Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Review – A Visual Odyssey Unlike Anything Else

In the storm of acquisitions Microsoft has gone through over the last couple years, the most interesting studio they picked up wasn’t Bethesda or Blizzard Activision to me, but Ninja Theory. A studio that has consistently delivered great games but didn’t always get to work with the kind of budgets a lot of their contemporaries do. But one acquisition later (please don’t shut them down next Microsoft), and they get a proper AAA budget for their new project, the action adventure Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, developed by Ninja Theory and published by Xbox Game Studios.

As I pressed start on the game, watched the opening cutscene, and saw the game transition into its first gameplay section, I was sitting in my chair, mouth agape in shock. For a solid minute, I was in genuine disbelief that what I was looking at was gameplay and not a pre-rendered cinematic. Hellblade II is far and away the best-looking game I’ve ever played, to the point that whatever is in second place would still be at a noticeable distance from it. I’m specifically talking about the outstanding achievement Ninja Theory has pulled off here in reaching realism within a video game on a level that is, at least in my estimation, practically unparalleled at this point. On top of that, it’s also a rather striking stylization of realism, because despite what some games might make you want to believe, attempting to recreate a realistic visual style doesn’t mean you have to throw any sense of art direction out of the window.

It looks even more impressive in motion

Whether heavy pouring rain and storming gusts that obscure your sight past a couple meters, dry air and a sunrise/sunset that basks the entire landscape in a golden light, the darkness of the night that engulfs everything except torches and fire-breathing enemies, or caves with fluorescent walls that guide your way, Hellblade II isn’t afraid to push the elements to the extremes for spectacular visuals. And all of that is before we even get to the mirror dimension that plays with reflections, twists the up and down, and fractures the sight of your surroundings. In its entire runtime, it’s hard to point at as much as a minute that isn’t visually striking.

Speaking of runtime, Hellblade II is a surprisingly short game in comparison to what you might expect from a AAA cinematic action adventure game like this. These titles can often be 15, 20, or 25 hours, if not much more than that, and Hellblade II will barely last you a little more than five hours. I can’t say I mind that at all though; too many AAA games endlessly drag their feet for no other reason but to extend the game length and are worse for it. I appreciate a game knowing what it wants to do and just doing that, ignoring the pressures of industry standards. And for the story this is, Senua on a quest for vengeance against the people who burned down her village, the man who enslaved her on that journey, and the giants that threaten everyone’s existence, these five to seven hours are more than enough.

Introducing: Giants

It’s ironic given the first game’s strength, but Hellblade II‘s writing is a bit lacking. We have seen these stories about vengeance many times, about the darkness that eats you up inside. Hellblade II is a little different in that it attempts to see the light side, the redemption, the other side to the story, and most importantly, the fact that the darkness can only eat you up from the inside if you let it in to begin with. But it all feels a little surface level and brushes with some pretty broad strokes, which might admittedly explain the short length. In exchange, Hellblade II offers some pretty intriguing worldbuilding that plays around with many interesting elements, such as the previously mentioned giants or this mirror dimension you frequently tap into, all of which makes for a surprisingly fresh take on the Norse mythology we’ve seen plenty of recently.

I’ve already mentioned how visually striking the game is, although that is a point I really can’t overstate too many times, but similary, the auditory presentation is outstanding as well. As would be expected from a new Hellblade game, I suppose. The voices are back, of course, and the 3D audio with which they’re implemented is as fantastic as it was the first time. This is a game you need to play with your headphones no matter what. And the score by Heilung is phenomenal as well; as they often take inspiration from history with their sound, they would naturally make a perfect fit for this kind of story, and what they’ve produced here is beautiful.

When have you seen the sun this beautiful in a game?

One thing Hellblade II certainly has is spectacle. While it is a much more subdued and intimate kind of spectacle than the giant battles of something like God of War (2018), it is nevertheless breathtaking to witness. Those visuals I mentioned earlier carry much of that, making every second a delight by the sheer virtue of its beauty. The short length of the game also helps here, as it allows Hellblade II to never really repeat much and keep changing locations and actions for every chapter of the story. And there are plenty of individual story moments and set pieces that make for strong and memorable moments. Combat is sparce enough that it’s exciting whenever you have to fight someone, even if the combat is kept very simple, and thanks to some unbelievable animation work that seamlessly transitions from play-controlled combat to extended animations of enemies approaching that have a ferocity to them that is exhilarating, the adrenaline keeps pumping even if it’s not the most challenging combat ever.

The same is true for the puzzles. They are mostly simple puzzles you have seen in other games before, but with a shine that no other game could offer. And their simplicity helps in keeping the pacing tight and never getting you stuck for prolonged periods of time, while barely requiring enough of you that you can still get that small dopamine boost when you complete one.

He’ll make for a worthy opponent

All of that comes back to the same place. I’ve seen people refer to Hellblade II as a “press forward simulator” and admittedly they are not entirely wrong. Hellblade II can feel like a bit of a walking simulator rather than what’s expected from the AAA cinematic action adventure genre. But I actually think that’s one of its strengths. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (2017) felt to me often like a game that’s overly concerned with what it should have as a video game and was worse for it. Whereas Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 seems to have a much clearer grasp on what it wants to be and what it needs to contain to tell this story, and while that they mean cutting out some of what might be considered standard in a video game like this, it makes for a much greater piece. Because Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is first and foremost a visual odyssey, the likes of which we have not yet seen in this medium.

Nairon played Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II on PC with his own bought copy.

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