Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2

Developer - Ninja Theory

I am a big fan of the projects by Studio Ninja Theory. Flawed in many ways, I love them for their unique cinematic direction and tackling mature themes. So, in 2017 when they independently launched Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, free from the shackles of authority, I like many others praised its unique approach of dealing with mental illnesses and use of atmospheric world-building.

So, there were lofty expectations set when Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was the first game shown for the newly announced Xbox series consoles. With its first appearance in late 2019 and countless showings at Xbox showcases till now, Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 had high expectations to deliver.  Xbox really needed another smash hit this generation.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 continues and builds from the foundations set by Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, pushing the immersive narrative and binaural experience to new levels but like its predecessor falls short as a ‘game’. Pared-down combat and puzzles make this an imperfect arthouse project.

By the end of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and the journey you take with Senua, you’d assume that through her lover’s passing and the mental mountain she overcame, Senua reached a resolve.  However, her journey with trauma is long from over. Still dealing with episodes of psychosis, hallucinations and childhood grief, Senua has learnt to accept the past and find light in darkness.

What the developers, of Ninja Theory does so well is how it portrays its themes. Not shy to just reference, or lightly dabble in topics but to really explore the taboo stigma with psychosis and other mental illnesses. A view I never perceived myself, was the moments of self-awareness a person feels often during episodes of hallucinations. Or within the first Hellblade, the acts of self-harm that follow deep trauma.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 has been made to play in sole isolation. With its use of binaural sound, it's best to use a decent pair of headphones to immerse yourself in Senua and her thoughts. Still living with the curse laid upon by her mother, Senua’s mind is all but a quiet place. The ever-present tachylalia voices of two girls play ‘devil on your shoulder’ sometimes giving you solutions to puzzles and other times leading you to dead ends. Another inner voice that’s manifested is the foreboding voice of her toxic father Zynbal, who from the grave is still trying to sway Senua with his fanatical beliefs and manipulation. These voices still chatter away internally, even when amongst some of the main cast. Choosing what to focus your attention on, is an understandably frustrating representation of how it probably is to deal with psychosis, which in my opinion feels tasteful.

Ninja Theory had background research into understanding the human psyche, with help from the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust. Even within the first game, they wanted to represent psychosis as it is, and as (University of Cambridge) Professor Paul Fletcher stated while talking about his involvement with Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice ‘Not the passive receptacle for madness it’s usually conceived as’. Along with Hellblade 1, Hellblade 2 has further educated me on my narrow-minded view of psychosis. I’m thankful to Ninja Theory for their honest portrayal and hope that developers don’t shy away from exploring hard-hitting subjects such as these.

This research goes even further. With how they brought the locale of Hellblade 2, Iceland, to life. Going on numerous scouting trips to 3d photograph the geographical landscapes, and the photorealism seen in the environments, from fjords to mountains, to glaciers and lava fields, really sells Iceland as an island of extreme contrasts and dramatic landscapes.

This game is a technical showpiece for the industry, with high fidelity and an immersive narrative. Leaning more into a ‘movie-like’ cinematic view, with the black bars on a widescreen display and no apparent HUD or context buttons. This perspective is rare for video games and is only really used in CGI cutscenes. Intentional or not, the 30fps Hellblade 2 runs at evokes movies lower refresh rate of 24fps. I was worried that there would be issues with performance on my Series S, but I only had slight niggles with some of the dynamic resolution in the late game. To the untrained eye if you were gazing at Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, in motion, you’d easily mistake it for a movie. I found the seamless link between the narrative and gameplay to be so minute that Senua stood idle for a few seconds before I realised I had control.

Senua isn’t alone in her journey this time. Unlike Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice being an isolated continual tour of her mind. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is an expedition that sees Senua unexpectedly leading a group of sceptics, as she ventures through interconnected locales and overcomes fearsome demi-gods. Dispelling preconceived myths with Senua’s newly found perspective. Like Senua, each person she comes across is battling their own inner conflicts. Senua’s inner voices try to doubt her own personal judgement in understanding their struggles and revert Senua back to her old ways. The game cleverly focuses certain chapters on helping them reach closure.  

Melina Jurgens shines again as Senua; you wouldn’t be able to tell that Hellblade 2 was only her 2nd acting role in a game. Far from the close-minded portrayal in Senua’s Sacrifice, Melina’s performance shows her character's growth. A character once solely introverted and despondent is now compassionate, and courageous. Hers isn’t the only great performance present, the entire supporting cast too. What helps elevate these performances are the genuine life-like models and facial animations, that detail even the most subtle of emotions, at times it felt like I was watching a gripping TV drama.

Thanks to other games such as God of War (2018) and its sequel, I’ve become knowledgeable about Norse mythology. With the story continuing in the 10th century, it explores more into the power/play and devotion folk have with deities. These themes are front and centre, but I found the empowering message

to be one of learning to deal with battles in the mind.

Lorestones from the first Hellblade return, mostly hidden off the beaten path, teach the player more about Norse history with short tales. New to HB2, are the giant stone faces. They can be easily missed, hidden amongst other big stones. Focussing on them reveals a secret path to a small tree, that has more secrets for you to hear. Like with its predecessor, there’s no gamified ‘checkbox’ collectable to find. And while nothing is gained from the totem poles or stones, I felt compelled to find as many as I could.

From a visual standpoint, the combat in Senua’s Saga has evolved massively from the first. Each of the 1 on 1 encounters are set up to feel like there’s more than just the battle on the line. From the dynamic close camera to the hulking size of your foes. The mobility of Senua has been made to feel sluggish and heavy, to enhance the stakes here. It’s such a shame the biggest conflict here, is with the gameplay.

Visually I have no qualms, so it’s disheartening that with all the cinematic flair, the actual participation of the player feels shallow. Surprisingly even more simplified than in Senua’s Sacrifice, there’s no flow and battles come down the same simple flowchart; parry their attack, retaliate, and watch a finisher, rinse and repeat. It ends up feeling like a spruced-up QTE.

Another thing scaled back is the difficulty found in the environmental puzzles. In some areas, Senua must flip the world to alter the level design and reach new areas, visually these look more complex than the actual solution.

The same in part can be said about the returning impassable rune gates. finding the 3 disguised letters around the surrounding area can seem impossible at first but the game uses binaural hints and clear ‘gamer paint’ to make sure you aren’t stumped for too long. I get where Ninja theory attempts at trying to interlink meaningful ethical representation with gameplay but to me, it makes the lasting feeling; that the game is playing itself at times.

That said, there are some inventive puzzles in here, such as an enjoyable lengthy sequence where you have to share a torch across a temple with a spirit. Passing it back and forth like a baton.

I am personally intrigued to see in the coming months/years, how other players view Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. An interesting subject that whether, the very focused narrative with limited interactivity can be labelled as a ‘game’, or just a semi-interactive piece of art.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a breathtakingly gorgeous cinematic journey that grabs your full attention from the get-go. Not wasting a single moment of its short runtime, Ninja Theory’s story here is a harrowing struggle that does not shy to dive into its thematic themes. While the subjects touched on are left with confusion and anguish, the message I’m left with is one of courage. The narrative story-telling bleeds into the game which is its biggest flaw. Overly simplifying gameplay for the sake of keeping the momentum going.  

For the partly stagnant evolution in this follow-up to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, the ambition shown in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 makes it a more than worthy addition to Senua’s story. Hopefully, with Microsoft’s acquisition of Ninja Theory and the title changes between games, it becomes a staple franchise for Xbox.

Played on: Xbox Series S

Hours to beat: 7 1/2

Pros:

• Unmatched graphical fidelity/ Audio

• Fantastic Character performances

• Interesting Norse lore

 Cons:

• Combat is shallow

• Puzzle solutions are easy

Score: 8/10