Jump to content
passwords have all been force reset. please recover password to reset ×
MFGamers

Hellblade : Senua's Sacrifice


Whiskey_chaser
 Share

Recommended Posts

I started this before work last night, did about 45 minutes too. Also played with headphones and I think that's the best way, unless you've got a good surround system.

 

I know the basic set up but I'm not 100% sure what's going on yet. I wouldn't be surprised if you get to the end of the game and she's a person in a ward in modern non fantasy reality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think our playthroughs are sounding pretty identical. I haven't played in a few days but played last night and only for an hour.

 

The downside of having time off is that I forgot there were two doors to go through, one after the other. So I finished off the fire one and then got really confused as the only way forward was to go back on my self. Totally forgot about the second door option.

 

I've only had to look up one puzzle. I knew I was standing in the right place but nothing I could try was working. Turns out I was about an inch away from the correct spot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Aw man what a nice little surprise this is.

 

I bought it to help tide me over and given the attractive price and great reception it seemed a no brainer. 

 

Glad I did because narratively it's spot on. The voices I can switch on and off, benefit of having my own all these years, so they don't bother me but I they do a convincing job of what it's trying to accomplish. 

 

It's gameplay is a mixture of walking puzzler with sporadic simplistic - but satisfying - combat. It doesn't really tell you directly how to fight but it's obvious enough to pick up. 

 

Surprise contender for this year so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished it. Really good. Puzzles are nothing really taxing but they are fun, also the combat is simple but enough hidden depth to make it really satisfying in the way it works.

The standout though is the music/sound combined with a visual style all its own. It makes for a compelling story following a tribal woman in a sort of Dante's inferno type deal to rescue her loves soul from Helheim.

Glad I played it. Not sure yet if it'd be in my top 3 but it's definitely got me considering such was the impression on me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

I started this tonight. Steam says I've played about an hour and a half, but some of that was idle. I'm really bad at taking breaks if the game gives me the chance, no attention span, so games take me ages and Hellblade has a lot of opportunities to alt tab or pause and check my phone

 

I made a point of finishing the first side area (I did the fire one first). I like it, I feel like I should be using headphones but I don't really like wearing them, I do have a surround sound system, it's not great but the voices do bounce around the room, they probably feel further away than they're intended to though.

 

I quite like the combat, it's a shame they dont quite manage to bury all the instructions for the game in the ambient sounds, but they do a pretty good job with it from what I've seen. I'm interested to see what the next area offers, I'm hoping it's not just a swap for the fire moments because I can see that being the opportunity to mix the game up a bit

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Started this on Friday, played about 100 minutes so far.

 

Incredibly disappointed with it so far I have to say.

 

The graphics are phenomenal - especially for an Indie game - I think Senua's character model is possibly the most photo-realistic I've ever seen in a game, how she moves and is animated is just a bit odd, it feels so lifelike, truly astounding. The environs and particle effects all look mightily impressive too, there's a few dull textures here and there but nothing to write home about.

 

The combat is satisfying enough, Souls-light I'd call it, its got a decent enough challenge to it without using the bullet time shit. But with the bullet time it becomes incredibly easy I'd say. Still satisfying all the same, but yeah, maybe a tad too simplistic. The enemies have all been pretty similar so far, but towards the end of my session there were a couple of new enemy types thrown in which kept it feeling fresh.

 

But the big issue for me is the gameplay loop. There's no other way to say this, it's shit. You fight a few enemies in a closed off combat arena then do some rune puzzle - or a variant thereof - and rinse and repeat ad nauseam. It's just so dull, it feels so old, like someone forgot about the current generation of game design philosophies and designed it in a vacuum.

 

A lot has been made of the binaural sound too (I played with headphones) but its mostly been annoying for me, I was actually rolling my eyes at some of the bits of dialogue. At the very beginning its a bit disconcerting but as you get used to it, it just became a bit annoying.

 

The lore/mythology of the land has all gone completely over my head too, I'm finding it hard to care about Senua's journey. I just don't give a fuck quite frankly, all this Niflheim, Asgard, Hellheim nonsense just didn't resonate with me at all. 

 

The atmosphere has been a let down down too, I just don't feel a sense of anything really, it just feels like I'm slowly meandering through this world, the only time the game makes me feel anything is combat because I don't want to get my save game wiped. The ol' adrenaline goes up then and the combat has a real weight to it as a result, that's the only time I feel a sense of dread, but the rest of the time is going on a slow sojourn to the Norwegian Fjords or something and solving a few shitty puzzles along the way.

 

I'll go back to it tomorrow or Monday but if it doesn't switch up the gameplay loop in my next session I'll probably not bother going back to it.

 

Oh well, it's pretty at least:

 

 

414340_20180112172314_1.png

414340_20180112172517_1.png

414340_20180112172837_1.png

414340_20180112173201_1.png

414340_20180112173425_1.png

414340_20180112175243_1.png

414340_20180112182033_1.png

414340_20180112183132_1.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Played another 4 hours today - 6 total - and luckily it has got much better.

 

That shitty puzzle, combat arena, shitty puzzle gameplay loop has thankfully - mostly - been abandoned. 

 

For narrative reasons you can't engage in combat for a certain amount of time, I was worried about how this would play out as it's easily the best aspect of it and what I enjoy the most, but, luckily it somehow manages to do better without it, than it did with it, it felt like a crutch at times during my opening 2ish hours but without that crutch to prop the game up Ninja Theory had to create some more innovative ways to engage the player.

 

Spoiler

 

How they chose to do this is in these trials. There's about 4 or 5 of them, some of them aren't too awe-inspiring but they're cool enough and the first time the game truly feels innovative, some are huge puzzle rooms with elaborate illusion gates, others have you walking through pitch black environs seeking the next glimmer of light in the distance and navigating around enemies. Another section has you being chased by a monster that will kill you in the dark, so you need to run from light spot to light spot to stay safe, a torch gets introduced which allows you to navigate the darkness without worrying, but this can run out so you need to keep lighting new lanterns as you explore and find runes to open the next puzzle door.

 

It has actually managed to feel more Amnesia than anything really, that monster sequence and the bit navigating in darkness just reminded me of that so much, the sounds the monsters make in the dark was actually rather unnerving and disturbing too.

 

 

I think I like the combat even more than I did originally. I've had to fight gauntlets of enemies today and using the bullet time along with the dodging and satisfying whacks of the sword is just amazing, it feels so goddamn good. 

 

So yeah, thankfully it seems to of found its way now. I'm still not all that enamoured with the story or lore really, just can't get invested in it for some reason but I have actually managed to feel for Senua today at least and some of the metaphors and symbolism used throughout are starting to bear fruit. 

 

More pics:

 

414340_20180114145542_1.png

 

414340_20180114152725_1.png

 

414340_20180114160827_1.png

 

414340_20180114175736_1.png

 

Spoiler

414340_20180114164719_1.png

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I loved this, it's not the most complicated of stories but it's such an unusual setting for one that is I thought it was superb. I loved what they were doing with the camera and the 4th wall at times, the sound is fantastic, especially if you have surround sound of some description, but it's really high quality regardless. It's well acted, it mostly looks great. 

 

The lock on aspect of the combat could be a pain but there were points where it flows really well, where you're dodging and countering like a demon. There's a some sections that are fantastic, the beast section for one, and the enemy designs are really good. Glad I stuck it in my game of the year list without finishing it 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I really enjoyed this. One of the best in its use of sound. I'm glad she's gotten some recognition for her acting aswell. 

 

The combat is simple but effective. You feel the weight and connection. Feels really good when you parry and slay like a badass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Fuck I want to like this more than I do.

 

It's my first 4k game, ive got the visuals on as opposed to framrate and it looks fucking fantastic. It also sounds incredible as we know and I'm playing using headphones for the full effect and it's creepy as fuck.

 

It's the gameplay though. That large important component of the whole. I'm not enjoying the playing. The movent is clunky and slow yet the puzzles are spread out. The pace does suit the heavy visuals and sound so I get the decision not to make her a nimble and speedy ninja but imo in detracts a little from the enjoyment of actually playing. I find the combat plain dull. I didn't at first and to be fair i've had plenty of fights where I feel like I won by the skin of my teeth but there's too much of it.

 

I am however really enjoying the stories, both the main game and the lorestones. To the point where I can almost forgive the gameplay. But it's taken it down a peg in my overall estimation, from a game I was sure I would love to a game I like.

 

I think i'm near the end now, maybe the finale will change my mind.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Mmm, I was looking forward to this but these rune puzzles might be scratching my tedium fuse.

 

After about the tenth go of staring at twigs in the first hour I started reminiscing about the joys of horse riding in RDR 2.

 

I really didn't envision this game being like this at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Finished this last night. I really liked how it looked, and the lack of UI was an  interesting choice that worked well for this game. I enjoyed the story and how it was presented,  the audio especially was excellent.

 

The gameplay itself was so-so. Hunting around for runes got repetitive quite quickly. The combat was functional, but never exciting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

This is a game I played during my absence. Streamed it as well.

 

I really liked it, but as others have said the combat was a bit basic to the point of being cumbersome and the rune stuff teetered on being a bit obtrusive from playing the game. The ones that were set in puzzles were nice, but the ones that were just set randomly really could have done with hitting the cutting room floor.

 

The real star of this is the narration and the sound. The sound in particular really messed with me, it was cleverly used to disorientate but also help you, but they overlaps and contradicted each other so much that it became a real mind fuck. At points it could become quite nauseating, which is something I really wasn't expecting to be affected by. Story wise all this was tied in to a nice package that went places a lot of bigger games fear to tread, it was a nice merging of both the indie and AAA world. In a time when designers are looking to rip off all the best parts of the bigger games, it's nice to see parts of the industry give the often ignored parts of the indie scene a life up and showcase them in games like this.

 

Mocap stuff was crazy good as well. As a game it's alright, as an experience it's pretty unrivalled. If you've not played it already, and I think that you will have because you all have such fine taste, then this should be on your to do list. There's a reason it won those awards, they were deserved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

This is the last game I have on my PS4 that hasn't been played. I had a little go a few months ago but it didn't really click. It felt like a nightmarish survival horror, and I wasn't really expecting that, so I drifted away.

 

Since then I've looked into the game and read up on what it is and what it's trying to achieve. I was also motivated to go back by that amazing trailer for the new one. 

 

Feels better now, I must say, a real exercise in atmospherics. I'm letting it all just soak in, playing with headphones as advised, and hoping I survive the creeping black death curse.?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Took down Surtr and I think I've made it to Valravn's lair, thru those clever environmental puzzle areas. The game, as others have mentioned, is a mighty experience, but heavy going to play for any longer than an hour. In that respect it is like a survival horror, where the thrill of it all can become a bit oppressive without coming up for air now and then.

 

I disagree with many here on the combat. I love it. It's no juggle skill fest. Ninja theory could easily have pulled that off if they'd wanted to. But it's just real, visceral, and feckin' exhausting. My controller stick has never felt so heavy. Like a bloody big sword!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...