Senua's Saga: Hellblade II | REVIEW

“Ninja Theory should have just made a movie..."

HOW I PLAYED: I played Hellblade II on PC via Xbox GamePass PC. I was able to run the game at 60fps + with max settings at 1440p. My gaming PC has a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 32GB DDR5 6000mhz RAM and an RTX 3080.

STORY — 9/20 

The Intro to Hellblade 2 is an opening cinematic that leads into very limited gameplay. You are forced to slow walk and hold UP on the joystick while you still basically watch a cutscene. Full gameplay doesn't open up until the end of the first chapter.

Cutscenes are visually stunning in Hellblade 2, they are past the uncanny valley and it looks photo real which is incredible. This game is meant to be a "cinematic experience" but I have a real distaste for moments that should just be cutscenes to instead be moments where the player is forced to hold UP on the joystick for long periods of time to stay "engaged". 

World Building in Hellblade 2 is the same as the previous game. You learn more about the world through forced dialogue and exposition dumps. And there are "hidden" side paths you can take to find idols that will give you additional lore and exposition. 

Overall Story in Hellblade 2 is not nearly as impactful as the first game. I feel like Ninja Theory (Hellblade Developers) had an idea, and the first 2/3 of the game followed this idea but they either ran out of money or development time and had to rush wrap up the story. The ladder half of this game is a free fall in terms of quality when it comes to story compared to the first half of the game. So you can clearly tell the narrative was rushed. 

GRAPHICS — 15/15 

Character Models in Hellblade 2 are truly stunning. You can see this is where all the development effort went into for this game. The main cast of characters, although small are very detailed and all have great facial animations and realistic looks. The NPC's in this game all conveniently have helmets on or masks. And I would bet that they are just reused character models so they don't want to show their faces. 

Environments in Hellblade 2 are breathtaking, there is a nice bit of biome variety with the environments which I was pleased to see. I have become less and less impressed with amazing environments in gaming especially in Unreal Engine 5 games. As there has been many tech demo's showing off that game engine's ability to easily create amazing environments with baked in assets.

 

Special FX in HB2 look great! Very life like and real which is what the game is going for. You won't see out of world spells or magic, but the real life elements of Fire and Water and weather effects are truly top knotch. 

AUDIO — 10/15 

The ambiance in HB2 has amazing ambiance on a technical level, but I have a large gripe what the team at Ninja Theory have created with this game. The ambiance is mostly environmental sounds but is mostly taken over with voices in the main character Senua's head. I get this is a large part of the game's story and I do appreciate that the studio brought in experts on psychosis and mental health. But I don't think the team took the time to understand how this would impact the player experience. I played the game with headphones for maximum immersion, and at times I felt all the voices to be irritating and created a negative impact on my experience. 

My Suggestion To The Devs:

You can still accomplish story elements to Senua's character and establish the mental struggle she is going through with choice cutscene moments. But during gameplay you should limit the amount of these voices as to not irritate the player.

Boss Music has its moments in Hellblade 2, but most times I walked away very underwhelmed. There also is not very many "bosses" in Hellblade II. I think what was most disappointing is the first game had such memorable boss music. Such a shame considering the length of time this sequel was in development for.

Sound Design is frustrating in Hellblade 2. Like I previously mentioned I feel like all the work that went into making sure the representation of Senua's psychosis is accurate went against the functionality behind the gameplay. This really felt like a game that should be experienced with headphones, since it is a "cinematic experience". But I almost cannot recommend this to most players! The voices present in Senua's head are super distracting and almost irritating. And I understand that this is the games "Shtick" and the team at Ninja Theory would probably say

"That is what we intended for the player! So they get Senua's experience with her mental health"

But I would argue that there are ways to accomplish this without impeding the game-play experience. 

Suggestion To The Devs:

You could have cutscene moments where Senua is being confronted by the voices in her head and you can convey the struggle she is going through. Then when it goes back to player control, you can drastically lessen the voices in her head for better player engagement / enjoyment. The end goal is for the player to empathize with the Senua, not resent playing the game.

PERFORMANCE — 7/10 

Frame Rate  in Hellblade II is disappointingly limited to 30fps on both Xbox Series S and the flagship Series X.

In 2024, I strongly believe that all games should offer a "performance" mode capable of running at 60fps. While playing on PC, I enjoyed the game at 60fps and beyond, which undermines the argument that "30fps is intentional for a cinematic experience." If this were truly the case, there would be no higher FPS option on PC hardware.

This practice of limiting frame rates and delaying optimization, only to release a 60fps patch months later, sets a bad trend. Developers should prioritize optimization during the development phase rather than treating it as an afterthought. Releasing a game with suboptimal performance and fixing it later is unacceptable, and I am strongly against this approach.

My Guess:

I think that a lot of development in Unreal Engine 5 games relies on "visual coding". Which is not the most optimized version of C++ coding. So to get games optimized to run on console hardware, a deep look at the code needs to be done. That is why a patch is usually available 6 months after release.

Stability of Hellblade II was somewhat underwhelming for me. However, I feel like most of my concerns were due to the Xbox PC launcher, which is the only game launcher where I consistently experience stability issues.

Other than that, I encountered no in-game bugs or major game-breaking glitches that prevented my progress.

GAMEPLAY — 13/40 

Controls in HB2 are limited and don't feel responsive. Most of the game's runtime you will be holding UP on your joystick while also holding down the RUN button. The combat is very "scripted" and does not feel satisfying and can be downright frustrating at times. Also I found that since the game has constant black bars on screen for a cinematic look, it can be very hard to determine where you are actually controlling the character and where you are simply watching a cutscene.

(visualization of how Hellblade II's controls felt)

Mechanics are very simplified in Hellblade II, even more so than in the first game. You have a dedicated "focus" button, which can be used during combat to slow time and perform other minor actions. To build up your "focus," you need to successfully deflect or parry attacks, or land successive hits on an enemy. This is indicated by a flashing mirror hanging on Senua's back.

With the core gameplay mechanics being as simple as they are, it is essential that they feel fluid to the player. However, I found the game's combat and mechanics to feel "delayed" or as if I didn’t have full control of my character.

Pacing in Hellblade II is very inconsistent. After rolling credits, I walked away thinking that development must have been rushed about two-thirds into the game, forcing the studio to quickly wrap things up. The conclusion left me wanting more, as the latter half of the game did not match the quality of the first half..

 

UI/UE in HB2 is so minimalist it is almost non-existent. The game subtly indicates low health through increased vignetting on the screen and uses a hand mirror on Senua's belt to show when the "focus" ability is ready. I found the lack of traditional UI elements to be appropriate for this style of game.

Boss Quality in Hellblade II varies from an amazing visual experience to frustratingly mediocre. The main premise of Hellblade 2's story revolves around the "Giants." The first giant encounter, " ," was a fantastic spectacle with an engaging backstory. However, subsequent bosses followed a similar formula, resulting in repetitive confrontations, which is disappointing in a game of this caliber. The finale, in particular, fell short in quality compared to previous encounters. This leads me to speculate that Ninja Theory may have faced constraints such as limited development time or financing, impacting the game's original vision.

Gameplay Variety is lacking, offering little surprise for players familiar with the first installment. Gameplay largely consists of navigating scripted "hallways" or engaging in repetitive battle sequences against mobs of NPCs. As previously mentioned, the game blurs the lines between cutscenes and gameplay, leading to moments of confusion. While the puzzles in Hellblade 2 resemble the "perspective puzzles" from the first game, they often feel more like annoyances than meaningful gameplay variations. Essentially, the puzzles come across as "walking with extra inconvenience."

Enemy Variety is disappointingly limited, with only three distinct enemy types: generic melee, ranged attackers, and big brutes. These enemies repeat throughout the game with identical attack animations, albeit reskinned in different chapters. By the game's end, I found myself fatigued by these encounters, wishing I could skip them altogether. Defeating enemies lacks the satisfaction and reward typically associated with combat in games.

This brings me to my major criticism of Hellblade 2 and Ninja Theory as a whole. It seems evident that much of the development team may lack extensive gaming experience, resulting in decisions that prioritize cinematic experiences over satisfying gameplay. While these choices may appear promising on paper, they often lead to frustration and dissatisfaction for players. At times, it feels like these games would be better suited as movies rather than "interactive story experiences".

Replayability is low for Hellblade II, making it a "One and Done" type of game. Players gain little from multiple playthroughs as the core story remains unchanged regardless of performance. This is disappointing, particularly given the game's $50 USD price tag and its relatively short average completion time of about 6 hours. While I understand rising development costs in the industry, I find it difficult to recommend purchasing this game outright when it offers little incentive for replay. Instead, utilizing an Xbox Game Pass subscription seems like a more cost-effective option, which I believe many players will opt for.

BONUS — 3/4 

Hellblade II offers commendable accessibility features conveniently labeled in each section of the options menu. It's satisfying to see options tailored for color-blind individuals and assistance for Quick Time Events (QTEs), particularly prevalent in the battle sections. Additionally, the game provides numerous audio options catering to individuals reliant on auditory cues due to visual impairments.

OVERALL — 57/100 

FAIR 

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II was a subpar sequel to the visually stunning 2018 game. It seems that more thought went into the game's visual fidelity than its gameplay. Ninja Theory should have just made a movie... as the gameplay barely meets the minimum requirements for what I would call actual "gameplay". With its short runtime and limited FPS options on console, I can't possibly recommend Hellblade 2 to any potential customer. I would instead advise waiting for the game to go on heavy discount or simply playing it if you happen to have a GamePass subscription and an empty 6 hours to fill.

TLDR: 57/100 (FAIR) Hellblade II's stunning visuals are overshadowed by lackluster gameplay, inconsistent pacing, and limited enemy variety. With a short runtime, low replay value, and performance issues, it falls short of expectations set by its predecessor. Ninja Theory's focus on cinematic experiences over satisfying gameplay leads to frustration for players. Accessibility features are a highlight, but overall, Hellblade II disappoints, feeling more like a movie than a compelling game experience.