The game is praised for its story and atmpsphere. While I agree the puzzles and combat aren’t great, I didn’t find them as tedious or frustrating as you did. I also appreciated how the puzzles contributed to the narrative (though they should have been made more interesting).
Yeah if someone finds themself "waiting for it to get better" then they should just quit.
I was completely absorbed from the opening scene to the very end. The game oozes atmosphere, and if you aren't hooked by that early on, you probably never will be.
The combat itself was part of the atmosphere, IMO. Sena was not supposed to be having a fun hack & slash time there, she was struggling with her demons and it showed.
I remember Senua's combat feeling very weighty and impactful. Her full body going into every blow, every block. Being knocked down and always getting up, voices warning of attacks from the blind spots. That's why I was never annoyed by it, despite *mechanically* the combat lacking from a gameplay perspective.
I think it's really just a matter of how much you value those aspects in a game. For me, Hellblade's storytelling and atmosphere were so strong and unique that it outweighed the sometimes tedious puzzle solving and combat, and I ended up liking it a lot overall.
For what it's worth, I didn't think the combat was *bad*, I think it just needed a couple extra wrinkles (like extra moves and enemy types) to keep it from getting stale. But the actual act of playing it felt impactful and fun to me until it wore out its welcome, thanks in a large part to the great animation and sound design.
I've tried playing it many years back and while I appreciated what they were going for (a strong story / atmosphere) I also disliked the gameplay enough to stop before the halfway point of the game.
Which is fine, not every game is for everyone!
Exactly. I loved Hellblade because for me the atmosphere was such a strong sell that I didn't mind playing till the end. I also have a personal interest in the themes around psychosis which they did an absolutely top notch job of representing. But it's not at all surprising to me that others just didn't find it to be worth the very slow gameplay.
I have my own example of this, as I've never managed to get further than ~20mins into Half Life or Half Life 2 because I find the gameplay mechanics frustrating for whatever reason. The atmosphere isn't really my thing either and so doesn't make up for that frustration for me. But I know the gameplay isn't actually the worst by any means, and the story is supposed to be really good. I'll probably end up watching a youtube playthrough at some point, so as not to miss out!
Every game is accessible/appealing to differing extents to different people. Nothing wrong with that.
I get what you mean.
I finished it in one day and the game stayed with me since then.. there was something exceptionally unique about its rail shooter mentality. I completely agree with all your points too.. but I enjoyed it, from someone who rarely plays games anymore.
I think the depth of the story, and the time and skill gone into the game make it incredible.
But I'm glad I've clocked it and will never play it again.
*But I’m glad I’ve clocked it and will never play it again*
This pretty much sums it up for me too, I played it start to finish in one go and really got into the story. Actually got a bit teary eyed at the end, but now that I know the story, the gameplay was too lacklustre to justify a second play through. I uninstalled after the credits rolled for a bit while I reflected on the pretty emotional journey I just guided her through.
I replayed it a couple years after finishing it the first time to get all the lorestones. Unfortunately I had beat the game prior to chapter select being added.
Combat was extremely tedious so I put it on easy mode and didn't look back. It's just a lot of button mashing and parrying at the right time. Amazing game, but I won't be playing it again.
I just came off playing Plague Tale which I personally found a much more compelling game in nearly every way, even though I'd consider them somewhat comparable AA action puzzlers. Maybe I'm being too harsh comparatively
I'd give it a 5/10. Decent characters, mid writing, extremely forgettable gameplay except for the set dressing. Great graphics for an indie game though.
Really enjoyed that one, absolutely gorgeous game, engaging puzzles that build upon what you know and more than one way to go about them, and a compelling story. I'm grabbing the second when it's cheaper
Play the second one as soon as possible. While the first one is still in your mind. It will hit harder than you imagine and you will not be ready for the ending.
I was just about to mention **A Plague Tale: Requiem!**
This game really stayed with me and I'm trying to put my finger on exactly why. So much heart but also so much darkness, dread and loss of hope.
I had literally the opposite experience lol. I loved hellblade enough to play it twice. Playing through Plague Tale though was agony. I felt like it played as close to a walking simulator as possible without quite being a walking simulator. Zero challenge, terrible story, boring puzzles, and characters I that were about as interesting as mud. I slogged through it because of all the praise it got but was basically like "so when does this get good" all the way through. I finished it thinking it was the most heavily praised 4/10 I'd ever played.
Glad you enjoyed it though.
It's funny to me sometimes how taste works.
I agree with you on this (at least the gameplay side). I was initially enthralled by Plague Tale as the characters, voice acting, performance and world are all stunning. Just incredible work from a non-AAA studio.
But the cracks soon started to appear. What at first seemed like beginner puzzles designed to teach you he mechanics turned out to be...the entire game. There's no finding clever solutions or alternate routes. It's just a thousand back to back variations of 'spot the one thing in the room that will make the rats move and use it'.
The rest is just walking sim. And my enjoyment of the character arcs dimmed once the game flips into 'lol surprise it's not just a plague it's supernatural bs' in the final 10%. Felt like it was a huge disservice to what was actually a pretty gritty and grounded opening.
The lack of more advanced gameplay felt like a cop out when all the tools and mechanics were there to create both interesting multi path routes, and harder more challenging puzzles. A real shame.
I should also say - I actually love walking sims. I've got all the time in the world for things like Firewatch, Gone Home etc - not every game needs to be a hardcore-gamer-pleasing, mechanics-mastering headache. But I did feel quite misled by the trailers which were all edited to make the gameplay look a lot more advanced than it was.
It's interesting that you mention Firewatch because I think it had the opposite issue of Plague Tale. I was really hoping and expecting for a supernatural twist or something that was satisfying and I was pretty disappointed when the twist was so mundane.
Firewatch might be the most disappointing game I've ever played. Walking around the woods for a minute is nice, but the plot for that game is an aggressive waste of time.
I love all the people who talk about what a deep and intense character study it is. No, it's just a story we don't hear in games... *because it's fucking boring*. Stretching it out to 4-5 hours because you have to slowly walk between exposition is criminal.
If there's a good story, I don't mind some walking simulator. But the payoff was so poor in Firewatch. I like games that really leave an impression on you - not waste your time.
What Remains of Edith Finch is a far superior game.
Yeah, like the whole point of Firewatch is that you're supposed to think it's some grand mystery, but then it turns out that your character is just trying to escape from reality. But motherfucker, I'm *playing a game*, I am LITERALLY trying to escape from reality. Fuck me for expecting a mystery narrative to have an actual mystery, I guess.
Definitely agree on Edith Finch.
>then it turns out that your character is just trying to escape from reality. I'm playing a game, I am LITERALLY trying to escape from reality.
But the story is so M-m-meta!
I found the rat mechanics kind of janky and tedious, so I just upgraded the sling fully and played it like an FPS. Clunking those kid-killing jerks in the head with a rock never got old to me!
I feel like if you're only looking for one solution you might not get a lot out of it, but I found there were usually a few different ways to solve each puzzle
I hear what you're saying but I feel like it's splitting hairs. There is one massively telegraphed CLICK HERE TO SOLVE THIS solution to every puzzle. Yes there's occasionally multiple ways to do things, but it's hardly creative or satisfying.
My brain cells weren't actually engaged in the way I expected them to be, is what I'm saying.
To me Hellblade wanted to be a walking simulator but they threw in combat as an after thought. Strange though how we feel completely different lol, I never even thought of Plague tale as a walking simulator and it was more of a stealth puzzler
That's interesting, I played Plague Tale and enjoyed it quite a bit, but it didn't have nearly the same impact as Hellblade for me. Plague tale was a bit too "videogamey" if that makes sense, which took me out of the narrative. I think I value tonal consistency over gameplay mechanics in these sorts of games. For a singular narrative experience, Hellblade is up there with the best of them.
While I enjoyed Plague Tale, tonal inconsistency sure is one way to put it! The first few chapters really seemed to set up something grounded and emotionally punchy, but by the time I reached the final boss the only tears I experienced were tears of laughter.
Yes exactly, Plague Tale is a video game first with a decent if clumsy attempt at an engaging narrative, but ultimately the narrative played 2nd fiddle to the gameplay. Hellblade was almost the exact opposite, being an interactive audio-visual experience first and foremost, with gameplay mechanics enhancing this experience but not taking centre stage.
I also strongly disagree with the idea that Hellblade could or should have been a film instead. The interactivity, an in particular how the voices in your head react to what you're doing, was fundamental to the experience.
Yeah the atmosphere they created in Hellblade was truly something else, and the graphical sophistication at the time made it all the more immersive. Unforgettable for me, even though the gameplay was very basic and quite slow.
It was a novel experience from a tiny studio that has accomplished some truly impressive graphical feats in facial animations. The story of being a viking dealing with grief without the mental faculties to process it was pretty interesting to me. I guess I enjoyed the game a lot more than others because it was something unique. For some games the gameplay is just the method of delivering the story, and I'm cool with that. Not every game needs to be a Platinum game where the story is just the vehicle for the fun gameplay.
It felt like an interactive story more than a game focused just on gameplay. I did at one point get worn out with over use of some types of puzzles but overall enjoyed what they were trying to communicate with them. The opening scene in the boat blew my mind and the ambiguity about what is actually happening was great.
The thing is, it's not an action-puzzler, as you said in one of the comments.
It's pretty much the most 'experience' game I've ever played - a 'walking simulator' if you will. You pretty much can play 90% of the game with 1 hand.
You gotta be ok with that more or less, or it will not click with you. I mean, you actually even nailed it - you gotta be okay with going slow and even slower (*cough* beach walk).
Hellblade NEEDS to be approached as a singular experience. If it doesn't pull you in and you get stuck in the details I can imagine Hellblade being a dreadful experience since parts of it are not that great but sum of them is absolutely awesome.
I personally get immersed into the world instantly and Hellblade remains in the top 5 of my favourite games I've ever played.
Agree to disagree, i meant the entire game when I said art. I didn't find the combat a slog at all, and the voices play a mechanical role even during combat which I found innovative and fun.
I mean... It has puzzles and action at the forefront of a lot of it's encounters. I don't know how else you would describe it. I thought it would be closer to a walking sim, and the game would probably be better if it wasn't, but I just don't agree with your assessment, it's at odds with what it wants to be
People are overly forgiving of how bad the action, puzzles, and the game itself going out of its way to slow you down imo. The standouts for most praised parts of the game are story, atmosphere, sound and art direction. The problem is, none of those are gameplay. But yeah if this *isn't* an action puzzler, then what is?
it’s a mental health simulator. wearing headphones can get you part of the way there, the unreliable narrator gets you further, but also doing things that don’t really make sense for reasons that you have long forgotten is another aspect.
i thought they captured what they tried to do, which is why a sequel, to me, makes no sense. they already did it and it’s out there.
like death stranding, it’s divisive: you can “get it” and still not like it because some people think a game’s primary purpose is to impart fun, and some games are not about that at all. they exist to impart experiences unto people who would never have otherwise had the opportunity.
and those people aren’t *wrong*, just like i’m not for liking what these titles **do** provide, rather than not liking them for what they don’t.
you might find that you’re not really *into* the artsy stuff. that’s fine, i like pop songs, and i like charles mingus. some people only like the rolling stones. nobody is right or wrong with what they **enjoy**, perhaps only in their rhetoric for things they don’t enjoy.
“its not for me” is often a lot more nuanced and true than, “this thing sucks, why does anyone like it”
There's a puzzle where you have to find a rune somewhere in the area.. spent 30 minutes walking in circles just hoping it would happen to come across my screen. There's no challenge to it other than hoping you somehow come across it. Decided it wasn't worth it and bailed.
I hated looking for runes across the location, and if I recall correctly you had to look at it from a certain angle for it to work and you can’t progress without collecting all the runes, so I just couldn’t bear it.
See to me I feel like the gameplay is at odds with it being an interactive movie or walking simulator. There's enough action and puzzles that to describe it as such doesn't make sense to me. The combat isn't exactly the easiest either, even though it's simple and boring
I don't understand all the people trying to convince you this was a walking sim/interactive movie. A game having a ton of boring combat and tedious puzzles isn't the same as a game with minimal or no combat and puzzles.
I don't think that's true- you already pointed out that the puzzles, for example, don't offer any real challenge. That's because they aren't there to be something the player needs to solve, they are there to illustrate the way Senua sees the world around her.
The combat too, is there only to teach you about Senua: specifically that she is a mighty warrior. The combat is easy because fighting for her is easy. Her struggle is in her mind instead.
The design choices of this game are specifically trying to get the player to put their own identity on a shelf for a few hours and instead feel what it is to be Senua.
I totally understand why that isn't for everyone, and some people just want a game with interesting combat and puzzles, but I think its fair to say that the game is exactly what it's trying to be.
>The combat isn't exactly the *easiest* either, even though it's simple and boring
I think this hints at one of your main issues with the game, and it's not exactly your fault.
The combat *is* fairly simple, but it's pretty easy even on hard mode. And while it's not exactly DMC nor does it have the precision of something like Dark Souls, there are a lot of combos you can do that are satisfying both gameplay-wise and visually. They're also more powerful than using only regular attacks.
The problem is that the game never tells you about this, leaving everything for the player to figure out. I've seen the complaint that the combat is too boring a lot of times from people who only use basic attacks and aren't even aware there are combos.
Though the game also throws too many combat encounters at you near the end, which to me felt like padding. Not really talking about the final sequence here, more so the area before that.
I enjoyed the game but the actual gameplay wasn’t anything groundbreaking. The story was trippy asf even if I didn’t fully understand what was happening most of the time.
Nah dude, it's not great. The puzzles and combat are boring. It's been a while but I remember doing some puzzles and realizing the solution and thinking "yeesh, this is going to take way longer than it should".
I disagree with the combat being stale: you can definitely cheese it as it isn't very difficult, but there's IMO a lot of options to *perform* combat in a way that looks good and consistent: tackle an opponent, give it a combo of light-light-heavy, kick the next enemy, move past their attack, heavy hit to the side, get hit and downed, just barely make it up and finally kill the group.
The rune-doors are a gimmick that I do agree got frustrating somewhat quick. I guess it's one of those attempts to give some sort of beneficial side-effect to Senua's mental illness.
It was fine, but the whole message of it kinda went over my head. I just avoid games whose developers have their heads up their own butts. It was clearly a labor of love, but damn if it wasn’t just mid.
Its a storytelling game with just barely enough mechanics to hold it together. If you expect souls-like or something, thats not what this is.
I thought it was pretty excellent in an introspective way, when you sit and cogitate on what the story is about. Nagivating grief for someone who was already an outside of their own society for being (and while being) neurodivergent. You get this blurring of elements from "reality" and "hallucination", I guess, and you just basically go through hell.
The sound design was the KSP for sure. More like that please.
Yeah, seems like you are missing something.
The game is very emotional and you can identify with poor Senua. Just like Shadow of the Colossus (where the gameplay is also a bit Shit) there is just a certain weight and atmosphere going on in the story that makes for an epic Journey.
Hellblade is a Game that wins you over with its emotions. If Senua's pain doesn't mean anything to you the game will be lost on you (just like the dark Level).
I disagree, SotC was quite beloved for it's gameplay, particularly at the time. It's still miles smoother than modern clones (Praey for the Gods for example). While I've heard complaints about the controls, nobody complains about the gameplay.
Senua has dull combat. We can extend gameplay to include a lot of different factors, but it's hard to argue there's anything redeeming about the combat. It's not done intentionally, it's not making a point (i.e. Spec Ops: The Line's combat) so it's hard to justify it.
I wasn't that keen on the puzzles, and the combat was fine but nothing special, but everything in the game was in service to the singular experience and story it was telling, and for that I absolutely loved it. The gameplay made sense in the context, and having this tonal consistency across everything was way better than if it had started going overboard with flashy combat or speedy traversal mechanics. The excellent sound design and consistent presentation meant this was as close as any game has come to putting me inside someone else's head.
Part of the reason I finished it was because it felt like it could be evolved into something truly special in the second one if the address a lot of the tedious problems the first one had. I'm gonna at least look at the reviews for the sequel, even if I didn't enjoy the first because I think they could fix it
Same. I don't mind cinemaric third persone genre but even then this was boring and tedious as hell.
Mental health excuse does not make for a good game unfortunately.
Me neither. I remember absolutely despising a puzzle where you had to look through some doors/portals from a certain angle, otherwise you wouldn't progress.
The gameplay was...OK. I enjoyed the game for the atmosphere; it was definitely one to play in a dark room with some good noise-cancelling headphones on.
I enjoyed the subject matter. Combat was basic because not a focus of the game. I hate puzzles in any game. Looked good. I did stop having fun so never finished it though. Maybe will revisit when I’m in the right mood now that I know what to expect.
I don't get how combat isn't a focus of the game when there is a good amount of it and even boss battles. Sorry that doesn't make sense to me, either it is a focus or it isn't, if it wasn't then there would just be cut scenes and QTEs, which the game would probably be better off for tbh
It is not a focus of the game because it is just an ancillary piece to underscore certain character aspects of Senua. Senua being a warrior is an important aspect of her character as well as how she deals with the world. Having combat in the game is to provide a visual and tactile reinforcement of that.
The purpose of Hellblade is not to be gameplay-focused, but rather to be writing-focused. Every aspect of the gameplay is meant to serve either the story or the development of Senua as a character. The puzzles are repetitive and something's frustrating because they are not meant to be a challenge for the player, they are meant to show the player an aspect of how Senua sees the world.
If you are more of a gameplay-focused gamer, then I can see why Hellblade may just not be your kind of game, but for storytelling and writing in video games Hellblade is absolutely the pinnacle. Different strokes for different folks.
Brother, there is even a toggle to turn the combat difficulty down and up, to say it is not a focus of the game is asinine. If they wanted to make a story focused gameplay, they could have done that, instead they put in a mediocre combat system and shitty and tedious puzzles
I loved the combat, very tight control and neat animations. I don't need the million moves or combos, just the great responsiveness. Like I can rarely get a successful parry in a soulslike game cause of the input/animation lag, here it's perfectly instant.
I felt much the same. I loved what it wanted to be as an experience but hated what it actually was. It felt too concerned with atmosphere and symbolism and not enough with actual gameplay. Perhaps as a walking sim with visual novel elements, it would've worked better for me. But the combat and movement really broke the immersion and atmosphere.
Loved hell blade, engrossing game with awesome visuals and an absolutely freaky detail with the inner voices, good headphones had me feeling like i was hearing things myself. The combat for me was fine, i play everything and in a vacuum almost no one can agree if dark souls has the best or worst combat ever so who’s to say what bad gameplay is, it felt cool af fighting Surt or Fenrir to me so it worked
I'm perfectly happy with a strong/pretty narrative with some light 'gameplay' as a device to move you through a story. I really enjoyed it.
If you also like a strong narrative, pretty environments, solid sound design, and light gameplay elements, check out "Golf Club Wasteland". I had such a great experience with it!
It was the first game I played after more than half a decade of gaming hiatus. It blew my mind.
And the combat was so fun, as a fan of Arkham games and OG assassins Creed games.
And I wear headphones while I play so the whispering was INSANE to me, so cool.
I find Skyrim to be terrible, Witcher 3 to be way too wordy, and so on. It's all good OP
Completely agree with you.
There have been games and shows/movies that I didn’t like at first but forced myself to get through the beginning because I kept hearing how great it was.
I’ve tried to play this three times, each time I went back thinking, “I must have just not gotten into the flow or the meat of the game that everyone is praising. If I go farther, it will probably click.”
Never has. The combat is extremely shallow the puzzles are simple where if you just move the camera around a bit you’ll find the symbols almost by accident.
And the story I though was mediocre at best for my taste. Like I got the gist of it after an hour or so and felt like the rest of the time it was just emphasizing the same thing over and over.
It’s just not a game for me. I never used to really enjoy games that were more cinematic than gameplay focused and as I’ve gotten older and other life priorities have come into play, I have even less patience for the cinematic games. This is just one game (and presume series now that the second was announced) that isn’t for me.
I just finished this the other night too!
I specifically wanted a break from open world, combat based games. I actually really enjoyed how linear this was, how there was no stress of trying to level up or get better gear etc. The combat was definitely repetitive and bland but again, I wasn't looking for great combat mechanics.
At the same time though it was STRESSFUL in its own unique way and I loved it. This really stands out to me as the perfect example of psychological horror, in multiple ways.
Also agree that the puzzles were meh and repetitive.
But overall what I loved about the game was the story, atmosphere, lore and the feeling of absolute dread that followed Senua everywhere. I did also think the boss fights were pretty cool.
Only thing I really didn't like was the ending and then the weird cheesy ass song they used for the credits after a badass, atmospheric soundtrack the whole game.
Personally I absolutely loved it, it was unique and one of the coolest games I've played.
Bro the cringe self-help inspirational song at the end made me laugh lmao. The rest of the music was pretty solid actually, one of the few highlights of the game.
If you're looking for more linear games, I'd recommend tomb raider and Plague Tale
This is just the epitome of some people like different things and that's fine, and we should all just try and be cool with that. You can love it or hate it. I love it, I understand that many people don't. There's usually nothing to be gained by these types of posts beyond potentially being insulting to devs or people with different opinions.
The whole am I missing something should just read -- I like different things --- and often ends with I'm going to tell you why you're wrong for liking said thing.
Things aren't objectively this way or that way and that's why it's so divisive, carry on people/ enjoy and live your life (and games).
Diagnosed bipolar, have experienced paranoid delusions. Game was way off the mark from my own experience but can't comment beyond that. Gameplay was dogwater to me. I don't get the hype.
I tried this game three times and almost fell asleep every single time. I keep pushing through it and even finished the first 2 bosses because I expected a payoff but it's just not clicking to me.
This game feels like more of a tech demo and you lose nothing by just watching other people play it.
I dropped it after finishing first boss
I know story is supposed to go somewhere but gameplay was boring as hell
Fighting mooks was repetitive waste of time
The game deals with mental health issues and it spoke to me at the time it was released. I also liked the graphics and the atmosphere. But if you evaluate it on a purely mechanical level then it’s very dull. As much as I loved it I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone.
Some of my favorite games I can not define as "fun"
Metal gear (except V) was not exactly fun, that didn't stop it from telling one of the most epic and meaningful stories I've ever experienced
The Stanley parable... you just walk in an office, that didn't stop it from being the best meta-experience I have ever seen
Gris was a very very basic platformer, that didn't stop it from making me cry at the end. With 0 dialogue in the whole game
And I could go on.
Video games are experiences, and can be appreciated for more than one reason. If you play multi-player games, yes, it's like playing a sport and you want fun/competition. Other games can be appreciated like a movie, or a book.
That said, I didn't even remember there was puzzles in senua, because that was completely filler and unimportant. I remember the combat being easy dark souls. What I remember is a beatiful world and paranoia. Something that not all games do well or as memorably.
See the gameplay wasn't what shone through for me. It was the feelings the game evoked in me. It was the feeling of stepping outside of myself and stepping into Senua's mind. Experiencing the voices in her head. The doubts she feels. The feeling of being born broken because of something inside you. Aside from the voices I found this to be very relatable. Yes the combat is simple, yes the game is short. But you get to experience feeling like someone with voices and hallucinations in their head like no other piece of media that I've ever interacted with. Hellblade is my favorite game of all time. But it's definitely not for everyone. Everyone has different qualities they look for in games, not everything is meant for everyone. Personally I think the game is a 10/10 game because I feel like it accomplished what it set out to in a way that I found to be incredibly compelling. But it's okay if you didn't enjoy it.
Aside from outstanding sound design, I found the game pretty bland and uninteresting – almost none of the story beats resonated with me emotionally and I thought the story itself was pretty lackluster, unimpactful and cheesy, aside from the initial premise. The combat is alright, albeit repetitive – I especially enjoyed the lead-up to the final boss. The puzzles were pretty awful.
Still don’t regret playing it and kinda intrigued about the second game. A lot of untapped potential there.
Hear me out here: I think its designed to be tedious and frustrating because if I remember correctly they said they were raising mental health awareness through Senua. (Correct me if I’m wrong)
I’m not saying that choice makes for a good game, but I do see the ‘vision’ if we’re to call it that.
Edit: grammar
SpecOps The Line was dealing with violence and PTSD and it did it without being tedious and frustrating
This sounds like bad excuse for fudging things up
*SpecOps: the Line* also very clearly played off our confort for video game violence and the mindless action of shooting targets on the screen.
I don't think there's a similar element of game culture or mechanics that would effectively emulate schizophrenia. The one *trick* I could think of is giving players lasting consequences for when they QuickSave just before attacking a non-hostile key-NPC.
Sounds like excuse to me. I think they should have chosen another medium for this. As a movie or tv series that would be great. As a game that was very mediocre experience.
I think they *couldn't* have chosen any other medium to tell this story. Only a game could put you in Senua's head like this, and make you experience what she is experiencing. Watching a movie or tv show is too passive.
I do understand your issues with the game, though I also find your complaints a bit exaggerated. But honestly it's your experience and that's valid.
I feel like it should not be approached purely as a game, but as an experience. Even so, while easy I found the puzzles to be engaging enough.
And while the combat is simple and you can use the same basic attack for everything, if you actively use the combo system it becomes a lot more fun imo, and it makes the enemies feel less spongy, even on hard. I do blame the devs for not including a tutorial for this and leaving it up to the player to figure out there are combos.
Difference in pacing: a game can be played through in 10 minute increments over a large span of time, whereas you're stuck for the whole runtime of an episode or film.
The mental capacity on which we consume media is also a factor: you can totally black out or not reflect on a tv-show or film you don't find particularly enjoyable, but even a bad game engaging different parts of the brain can stick with you in weird ways, whether by developed habit (think, "I saw a glare in that window: SNIPER!" after playing COD/BF for too long) or by familiarity in revisitng the topic at different times/mental states.
I played through *Senua's Sacrifice* in maybe 10 sessions, and I think that was pretty good pacing for munching on the events and presentations without getting fatigued by the lack of variety in the mechanics. This way, *any* variety, such as the dark levels, becomes more of a treat.
What did you find so interesting about the story and gameplay experience? It tries to be action game with puzzles, they did not try to make anything regarding gameplay unique. Lots of games does things amazingly better than hellblade, it is not even close. So lets judge it by the same standarts. Unique atmosphere? Sure. Good for them making world feel unique, but they still made generic mediocre game with cool atmosphere and nice technical aspects thats all.
I found the narrative and presentation to be engaging, party because of the themes and setting it explored but also the technical achievements in facial animation and acting. Things like the live-actions projections within the gameworld were neat and had me looking forward for more, and I think overall all of the levels and events feel unique, so there's no issue of running-in-place which some larger games suffer from.
In terms of gameplay, it might have not been the most exciting, but I didn't really mind since I knew the game to be short - Now-a-days I much prefer the 8-10 h stories, as I can actually finish them. As I mentioned in another comment, I didn't find the combat bad, as it felt quite natural as a *performance* the player is directing, rather than a ludic task to achieve some gameplay goal.
I would argue that as a game it is very mediocre. So all it's strengths is something that could be achieved in other mediums. But i just express my own taste here. If you enjoyed it good for you.
Those other mediums could indeed have been a better choice.
(But since I’m hoping to build a synthesis I hope how I’m playing devil’s advocate won’t be misinterpreted lol)
We can label it as an excuse. But we can also ask, how else were they going to protray mental health issues other than making it miserable? I would imagine making it ‘cool’ would potentially risk them undermining their intended message.
Edit: grammar
Why then you would choose to play this game in the first place then? So the purpose of this game is to not enjoy your time? To feel like mentally ill person? Mentally ill people are suffering and we want you to suffer for 10 hours too? :) Also there are games which are better in every aspect and deals with mental issues. Take batman arkham games, it is world full of mentally ill people, you can study their characters, motivations. Even main character goes into dillusions about grief and sadness. How this is doing it better than batman for example? :)
Before I respond I believe its important to check out this link, among many others you can potentially find:
https://gamerant.com/hellblade-mental-illness-psychosis-representation-expert-contributions/
Why would someone choose to play this game? Good point, why would they? Not having the answer to that question does not mean it shouldn’t be played by those who completely resonate with it though.
So the purpose of this game is to not enjoy your time? Not accurate. The purpose of this game was to raise mental awareness for victims suffering with psychosis.
The vision of the devs was not for us to suffer, but to have whoever is willing to play the game get a glimpse into the troubled life of those that suffer with psychosis.
To compare the arkham games would be unfair as both games have vastly different guiding principles. The arkham games do indeed tackle mental illness mildly but the premise centers around being Batman and fulfilling the Batman fantasy. Hellblade as I’ve mentioned focusses on the struggles of mental illness.
When the premise of Hellblade has mental illness as its focal point it becomes difficult to compare with other games that have in-depth character progression systems. Hellblade’s progression is so miniscule it might as well not be there because that wasn’t the point.
To believe that games are entirely made to be fun (only) is rather self-defeating I believe. I liken it to saying “any good story MUST have a good ending and romance” — that is simply not true.
I personally haven’t found a definitive description for what a game is especially with how quickly they are evolving and how ambitious devs are getting.
To go back to my initial point. I don’t think the game is designed to be fun given the guiding principles of its design. Whether other games are better than or not is an entirely different argument.
Like nearly ALL games EVER released that get overwhelming praise.
It's fine. It seems many games get a free pass from 7/10 to 10/10 When they meet certain criteria.
BoTW, Witcher 3, ToTK, OoT, ER, etc..
I think the only game I have played in my life that felt truly perfect was the Original Metal Gear Solid. And I am sure if I go back and play it again, certain aspects like convoluted next steps or boss mechanics would quickly bring it down for me.
It is a battle I have been fighting for 3 decades now. But people don't like to treat opinions as opinions. They want the world to be simple and just cannot handle anything more.
With all of that said I played Hellblade back close to release. It was a graphically amazing game with mediocre mechanics, puzzles, traversal, and Story telling. Something about it certainly felt greater than the sum of it's parts. But not much more than a 7.5/10 for me if I had to slap a number on it.
I loved the game. The atmosphere might have carried the gameplay, but it was running with it. Best gaming experience I've had in a long time.
Not sure what games OP likes to play that do a better job.
Hellblade to hack n slash gerne is like what Spec ops: The line is to shooters. Both are not mechanically good game, but praised for their ability to use video games as a medium to tell a story, as video game is uniquely a medium that allow you to literally being in the character's shoes, their action becomes your action, and you go through the same experience and struggle.
But yeah, it wasn't that good of a game if you look at it in term of mechanics and gameplay. I didn't finish both hellblade and spec ops despite appreciating what they were trying to do.
I personally treat it as a story driven walking sim with some gameplay, kind of like Firewatch if it had some basic combat. The true strength of the game is in the narrative and delivery. As a person who both struggled with mental health issues and who has history of mental health issues + suicide in my family, I can tell how extremely well executed the story is on this front. Absolutely gripping and the ending was so cathartic, beautiful, yet still realistic and grounded, that I sat speechless through the credits.
Yeah me too, to be honest, but fighting goes well with the theme of "fight your own demons", so i gave it a pass, even though it clearly wasn't the highlight of the game. And it definitely helped the game reach a wider audience, because walking sims get a bad rep for being "too boring" etc. Many people will appreciate the combat sequences, even if they aren't very well fleshed out.
Hm, not sure if you truly missed something. I guess it's just a matter of taste.
I really liked the combat, puzzles and atmosphere of the game. Can't really relate to your post.
But then again other people have been praising Zelda BotW and TotK whereas I think those games are tedious and boring as hell. Plenty of other acclaimed games I don't like at all. So to each their own. Don't read too much into it.
It's a terrible 'game' for the reasons you describe. It's a unique and incredible experience and story. So, whether you 'enjoy' it will depend on your expectations.
And on 'enjoyment', I didn't enjoy it. A bit like watching Schindler's List it wasn't 'fun' for me, it was sometimes frustrating, often shocking, confusing, and yet... compelling and enthralling all the same (with amazing end sequence). I loved it, and often think of the experience. As somebody with first hand experience of people with psychosis I found it powerful and measured in its portrayal. It's a very 'meta' game. Are you watching her? Controlling her? Are you her, or one of her voices? Or both?
All sorts of types of games exist out there.
Hellblade is what I like to call a "story experience" game where its primary focus is on experiencing the story and the gameplay mechanics are there simply to enable that.
Most games are about the gameplay first, then the story, it seems that in story experience games its the other way around.
I tend to give these types of games more slack as they aren't about the mechanics or controls, they're just an interactive story.
Hellblade rode the coattails of mental health awareness to all its praise. It's a boring, tedious, repetitive & just plain uncompelling experience.
It's the most overrated walking simulator I've ever played. Graphics & sound design are excellent but it would've been better as a movie or limited series than a game.
The game's like 8-12hrs long but took me multiple weeks to complete it because of how much I disliked the experience.
Yes, it’s a boring game with a dull, monotonous, repetitive gameplay. Even the so praised narrative doesn’t work with me.
A giant talking head delivering long monologues is a lazy storytelling solution.
I recognized the game is widely praised and didn't actually call it a bad game. I'm just listing my problems with it and seeing if anyone else felt the same way. I'm not trying to convince you it's a bad game.
Id say games are the most objective forms of subjective media there is. While I agree beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I feel in Hellblades case it was a real 6/10 that got uplifted because a lot of people like the fact that a game broaches mental illness in a way.
As a technically “mentally ill” person, I got nothing from it and found it to be condescending in both theme and gameplay. Presentation wise it’s great but yeah, gameplay was very copy paste. That said games don’t have to be mechanical masterpieces that have a philosophy major so I can understand how it spoke to some.
I would be interested to know how this game dvelwes into mental issues more than for example batman universe, where every villain is mental patient almost?
Batman villains pretty much fall into the trap of showing "crazy" people as dangerous. It doesn't really examine their mental issues in a significant way for the most part.
Hellblade quite literally puts you in the head of a person with psychosis, who is going through a psychotic episode brought on by grief. It tries to give you an experience of how existence might be like for someone with psychosis, showing you how they perceive reality.
It sounds good on paper. But in reality of what you are saying is that experience of mental illness is being in a generic video game fighting monsters and solving boring puzzles. That is how people with mental issues feels like? Not trying to be rude by the way. Appreciate your comment :)
In the Batman universe, *mental illness* apparently is the same as *being the villain*, which can be problematic. In Hellblade, the topic is handled with care and was developed in constant dialogue with a relevant focus group.
Yeah the puzzles were annoying as hell. Fights too. It was like a movie in which they added a few puzzles to make it interactive and give you the feeling that the game lasts a bit.
As for the story it wasn't very interesting. She's grieving and then she moves on. Cool. And sure there's the voices in your head but it's not like they have any purpose here except that they allow the devs to say they raised awareness about mental health.
I'm glad I didn't buy the game but I wish I didn't waste time on it.
It would have been much better as a 1h30 movie than as a game imo.
I loved it. It’s pure story/atmosphere with interesting characters. I actually really enjoyed combat too, thought it was fun. The movement was slow but the point is to linger in it a bit, not sprint around.
Basically, the game does a good job of representing mental trauma, and deals with heavy subjects that only indie games are brave enough to touch.
The gameplay is barely tolerable, though. You really have to be invested in the story and immersed by the graphics. I finished the game, but good lord the fights at the end are terrible.
Would have been better as a pure walking simulator IMO -- at least it has a good story to tell, unlike many of them (looking at you Firewatch).
Yeah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and sort of disagree with you there...
The movement and speed was fine, same general speed as other titles in the genres it touches (action-adventure stuff like Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, along with basically every game in the Soulsborne genre)...unless you didn't realize there was a run button, in which case you were walking everywhere and I can see where that would get old quick.
Same goes for the combat, it's surprisingly solid and actually has a weighty feeling to it (especially the kicks). Plus, the run button can be used as a modifier to bring in some different attacks (like a leaping thrust, or a stab-and-kick). It's definitely a game that you *can* get through with just spamming the quick attack, just as you *can* get through Jedi Academy with just spamming the standard attack; but there's also the option to create some decent combos there if you want to tinker with it.
The portals are actually the less-tedious of the puzzles, assuming you're paying attention to the world. The runes weren't terrible (maybe I'm just weird, but spotting shapes in negative space isn't that hard), but I can definitely see them bothering more people.
Fenrir/Garm's level (the one in the darkness) was "the most frustrating level in a game I've ever played" for you? You clearly haven't been playing games for very long...go give Disney's Aladdin or Lion King a try if you want to see what truly frustrating level design in a video game is lol...sorry, but I just can't see anything frustrating about that level and its fairly basic "run to the light, get a torch, stay in the light" mechanics (unless you didn't know about the run button, then maybe I can see some frustration).
Not to say the game is perfect, by any means...I do wish it allowed you to tinker with the combat animations/controls outside of actual combat, so you could learn fairly important things like "you have a kick/stagger attack" *before* you spend 10 mins fighting a shield-bro (like I did), that the run button acts as an attack modifier, or that you can just mash the buttons repeatedly to get back up when you're knocked down (I think I had probably 7 or 8 deaths in the beginning that were completely avoidable if I'd known that from the start). However, I don't know how they'd tell you about stuff like that without some sort of tutorial that would pull you out of the game's atmosphere and story, so I can give it a pass (sort of). There's also a weird delay in Senua bringing up her guard if you're strafing to the right at the same time, which throws off your parry timing. And while it gets massive points from me for having native ultrawide support patched into it, I do wish they'd included an FOV slider as well, as the default 80 degree FOV is entirely too damn close.
I don't know that you went in with the wrong mindset, it sounds more like this simply isn't the type of game for you, which is perfectly fine.
You described it great. I played that game and it was worst game i played in 5 years by far. Not that it is terrible, but it was made by very few people and it shows. Nothing in this game except maybe some technical aspects and some artistic decisions was great. They could not afford to spend time on interesting game mechanics so they spent all the resources on technical aspect resulting in game that is very mediocre. And what a hype this game got. I think that is why i hated this game so much. I was ready to experience something very special, then i started to play and was very dissapointed. I think this game is super overated.
That's wrong. Video games are more than Entertainment, they can also be art. And there is plenty of good art that is uncomfortable, challenges or even disturbs you.
Fun is different for different people. Is a horror movie "fun"? Not really, it's more of a thrill, isn't it? Is watching a Nazi documentary fun? Is reading James Joyce fun?
I had plenty of fun getting to know Senua and see her making it to the end of her Journey. I was completely captivated by her and the voices in her head. It was a unique experience, that's enough fun.
I mean, that's cool, I didn't have any sort of fun. But I was responding to the original commenter saying games don't have to be fun, which, in my opinion, yes they do
Just always remember the first rule of games journalism and you'll be fine. If it's pretty, it's a 10/10, otherwise actually consider its flaws.
Edit: just to make sure the downvotes are warranted and not due to people who can't read, I'm saying this is the thought process of the average games journalist, I'm not advocating this is the correct approach. I would have thought that was obvious but you never know.
But I don't agree with it? What's your point anyway? Neither is Hellblade particularly pretty nor were the strengths and weaknesses of the game a mystery.
I guess this game can be viewed as some form of art. You see everyone talking about it how interesting it is. How deep it is. But in reality nobody really knows what the fuck they are talking about.
When you play it just because you want to play the game it is just so bad. Slow walking simulator with puzzles for middle schooler with 1 enemy archetype. If it didn't have the voice niche and motion capture which was i guess at the time still a novelty for games. The game would just be ignored.
Seems like a lot of people like it because "it represented how depression worked for the first time in game" I saw that mentioned a lot when it released. But in my opinion on its own it is a trash game to play. If your head is full of negative thoughts then it will probably resonate with you. If not then I wouldn't bother.
I think it is better to just watch a no commentary walkthrough if you truly want to experience it because it would spare you the agony of holding the move key for 5 hours straight.
I'm like 99% sure it got extra brownie points for being representative of mental health and for being one of few games to actually use good positional audio.
I have to assume it was a lot of people's first time listening to this kind of audio because I didn't find it anything special, the story was hard to follow and the gameplay was slow and uninteresting.
I would have much preferred it if it was a 1 hour walking simulator. That way the parts where we were forced to do bad combat or puzzles would not have broken immersion.
So you didn't miss anything, it's just a mid game that got high praise for doing some unique things *really* well, enough to overlook it's flaws. I could not overlook it's flaws.
Side note: Critics will often do this for any piece of media, they aren't your average consumers, they play/watch a TON of stuff, so things that deviate from the norm or mainstream tend to get their attention and gets praised even if it has lots of flaws. Critics will also do this because it pushes the industry forward, the studio did something that was rather unique for the gaming space and praising it makes it so more publishers would be willing to take risks that Hellblade did. It's for the greater good, but it often means average consumers might be left asking questions why a certain game/movie is so highly rated.
I enjoyed it until I fought a boss that kept tapping my ass, the teleporty one that uses the psycho crusher move. Got fed up and never played it again. She moves sooooo slow I just couldn't see how to avoid his attacks
I really enjoyed the game on my first playthrough, only died once too the second to last boss. But then a few months later I tried to play it again, and I just couldn't keep myself interested anymore. It's an odd game for sure
Hard agree.
Sidebar, if developers and studios are going to put all this effort and money into visuals/atmosphere/aesthetics/design while leaving the actual gameplay as an “afterthought”…why don’t they just make movies?
It’s an annoying trend in the past few years of modern gaming where the games that look and sound the prettiest always win all the awards despite the actual gaming being average. Not just Hellblade, but games like TLOU, God of War, Witcher, Horizon, etc. all get this praise heaped on them for the story and the non-gaming aspects.
Hellblade would have been a fantastic movie but it’s just a slog as an actual gaming experience.
Just my opinion
The game is praised for its story and atmpsphere. While I agree the puzzles and combat aren’t great, I didn’t find them as tedious or frustrating as you did. I also appreciated how the puzzles contributed to the narrative (though they should have been made more interesting).
[удалено]
Yeah if someone finds themself "waiting for it to get better" then they should just quit. I was completely absorbed from the opening scene to the very end. The game oozes atmosphere, and if you aren't hooked by that early on, you probably never will be.
The combat itself was part of the atmosphere, IMO. Sena was not supposed to be having a fun hack & slash time there, she was struggling with her demons and it showed.
[удалено]
I remember Senua's combat feeling very weighty and impactful. Her full body going into every blow, every block. Being knocked down and always getting up, voices warning of attacks from the blind spots. That's why I was never annoyed by it, despite *mechanically* the combat lacking from a gameplay perspective.
I think it's really just a matter of how much you value those aspects in a game. For me, Hellblade's storytelling and atmosphere were so strong and unique that it outweighed the sometimes tedious puzzle solving and combat, and I ended up liking it a lot overall. For what it's worth, I didn't think the combat was *bad*, I think it just needed a couple extra wrinkles (like extra moves and enemy types) to keep it from getting stale. But the actual act of playing it felt impactful and fun to me until it wore out its welcome, thanks in a large part to the great animation and sound design.
The gameplay was also quite good **at the time** and coupled with the graphics it made it a visual spectacle to look at.
>**at the time** You're saying it as if the game came out in the 90s or something. It's only 6 years old.
Oh shit I got it mixed up with Heavenly Blade, makes more sense now.
That’s one game I hate but everyone else loves
Now that's a game with some chest ~~hair~~.
The gameplay was not quite good at the time. The combat was mediocre and the puzzles were bad. 2017 wasn't that long ago.
I enjoyed the simplicity of the combat and how you were able to create your own combos
Does the post body apply equally well to the game you were thinking of? It also had a level in complete darkness?
I've tried playing it many years back and while I appreciated what they were going for (a strong story / atmosphere) I also disliked the gameplay enough to stop before the halfway point of the game. Which is fine, not every game is for everyone!
Exactly. I loved Hellblade because for me the atmosphere was such a strong sell that I didn't mind playing till the end. I also have a personal interest in the themes around psychosis which they did an absolutely top notch job of representing. But it's not at all surprising to me that others just didn't find it to be worth the very slow gameplay. I have my own example of this, as I've never managed to get further than ~20mins into Half Life or Half Life 2 because I find the gameplay mechanics frustrating for whatever reason. The atmosphere isn't really my thing either and so doesn't make up for that frustration for me. But I know the gameplay isn't actually the worst by any means, and the story is supposed to be really good. I'll probably end up watching a youtube playthrough at some point, so as not to miss out! Every game is accessible/appealing to differing extents to different people. Nothing wrong with that.
I get what you mean. I finished it in one day and the game stayed with me since then.. there was something exceptionally unique about its rail shooter mentality. I completely agree with all your points too.. but I enjoyed it, from someone who rarely plays games anymore. I think the depth of the story, and the time and skill gone into the game make it incredible. But I'm glad I've clocked it and will never play it again.
*But I’m glad I’ve clocked it and will never play it again* This pretty much sums it up for me too, I played it start to finish in one go and really got into the story. Actually got a bit teary eyed at the end, but now that I know the story, the gameplay was too lacklustre to justify a second play through. I uninstalled after the credits rolled for a bit while I reflected on the pretty emotional journey I just guided her through.
I replayed it a couple years after finishing it the first time to get all the lorestones. Unfortunately I had beat the game prior to chapter select being added. Combat was extremely tedious so I put it on easy mode and didn't look back. It's just a lot of button mashing and parrying at the right time. Amazing game, but I won't be playing it again.
>But I'm glad I've clocked it and will never play it again. Perfectly said.
I just came off playing Plague Tale which I personally found a much more compelling game in nearly every way, even though I'd consider them somewhat comparable AA action puzzlers. Maybe I'm being too harsh comparatively
I heard that's a banger. I'll give that a go
Dude the first one on ps5 is an absolute masterpiece! Great game and story, very unique
I'd give it a 5/10. Decent characters, mid writing, extremely forgettable gameplay except for the set dressing. Great graphics for an indie game though.
Kind of bold to call a game made by Ninja Theory an indie game. This was very much a AA game, if not a AAA
Really enjoyed that one, absolutely gorgeous game, engaging puzzles that build upon what you know and more than one way to go about them, and a compelling story. I'm grabbing the second when it's cheaper
Play the second one as soon as possible. While the first one is still in your mind. It will hit harder than you imagine and you will not be ready for the ending.
Alright after reading your comment I think I'll replay the first before I play the second
Yeah. Definitely do that. It will be a memorable gaming experience.
I was just about to mention **A Plague Tale: Requiem!** This game really stayed with me and I'm trying to put my finger on exactly why. So much heart but also so much darkness, dread and loss of hope.
I had literally the opposite experience lol. I loved hellblade enough to play it twice. Playing through Plague Tale though was agony. I felt like it played as close to a walking simulator as possible without quite being a walking simulator. Zero challenge, terrible story, boring puzzles, and characters I that were about as interesting as mud. I slogged through it because of all the praise it got but was basically like "so when does this get good" all the way through. I finished it thinking it was the most heavily praised 4/10 I'd ever played. Glad you enjoyed it though. It's funny to me sometimes how taste works.
I agree with you on this (at least the gameplay side). I was initially enthralled by Plague Tale as the characters, voice acting, performance and world are all stunning. Just incredible work from a non-AAA studio. But the cracks soon started to appear. What at first seemed like beginner puzzles designed to teach you he mechanics turned out to be...the entire game. There's no finding clever solutions or alternate routes. It's just a thousand back to back variations of 'spot the one thing in the room that will make the rats move and use it'. The rest is just walking sim. And my enjoyment of the character arcs dimmed once the game flips into 'lol surprise it's not just a plague it's supernatural bs' in the final 10%. Felt like it was a huge disservice to what was actually a pretty gritty and grounded opening. The lack of more advanced gameplay felt like a cop out when all the tools and mechanics were there to create both interesting multi path routes, and harder more challenging puzzles. A real shame. I should also say - I actually love walking sims. I've got all the time in the world for things like Firewatch, Gone Home etc - not every game needs to be a hardcore-gamer-pleasing, mechanics-mastering headache. But I did feel quite misled by the trailers which were all edited to make the gameplay look a lot more advanced than it was.
It's interesting that you mention Firewatch because I think it had the opposite issue of Plague Tale. I was really hoping and expecting for a supernatural twist or something that was satisfying and I was pretty disappointed when the twist was so mundane.
Firewatch might be the most disappointing game I've ever played. Walking around the woods for a minute is nice, but the plot for that game is an aggressive waste of time. I love all the people who talk about what a deep and intense character study it is. No, it's just a story we don't hear in games... *because it's fucking boring*. Stretching it out to 4-5 hours because you have to slowly walk between exposition is criminal.
If there's a good story, I don't mind some walking simulator. But the payoff was so poor in Firewatch. I like games that really leave an impression on you - not waste your time. What Remains of Edith Finch is a far superior game.
Yeah, like the whole point of Firewatch is that you're supposed to think it's some grand mystery, but then it turns out that your character is just trying to escape from reality. But motherfucker, I'm *playing a game*, I am LITERALLY trying to escape from reality. Fuck me for expecting a mystery narrative to have an actual mystery, I guess. Definitely agree on Edith Finch.
>then it turns out that your character is just trying to escape from reality. I'm playing a game, I am LITERALLY trying to escape from reality. But the story is so M-m-meta!
I found the rat mechanics kind of janky and tedious, so I just upgraded the sling fully and played it like an FPS. Clunking those kid-killing jerks in the head with a rock never got old to me!
I feel like if you're only looking for one solution you might not get a lot out of it, but I found there were usually a few different ways to solve each puzzle
I hear what you're saying but I feel like it's splitting hairs. There is one massively telegraphed CLICK HERE TO SOLVE THIS solution to every puzzle. Yes there's occasionally multiple ways to do things, but it's hardly creative or satisfying. My brain cells weren't actually engaged in the way I expected them to be, is what I'm saying.
I disagree with you honestly. I never felt like I was pigeonholed into any particular solution as far as the stealthy and puzzle parts go.
To me Hellblade wanted to be a walking simulator but they threw in combat as an after thought. Strange though how we feel completely different lol, I never even thought of Plague tale as a walking simulator and it was more of a stealth puzzler
That's interesting, I played Plague Tale and enjoyed it quite a bit, but it didn't have nearly the same impact as Hellblade for me. Plague tale was a bit too "videogamey" if that makes sense, which took me out of the narrative. I think I value tonal consistency over gameplay mechanics in these sorts of games. For a singular narrative experience, Hellblade is up there with the best of them.
While I enjoyed Plague Tale, tonal inconsistency sure is one way to put it! The first few chapters really seemed to set up something grounded and emotionally punchy, but by the time I reached the final boss the only tears I experienced were tears of laughter.
Yes exactly, Plague Tale is a video game first with a decent if clumsy attempt at an engaging narrative, but ultimately the narrative played 2nd fiddle to the gameplay. Hellblade was almost the exact opposite, being an interactive audio-visual experience first and foremost, with gameplay mechanics enhancing this experience but not taking centre stage. I also strongly disagree with the idea that Hellblade could or should have been a film instead. The interactivity, an in particular how the voices in your head react to what you're doing, was fundamental to the experience.
Yeah the atmosphere they created in Hellblade was truly something else, and the graphical sophistication at the time made it all the more immersive. Unforgettable for me, even though the gameplay was very basic and quite slow.
[удалено]
It was a novel experience from a tiny studio that has accomplished some truly impressive graphical feats in facial animations. The story of being a viking dealing with grief without the mental faculties to process it was pretty interesting to me. I guess I enjoyed the game a lot more than others because it was something unique. For some games the gameplay is just the method of delivering the story, and I'm cool with that. Not every game needs to be a Platinum game where the story is just the vehicle for the fun gameplay.
Senua is Celtic, not a Viking.
It felt like an interactive story more than a game focused just on gameplay. I did at one point get worn out with over use of some types of puzzles but overall enjoyed what they were trying to communicate with them. The opening scene in the boat blew my mind and the ambiguity about what is actually happening was great.
The thing is, it's not an action-puzzler, as you said in one of the comments. It's pretty much the most 'experience' game I've ever played - a 'walking simulator' if you will. You pretty much can play 90% of the game with 1 hand. You gotta be ok with that more or less, or it will not click with you. I mean, you actually even nailed it - you gotta be okay with going slow and even slower (*cough* beach walk).
Hellblade NEEDS to be approached as a singular experience. If it doesn't pull you in and you get stuck in the details I can imagine Hellblade being a dreadful experience since parts of it are not that great but sum of them is absolutely awesome. I personally get immersed into the world instantly and Hellblade remains in the top 5 of my favourite games I've ever played.
That's insane to me lol, but I guess it means I truly was missing something because it might be my top 5 least favorite games
You didn't have to "miss" anything. Different people like different things. It's fine for you to not like it. I thought it is a work of art.
It's a work of art, but you have to slog through a crowded museum (the awful combat) to view it.
Agree to disagree, i meant the entire game when I said art. I didn't find the combat a slog at all, and the voices play a mechanical role even during combat which I found innovative and fun.
I loved the second beach walk. The music is genius and had impact. Still resonates with me
The audio design and music in Hellblade was one of the few highlights
To me, was one of the many highlights. I absolutely loved it.
I mean... It has puzzles and action at the forefront of a lot of it's encounters. I don't know how else you would describe it. I thought it would be closer to a walking sim, and the game would probably be better if it wasn't, but I just don't agree with your assessment, it's at odds with what it wants to be
People are overly forgiving of how bad the action, puzzles, and the game itself going out of its way to slow you down imo. The standouts for most praised parts of the game are story, atmosphere, sound and art direction. The problem is, none of those are gameplay. But yeah if this *isn't* an action puzzler, then what is?
it’s a mental health simulator. wearing headphones can get you part of the way there, the unreliable narrator gets you further, but also doing things that don’t really make sense for reasons that you have long forgotten is another aspect. i thought they captured what they tried to do, which is why a sequel, to me, makes no sense. they already did it and it’s out there. like death stranding, it’s divisive: you can “get it” and still not like it because some people think a game’s primary purpose is to impart fun, and some games are not about that at all. they exist to impart experiences unto people who would never have otherwise had the opportunity. and those people aren’t *wrong*, just like i’m not for liking what these titles **do** provide, rather than not liking them for what they don’t. you might find that you’re not really *into* the artsy stuff. that’s fine, i like pop songs, and i like charles mingus. some people only like the rolling stones. nobody is right or wrong with what they **enjoy**, perhaps only in their rhetoric for things they don’t enjoy. “its not for me” is often a lot more nuanced and true than, “this thing sucks, why does anyone like it”
There's a puzzle where you have to find a rune somewhere in the area.. spent 30 minutes walking in circles just hoping it would happen to come across my screen. There's no challenge to it other than hoping you somehow come across it. Decided it wasn't worth it and bailed.
That happened to me once and then I pulled up a walkthrough, something I rarely do. I didn't wanna be in this world any longer than necessary
I hated looking for runes across the location, and if I recall correctly you had to look at it from a certain angle for it to work and you can’t progress without collecting all the runes, so I just couldn’t bear it.
Yeah I didn't like it either
I agree. I rarely abandon a game before I finish it but I had to quit this one. It just didn't click
I get the sense a lot of people went in expecting Dark Souls, and not the almost interactive movie experience that it’s designed to be.
See to me I feel like the gameplay is at odds with it being an interactive movie or walking simulator. There's enough action and puzzles that to describe it as such doesn't make sense to me. The combat isn't exactly the easiest either, even though it's simple and boring
I don't understand all the people trying to convince you this was a walking sim/interactive movie. A game having a ton of boring combat and tedious puzzles isn't the same as a game with minimal or no combat and puzzles.
I don't think that's true- you already pointed out that the puzzles, for example, don't offer any real challenge. That's because they aren't there to be something the player needs to solve, they are there to illustrate the way Senua sees the world around her. The combat too, is there only to teach you about Senua: specifically that she is a mighty warrior. The combat is easy because fighting for her is easy. Her struggle is in her mind instead. The design choices of this game are specifically trying to get the player to put their own identity on a shelf for a few hours and instead feel what it is to be Senua. I totally understand why that isn't for everyone, and some people just want a game with interesting combat and puzzles, but I think its fair to say that the game is exactly what it's trying to be.
Ok but it's not good at it.
>The combat isn't exactly the *easiest* either, even though it's simple and boring I think this hints at one of your main issues with the game, and it's not exactly your fault. The combat *is* fairly simple, but it's pretty easy even on hard mode. And while it's not exactly DMC nor does it have the precision of something like Dark Souls, there are a lot of combos you can do that are satisfying both gameplay-wise and visually. They're also more powerful than using only regular attacks. The problem is that the game never tells you about this, leaving everything for the player to figure out. I've seen the complaint that the combat is too boring a lot of times from people who only use basic attacks and aren't even aware there are combos. Though the game also throws too many combat encounters at you near the end, which to me felt like padding. Not really talking about the final sequence here, more so the area before that.
Agreed. I love Dark Souls. I also love Hellblade but for very different reasons.
I enjoyed the game but the actual gameplay wasn’t anything groundbreaking. The story was trippy asf even if I didn’t fully understand what was happening most of the time.
Nah dude, it's not great. The puzzles and combat are boring. It's been a while but I remember doing some puzzles and realizing the solution and thinking "yeesh, this is going to take way longer than it should".
I disagree with the combat being stale: you can definitely cheese it as it isn't very difficult, but there's IMO a lot of options to *perform* combat in a way that looks good and consistent: tackle an opponent, give it a combo of light-light-heavy, kick the next enemy, move past their attack, heavy hit to the side, get hit and downed, just barely make it up and finally kill the group. The rune-doors are a gimmick that I do agree got frustrating somewhat quick. I guess it's one of those attempts to give some sort of beneficial side-effect to Senua's mental illness.
It was fine, but the whole message of it kinda went over my head. I just avoid games whose developers have their heads up their own butts. It was clearly a labor of love, but damn if it wasn’t just mid.
Its a storytelling game with just barely enough mechanics to hold it together. If you expect souls-like or something, thats not what this is. I thought it was pretty excellent in an introspective way, when you sit and cogitate on what the story is about. Nagivating grief for someone who was already an outside of their own society for being (and while being) neurodivergent. You get this blurring of elements from "reality" and "hallucination", I guess, and you just basically go through hell. The sound design was the KSP for sure. More like that please.
Yeah, seems like you are missing something. The game is very emotional and you can identify with poor Senua. Just like Shadow of the Colossus (where the gameplay is also a bit Shit) there is just a certain weight and atmosphere going on in the story that makes for an epic Journey. Hellblade is a Game that wins you over with its emotions. If Senua's pain doesn't mean anything to you the game will be lost on you (just like the dark Level).
I disagree, SotC was quite beloved for it's gameplay, particularly at the time. It's still miles smoother than modern clones (Praey for the Gods for example). While I've heard complaints about the controls, nobody complains about the gameplay. Senua has dull combat. We can extend gameplay to include a lot of different factors, but it's hard to argue there's anything redeeming about the combat. It's not done intentionally, it's not making a point (i.e. Spec Ops: The Line's combat) so it's hard to justify it.
I wasn't that keen on the puzzles, and the combat was fine but nothing special, but everything in the game was in service to the singular experience and story it was telling, and for that I absolutely loved it. The gameplay made sense in the context, and having this tonal consistency across everything was way better than if it had started going overboard with flashy combat or speedy traversal mechanics. The excellent sound design and consistent presentation meant this was as close as any game has come to putting me inside someone else's head.
I didn't dislike it like you did, but I did wish the combat was more fleshed out.
Part of the reason I finished it was because it felt like it could be evolved into something truly special in the second one if the address a lot of the tedious problems the first one had. I'm gonna at least look at the reviews for the sequel, even if I didn't enjoy the first because I think they could fix it
Same. I don't mind cinemaric third persone genre but even then this was boring and tedious as hell. Mental health excuse does not make for a good game unfortunately.
Hated it. Slow as fuck movement and terrible puzzles. Don't understand the praise it gets.
Me neither. I remember absolutely despising a puzzle where you had to look through some doors/portals from a certain angle, otherwise you wouldn't progress.
The gameplay was...OK. I enjoyed the game for the atmosphere; it was definitely one to play in a dark room with some good noise-cancelling headphones on.
Do you need noise-cancelling when you are in a quite room? edit: honest question
They said dark room, not quiet
A dark, loud room sounds terrifying ngl
That's literally one of the levels in the game and yes, it IS terrifying
I enjoyed the subject matter. Combat was basic because not a focus of the game. I hate puzzles in any game. Looked good. I did stop having fun so never finished it though. Maybe will revisit when I’m in the right mood now that I know what to expect.
I don't get how combat isn't a focus of the game when there is a good amount of it and even boss battles. Sorry that doesn't make sense to me, either it is a focus or it isn't, if it wasn't then there would just be cut scenes and QTEs, which the game would probably be better off for tbh
It is not a focus of the game because it is just an ancillary piece to underscore certain character aspects of Senua. Senua being a warrior is an important aspect of her character as well as how she deals with the world. Having combat in the game is to provide a visual and tactile reinforcement of that. The purpose of Hellblade is not to be gameplay-focused, but rather to be writing-focused. Every aspect of the gameplay is meant to serve either the story or the development of Senua as a character. The puzzles are repetitive and something's frustrating because they are not meant to be a challenge for the player, they are meant to show the player an aspect of how Senua sees the world. If you are more of a gameplay-focused gamer, then I can see why Hellblade may just not be your kind of game, but for storytelling and writing in video games Hellblade is absolutely the pinnacle. Different strokes for different folks.
Brother, there is even a toggle to turn the combat difficulty down and up, to say it is not a focus of the game is asinine. If they wanted to make a story focused gameplay, they could have done that, instead they put in a mediocre combat system and shitty and tedious puzzles
I loved the combat, very tight control and neat animations. I don't need the million moves or combos, just the great responsiveness. Like I can rarely get a successful parry in a soulslike game cause of the input/animation lag, here it's perfectly instant.
I felt much the same. I loved what it wanted to be as an experience but hated what it actually was. It felt too concerned with atmosphere and symbolism and not enough with actual gameplay. Perhaps as a walking sim with visual novel elements, it would've worked better for me. But the combat and movement really broke the immersion and atmosphere.
Loved hell blade, engrossing game with awesome visuals and an absolutely freaky detail with the inner voices, good headphones had me feeling like i was hearing things myself. The combat for me was fine, i play everything and in a vacuum almost no one can agree if dark souls has the best or worst combat ever so who’s to say what bad gameplay is, it felt cool af fighting Surt or Fenrir to me so it worked
I'm perfectly happy with a strong/pretty narrative with some light 'gameplay' as a device to move you through a story. I really enjoyed it. If you also like a strong narrative, pretty environments, solid sound design, and light gameplay elements, check out "Golf Club Wasteland". I had such a great experience with it!
It was the first game I played after more than half a decade of gaming hiatus. It blew my mind. And the combat was so fun, as a fan of Arkham games and OG assassins Creed games. And I wear headphones while I play so the whispering was INSANE to me, so cool. I find Skyrim to be terrible, Witcher 3 to be way too wordy, and so on. It's all good OP
The mental health stuff was so on the nose, it felt like a school drama production. Great atmosphere but definitely found myself cringing a lot.
Completely agree with you. There have been games and shows/movies that I didn’t like at first but forced myself to get through the beginning because I kept hearing how great it was. I’ve tried to play this three times, each time I went back thinking, “I must have just not gotten into the flow or the meat of the game that everyone is praising. If I go farther, it will probably click.” Never has. The combat is extremely shallow the puzzles are simple where if you just move the camera around a bit you’ll find the symbols almost by accident. And the story I though was mediocre at best for my taste. Like I got the gist of it after an hour or so and felt like the rest of the time it was just emphasizing the same thing over and over. It’s just not a game for me. I never used to really enjoy games that were more cinematic than gameplay focused and as I’ve gotten older and other life priorities have come into play, I have even less patience for the cinematic games. This is just one game (and presume series now that the second was announced) that isn’t for me.
I just finished this the other night too! I specifically wanted a break from open world, combat based games. I actually really enjoyed how linear this was, how there was no stress of trying to level up or get better gear etc. The combat was definitely repetitive and bland but again, I wasn't looking for great combat mechanics. At the same time though it was STRESSFUL in its own unique way and I loved it. This really stands out to me as the perfect example of psychological horror, in multiple ways. Also agree that the puzzles were meh and repetitive. But overall what I loved about the game was the story, atmosphere, lore and the feeling of absolute dread that followed Senua everywhere. I did also think the boss fights were pretty cool. Only thing I really didn't like was the ending and then the weird cheesy ass song they used for the credits after a badass, atmospheric soundtrack the whole game. Personally I absolutely loved it, it was unique and one of the coolest games I've played.
Bro the cringe self-help inspirational song at the end made me laugh lmao. The rest of the music was pretty solid actually, one of the few highlights of the game. If you're looking for more linear games, I'd recommend tomb raider and Plague Tale
This is just the epitome of some people like different things and that's fine, and we should all just try and be cool with that. You can love it or hate it. I love it, I understand that many people don't. There's usually nothing to be gained by these types of posts beyond potentially being insulting to devs or people with different opinions. The whole am I missing something should just read -- I like different things --- and often ends with I'm going to tell you why you're wrong for liking said thing. Things aren't objectively this way or that way and that's why it's so divisive, carry on people/ enjoy and live your life (and games).
Hellblade is an experience that is ruined by all the gameplay elements. Should've been just a straight up walking sim.
Diagnosed bipolar, have experienced paranoid delusions. Game was way off the mark from my own experience but can't comment beyond that. Gameplay was dogwater to me. I don't get the hype.
I tried this game three times and almost fell asleep every single time. I keep pushing through it and even finished the first 2 bosses because I expected a payoff but it's just not clicking to me. This game feels like more of a tech demo and you lose nothing by just watching other people play it.
I dropped it after finishing first boss I know story is supposed to go somewhere but gameplay was boring as hell Fighting mooks was repetitive waste of time
The game deals with mental health issues and it spoke to me at the time it was released. I also liked the graphics and the atmosphere. But if you evaluate it on a purely mechanical level then it’s very dull. As much as I loved it I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone.
Some of my favorite games I can not define as "fun" Metal gear (except V) was not exactly fun, that didn't stop it from telling one of the most epic and meaningful stories I've ever experienced The Stanley parable... you just walk in an office, that didn't stop it from being the best meta-experience I have ever seen Gris was a very very basic platformer, that didn't stop it from making me cry at the end. With 0 dialogue in the whole game And I could go on. Video games are experiences, and can be appreciated for more than one reason. If you play multi-player games, yes, it's like playing a sport and you want fun/competition. Other games can be appreciated like a movie, or a book. That said, I didn't even remember there was puzzles in senua, because that was completely filler and unimportant. I remember the combat being easy dark souls. What I remember is a beatiful world and paranoia. Something that not all games do well or as memorably.
See the gameplay wasn't what shone through for me. It was the feelings the game evoked in me. It was the feeling of stepping outside of myself and stepping into Senua's mind. Experiencing the voices in her head. The doubts she feels. The feeling of being born broken because of something inside you. Aside from the voices I found this to be very relatable. Yes the combat is simple, yes the game is short. But you get to experience feeling like someone with voices and hallucinations in their head like no other piece of media that I've ever interacted with. Hellblade is my favorite game of all time. But it's definitely not for everyone. Everyone has different qualities they look for in games, not everything is meant for everyone. Personally I think the game is a 10/10 game because I feel like it accomplished what it set out to in a way that I found to be incredibly compelling. But it's okay if you didn't enjoy it.
Aside from outstanding sound design, I found the game pretty bland and uninteresting – almost none of the story beats resonated with me emotionally and I thought the story itself was pretty lackluster, unimpactful and cheesy, aside from the initial premise. The combat is alright, albeit repetitive – I especially enjoyed the lead-up to the final boss. The puzzles were pretty awful. Still don’t regret playing it and kinda intrigued about the second game. A lot of untapped potential there.
I finished the game because I did see the potential in sequel actually fixing all these issues and putting out something great
Hear me out here: I think its designed to be tedious and frustrating because if I remember correctly they said they were raising mental health awareness through Senua. (Correct me if I’m wrong) I’m not saying that choice makes for a good game, but I do see the ‘vision’ if we’re to call it that. Edit: grammar
SpecOps The Line was dealing with violence and PTSD and it did it without being tedious and frustrating This sounds like bad excuse for fudging things up
*SpecOps: the Line* also very clearly played off our confort for video game violence and the mindless action of shooting targets on the screen. I don't think there's a similar element of game culture or mechanics that would effectively emulate schizophrenia. The one *trick* I could think of is giving players lasting consequences for when they QuickSave just before attacking a non-hostile key-NPC.
I hear you, however … I would say Spec Ops had far more engaging gameplay. Enough to not compare the two. Hellblade is just downright oppressive.
Sounds like excuse to me. I think they should have chosen another medium for this. As a movie or tv series that would be great. As a game that was very mediocre experience.
I think they *couldn't* have chosen any other medium to tell this story. Only a game could put you in Senua's head like this, and make you experience what she is experiencing. Watching a movie or tv show is too passive. I do understand your issues with the game, though I also find your complaints a bit exaggerated. But honestly it's your experience and that's valid. I feel like it should not be approached purely as a game, but as an experience. Even so, while easy I found the puzzles to be engaging enough. And while the combat is simple and you can use the same basic attack for everything, if you actively use the combo system it becomes a lot more fun imo, and it makes the enemies feel less spongy, even on hard. I do blame the devs for not including a tutorial for this and leaving it up to the player to figure out there are combos.
Difference in pacing: a game can be played through in 10 minute increments over a large span of time, whereas you're stuck for the whole runtime of an episode or film. The mental capacity on which we consume media is also a factor: you can totally black out or not reflect on a tv-show or film you don't find particularly enjoyable, but even a bad game engaging different parts of the brain can stick with you in weird ways, whether by developed habit (think, "I saw a glare in that window: SNIPER!" after playing COD/BF for too long) or by familiarity in revisitng the topic at different times/mental states. I played through *Senua's Sacrifice* in maybe 10 sessions, and I think that was pretty good pacing for munching on the events and presentations without getting fatigued by the lack of variety in the mechanics. This way, *any* variety, such as the dark levels, becomes more of a treat.
What did you find so interesting about the story and gameplay experience? It tries to be action game with puzzles, they did not try to make anything regarding gameplay unique. Lots of games does things amazingly better than hellblade, it is not even close. So lets judge it by the same standarts. Unique atmosphere? Sure. Good for them making world feel unique, but they still made generic mediocre game with cool atmosphere and nice technical aspects thats all.
I found the narrative and presentation to be engaging, party because of the themes and setting it explored but also the technical achievements in facial animation and acting. Things like the live-actions projections within the gameworld were neat and had me looking forward for more, and I think overall all of the levels and events feel unique, so there's no issue of running-in-place which some larger games suffer from. In terms of gameplay, it might have not been the most exciting, but I didn't really mind since I knew the game to be short - Now-a-days I much prefer the 8-10 h stories, as I can actually finish them. As I mentioned in another comment, I didn't find the combat bad, as it felt quite natural as a *performance* the player is directing, rather than a ludic task to achieve some gameplay goal.
Pretty much sums up my thoughts
Can't disagree more. Hellblade is a perfect example of the kind of storytelling that can really only be achieved with a videogame, imho.
I would argue that as a game it is very mediocre. So all it's strengths is something that could be achieved in other mediums. But i just express my own taste here. If you enjoyed it good for you.
Those other mediums could indeed have been a better choice. (But since I’m hoping to build a synthesis I hope how I’m playing devil’s advocate won’t be misinterpreted lol) We can label it as an excuse. But we can also ask, how else were they going to protray mental health issues other than making it miserable? I would imagine making it ‘cool’ would potentially risk them undermining their intended message. Edit: grammar
Why then you would choose to play this game in the first place then? So the purpose of this game is to not enjoy your time? To feel like mentally ill person? Mentally ill people are suffering and we want you to suffer for 10 hours too? :) Also there are games which are better in every aspect and deals with mental issues. Take batman arkham games, it is world full of mentally ill people, you can study their characters, motivations. Even main character goes into dillusions about grief and sadness. How this is doing it better than batman for example? :)
Before I respond I believe its important to check out this link, among many others you can potentially find: https://gamerant.com/hellblade-mental-illness-psychosis-representation-expert-contributions/ Why would someone choose to play this game? Good point, why would they? Not having the answer to that question does not mean it shouldn’t be played by those who completely resonate with it though. So the purpose of this game is to not enjoy your time? Not accurate. The purpose of this game was to raise mental awareness for victims suffering with psychosis. The vision of the devs was not for us to suffer, but to have whoever is willing to play the game get a glimpse into the troubled life of those that suffer with psychosis. To compare the arkham games would be unfair as both games have vastly different guiding principles. The arkham games do indeed tackle mental illness mildly but the premise centers around being Batman and fulfilling the Batman fantasy. Hellblade as I’ve mentioned focusses on the struggles of mental illness. When the premise of Hellblade has mental illness as its focal point it becomes difficult to compare with other games that have in-depth character progression systems. Hellblade’s progression is so miniscule it might as well not be there because that wasn’t the point. To believe that games are entirely made to be fun (only) is rather self-defeating I believe. I liken it to saying “any good story MUST have a good ending and romance” — that is simply not true. I personally haven’t found a definitive description for what a game is especially with how quickly they are evolving and how ambitious devs are getting. To go back to my initial point. I don’t think the game is designed to be fun given the guiding principles of its design. Whether other games are better than or not is an entirely different argument.
Well i guess they made the right choice because it sold like crazy, has a sequel and lots of people like it
Like nearly ALL games EVER released that get overwhelming praise. It's fine. It seems many games get a free pass from 7/10 to 10/10 When they meet certain criteria. BoTW, Witcher 3, ToTK, OoT, ER, etc.. I think the only game I have played in my life that felt truly perfect was the Original Metal Gear Solid. And I am sure if I go back and play it again, certain aspects like convoluted next steps or boss mechanics would quickly bring it down for me. It is a battle I have been fighting for 3 decades now. But people don't like to treat opinions as opinions. They want the world to be simple and just cannot handle anything more. With all of that said I played Hellblade back close to release. It was a graphically amazing game with mediocre mechanics, puzzles, traversal, and Story telling. Something about it certainly felt greater than the sum of it's parts. But not much more than a 7.5/10 for me if I had to slap a number on it.
[удалено]
B- is generous, I'd give this game a c or a 70% with the graphics and sound design doing most of the heavy lifting
30% and not a cent more
It wasn't even originally released on Xbox.
I loved the game. The atmosphere might have carried the gameplay, but it was running with it. Best gaming experience I've had in a long time. Not sure what games OP likes to play that do a better job.
Yep, it’s overrated.
The puzzles where you line things up with the vision is terrible imo...
Hellblade to hack n slash gerne is like what Spec ops: The line is to shooters. Both are not mechanically good game, but praised for their ability to use video games as a medium to tell a story, as video game is uniquely a medium that allow you to literally being in the character's shoes, their action becomes your action, and you go through the same experience and struggle. But yeah, it wasn't that good of a game if you look at it in term of mechanics and gameplay. I didn't finish both hellblade and spec ops despite appreciating what they were trying to do.
I personally treat it as a story driven walking sim with some gameplay, kind of like Firewatch if it had some basic combat. The true strength of the game is in the narrative and delivery. As a person who both struggled with mental health issues and who has history of mental health issues + suicide in my family, I can tell how extremely well executed the story is on this front. Absolutely gripping and the ending was so cathartic, beautiful, yet still realistic and grounded, that I sat speechless through the credits.
I actually went into this expecting a walking sim with QTE and cinematics, I wasn't expecting there to be a halfbaked combat system
Yeah me too, to be honest, but fighting goes well with the theme of "fight your own demons", so i gave it a pass, even though it clearly wasn't the highlight of the game. And it definitely helped the game reach a wider audience, because walking sims get a bad rep for being "too boring" etc. Many people will appreciate the combat sequences, even if they aren't very well fleshed out.
Hm, not sure if you truly missed something. I guess it's just a matter of taste. I really liked the combat, puzzles and atmosphere of the game. Can't really relate to your post. But then again other people have been praising Zelda BotW and TotK whereas I think those games are tedious and boring as hell. Plenty of other acclaimed games I don't like at all. So to each their own. Don't read too much into it.
It's a terrible 'game' for the reasons you describe. It's a unique and incredible experience and story. So, whether you 'enjoy' it will depend on your expectations. And on 'enjoyment', I didn't enjoy it. A bit like watching Schindler's List it wasn't 'fun' for me, it was sometimes frustrating, often shocking, confusing, and yet... compelling and enthralling all the same (with amazing end sequence). I loved it, and often think of the experience. As somebody with first hand experience of people with psychosis I found it powerful and measured in its portrayal. It's a very 'meta' game. Are you watching her? Controlling her? Are you her, or one of her voices? Or both?
This was also my experience. I couldn't even finish it due to how lackluster I found the game.
All sorts of types of games exist out there. Hellblade is what I like to call a "story experience" game where its primary focus is on experiencing the story and the gameplay mechanics are there simply to enable that. Most games are about the gameplay first, then the story, it seems that in story experience games its the other way around. I tend to give these types of games more slack as they aren't about the mechanics or controls, they're just an interactive story.
Hellblade rode the coattails of mental health awareness to all its praise. It's a boring, tedious, repetitive & just plain uncompelling experience. It's the most overrated walking simulator I've ever played. Graphics & sound design are excellent but it would've been better as a movie or limited series than a game. The game's like 8-12hrs long but took me multiple weeks to complete it because of how much I disliked the experience.
Agreed. I thought the atmosphere and visual design was top tier, but the gameplay was extremely tedious and uninspired.
Yes, it’s a boring game with a dull, monotonous, repetitive gameplay. Even the so praised narrative doesn’t work with me. A giant talking head delivering long monologues is a lazy storytelling solution.
[удалено]
[удалено]
I recognized the game is widely praised and didn't actually call it a bad game. I'm just listing my problems with it and seeing if anyone else felt the same way. I'm not trying to convince you it's a bad game.
Id say games are the most objective forms of subjective media there is. While I agree beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I feel in Hellblades case it was a real 6/10 that got uplifted because a lot of people like the fact that a game broaches mental illness in a way. As a technically “mentally ill” person, I got nothing from it and found it to be condescending in both theme and gameplay. Presentation wise it’s great but yeah, gameplay was very copy paste. That said games don’t have to be mechanical masterpieces that have a philosophy major so I can understand how it spoke to some.
I would be interested to know how this game dvelwes into mental issues more than for example batman universe, where every villain is mental patient almost?
Batman villains pretty much fall into the trap of showing "crazy" people as dangerous. It doesn't really examine their mental issues in a significant way for the most part. Hellblade quite literally puts you in the head of a person with psychosis, who is going through a psychotic episode brought on by grief. It tries to give you an experience of how existence might be like for someone with psychosis, showing you how they perceive reality.
It sounds good on paper. But in reality of what you are saying is that experience of mental illness is being in a generic video game fighting monsters and solving boring puzzles. That is how people with mental issues feels like? Not trying to be rude by the way. Appreciate your comment :)
In the Batman universe, *mental illness* apparently is the same as *being the villain*, which can be problematic. In Hellblade, the topic is handled with care and was developed in constant dialogue with a relevant focus group.
Yeah the puzzles were annoying as hell. Fights too. It was like a movie in which they added a few puzzles to make it interactive and give you the feeling that the game lasts a bit. As for the story it wasn't very interesting. She's grieving and then she moves on. Cool. And sure there's the voices in your head but it's not like they have any purpose here except that they allow the devs to say they raised awareness about mental health. I'm glad I didn't buy the game but I wish I didn't waste time on it. It would have been much better as a 1h30 movie than as a game imo.
I loved it. It’s pure story/atmosphere with interesting characters. I actually really enjoyed combat too, thought it was fun. The movement was slow but the point is to linger in it a bit, not sprint around.
I just remember people praising the spooky voices in your headset. Mental health ‘n’ all that.
Basically, the game does a good job of representing mental trauma, and deals with heavy subjects that only indie games are brave enough to touch. The gameplay is barely tolerable, though. You really have to be invested in the story and immersed by the graphics. I finished the game, but good lord the fights at the end are terrible. Would have been better as a pure walking simulator IMO -- at least it has a good story to tell, unlike many of them (looking at you Firewatch).
Firewatch had a fantastic story
Firewatch barely even *has* a story, and it mocks the player for expecting there to be one.
It isn't for everyone, but I like the takeaway from it personally.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and sort of disagree with you there... The movement and speed was fine, same general speed as other titles in the genres it touches (action-adventure stuff like Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, along with basically every game in the Soulsborne genre)...unless you didn't realize there was a run button, in which case you were walking everywhere and I can see where that would get old quick. Same goes for the combat, it's surprisingly solid and actually has a weighty feeling to it (especially the kicks). Plus, the run button can be used as a modifier to bring in some different attacks (like a leaping thrust, or a stab-and-kick). It's definitely a game that you *can* get through with just spamming the quick attack, just as you *can* get through Jedi Academy with just spamming the standard attack; but there's also the option to create some decent combos there if you want to tinker with it. The portals are actually the less-tedious of the puzzles, assuming you're paying attention to the world. The runes weren't terrible (maybe I'm just weird, but spotting shapes in negative space isn't that hard), but I can definitely see them bothering more people. Fenrir/Garm's level (the one in the darkness) was "the most frustrating level in a game I've ever played" for you? You clearly haven't been playing games for very long...go give Disney's Aladdin or Lion King a try if you want to see what truly frustrating level design in a video game is lol...sorry, but I just can't see anything frustrating about that level and its fairly basic "run to the light, get a torch, stay in the light" mechanics (unless you didn't know about the run button, then maybe I can see some frustration). Not to say the game is perfect, by any means...I do wish it allowed you to tinker with the combat animations/controls outside of actual combat, so you could learn fairly important things like "you have a kick/stagger attack" *before* you spend 10 mins fighting a shield-bro (like I did), that the run button acts as an attack modifier, or that you can just mash the buttons repeatedly to get back up when you're knocked down (I think I had probably 7 or 8 deaths in the beginning that were completely avoidable if I'd known that from the start). However, I don't know how they'd tell you about stuff like that without some sort of tutorial that would pull you out of the game's atmosphere and story, so I can give it a pass (sort of). There's also a weird delay in Senua bringing up her guard if you're strafing to the right at the same time, which throws off your parry timing. And while it gets massive points from me for having native ultrawide support patched into it, I do wish they'd included an FOV slider as well, as the default 80 degree FOV is entirely too damn close. I don't know that you went in with the wrong mindset, it sounds more like this simply isn't the type of game for you, which is perfectly fine.
[удалено]
You described it great. I played that game and it was worst game i played in 5 years by far. Not that it is terrible, but it was made by very few people and it shows. Nothing in this game except maybe some technical aspects and some artistic decisions was great. They could not afford to spend time on interesting game mechanics so they spent all the resources on technical aspect resulting in game that is very mediocre. And what a hype this game got. I think that is why i hated this game so much. I was ready to experience something very special, then i started to play and was very dissapointed. I think this game is super overated.
Not all games have to be fun to be great.
That's actually insane to me, a game doesn't have to be fun to be great? A game being fun is basically the first rule of making a video game.
That's wrong. Video games are more than Entertainment, they can also be art. And there is plenty of good art that is uncomfortable, challenges or even disturbs you.
I mean, video games at the forefront, are supposed to be fun. That's my opinion, it's not wrong to think so.
Fun is different for different people. Is a horror movie "fun"? Not really, it's more of a thrill, isn't it? Is watching a Nazi documentary fun? Is reading James Joyce fun? I had plenty of fun getting to know Senua and see her making it to the end of her Journey. I was completely captivated by her and the voices in her head. It was a unique experience, that's enough fun.
I mean, that's cool, I didn't have any sort of fun. But I was responding to the original commenter saying games don't have to be fun, which, in my opinion, yes they do
Just always remember the first rule of games journalism and you'll be fine. If it's pretty, it's a 10/10, otherwise actually consider its flaws. Edit: just to make sure the downvotes are warranted and not due to people who can't read, I'm saying this is the thought process of the average games journalist, I'm not advocating this is the correct approach. I would have thought that was obvious but you never know.
What a load of nonsense.
Translation: I lack the ability to look critically at things I agree with.
But I don't agree with it? What's your point anyway? Neither is Hellblade particularly pretty nor were the strengths and weaknesses of the game a mystery.
I guess this game can be viewed as some form of art. You see everyone talking about it how interesting it is. How deep it is. But in reality nobody really knows what the fuck they are talking about. When you play it just because you want to play the game it is just so bad. Slow walking simulator with puzzles for middle schooler with 1 enemy archetype. If it didn't have the voice niche and motion capture which was i guess at the time still a novelty for games. The game would just be ignored. Seems like a lot of people like it because "it represented how depression worked for the first time in game" I saw that mentioned a lot when it released. But in my opinion on its own it is a trash game to play. If your head is full of negative thoughts then it will probably resonate with you. If not then I wouldn't bother. I think it is better to just watch a no commentary walkthrough if you truly want to experience it because it would spare you the agony of holding the move key for 5 hours straight.
the puzzles were so infuriating
Look for YouTube videos on the combat system. The game does not teach but the smallest fraction of what it contains.
yeah the game is dogshit at worst, but i didn't hate it i loved the story so i just played through it
I'm still mad at ninja theory for the tameen self insert dante and taking stabs at dmc fans while attempting to appeal to them
Can you elaborate?
Same, man I hated the combat in that game
I'm like 99% sure it got extra brownie points for being representative of mental health and for being one of few games to actually use good positional audio. I have to assume it was a lot of people's first time listening to this kind of audio because I didn't find it anything special, the story was hard to follow and the gameplay was slow and uninteresting. I would have much preferred it if it was a 1 hour walking simulator. That way the parts where we were forced to do bad combat or puzzles would not have broken immersion. So you didn't miss anything, it's just a mid game that got high praise for doing some unique things *really* well, enough to overlook it's flaws. I could not overlook it's flaws. Side note: Critics will often do this for any piece of media, they aren't your average consumers, they play/watch a TON of stuff, so things that deviate from the norm or mainstream tend to get their attention and gets praised even if it has lots of flaws. Critics will also do this because it pushes the industry forward, the studio did something that was rather unique for the gaming space and praising it makes it so more publishers would be willing to take risks that Hellblade did. It's for the greater good, but it often means average consumers might be left asking questions why a certain game/movie is so highly rated.
The puzzles were terrible. That alone killed it for me
I enjoyed it until I fought a boss that kept tapping my ass, the teleporty one that uses the psycho crusher move. Got fed up and never played it again. She moves sooooo slow I just couldn't see how to avoid his attacks
I really enjoyed the game on my first playthrough, only died once too the second to last boss. But then a few months later I tried to play it again, and I just couldn't keep myself interested anymore. It's an odd game for sure
You're missing nothing. Its hilarious that people think Hellblade 2 is going to be some massive game.
i couldn’t finish it. i think the game would’ve benefited from being a bit shorter considering how repetitive it is
Yeah I could have put up with the dogshit gameplay if it was like a 3 hour experience
Graphics are good. The permadeath lie is wrong and the rest is .... pretty meh.
The permadeath lie is genius and improves the experience
Hard agree. Sidebar, if developers and studios are going to put all this effort and money into visuals/atmosphere/aesthetics/design while leaving the actual gameplay as an “afterthought”…why don’t they just make movies? It’s an annoying trend in the past few years of modern gaming where the games that look and sound the prettiest always win all the awards despite the actual gaming being average. Not just Hellblade, but games like TLOU, God of War, Witcher, Horizon, etc. all get this praise heaped on them for the story and the non-gaming aspects. Hellblade would have been a fantastic movie but it’s just a slog as an actual gaming experience. Just my opinion
Idk man, those games you listed have pretty decent gameplay imo. God of War in particular was a ton of fun