24/05/2024
As usual, a in-depth review!
So Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga was just recently released. It was one of the most anticipated titles of 2024, due to its high production value, and its promise of immersion, and unique storytelling with the use of the concept of a character that is experiencing schizophrenia. But other than that, it also involves the use of amazing visuals such as cinematic backdrops of the location where it was shot, which is in Iceland, mainly in the remote and undeveloped areas, untouched by man.
The story involves the return of our heroine, Senua. As a quick recap from the first title, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, she was trying to recover the soul of her dead beloved, Dillion, after he was killed by the Vikings during a raid. Bearing the head of his lover, Senua, embarked on her journey, while also being accompanied the voices in her head which she call Furies, and a slain druid's spirit, Druth, who was telling her the legend of how the Norse gods came to be.
Years later after that event, Senua was captured by a group of Viking slavers. But managed to escape from her ordeal after a storm destroyed the longship that was carrying them to Iceland. It was here that she was challenged again by the darkness that consumed her during her first adventure, but this time, she also had to face adversaries that she never faced before, the giants of Jotunheim or Jotnars.
Without spoling anything too much, unless you watched my livestream, the story had some good plot twists, most especially in the end. Something welcoming for a title that was completely linear.
Gameplay is almost identical to the first title, with the only thing missing is the stun/kick command, which was used mainly on heavier opponents, or those that uses shields. My only main disappointment, and seems like a step backwards compared to the simplified combat from the first game. However, the developers, Ninja Theory, decided to make it up for it by making her Focus abilities become more frequently available. Parrying was also different, because this time, you have very little to almost milliseconds worth of timing in order for it to work. Otherwise, it will only come out as a normal block from an attack. With all these, it gives her less more options, or combos to perform.
Sound design is still quite exceptional though. The furies are still whispering through Senua, and constantly tells her what she is doing right or wrong, if she's solving the puzzle correctly, if they notice things different around her, or what her next move should be during combat. They also provide encouraging words to Senua, if she is about to lose the fight, but it does not have any impact on her recovery, since it still involves the player's input. And just like the first title, it is recommended to wear headphones in order to fully experience the binaural audio.
Graphically, it is quite a marvel! The developers managed to capture the environment of Iceland, most especially the volcanic regions, and the snow capped mountains. However, be mindful, because the lowest recommended graphics card in order to ensure that you get the full effect of the visuals is 8GB of VRAM from the Pascal Generation for Nvidia, or RDNA1 generation for AMD. In my case, I have an RDNA1 graphics card, which is an RX5600XT, but since it only has 6GB of VRAM, it was getting hammered to the point that it could barely load the graphical assets of the game, and everything was starting to slow down to a crawl. I had to make compromises of the graphics, by lowering things down, particuarly the Image Quality, and antialiasing, and then making up with FSR3 technology in-game in order to keep the framerate at constant 60fps.
Right now, there are only 2 ways to get this game. On Steam, it is priced at P2790, which is slightly higher for a game that will take you 6 hours to complete the story, or 10 hours if you want to complete it including its secrets. But in my opinion, it's seems a reasonable price for a game that was developed with alot of love and care for the past 5 years. But if you are lucky and you are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, it is part of the currently lineup, as long as you have an active subscription. And I don't see it going away anytime soon since it is fairly new.
Some players have reported that they find the story boring, and the combat lacks freedom, or even the immersion was just a folly. To each their own. As for me, I was totally engaged the entire time I was playing. Maybe because I loved the first game so much, that I was excited with the sequel.
Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga is a solid 8.5/10, and a thing to experience. That is if you dare to dip your shoes to find out what goes in the mind of a schizophrenic.