Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice - Disappointing?

[Princess Luna]

I have recently installed and played some of this title, honestly I never followed much about it but it often is shown on benchmarks so I figured why not give this cheap game yet promising looking a chance? if it was 1/3 of the witcher 3 would have been worth already.

 

short experience log: it wasn't even 1/5.

 

I do want to hear out other people who played it and see if I'm exaggerating but this game simply offers nothing but "pretty graphics" and even so... Game is so simplistic... It is extremely linear, poorly thought out that throws you in a 20 minutes long cutscene on stupid boat that honestly gets boring real quick, once you can move you come across the realization the so claimed awesome graphics are repetitive, you feel you're in the same ambient over and over so you understand why the little you see is polished, the game depends more on cinematic than Call of Duty

 

The story is little to no interesting specially because it is all about rescue someone you don't know from something you don't know and finding up little fragments of this story involves paying attention to long lectures on hidden spots across the game which is eh... not to mention it feels like the game starts by the mid of the story already in a way, rushed on the main character development, I can't get along with the protagonist simply because I know nothing about her nor the game even tries telling me any thing of her life outside the specific events going on.

 

the super linear aspects gives the game zero customization while it does not provide neither enjoyable story or pace, it ain't like The Stanley Parable which is a full linear game done right it keeps you looking forwards to the next event while in Senua's it basically is pin point locations, run a bit, find more location on tight close places, engage an awful combat system with limited action to basically dodge hit, dodge hit, most repetitive combat ever to where you  whenev er you go try doing something different to make it interesting you get beat up and "die".

 

I tried forcing myself to play more of it but frankly I give up now, I am greatly disappointed at it.

[Nocte]

I fell for it as well... I've always enjoyed Viking history and tales and thought to give it a go.

However, gameplay is average at best and very repetitive: few combats here and there with the same mechanics, and then try to find the shapes that appear on the screen.

I thought it was gonna improve and mistakenly went past the maximum hours for a Steam refund.

 

Result: had to reinstall Windows after a motherboard change, completely forgot to install the game back because of the little interest I had in it (didn't even finish it).

[Tsuki]

i really enjoyed it.

what i liked most was its portrayal of Senua's Psychosis. the feeling that you cant get peace and quiet because the voices in your head wont shut up, constantly putting you down and telling you that you're a failure.

The combat, while not even remotely complex or difficult, has a claustrophobic feeling that supports her mental issues.

even the puzzles, while i found them to be boring and repetitive, make sense as a part of her mind.

 

as you get further you learn more about whats actually going on.

Spoiler

going into Helheim to rescue your lost lover. learning that the psychosis was actually brought on due to watching your father burn your mother alive followed by physical and emotional abuse and isolating you from the rest of the world.    Later realizing

Spoiler

that the Furies in your head is the manifestation of your fathers abuse and freeing yourself from it by accepting that its not a curse, but simply a part of who she is. and that

Spoiler

you're not actually able to save your love

 

 

 

the game is less about the gameplay and story, and more about showing how Psychosis actually affects people. even the developers have said that, originally the game wasnt going to have her mental illness be the main focus of the game, but later decided that it was a great platform to raise awareness of it.

Quote

It is easy to see the pain and suffering caused by physical diseases or physical trauma, it is not so easy to see the mental suffering or trauma or severe mental illness. But what if we could find a way to see it ? Games are capable of drawing you in for hours on end, playing the role of a character who's different from you, experiencing their perspective, and actively involving you in a world that functions with a different set of rules.

 

 

i think it perfectly accomplished what it actually set out to do.   a perfect 7/10

[IrshaadH]

I thought it was really well done, but I didn't enjoy enough for a 2nd playthrough. 

[Ebony Falcon]

I loved it, it was all about being in the psychosis with her

it was about the struggle she goes through and how people in real life suffer everyday like this that made it special,

the graphics are awesome, 

the puzzles were awesome especially the trials to get the sword 

I rate it 10/10

the game was a moving experience more than a video game.

must play with headphones

[Godlygamer23]

I enjoyed the game a lot personally, and quite enjoyed the story, but I did find the graphics in some areas kinda awful. If you were looking at the stones, you'd have that ring around it along with stones that you've already gotten. It appears that the ring is not actually rendered at a higher resolution because as it becomes bigger, it becomes really pixelated. 

 

I bought the game expecting nothing. I saw screenshots on TechPowerUp for their benchmarking article and fell for it. I went ahead and bought it and it immediately drew me in. Even the boat scene that you complain about I thought was pretty cool, looking at the environment and hearing the voices converse in differing directions. The fighting was okay - they could've definitely improved that a bit, like having a targeting system because I found it difficult to know who I was attacking.

[Tsuki]

4 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

I enjoyed the game a lot personally, and quite enjoyed the story, but I did find the graphics in some areas kinda awful. If you were looking at the stones, you'd have that ring around it along with stones that you've already gotten. It appears that the ring is not actually rendered at a higher resolution because as it becomes bigger, it becomes really pixelated. 

 

I bought the game expecting nothing. I saw screenshots on TechPowerUp for their benchmarking article and fell for it. I went ahead and bought it and it immediately drew me in. Even the boat scene that you complain about I thought was pretty cool, looking at the environment and hearing the voices converse in differing directions. The fighting was okay - they could've definitely improved that a bit, like having a targeting system because I found it difficult to know who I was attacking.

for the most part, i loved the graphics, and the boat was amazing in my opinion! it was a great intro to what the game is really about.

my biggest complaint was actually the rendering of her face..  shes got a stupid face..

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, Tsuki said:

.

I don't know I still feel it was too extended and repetitive, don't get me wrong I tried getting into the story, after all I am all about single player story driven games, somehow this game didn't sell it to me... the whole puzzle part was rather not interesting, it just made me wish I was playing Portal 2 or Life is Strange or so on again instead for actual decent puzzling

 

I don't have complains about the graphics, other than it just felt like this was the main selling point in the game due to the pointed out limitations the game had I pointed out on OP.

 

So far it seems it was a mix bag, some really liked it though others eh...

[Taja]

It os pretty good. And one of the reasons why is because its short, because this game couldnt be longer. The art is amazing (not just visuals, also sound), and the world is a dark and strange place, you just have to get in the mood and really feel it.

I think its best to play this game in 4-5 short sessions, the full game is max 8 hours.