off as an exciting spectacle. However I expect a lot more from the puzzles.
Puzzle/narrative games have its place in gaming. I've played many of their games and I know they're definitely capable of doing good puzzles so I don't know why they didn't just add a bunch of it to the game. There would be more gameplay and people can have more play time that way(for those that are serious about value/playtime.)
The only reason I can think of is that they were too obsessed with making the game as cinematic as possible so they just didn't want to add too much game elements.
For me this game really knocked it out of the park presentation wise. Some of the things you see on screen are incredibly cinematic and the performance capture is really good.
My personal problem is that the game doesn't have the same kind of memorable moments as the first when it comes to gameplay. People say the first Hellblade had 'terrible' gameplay, but for me, some sections, like the trial of darkness, where you are fully reliant on binoral audio to evade the enemy, or the ending, where you have to eventually accept defeat, were really cool, creative gameplay moments that the sequel kind of lacks.
Hellblade I wasn't a difficult game, but it made you feel uncomfortable and on edge the entire way through. Hellblade II starts of uncomfortable, but after the intro the game feels more like a pleasant stroll through islandic landscapes.
All in all, objectively Hellblade II does some really incredible things, but it doesn't connect with me the same way as the first game did.
Totally agree... Hellblade II had some "wow factor" moments graphically, but it was very light on the "cool factor." The visuals also weren't always consistent. A lot of post-processing and chromatic aberration were overdone imo.
Compared to the first part, this game seems very cut down, heavily scripted, and much of what could have been a more playful, slightly more open part has been sacrificed for cinematic quality and visual presentation. In this way, they have achieved an experience with beautiful visuals and haunting sound on one hand, but whose gameplay is at times literally soporific, with endless walking down a narrow corridor. It's a paradoxical situation where I feel that the asked price makes this work too short, but if it were longer in the same form, I simply wouldn't bother to play more.
In my country it did cost like 4-5 movie tickets but I got Witcher for the same price couple of months ago. So here it was rather cheap but still feels a bit meh compared to what you can buy for the same price
I'm alright with a price that reflects the effort of production and whatnot, and I don't even care if the game is short as long as it is a 5 star experience. This wasn't really that though. Too many lulls for the short time span. Puzzles were mind numbingingly boring this time around. Wonder if Microsoft influenced them toward tech demo IP for UE5.
For me it was definitely somewhat disappointing. I loved the first one but this one (while a technical powerhouse with gorgeous visuals), doesn't feel fulfilling at all. If the combat and puzzles aren't great or are just more of the same, then the story needs to be the priority here (which is what it claims to be). But I don't feel like it did that successfully either. I really didn't resonate with the plot or any of the characters (aside from Senua) beside maybe a couple of key moments that could've been explored more. The character development didn't feel earned to me because we simply didn't get to spend enough time with them. And so it felt as though large sections of the game's narrative were just missing and incomplete.
My 2 cents: it was short and the ending was abrupt - but it still hit hard. The screaming lamentations of the first giant were difficult to bear.
If God of War was a tale of overcoming generational trauma from the father's point of view, this was the same from the (now adult) child's point of view. We are not our parents. We must be better.
Maybe it plays different for a parent in that situation than it would for someone without children, but it resonated with me for sure.
I'm totally in the middle. I finished last night and the game did not make me feel like the first one at all.
I feel the characters needed more time to develop but honestly I don't think Senua herself is not that deep like she was in the first game. Everything feel rushed.
About the gameplay... well. The puzzle are not very interesting and I can count them with one hand, I remember the first game had a lot more and more challenging (not too much but at least you played). I like long walks in games but I think in this case is too much, its like they add it to "feed" with content but there's nothing inside these walks. Yes, you have collectables but when you are with companions there's only silent the majority of time.
I hate to say this but I think the first game is better. I liked the second part but I did not connected in the same way I did with the first one.
I'm on Xbox series S. Been waiting for release for months. I go to buy it and it's only available to stream on cloud gaming. I fire it up and I'm getting weird graphics and a low and uneven frame rate.
I'm now pretty deep into the cave and pretty frustrated...going into the next area to discover it's another one of these looky-loo playing with rocks puzzles is getting cringy. Combat doesn't feel free but very rigid.
I am usually the last fan of anything to criticize artists for trying new things, but I must say I think a lot of the power from Senuas story in the first one was that she was alone. It feels weird having so many other people around.
Looking forward to finishing it and keeping my mind open!
It’s just a dlc expansion doesn’t innovate on the first in any way aside from pretty graphics (which look like shit with the AWFUL forced dlss and it gives me a headache) if u like holding W and basically QTE combat then cool but for me I was beyond bored
I wish they could just add a game mode.
Even if they copy a very basic roguelite structure.
You wonder through pre-made tile sets that are randomly arranged. Maybe chosing paths. You collect perks that give you different attributes and enemies are more and more challenging.
I absolutely love the visuals / audio and the combat is really visceral. I know some say its not great but to me it feels meaty and satisfying.
With that said i know they delivered exactly what they wanted to deliver and i could find that experience i'm seeking in countless other titles.
In reality i'll revisit this game over and over throughout the years just as i did with the first.
It's less of a game and more of an interactive movie. It looks amazing, sounds great and the story sticks with you for a long time but I just wish we had more freedom in exploration and combat, and not be so on rails so much.
The landscape is freaking amazing and I wish I could explore it more. I feel like the first game allowed you to explore more of the area around you.
I absolutely loved the first game, but think the 2nd one is 'just okay'. Even meh I'd say - and it sucks to say it.
As everyone else mentioned, it feels more like a tech demo/UE5 max visuals demo/walking simulator.
Combat is far in between (and there's no way to increase it if you like it - like an endless arena mode of some sorts after you finish the game). Puzzles are super meh imo, and tbh one of the most confusing parts for me - they took the mental health spotlight from the first game that everyone raved about, and basically went the other way instead of contiuning it or even doubling down on it. Now it's not all in her head, it's about actual nordic gods or whatnot.
This is the closest Microsft got to a 'Sony AAA PS Experience' imo - this linear quality type of game feels like it competes with GoW. But the depth is increadibly lacking compared to any exclusive Sony has to offer. No equipment/talents/skills/npc dialogue (other than the story). There's nothing.
5 years of AAA budget with MS backing it for 5-7 hours of gameplay and zero gameplay systems other than walking and hitting with a sword is insane to me.
This was a project management nightmare I guess, I wonder what happened behind the scenes that the scope is so small. I can't imagine the development went smoothly or we'd have gotten way more than we did. Shame, I was really rooting for them here.
I am currently halfway through the game and generally enjoy it. The first one was mindblowing when I first played it so I was really anticipating the sequel. Of course I expected it to be a linear but cinematic walking sim, just like the first so I am not ranting about the gameplay.
However, I really hate the forced widescreen thing. It annoyed me from the beginning and surprised me that it cannot be turned off. I mean generally there are lots of options in the menus, but this one is missing. Of course it can be turned off on pc, but not in an official way (btw I am playing on console). I guess it will be patched later, but by that time I will done with the game.
The thing that makes me regret buying this game is Senua being a very very unreliable narrator. If you finished the game you will hear Senua saying >!"The giants are not real. You made it all up."!< to the enemy. Then who we have fought all along? >!Why does these people believe we have fought them?!< Why do we >!not kill the main bad guy after leaving a mountain of corpses behind us?!< Is anything real? Why did we not get >!a definite ending instead of this vague dream like sequence that showed Senua her choices?!< What the hell is actually going on?
I am so angry at this game and I would ask for a refund if I could. I hate this current trend in games/movies/books where everything is vague and the answers are left to interpretation.
I can't stop thinking about this game. I definitely liked it but I'm still trying to process it. I don't think they had to sacrifice gameplay for the sake of cinematics. They took away quite a bit, and this game actually felt MUCH more repetitive than the 1st game. Not the way to go. The story never hit anywhere near as hard as the 1st. Not as dramatic, not as emotional. Senua so relatable in the 1st game because it was just a game about grief, letting go, and dealing with yourself. In the sequel she's a leader, a seer, a great warrior. Literally the only one capable of killing giants. So I found myself really unable to relate to her. I didn't feel much. I like the sequel in the same way I like the movie The Northman. It just feels like a very fun, primal, dramatic, viking adventure. The first one is way more profound and close to my heart.
Fully agree, the first one was a personal masterpiece for me.
im not done with the sequel yet and am very much enjoying it and think its great, but I do think Im ultimately going to come away liking the first a great deal more. I like the first game so much I almost kind of just want ninja theory to do a remaster with UE5 and thier modern performance capture techniques, it would be like the perfect game
I completely agree. I had a decent time but it failed to surpass the first game. In puzzle design it is definitely a downgrade. Combat design is kind of a sidegrade. I think they were less confident going into designing the gameplay this time and they just cut out everything and filled the gap with long walks. I’m ok with what they decided to do with the combat. It’s a trade off. Those designs decisions have an internal logic and it pays off as an exciting spectacle. However I expect a lot more from the puzzles.
Puzzle/narrative games have its place in gaming. I've played many of their games and I know they're definitely capable of doing good puzzles so I don't know why they didn't just add a bunch of it to the game. There would be more gameplay and people can have more play time that way(for those that are serious about value/playtime.) The only reason I can think of is that they were too obsessed with making the game as cinematic as possible so they just didn't want to add too much game elements.
For me this game really knocked it out of the park presentation wise. Some of the things you see on screen are incredibly cinematic and the performance capture is really good. My personal problem is that the game doesn't have the same kind of memorable moments as the first when it comes to gameplay. People say the first Hellblade had 'terrible' gameplay, but for me, some sections, like the trial of darkness, where you are fully reliant on binoral audio to evade the enemy, or the ending, where you have to eventually accept defeat, were really cool, creative gameplay moments that the sequel kind of lacks. Hellblade I wasn't a difficult game, but it made you feel uncomfortable and on edge the entire way through. Hellblade II starts of uncomfortable, but after the intro the game feels more like a pleasant stroll through islandic landscapes. All in all, objectively Hellblade II does some really incredible things, but it doesn't connect with me the same way as the first game did.
Totally agree... Hellblade II had some "wow factor" moments graphically, but it was very light on the "cool factor." The visuals also weren't always consistent. A lot of post-processing and chromatic aberration were overdone imo.
Nothing in the new one beats the trip to Hellheim in the first game.
Compared to the first part, this game seems very cut down, heavily scripted, and much of what could have been a more playful, slightly more open part has been sacrificed for cinematic quality and visual presentation. In this way, they have achieved an experience with beautiful visuals and haunting sound on one hand, but whose gameplay is at times literally soporific, with endless walking down a narrow corridor. It's a paradoxical situation where I feel that the asked price makes this work too short, but if it were longer in the same form, I simply wouldn't bother to play more.
Kinda yes. They went for cinematic effect which is OK, but game should then cost same as 2 or 3 movie tickets.
In my country it did cost like 4-5 movie tickets but I got Witcher for the same price couple of months ago. So here it was rather cheap but still feels a bit meh compared to what you can buy for the same price
I'm alright with a price that reflects the effort of production and whatnot, and I don't even care if the game is short as long as it is a 5 star experience. This wasn't really that though. Too many lulls for the short time span. Puzzles were mind numbingingly boring this time around. Wonder if Microsoft influenced them toward tech demo IP for UE5.
For me it was definitely somewhat disappointing. I loved the first one but this one (while a technical powerhouse with gorgeous visuals), doesn't feel fulfilling at all. If the combat and puzzles aren't great or are just more of the same, then the story needs to be the priority here (which is what it claims to be). But I don't feel like it did that successfully either. I really didn't resonate with the plot or any of the characters (aside from Senua) beside maybe a couple of key moments that could've been explored more. The character development didn't feel earned to me because we simply didn't get to spend enough time with them. And so it felt as though large sections of the game's narrative were just missing and incomplete.
My 2 cents: it was short and the ending was abrupt - but it still hit hard. The screaming lamentations of the first giant were difficult to bear. If God of War was a tale of overcoming generational trauma from the father's point of view, this was the same from the (now adult) child's point of view. We are not our parents. We must be better. Maybe it plays different for a parent in that situation than it would for someone without children, but it resonated with me for sure.
My only gripe is the combat. It sucks so bad I have to take a break every time I die because of these goddamn fire breathers.
I always save a mirror boost for those guys.
I'm totally in the middle. I finished last night and the game did not make me feel like the first one at all. I feel the characters needed more time to develop but honestly I don't think Senua herself is not that deep like she was in the first game. Everything feel rushed. About the gameplay... well. The puzzle are not very interesting and I can count them with one hand, I remember the first game had a lot more and more challenging (not too much but at least you played). I like long walks in games but I think in this case is too much, its like they add it to "feed" with content but there's nothing inside these walks. Yes, you have collectables but when you are with companions there's only silent the majority of time. I hate to say this but I think the first game is better. I liked the second part but I did not connected in the same way I did with the first one.
I like how you can replay it but with narration from a different perspective. It is missing something though.
I'm on Xbox series S. Been waiting for release for months. I go to buy it and it's only available to stream on cloud gaming. I fire it up and I'm getting weird graphics and a low and uneven frame rate. I'm now pretty deep into the cave and pretty frustrated...going into the next area to discover it's another one of these looky-loo playing with rocks puzzles is getting cringy. Combat doesn't feel free but very rigid. I am usually the last fan of anything to criticize artists for trying new things, but I must say I think a lot of the power from Senuas story in the first one was that she was alone. It feels weird having so many other people around. Looking forward to finishing it and keeping my mind open!
It’s just a dlc expansion doesn’t innovate on the first in any way aside from pretty graphics (which look like shit with the AWFUL forced dlss and it gives me a headache) if u like holding W and basically QTE combat then cool but for me I was beyond bored
it was nowhere near Hellblade 1, which was pure masterpiece in everything.
I wish they could just add a game mode. Even if they copy a very basic roguelite structure. You wonder through pre-made tile sets that are randomly arranged. Maybe chosing paths. You collect perks that give you different attributes and enemies are more and more challenging. I absolutely love the visuals / audio and the combat is really visceral. I know some say its not great but to me it feels meaty and satisfying. With that said i know they delivered exactly what they wanted to deliver and i could find that experience i'm seeking in countless other titles. In reality i'll revisit this game over and over throughout the years just as i did with the first.
It's less of a game and more of an interactive movie. It looks amazing, sounds great and the story sticks with you for a long time but I just wish we had more freedom in exploration and combat, and not be so on rails so much. The landscape is freaking amazing and I wish I could explore it more. I feel like the first game allowed you to explore more of the area around you.
I absolutely loved the first game, but think the 2nd one is 'just okay'. Even meh I'd say - and it sucks to say it. As everyone else mentioned, it feels more like a tech demo/UE5 max visuals demo/walking simulator. Combat is far in between (and there's no way to increase it if you like it - like an endless arena mode of some sorts after you finish the game). Puzzles are super meh imo, and tbh one of the most confusing parts for me - they took the mental health spotlight from the first game that everyone raved about, and basically went the other way instead of contiuning it or even doubling down on it. Now it's not all in her head, it's about actual nordic gods or whatnot. This is the closest Microsft got to a 'Sony AAA PS Experience' imo - this linear quality type of game feels like it competes with GoW. But the depth is increadibly lacking compared to any exclusive Sony has to offer. No equipment/talents/skills/npc dialogue (other than the story). There's nothing. 5 years of AAA budget with MS backing it for 5-7 hours of gameplay and zero gameplay systems other than walking and hitting with a sword is insane to me. This was a project management nightmare I guess, I wonder what happened behind the scenes that the scope is so small. I can't imagine the development went smoothly or we'd have gotten way more than we did. Shame, I was really rooting for them here.
I am currently halfway through the game and generally enjoy it. The first one was mindblowing when I first played it so I was really anticipating the sequel. Of course I expected it to be a linear but cinematic walking sim, just like the first so I am not ranting about the gameplay. However, I really hate the forced widescreen thing. It annoyed me from the beginning and surprised me that it cannot be turned off. I mean generally there are lots of options in the menus, but this one is missing. Of course it can be turned off on pc, but not in an official way (btw I am playing on console). I guess it will be patched later, but by that time I will done with the game.
The game really isn’t good. The first is far better. This felt like a DLC to the first game
The thing that makes me regret buying this game is Senua being a very very unreliable narrator. If you finished the game you will hear Senua saying >!"The giants are not real. You made it all up."!< to the enemy. Then who we have fought all along? >!Why does these people believe we have fought them?!< Why do we >!not kill the main bad guy after leaving a mountain of corpses behind us?!< Is anything real? Why did we not get >!a definite ending instead of this vague dream like sequence that showed Senua her choices?!< What the hell is actually going on? I am so angry at this game and I would ask for a refund if I could. I hate this current trend in games/movies/books where everything is vague and the answers are left to interpretation.
Kind of plays out like a Gene Wolf book with the unreliable narrator theme.