Hellblade 2 just like the first Hellblade is a piece of media that was quite interesting to review and experience as a game. But I think that’s just about it as far as the sequel goes, it’s interesting but it doesn’t really live up to the first game in terms of the narrative and it sort of flounders with the gameplay that makes you disengage from the game rather than engage with it. Is Hellblade 2 worth $50? No. Is it worth playing through one time after you played the first game if you already have Xbox Game Pass? Yeah.
Just a headsup there will be spoilers in this review.
As a person with schizoaffective disorder, I truly did appreciate the first game’s attempt to present psychosis and mental illness in a non-stigmatizing way. The first Hellblade made me woozy and nauseous, the second game also had similar moments albeit at a less frequency where I just had to stop playing or take a break which is owed to the incredible audio engineering.
Hellblade 2 is arguably even more beautiful with the same incredible audio work and perhaps the most amazing thing about Hellblade 2 at least compared to the likes of Detroit: Become Human or other heavy games is that even during my livestreams, the performance of the game was incredible. It’s a very stable, smooth experience there weren’t really any drops in FPS that I noticed. I think the voice acting and motion capture are phenomenal, I think Hellblade 2 is a piece of art as all games are but especially more so in this case with how Ninja Theory developers created this game and as an artistic expression, the 9 or so hours I experienced in Hellblade 2 is something to certainly admire from the technical and mental health perspectives.
But it all stops there for me because in terms of the actual gameplay and story, I think the sequel fell short. First let’s talk about the story because if the first game was about the protagonist Senua accepting her psychosis, coming to terms with her dead husband all the while fighting off these hallucinated creatures and enemies who are metaphorical representations of the Vikings rampaging throughout Orkney and her inner struggles, the second game is more about how Senua can use her psychosis to affect the world outside of her exemplified by her helping the Viking inhabitants of Iceland. And I think this theme is all well and good but how they represented enemies or creatures such as the giants and how other people without Senua’s psychosis also interacts with what she experiences created a massive hole in the narrative for me.
At the beginning of the game, Senua allows herself to be captured by the Viking raiders and brought to Iceland as a slave so that she can stop the raiding from the first game at its source. But turns out that a particular settlement of vikings were raiding and enslaving people so they can sacrifice them to these carnivorous giants that bring or embody a sort of natural disaster or societal theme. You could argue that these things we fight as Senua and alongside other real people are also metaphors or somehow twisted in her mind were it not for the actual physical effects that are being experienced by these others.
And to suppose that these other real humans are hallucinations is a bit of a stretch considering the setting, different narrators and story. So are giants, fae, magic and gods real and not what Senua hallucinates? I think this was the creative risk here with introducing other human companions and of course putting in mythological beings that they could also fight against or interact with. And I think while there’s a lot of themes in the story including how one can be susceptible to the pitfalls of power, childhood trauma, communal guilt or how beautiful a different way of thinking could be, the game’s ending and perhaps even the gameplay don’t really lift these themes up in a fulfilling way.
In regards to the gameplay, it wouldn’t be controversial of me to say that there’s not much gameplay and you’re just kind of sitting there moving around or mostly moving Senua forward and only occasionally participating in the game through taking photos or finding the hidden lore collectibles.
Most of the time it feels like a cinematic experience which is not inherently a bad thing because there are really great moments but when you’re given the opportunities for combat play, it doesn’t feel really impactful, the combat is too choreographed to where it doesn’t feel like you ultimately have a say in when an enemy dies because cutscenes or timed events make it so you get knocked away or knocked down by the enemies which is ironic because it’s supposed to be a game where as a person in psychosis, you’re taking control at last of yourself to where you’re affecting the world around you but instead the game made me feel powerless and beholden to things outside of my control when I did momentarily have that control.
Senua’s auditory hallucinations dialoguing during combat is also excessively repetitive to the point it’s not intrusive but just disappointing and I felt like there could have been better ways of really conveying the intrusive or powerfully distracting audio hallucinations a person can experience especially under duress.
The puzzles were also underwhelming and between the unengaging aspects of the gameplay combined with the at time needlessly slow movement, the game started to feel more like a chore where you just pressed forward to see what was at the end. Where there were gameplay improvements that could have been made based on what we saw with the first game, it doesn’t seem like the developers focused too hard on the gameplay itself and tried really hard to come up with this story experience that at the end of the day feels a little forced.
And in retrospect, I do think the idea of sequel was fine, but I’m not sure if this was how they should have done it. Even perhaps a different character in a different setting, particularly a setting where mental illness or psychosis is stigmatized even more in other parts of the world would have been welcome.
Finally, the rating I will have to give Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II as a game is going to have to be a 4/10, I didn’t find it as good as the first game in either gameplay or story, I think they missed out on a lot of other improvements they could have made, I still really appreciate it as art or a continuance of de-stigmatizing mental health issues but as a game, I don’t think it’s worth $50 when you look at other games’ price tags on the market and I don’t think the replayability of Hellblade 2 is there for most people in terms of value since the main replayability factors have to do with unlocking different narrators and perspectives of the same gameplay after you find all collectibles in the game. Which is fine but these different perspectives can be easily figured out in the first playthrough.
If you guys played Hellblade 2, definitely let me know what you guys think in the comments below. As always, my reviews are just my opinions, so definitely research more before you decide on buying Hellblade 2 or not. And let me know what game you want me to review next as well if you have a request. Until next time, stay safe.