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[James Sawyer Ford]

Have played a little.

Definitely not a game for everyone, me included.

But it does have a strong identity, direction. Doesn’t feel half baked. Its like MS gave developers a good chunk of budget and time. And then left them to make whatever the hell they want to make.

Might not be a game for everyone, but devs wanted to make this, and felt strongly about it. No aspect of it feels like result of corporate meddling.

I can respect that.

Over time I am seeing gamepass is building a solid library of varied content. We are getting online titles like Sea of Thieves, Grounded along with good SP titles like HiFi Rush, Psychonauts 2, along with some slow paced, acquired taste type games like this and Pentiment. This is on top of their usual staple franchises Halo-Gears-Forza.

Sadly, I have to admit, xbox is only creative force left in industry rife with safe sequals due to bloated game budgets.

This game is creatively bankrupt, is more like it

 

[nicoGec]

It’s either going to be a 3 or a 10. Will they fall all over themselves in support of playing as a mental patient? If so a 10

They gave the 1st one a 4/10

 

[LordCBH]

They gave the 1st one a 4/10

Ok yep. It’s getting a 3.

 

[Eiknarf]

I’m gonna run to Best Buy and see if they have a PlayStation 5 version on the shelf. I’ll be right back.

 

[demigod]

If this is a 10/10 then it’s concerning the kind of standards people are pushing here.

It reeks of a coordinated effort in response to recent bad feelings to them closing studios . It doesn’t feel sincere at all.

This is a great looking game, and I use the use the term game generously here. It has no sense of pacing , it certainly doesn’t respect the players time and for a IP that had less than 30 people on the team for the original and double that with this, it feels like barely or if it all, any progress has been made with it in the gameplay department.

The whole circus surrounding Phil and the Xbox teams looks set to go on and on. Efforts like this and publicly lauding it is basically telling all concerned that this is acceptable and to keep going.

If people genuinely love this, it’s not my intention to criticise you, each is own taste. I do suspect there are individuals who are praising this because of their relationship with Microsoft, it was always going to be the case after the negativity in recent weeks.

Nah, it’s the usual xbox fan sites giving high scores to every xbox first party game. This is where dem marketing dollars went. High meta score does not save a studio, look at Hi-Fi Rush. Game sales is what matters.

 

[SlimySnake]

I have done the first two levels. I would say the combat is better than the first but not by much. its also fairly repetitive despite different enemy types.

The combat also is left for the very end of each level. Ive only played two but so far the combat/walking ratio is 90-10 in favor of walking.

I think this game needed actual exploration, puzzles and setpieces. They have basically made Hellblade 1 all over again without adding any new things. I honestly dont mind linear games as long as there is something to do when traversing the level. Maybe let us collect something. Maybe add an optional physics based puzzle or something. Add a fancy setpiece where you have to jump or grapple or do something gamey. These guys have made games like that before. Variety is so important in games like this.

I brought up Uncharted 2 earlier. They had the same problem in the first game. Automatic platforming + waves of enemies + 7-8 hour campaign = repetitive boring campaign. With the second game, they added chase sequences in not just cars or trains, but also on foot. I remember this fantastic sequence where they have you carry the photographer as you fight your way through an alleyway then run with elena in an almost top down view chase sequence mixing in platforming and then just a shootout later, you were on the train and we all know how fantastic that was. But its those little things they did to keep the base gameplay from getting too repetitive. the rooftop helicopter sequence arrives just in time after you have done 2 hours of basic exploration, climbing and shootouts. Variety is so important. They even mixed in automatic platforming with puzzles to keep the platforming from getting stale.

Hellblade 2 is missing at least 2-3 more systems. Not every game needs platforming but you cannot build a game around walking and have it be all about walking. Even kojima added ropes and ladders and various other systems to keep it engaging. maybe add stealth section or two in each level. i hate investigation sections in games, but there has to be something other than lining up symbols that senua can do. you have these incredibly detailed next gen levels and you dont do anything with them.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

If this is a 10/10 then it’s concerning the kind of standards people are pushing here.

It reeks of a coordinated effort in response to recent bad feelings to them closing studios . It doesn’t feel sincere at all.

This is a great looking game, and I use the use the term game generously here. It has no sense of pacing , it certainly doesn’t respect the players time and for a IP that had less than 30 people on the team for the original and double that with this, it feels like barely or if it all, any progress has been made with it in the gameplay department.

The whole circus surrounding Phil and the Xbox teams looks set to go on and on. Efforts like this and publicly lauding it is basically telling all concerned that this is acceptable and to keep going.

If people genuinely love this, it’s not my intention to criticise you, each is own taste. I do suspect there are individuals who are praising this because of their relationship with Microsoft, it was always going to be the case after the negativity in recent weeks.

Yep pretty much. Redfall was a 3/10 game that got reviewed like a 6/10

HB2 is a 5/10 game reviewed like an 8/10.

Both highly inflated due to the pity party and moneybag marketing Microsoft has with all their fan devoted sites

Hi Fi Rush was a great game and got the scores it deserved. It should be praised and the studio shouldn’t be closed. This other garbage? It just reeks of desperation to not close another studio that actually deserves it

Sorry to say but it’s probably better if the art talent at team ninja goes on to studios who actually know how to make real games and real stories.

This shit used to fly when video games were kind of new when it comes to cinematics, but they are not, and expectations have changed.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

I tried playing it this morning and was bored out of my mind. I want to give it another try but I despise the fucking slow walking because I'm hurt things. Reminds me of radio transmissions in Gears which drive me nuts.

It looks great especially from my couch, and it's definitely got a vibe and a strong one at that (sort of like Scorn) but it's pretty dull so far.

 

[DenchDeckard]

It's like a clown convention here with the likes of those two.

Those two are absolute melts

 

[Toots]

Eh, disappointing, it sounds like they mixed the binaurals for the 2 front speakers. I have a nice 7.4.4 Atmos setup and no chills felt.

Until…..

Thankfully I have a receiver where I can assign my stereo speakers and I assigned my Surrounds (Placed left - right facing me) and Wow! Better than with my headphones!! I have the Onkyo Z50, not sure if many receivers can do this, but I highly recommend this setup.


See diagram below, I assumed my stereo speakers here

Nice setup !
But are you sure the voices you're hearing come from the game, and aren't whispering demons taunting you from the Abyss ?

Spoiler

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Yep pretty much. Redfall was a 3/10 game that got reviewed like a 6/10

HB2 is a 5/10 game reviewed like an 8/10.

Both highly inflated due to the pity party and moneybag marketing Microsoft has with all their fan devoted sites

Hi Fi Rush was a great game and got the scores it deserved. It should be praised and the studio shouldn’t be closed. This other garbage? It just reeks of desperation to not close another studio that actually deserves it

Sorry to say but it’s probably better if the art talent at team ninja goes on to studios who actually know how to make real games and real stories.

This shit used to fly when video games were kind of new when it comes to cinematics, but they are not, and expectations have changed.

“these games are reviewed way higher than they merit because they’re Xbox games. but oh hey this other game is for some reason dead on accurate and the reviewers came together in a secret meeting and decided this was the one game they’d rate honestly.”

I love it. This has been the best OT ever.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

“these games are reviewed way higher than they merit because they’re Xbox games. but oh hey this other game is for some reason dead on accurate and the reviewers came together in a secret meeting and decided this was the one game they’d rate honestly.”

I love it. This has been the best OT ever.

Nope it’s just rating everything high for the sake of shilling or pitying the situation MS is in

Sometimes the high rating is accurate. The game is genuinely good

HB2 isn’t that

 

[Eiknarf]

So is Ninja Theory safe? Or are they done?

 

[Mr Moose]

I’m gonna run to Best Buy and see if they have a PlayStation 5 version on the shelf. I’ll be right back.

There's no physical version of this game.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Nope it’s just rating everything high for the sake of shilling or pitying the situation MS is in

Sometimes the high rating is accurate. The game is genuinely good

HB2 isn’t that

If this were true, Starfield would be higher. Redfall would be way higher. This is just you running warrior damage control because the game scored well.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

If this were true, Starfield would be higher. Redfall would be way higher. This is just you running warrior damage control because the game scored well.

They are all way higher than they deserve, but they can’t completely drown out a large portion of the media

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

They are all way higher than they deserve, but they can’t completely drown out a large portion of the media

And yet apparently for HB2 you claim they are. Weird. Almost as if it’s all just a giant pile of horse shit.

 

[demigod]

“these games are reviewed way higher than they merit because they’re Xbox games. but oh hey this other game is for some reason dead on accurate and the reviewers came together in a secret meeting and decided this was the one game they’d rate honestly.”

I love it. This has been the best OT ever.

Honestly if I were you, i’d go into hiding after claiming Bleeding Edge was amazing. Same with Xboxera giving Redfall an 8.5.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

And yet apparently for HB2 you claim they are. Weird. Almost as if it’s all just a giant pile of horse shit.

It is, glad you agree

 

[Varteras]

Everybody shut the fuck up and look at this!

 

[adamsapple]

They are all way higher than they deserve, but they can’t completely drown out a large portion of the media

According to whom? You?

The 'large portion of the media' has rated this game well. Except for the couple of youtube streamers you are now a fan of.

“these games are reviewed way higher than they merit because they’re Xbox games. but oh hey this other game is for some reason dead on accurate and the reviewers came together in a secret meeting and decided this was the one game they’d rate honestly.”

I love it. This has been the best OT ever.

Don't forget earlier in this thread someone also said, while being serious, that a Playstation game getting a high score is more meaningful because of some kind of higher imaginary bar versus an Xbox game getting high scores.

The Xbox tax is real, only it's not for Xbox

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Don't forget earlier in this thread someone also said, while being serious, that a Playstation game getting 90 is more meaningful because of some kind of higher imaginary bar.

It is.

The Order is a better game than HB2 and has 63 metacritic and there’s more gameplay in it as well

This was also a 10 year old game.

Keep pretending that just because Xbox games get high scores for the same shit that it somehow validates HB2’s lack of quality

 

[Fbh]

So is Ninja Theory safe? Or are they done?

Only MS knows.
But I'd be surprised if they are pleased with it right now. It's probably not selling incredibly well and it's not a critical smash hit either.
Though maybe it resulted in a small spike of Gamepass subscribers as interested players realized a month of gamepass to play this is probably a better deal for most than paying $50 for a 6 hours experience with limited gameplay.

But without knowing how much this cost, how well it's actually doing and what other projects NT is working on I doubt anyone not from MS can say if they are safe or not

 

[FireFly]

Nope it’s just rating everything high for the sake of shilling or pitying the situation MS is in

Sometimes the high rating is accurate. The game is genuinely good

HB2 isn’t that

I feel like we should wait to see what happens with the Steam average review score. If it falls below 80% say, we can say that the reviews don't represent the consensus of those that played the game. But if stays around where it is now, then we have to acknowledge that the "positive" reviews are also reflected in the audience reaction.

 

[adamsapple]

The Order is a better game than HB2 and has 63 metacritic and there’s more gameplay in it as well

Oh I have no doubt to you The Order is a better game, you probably also believe Knack is better than Super Mario Odyssey and think Killzone Shadowfall is the best FPS game of all time.

Keep pretending that just because Xbox games get high scores for the same shit that it somehow validates HB2’s lack of quality

For someone who was telling others to be objective earlier in this thread, you sure seem to disavow some real objective facts.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I feel like we should wait to see what happens with the Steam average review score. If it falls below 80% say, we can say that the reviews don't represent the consensus of those that played the game. But if stays around where it is now, then we have to acknowledge that the "positive" reviews are also reflected in the audience reaction.

The problem with this argument is the only people playing this are hardcore Xbox fans mostly and we know how forgiving they are for every bad game MS releases

Mainstream PC players are not playing this at all

 

[adamsapple]

The problem with this argument is the only people playing this are hardcore Xbox fans mostly and we know how forgiving they are for every bad game MS releases

Mainstream PC players are not playing this at all

Great, now even the people playing on STEAM are hardcore Xbox fanboys.

Where does it end Bumblebeetuna

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Oh I have no doubt to you The Order is a better game

Tell me why HB2 is better then.

The Order actually had punchy weighty combat and a pretty decent story and cast.

HB2 is a QTE game at best with far more walking and countless interruptions

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Great, now even the people playing on STEAM are hardcore Xbox fanboys.

Where does it end Bumblebeetuna

Yeah the only 3000 players are likely ex-Xbox players who are invested in this awful series.

The steam user count is massive bomb territory

 

[Little Chicken]

 

[twilo99]

Doesn't matter if it's a tiny play area with near zero interactivity, I just mean straight visuals, its untouched.

I dunno Alan Wake 2 looked alright at times

 

[Ristifer]

This thread is a better example of mental illness than the game is.

 

[CosmicComet]

I dunno Alan Wake 2 looked alright at times

Eh.

 

[adamsapple]

Yeah the only 3000 players are likely ex-Xbox players who are invested in this awful series.

The steam user count is massive bomb territory

Ah, so people who aren't in the Xbox eco-system and have no allegiance to it, but according to you are still hardcore Xbox fanboys, are only leaving positive reviews because of their affinity to the first game. Nothing to do with this game in itself.

My god man, just give it a rest already, you're just making a fool of yourself

 

[demigod]

Tell me why HB2 is better then.

The Order actually had punchy weighty combat and a pretty decent story and cast.

HB2 is a QTE game at best with far more walking and countless interruptions

The main complaints about The Order before it released was the black bars and QTE. Weird how nobody is complaining about it now.

 

[tommib]

This thread is a better example of mental illness than the game is.

It’s a fun thread though.

 

[Ristifer]

It’s a fun thread though.

It passes my time while working, so I'm good with it.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Ah, so people who aren't in the Xbox eco-system and have no allegiance to it, but according to you are still hardcore Xbox fanboys, are only leaving positive reviews because of their affinity to the first game. Nothing to do with this game in itself.

My god man, just give it a rest already, you're just making a fool of yourself

You can’t even tell me what is so amazing and good about HB2, you dodge the question.

You’re part of the reason MS continues to flounder with their first party games, you and your entire community don’t hold them to account and actually make good games

 

[adamsapple]

You can’t even tell me what is so amazing and good about HB2, you dodge the question.

I don't have to tell you what's good, anything I say, you'll just disagree with, just like how you've disagreed with the majority of the critical consensus because it doesn't fit your personal narrative

You’re part of the reason MS continues to flounder with their first party games, you and your entire community don’t hold them to account and actually make good games

Good thing Steam users are also a part of 'my' hardcore Xbox community according to you now, we're expanding.

 

[FireFly]

The problem with this argument is the only people playing this are hardcore Xbox fans mostly and we know how forgiving they are for every bad game MS releases

Mainstream PC players are not playing this at all

Well Halo Infinite has a 70% rating on Steam, Starfield has a 61% rating, Redfall has a 36% rating, Forza Motorsport has a 40% (!) rating. A really close comparison is Bleeding Edge which is arguably an even more niche title and was also made by Ninja Theory. Well that has a 67% rating compared with the 66 metascore (62 on PC).

 

[Mortisfacio]

Who besides Adamsapple and Topher have actually played the game? Seeing a lot of negative takes in here from people who clearly haven't played the game at all, like James Sawyer.

 

[Ulysses 31]

 

[FunkMiller]

Something to point out regarding this game when we're talking about how long Ninja Theory worked on it, is that people quote Dom Matthews, the studio head, when he says they only started work on it in 2020.

He also said this:

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will be a game crafted from the heart – a game similar in length to the first Hellblade, with a focused narrative, and sold digital-only at a price of $49.99 USD.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/01/18/senuas-saga-hellblade-2-developer-direct-2024/

So, many not the best idea to take on face value what he's saying. I'm starting to think something went very wrong with the production of this game at some point, for it to be only 5 hours long. Hopefully we might get some reasons why down the line, once the launch has been and gone.

 

[TrippleA345]

Who besides Adamsapple and Topher have actually played the game? Seeing a lot of negative takes in here from people who clearly haven't played the game at all, like James Sawyer.

Ass played it

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Who besides Adamsapple and Topher have actually played the game? Seeing a lot of negative takes in here from people who clearly haven't played the game at all, like James Sawyer.

I played like 25% of the game last night

Its dreadful

 

[tommib]

Game broke half of GAF. Pretty hilarious.

This is arguably the most annoying YouTube voice I’ve heard in my life.

 

[adamsapple]

Something to point out regarding this game when we're talking about how long Ninja Theory worked on it, is that people quote Dom Matthews, the studio head, when he says they only started work on it in 2020.

He also said this:

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/01/18/senuas-saga-hellblade-2-developer-direct-2024/

So, many not the best idea to take on face value what he's saying. I'm starting to think something went very wrong with the production of this game at some point, for it to be only 5 hours long. Hopefully we might get some reasons why down the line, once the launch has been and gone.

Not sure where you're going with this?

Both games are roughly the same length if you're just going straight to the objectives. Each add a few more hours if you're collectible hunting or doing completionist run.

The top result for Senua's Sacrifice full game play is 4hrs 30 mins.

The top result for Senua's Saga full game play is 5hr 30mins.

They're both from the same channel, even.

The sequel is longer.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I don't have to tell you what's good, anything I say, you'll just disagree with, just like how you've disagreed with the majority of the critical consensus because it doesn't fit your personal narrative

Right because you can’t tell me a single reason why HB2 deserves to have a nearly 20 point higher metascore than The Order

Anyone who has played both and isn’t a shill knows these games are from the same ilk

Any justification you try to give would be laughed at for how comical it is

 

[Astray]

This is arguably the most annoying YouTube voice I’ve heard in my life.

One of the worst console warriors too.

 

[LordCBH]

Who besides Adamsapple and Topher have actually played the game? Seeing a lot of negative takes in here from people who clearly haven't played the game at all, like James Sawyer.

I’m willing to put my Gamepass sub where my mouth is when I get home. At the very least I’ll see some pretty graphics.