One of the most amazing things about being in my mid-30s is that I have been able to watch almost every step in how video games have evolved over the years. There was a time when I’d watch cutscenes from a game in the PS/N64 era and wonder what it might be like when actual gameplay looked like that. Eventually, gameplay surpassed that, and then some. Then, I started to imagine a future where playing a video game looked like a movie. And for the first time, I think we have truly gotten there with Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II.
The original Hellblade thrived off its top-tier production values, which still managed to shine through when I played the game earlier this month. Well, it turns out that tech has gotten a lot better over the last seven years. Ninja Theory managed to take the greatest strength of the original game and use Unreal Engine 5 to take things up to levels I did not think were possible right now. There are also enough gameplay tweaks to turn some of the biggest weaknesses from the last game into sections that are at least palatable and, at times, excellent.
It all comes together to deliver a package that I view as far superior to the original, and it feels like a tantalizing glimpse into the future as well. Hellblade II is not gameplay heavy, and not everyone will like it. But if you truly love video games as an art form and storytelling device, it is something you absolutely need to try.
I Need To Stop Pausing Combat For Photos
The greatest goal of a game like Hellblade II is to immerse you. Well, it turns out that when a game pretty much looks like real life, it ends up being pretty immersive! Hellblade II utilizes its incredible fidelity to make you feel like you are in Iceland right alongside its cast. The character models and animations are super realistic, and the environments, lighting, and general art direction are all superb. I was completely addicted to the photo mode in this game because of how good everything in the game looked, and every photo in this review was taken by me in game. All this excellence also extends to the sound design, which was consistently immersive, even without headphones. I truly felt like I was playing a movie for most of my experience with the game.
There are many games where you might be able to say that in some capacity, but Hellblade II was the first time I truly felt that way during combat sequences as well. The game goes away from the groups of enemies in the first game and sticks to a one on one duel format with a fixed camera. These changes allowed Ninja Theory to fully motion capture the combat, which makes it feel unlike anything else I have ever played. I knew I was in for something special during an early combat encounter when I tried using a basic attack on an enemy, and they dodged it by simply ducking their head backward to avoid the strike. This is the kind of animation you only ever see in cutscenes, but it was actually happening during gameplay here.
Those animations plus the sound design create some incredibly visceral and intense moments during combat. Combat went from something I thought was just OK in the original game, to something I genuinely enjoyed and looked forward to. Hellblade II also significantly tightens its parry windows from the first game, and the added precision really increases the intensity that is already there from all the production values. Playing the game on hard ramps all of this up as well, and I highly recommend playing that way if you are able to.
The options you have in combat are extremely simple. You only have two basic attacks, a dodge, a parry, and a special slow motion ability. So, the depth is not there. The fixed camera and more limited mobility make the game feel a bit on rails at times as well, but the cinematic nature of it more than made up for that for me. If this was a game with constant combat, this all surely would have gotten old, but it’s all rationed out really well in a way where I was always craving more.
The enhanced production values also allowed Ninja Theory to craft some incredible set piece moments that weren’t really present in the first game. One sequence in particular has you avoiding attacks from a giant, and all of the attacks are perfectly attuned to the music in a way that made me feel like I was playing an edgy version of Hi-Fi Rush. While these moments are rare, they are incredibly well done and were some of the biggest moments that stuck with me after I finished the game.
Unfortunately, the puzzle elements of the game do not feel upgraded in the same way. Hellblade II mostly features the same kind of navigation puzzles as the first game, where you have to create paths using mystical methods and occasionally find specific shapes in the environment in order to advance. The only enhancement here is that they were mostly a fair bit easier than the first game. There were no puzzles that held me up even close to as long as they did in the original. I found the puzzles to be a pretty large nuisance in the first game. This time around, I mostly found them to be mildly annoying. That is disappointing on the whole, but I guess it can also be viewed as a bit of progress.
Yep, She Still Has Voices In Her Head
The one other way that I would say Hellblade II doesn’t get better is with its story. The first Hellblade featured a remarkable character arc for the main character, Senua. She changes dramatically over the course of that game and becomes a significantly stronger person than she was at the very start. I had a hard time envisioning what kind of meaningful character arc that they could create for her this time, and for the most part, I did find this to be a challenge that the writers couldn’t fully overcome. While Senua’s goals are always relatively clear, the overarching narrative feels a bit aimless most of the way, and I wasn’t quite sure what the writers were hoping to say this time around. The game still does work in a more episodic nature than last time, as there are some very powerful smaller stories told as the game goes along, but it never really fully sank its teeth into me in a “I have to see what happens next” way until the very last chapter of that game. That chapter does turn into an absolute thrill ride. Unfortunately, the game ends a bit more abruptly than I’d like, and we don’t get much closure on just about anything that happens in that final act.
Despite this, I still found myself relatively engaged with the story throughout. The dialog is very sharp and well written as you would expect, and the voice acting is always superb just like in the first game. 2017 Game Awards winner Melina Juergens shines once again as Senua in particular, and I expect to see her at least nominated for most of the awards this year as well. The rest of the cast is also strong, although they don’t have nearly as much to work with as Juergens, so they don’t leave lasting impressions in that same way.
The Most Divisive Game of 2024?
Between being a high profile first party release, shorter (it took me roughly 10 hours with lots of photo mode sprinkled in there) and being available on Xbox Game Pass, Hellblade II has been one of the more interesting games that I have seen discussed in 2024. Game Pass has allowed plenty of people who might have been on the fence to try it out, and it has been fascinating to see an incredibly wide range of thoughts on it. I think one way or another, this game is so different than anything else out there that it will make you feel something, and you will remember playing it. For some, that might be a bad thing, but for many like myself, it’s a game I will be thinking about and comparing to other games for years to come. Hellblade II doesn’t improve on the original games formula in all the ways that I hoped it would, but it does improve on its own terms in ways I didn’t expect, and that probably ends up being much more beneficial to the experience than say, adding more elaborate combos to the combat. Ninja Theory did exactly what they wanted to do this time around, with tech that now can live up to their vision, and it ends up working almost exactly as well as they could have hoped. This is a fantastic video game, and it is brilliant art. And if you appreciate video games as an artform, it is more than worthy of your time.
Score: 9.0/10
Big Nerd Gaming 
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