[IGN Preview] Hellblade 2 Prioritizes Narratives and Story over Gameplay

LectureMaster

LectureMaster

Has Man Musk
It is already included in Thick Thighs Save Lives Thick Thighs Save Lives preview thread, but personally think it was worth bringing up. In the preview article, IGN wrote:

As those familiar with the original will know, though, Hellblade 2 plays much differently from GoW, instead opting to emphasise even further its priority of narrative ambitions over action.
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All of this focus on presentation and story does run the risk of Senua Saga's gameplay not always being the focus, and ultimately feeling a little one-note. This is certainly a criticism that can be fairly leveled at its predecessor, and from the 45 minutes I've played of Hellblade 2, it's not initially apparent that things have moved on a great deal since then. Puzzles and combat definitely feel more refined than reinvented, capturing a similar cadence to that felt in 2017, albeit with interesting new wrinkles.
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This would be a dealbreaker to me. Not that I don't like good story focused games (in fact played all Tell Tales and David Cage games), it is just Senua's story centered around mental health and psychology struggles is just not for me. I was not able to finish the first one due to this.

Granted, that was only a portion of the game that they played, maybe it has more gameplay focused scenes as it unfolds. Will still be checking out on Game Pass for the incredible graphics, for sure.
 
And I thought games were about pressing buttons! Silly me.
 
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Gameplay != Action.

Baity title.

But yes, this isn't bang bang shooty shooty. I had a fun time with the puzzles in the original, so know I can enjoy this one too. Maybe. 30fps is more the dealbreaker for me.
 
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Isn't that expected after the first game? It's more of an experience type game, which is why I have no interest personally. It's unironically perfect for Game Pass as a one and done playthrough.
 
I remember NakeyJakey talking about in his TLOU2 video how he would've appreciated a better balance between Story and Gameplay in TLOU2. It was like an 80/20 ratio between watching cutscenes and on rails sections, compared to gameplay. I'm inclined to agree. I know TLOU2 is the popular game to pick on these days, but I had the same issues with MGS4 as well.

I appreciate good storytelling in games, but I want to play games, not watch them. As others said, it gets to a point where you should go write a book instead.
 
I enjoyed the first one , loved the atmosphere i. On the negative side I disliked the puzzles (im not a big puzzle fan in general tbf) and it did feel a bit monotonous towards the end.

It would be disappointing if they haven't improved much beyond the visuals . Best to try it yourself I guess.
 
So its a 3 hour walking sim, that critics will swoon over their CRAZY WOMAN 10/10. I'll pass. If I wanted a movie, I'll buy a ticket. 6 years dev time with no gameplay lmfao. What a fucking tragedy.
 
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Gaiff said:
Yeah, just like the first game. Gonna be a hard pass for me.
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I quite liked the first game, but those "match things in the environment" "puzzles" were just tedious as fuck. I get that they're thematically appropriate, people having a psychotic episode often see patterns where there are none, but riveting gameplay? Hell no.
 
The Cockatrice said:
So its a 3 hour walking sim, that critics will swoon over their CRAZY WOMAN 10/10. I'll pass. If I wanted a movie, I'll buy a ticket. 6 years dev time with no gameplay lmfao. What a fucking tragedy.
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Yeah, the other gripe I had was this game takes 7 years, it should be more than just great improvement in graphics.
 
No Way Do Not Want GIF
 
Having Platinumed the first game, I would doubt there's more than 5 hours worth of "gameplay" of which maybe 45 mins is combat/boss related.

It's a novel take on a mentally ill woman experiencing/interpreting events but its really akin to things like Dear Esther.
 
Of course the game is tons of story and unskippable cutscenes. Its like the first game.

And just like the first game, never believe their trailers with big action scenes. They make it look like it's a hack and slash action game. Hellblade games are not that type of game.
 
Wait, is that the actual title from IGN? 🤦‍♂️

Edit:

Wait a minute, the actuall title is this:

Hellblade 2 Is Shaping Up to Be Another Beautiful Nightmare


Not misleading OP, not misleading at all.
 
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JackMcGunns said:
Wait, is that the actual title from IGN? 🤦‍♂️

Edit:

Wait a minute, the actuall title is this:

Hellblade 2 Is Shaping Up to Be Another Beautiful Nightmare


Not misleading OP, not misleading at all.
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It was not the article's title, but it was the content written inside it, how is it misleading? Or you only read titles?
 
The Cockatrice said:
So its a 3 hour walking sim, that critics will swoon over their CRAZY WOMAN 10/10. I'll pass. If I wanted a movie, I'll buy a ticket. 6 years dev time with no gameplay lmfao. What a fucking tragedy.
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In the first game, the first hour is literally half an hour of unskippable cut scenes, endlessly jogging around a linear landscape and doing these red door puzzles. There's probably two one-minute fights against the same raggy dressed enemies. No joke.
 
LectureMaster said:
It was not the article's title, but it was the content written inside it, how is it misleading? Or you only read titles?
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Because you framed it as the title. Also, if I read a review, and throghout the review there's praise after praise, but this one section that talks about a negative and I use that as my title. That's not only misleading, but click-bait.
 
I usually dig cinematic games every now and then but considering this game is funded by Microsoft and their latest games turned out rather lukewarm and full of wokeism I won't even touch this with chopsticks before I have some user impressions.
 
That's fine. Plenty of other good games focus on story telling, rather than gameplay. Just as long as the story is worth it, of course.
 
JackMcGunns said:
Because you framed it as the title. Also, if I read a review, and throghout the review there's praise after praise, but this one section that talks about a negative and I use that as my title. That's not only misleading, but click-bait.
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Jeez, I didn't even take it as negative, simply a design choice that was not for me, and said it in the OP. And you yet had to spin it as if I was framing up the game as a "PS IRS employee". Can you do better?
 
This could have easily been posted in the preview thread but why waste a good opportunity to shit on a game you haven't even played right? 🤷‍♂️ Just another member to add to the block list.
 
Madflavor said:
I remember NakeyJakey talking about in his TLOU2 video how he would've appreciated a better balance between Story and Gameplay in TLOU2. It was like an 80/20 ratio between watching cutscenes and on rails sections, compared to gameplay. I'm inclined to agree. I know TLOU2 is the popular game to pick on these days, but I had the same issues with MGS4 as well.

I appreciate good storytelling in games, but I want to play games, not watch them. As others said, it gets to a point where you should go write a book instead.
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The TLOU2 criticism I don't get at all. I've played through it three times total, twice on Grounded, exactly because it's the first modern ND game that feels meaty gameplay and level/encounter design wise.

I'm very picky about shit like this and I thought the balance was actually very good for once. Most games have too much cutscenes for me in general so that's another story. I did choose to buy a ND game lol.

Edit: Yea...MGS4 was fucking bullshit.
 
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TerribleAtThisGame said:
The TLOU2 criticism I don't get at all. I've played through it three times total, twice on Grounded, exactly because it's the first modern ND game that feels meaty gameplay and level/encounter design wise.

I'm very picky about shit like this and I thought the balance was actually very good for once. Most games have too much cutscenes for me in general so that's another story. I did choose to buy a ND game lol.
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The gameplay in TLoU2 is really good though

So this is like the first game? Pretentious shit
 
LectureMaster said:
Jeez, I didn't even take it as negative, simply a design choice that was not for me, and said it in the OP. And you yet had to spin it as if I was framing up the game as a "PS IRS employee". Can you do better?
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If you didn't get the joke (and I aplogize if you took offense, it was just tongue in cheek) it's about the Xbox tax, everyone tends to focus on the negative when it comes to Xbox exclusives, like your title, like why? I see this when I look at other previews, it's refreshing to hear that combat has been vastly improved over the original, so to put this on the title is just feeding the confirmation bias of all the nay sayers that have been going around predicting the game will be just cinematic with no exciting gameplay bits.



SCB3 said:
The gameplay in TLoU2 is really good though

So this is like the first game? Pretentious shit
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Except it's not

 
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JackMcGunns said:
If you didn't get the joke (and I aplogize if you took offense, it was just tongue in cheek) it's about the Xbox tax, everyone tends to focus on the negative when it comes to Xbox exclusives, like your title, like why? I see this when I look at other previews, it's refreshing to hear that combat has been vastly improved over the original, so to put this on the title is just feeding the confirmation bias of all the nay sayers that have been going around predicting the game will be just cinematic with no exciting gameplay bits.





Except it's not

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Nothing about this combat looks good. It's the same thing with each enemy severely lacking in dynamism. The combat looks boring.
 
FalconPunch said:
Nothing about this combat looks good. It's the same thing with each enemy severely lacking in dynamism. The combat looks boring.
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Opinions are like Assholes. Gamespot literally just described it as being exciting (Having played it mind you) while you're saying it "Looks" boring, not having played it, just looking at it lol. Hmm, which is which here?
 
JackMcGunns said:
If you didn't get the joke (and I aplogize if you took offense, it was just tongue in cheek) it's about the Xbox tax, everyone tends to focus on the negative when it comes to Xbox exclusives, like your title, like why? I see this when I look at other previews, it's refreshing to hear that combat has been vastly improved over the original, so to put this on the title is just feeding the confirmation bias of all the nay sayers that have been going around predicting the game will be just cinematic with no exciting gameplay bits.
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I have already said I don't take "focus story over gameplay" is a negative aspect, it is a design choice that didn't work out for me this time.

And focusing on narrative doesn't mean they are not improving the gameplay, no ones denying it. It is just the how they balance the portion of cinematic experience and gameplays.

Not sure why you are so fixated on this is a negative thread about the game.
 
It's a discounted AAA title they were pinning hopes on, anyone expecting a decent game when the price was revealed was deluding themselves.

It is what it is. Enjoy it as a 'free' bonus on your sub or buy it cheap.
 
LectureMaster said:
It is already included in Thick Thighs Save Lives Thick Thighs Save Lives preview thread, but personally think it was worth bringing up. In the preview article, IGN wrote:





This would be a dealbreaker to me. Not that I don't like good story focused games (in fact played all Tell Tales and David Cage games), it is just Senua's story centered around mental health and psychology struggles is just not for me. I was not able to finish the first one due to this.

Granted, that was only a portion of the game that they played, maybe it has more gameplay focused scenes as it unfolds. Will still be checking out on Game Pass for the incredible graphics, for sure.
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Seriously comparing this to a Quantic Dream game? Also they played 45mins of a 8 to 10 hr game 🤣
 
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