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Hellblade 2 | Review Thread

What Scores do you think Hellblade 2 will get?

  • 50-59%

    Votes: 2 0.9%
  • 60-69%

    Votes: 6 2.6%
  • 70-75%

    Votes: 23 9.9%
  • 76-79%

    Votes: 44 19.0%
  • 80-85%

    Votes: 90 38.8%
  • 86-90%

    Votes: 47 20.3%
  • 90-94%

    Votes: 10 4.3%
  • 95-100%

    Votes: 10 4.3%

  • Total voters
    232
  • Poll closed .

Thief1987

Member
gYzQT3G.png

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ OMG, these people represent the Xbox community...and they make it look so pathetic.
If this thing is the best "playing" game on xbox it's no wonder why no one want this console.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
They tried that with Uncharted 3 a bit. Felt more cinematic than the previous two (which was ironic for people like me who like cinematic experiences and prefered Uncharted 3 over 2 by quite a distance). In Last of Us' case though, because Part II's gameplay was so good, I'd love for them to expand on that even more!

Coming back to Hellblade, this might just be the direction they want to keep the franchise. I'm all for it, especially if it's what they want to make! Sometimes, a simple 5-7 hr romp with industry-leading visuals is enough for the appetite. Hell, Insomniac already said they want Wolverine on Hellblade II's visual level, so this sort of release can be inspirational in that way too.
That was more for punishedmiku. If ND makes a hellblade 2 style game with 90% walking and 10% combat then i will go kill myself.

TLOU2s combat was fantastic but it was ruined by the constant walking segments and a complete reset in the middle of the game. I hope ND makes a similar game but with slightly more open ended level design and completely removes the forced slow walking sections.
 

RoboEight

Member
I just finished the game and overall I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Visually the game is stunning I loved pretty much every area I visited. Combat was ok but felt a little lackluster however I did feel like the overall presentation of the fights were neat a kind of dynamic which I liked. I do wish the puzzles were a little more interesting because there was only like 2 different kinds and they weren't really challenging just kind of tedious. Story wise it was alright and the overall theme was interesting but I kind of wish there was a little more to it and each major arc kind of went the same way. I'm glad I played it and I ended up finishing the game in about 4h 52m in total and I think this is a great game for Gamepass but I don't know if I would pay $70 for it though.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I just finished the game and overall I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Visually the game is stunning I loved pretty much every area I visited. Combat was ok but felt a little lackluster however I did feel like the overall presentation of the fights were neat a kind of dynamic which I liked. I do wished the puzzles were a little more interesting because there was only like 2 different kinds and they weren't really challenging just kind of tedious. Story wise it was alright and the overall theme was interesting but I kind of wish there was a little more to it and each major arc kind of went the same way. I'm glad I played it and I ended up finishing the game in about 4h 52m in total and I think this is a great game for Gamepass but I don't know if I would pay $70 for it though.

TBF it wasn't a $70 game anyway, it's retailing at $50.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Gave it a try, defenitly The Order/Ryse of this generation (both graphicaly and gameplay wise). Looks very cgish, main character looks awsome, lighting, rocks/stones all of it looks very good. Drawbacks I seen in graphics term: much fog reducing draw distance, water waves/splashes can looks very basic, other character are not as detailed as Senua, interaction very limited. Picture is quite soft and also noisy but that not a big problem for me tough chromatic abberation is, defenitly should be option do disable it. Gameplay is very poor tough game is short so maybe will try to finish it just for graphic. Would never pay for it full price but for gamepass addition is perfect. I hope Ninja Theory will survive and next time they will try to keep this level of graphics but also focus on gameplay and create more standard single player narratrive game closer to maybe Naughty Dogs/Kojima/Coalition titles.
I love the water waves. To me, horizon fw has the best water right now but their waves have been topped by hellblade 2. there are little streams in the second and third levels that look simply beautiful too. a lot of games try to fake those streams but this looks real enough to be fluid simulation. even though its likely faked as well.

xCbESWi.gif


how far into the game are you? the third and fourth level in the game have really great draw distance. keep playing. the levels are still closed off but they feel huge because the draw distance is massive. And the detail is retained far into the distance.

OiDZFml.gif


the rest though. completely agree. they shouldnt have made hellblade 2. make something else, something more epic and fun like heavenly sword or DmC. this feels like an indie game and it just feels weird to see this much work go into a game that is practically 90% walking and cutscenes. crazy this took them nearly five years to make. they need a bigger team. i heard they had 80 devs work on this. why? ND had 75 people work on uncharted 1 and boosted up to 150 people in uncharted 2 15 years ago. now they have almost 400 devs. You cant be making AAA games with 80 devs in 2024.
 

Beechos

Member
The game so far is prob an 8 for me. It's a good walking since with amazing atmosphere, gfx, art direction. We'll see about the story, im about 2 hours in meeting the giant for the 1st time.

The game is pretty much the same as part 1 cept for the new story and bleeding edge graphics. If you didn't enjoy that then you'll hate part 2. If you enjoyed it then you should love it.
 

RoboEight

Member
I love the water waves. To me, horizon fw has the best water right now but their waves have been topped by hellblade 2. there are little streams in the second and third levels that look simply beautiful too. a lot of games try to fake those streams but this looks real enough to be fluid simulation. even though its likely faked as well.

xCbESWi.gif


how far into the game are you? the third and fourth level in the game have really great draw distance. keep playing. the levels are still closed off but they feel huge because the draw distance is massive. And the detail is retained far into the distance.

OiDZFml.gif


the rest though. completely agree. they shouldnt have made hellblade 2. make something else, something more epic and fun like heavenly sword or DmC. this feels like an indie game and it just feels weird to see this much work go into a game that is practically 90% walking and cutscenes. crazy this took them nearly five years to make. they need a bigger team. i heard they had 80 devs work on this. why? ND had 75 people work on uncharted 1 and boosted up to 150 people in uncharted 2 15 years ago. now they have almost 400 devs. You cant be making AAA games with 80 devs in 2024.
Every area is jaw dropping even the most boring cave just looks so good and that coupled with the amazing lighting it's certainly a feast for the eyes. It is too bad they couldn't open the areas a little more to explore even if it's just for scenery and photomode or even like some hidden story stuff. The second area you go to looks amazing and even the fight sequence there was my favorite the atmosphere and music worked so well.
 
Man console warz amirite.
Maybe the one console future is the way forward. I do think if they priced it at 40 (hell do a 60 bundle with Hellblade 1 next gen edition that playstation somehow missed out on) and put it on the psn store people would be more receptive.
 

Skifi28

Member
It's like Christmas every time I return to this thread. Corpses of snakes, chicken, cats and apples everywhere. I believe I even saw a duck somewhere.

ZZJje67.gif
 

SRTtoZ

Member
I just checked my Xbox and it says it took me 12 hours to beat the first game. Is this game REALLY THAT much shorter than the first??? I resubbed for 1 month on Game Pass so I can play this. Even if it's not great, I still would rather play it, plus I do have an UltraWide Alienware OLED monitor which I think would be nice for this game.
 

dem

Member
I’ve played for an hour or 2. I have a feeling 6 hours of this will be more than enough.

Very, very impressive visuals.

Also very limited “game”. Very on rails. Little action so far. Can you even lose a fight?

Feels more like a tech demo than a game to me.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I just checked my Xbox and it says it took me 12 hours to beat the first game. Is this game REALLY THAT much shorter than the first??? I resubbed for 1 month on Game Pass so I can play this. Even if it's not great, I still would rather play it, plus I do have an UltraWide Alienware OLED monitor which I think would be nice for this game.

No, it's generally the same length. Could be longer / shorter depending on how much time you're dedicating to finding the collectibles.

If it took you 10~ hours in the first game, this one is probably going to be the same.


DiXw00i.jpeg
 
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ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
i heard they had 80 devs work on this. why?
For perspective, the first Hellblade had around 20. And somehow, had less scripted combat and more cohesive design.

ND had 75 people work on uncharted 1 and boosted up to 150 people in uncharted 2 15 years ago. now they have almost 400 devs. You cant be making AAA games with 80 devs in 2024.
Yeah, and how's that been working out for ND? Not to say that they shouldn't have that many people, or that others issues aren't contributing, but it's not like there productivity is better than it was before.

Look, if this game isn't a glaring example of the inefficiency of throwing moar ppl at the problem, I don't know what is. Everything we know indicates these guys got bought out by Microsoft, got comfortable, and then spent most of 6 years tripping in Scandinavia or running free pizza parties at the office. And Phil Spencer/Matt Booty just let it happen. Lol
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
For perspective, the first Hellblade had around 20. And somehow, had less scripted combat and more cohesive design.


Yeah, and how's that been working out for ND? Not to say that they shouldn't have that many people, or that others issues aren't contributing, but it's not like there productivity is better than it was before.

Look, if this game isn't a glaring example of the inefficiency of throwing moar ppl at the problem, I don't know what is. Everything we know indicates these guys got bought out by Microsoft, got comfortable, and then spent most of 6 years tripping in Scandinavia or running free pizza parties at the office. And Phil Spencer/Matt Booty just let it happen. Lol
the latest issues at ND are a bit more complicated. neil abandoned them after 2020 to go make a tv show, and had to be summoned back. they ended up taking over that stupid VSG remake project in his absence that they had to deliver. they also wasted 5 years on factions because of jimbo and herman.

But before 2020? they released seven games in a span of 17 years. thats 1 game every 2.5 years. Doubling the size from 75 to 150 let them push the length of the campaign from 7-8 to 11-12 hours with a whole bunch of extra setpieces. it also let them add coop and mp. the also let neil and bruce go off and make their own new IP after shipping U2. yes, they have struggled to be a 2 team studio since, but 7 games in 14 years is not bad despite all the firings and neil cleaning house.

In NT's case, Microrosft shouldve intervened as soon as the original pitch was delivered and NT told them that the combat would barely be in the game, and it would be a carbon copy of the first game with few combat scenarios, and even more walking. Phil shouldve been like no, go back to the drawing board and make a real video game.
 
Look, if this game isn't a glaring example of the inefficiency of throwing moar ppl at the problem, I don't know what is.
i just listen to a very insightful comment about the lack of definition of what success means inside a team/company; the negative effects of lacking a clear goal/guide to aim your efforts

if Xbox can't define what success means to its teams it will have a severe impact on the most important people in a tean, those top performer individualsare are the ones carrying the entire studio/game

HB2's faliure at improving at the things stablished in the first game, feels like they were starting from scratch, that the key people left or lost focus.
 

Vroadstar

Member
I’m confused? He said he didn’t like the first game and the new one looked like trash last year - then he played the game and really liked it?

From what I can tell from GHG GHG receipts, that's correct. He loathes the first game, according to him it was a slog to play, and he couldn't finish it. I believe it was exclusive to the PS4 console for 7 or so months.

HB2, he not only liked it but "Game is a masterpiece." It's his GOTY. So yeah, it's his opinion, but nothing says “duality of man” like cranking the sequel’s excitement dial to eleven, even though it’s more of a snooze fest compared to the original. 🙄🎬
 
From what I can tell from GHG GHG receipts, that's correct. He loathes the first game, according to him it was a slog to play, and he couldn't finish it. I believe it was exclusive to the PS4 console for 7 or so months.

HB2, he not only liked it but "Game is a masterpiece." It's his GOTY. So yeah, it's his opinion, but nothing says “duality of man” like cranking the sequel’s excitement dial to eleven, even though it’s more of a snooze fest compared to the original. 🙄🎬
But if it was purely due to fanboy shit why is he commenting this on a video of the game when it was obviously exclusive to xbox - like it’s a photo of Hellblade 2 which at that point was owned by Microsoft. Why would he say the first one was a slog and this looks like trash in 2023?

I genuinely just don’t get what the receipt is trying to say, dude clearly changed his mind. I’m only asking cus neither game has looked appealing to me at all as far as actually playing it, but I wonder if I actually would enjoy it if I came at it from a different mindset. Maybe the fact that it looks that graphically good consistently can somehow carry it in a way that’s different from a typical game… sorta like heavy rain or something. idk
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
There's literally nothing else to say. Just keep you on ignore and hope one day the mods take action against your horrible posting history. I like to talk about games, not your lies.

So prove Im lying about that you fucking piece of shit. I literally just said I enjoyed GoT in the PC release thread. It was about 30% too long for me but I plan on buying it a 2nd time on PC.

Please don't get banned for GHG GHG . His entire online persona is to antagonise anyone who enjoys something xbox. He'll post anything to get under your skin and it has worked here...

It's happened to many users including myself.

He won't get banned, somehow...best to stay ignoring him and don't engage with the guy. Or youw I'll end up banned and he moves onto the next person who mentions they liked something xbox.

Quoting someone saying they don't think they'll like something before they've tried playing/watching is just sad. It's like you can't be won over in this world or admit you changed your opinion. It's Internet 101 and why people get cancelled. Sad as fuck.
 

Kings Field

Member
Towards the end of the game and I must say I’m enjoying it more than I thought given that I didn’t care for the first game. Graphics and atmosphere are top notch but very shallow combat brings it down a bit for me.

If I was one of these reviewer virgins I’d give it a solid 6.5/10. An average came that is propped up by great graphics, sound, and atmosphere but falls short on actual gameplay.
 

S0ULZB0URNE

Member
Dude it was a joke but mostly accurate characterization

you are not doing much more then holding up on the analog stick for 2 hours. You do simple puzzles and QTE combat sparsely and mostly just slog through the environment

This game is terrible. Anyone who hates the order should hate this as well if not more.
The Order offered better gameplay than this.
 

demigod

Member
From what I can tell from GHG GHG receipts, that's correct. He loathes the first game, according to him it was a slog to play, and he couldn't finish it. I believe it was exclusive to the PS4 console for 7 or so months.

HB2, he not only liked it but "Game is a masterpiece." It's his GOTY. So yeah, it's his opinion, but nothing says “duality of man” like cranking the sequel’s excitement dial to eleven, even though it’s more of a snooze fest compared to the original. 🙄🎬
Oh shit he reminds me of kidsmoove.
 
Please don't get banned for GHG GHG . His entire online persona is to antagonise anyone who enjoys something xbox. He'll post anything to get under your skin and it has worked here...

It's happened to many users including myself.

He won't get banned, somehow...best to stay ignoring him and don't engage with the guy. Or youw I'll end up banned and he moves onto the next person who mentions they liked something xbox.

Quoting someone saying they don't think they'll like something before they've tried playing/watching is just sad. It's like you can't be won over in this world or admit you changed your opinion. It's Internet 101 and why people get cancelled. Sad as fuck.

Posting facts and receipts for people being disingenuous isn't antagonizing. It's doing the forum a public service announcement.
 
I love the water waves. To me, horizon fw has the best water right now but their waves have been topped by hellblade 2. there are little streams in the second and third levels that look simply beautiful too. a lot of games try to fake those streams but this looks real enough to be fluid simulation. even though its likely faked as well.

xCbESWi.gif


how far into the game are you? the third and fourth level in the game have really great draw distance. keep playing. the levels are still closed off but they feel huge because the draw distance is massive. And the detail is retained far into the distance.

OiDZFml.gif


the rest though. completely agree. they shouldnt have made hellblade 2. make something else, something more epic and fun like heavenly sword or DmC. this feels like an indie game and it just feels weird to see this much work go into a game that is practically 90% walking and cutscenes. crazy this took them nearly five years to make. they need a bigger team. i heard they had 80 devs work on this. why? ND had 75 people work on uncharted 1 and boosted up to 150 people in uncharted 2 15 years ago. now they have almost 400 devs. You cant be making AAA games with 80 devs in 2024.


It's a shame how blurry this game is though. It looks completely washed out on the XSX and it makes it more difficult to appreciate. Also makes it kind of a chore to look at when playing.
 

Zheph

Member
You guys don't respect work time or sleep time... And I'm here for it FFS

That said, I will be playing the game later today. On that regard, do you need to have played the one or you can jump in directly?
 

Dazraell

Member
You guys don't respect work time or sleep time... And I'm here for it FFS

That said, I will be playing the game later today. On that regard, do you need to have played the one or you can jump in directly?
There's "previously on" thingie. And not knowing the previous one may unironically benefit you as you won't be comparing them
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
You guys don't respect work time or sleep time... And I'm here for it FFS

That said, I will be playing the game later today. On that regard, do you need to have played the one or you can jump in directly?

As James Sawyer Ford James Sawyer Ford mentioned there is a recap. But that recap is extremely barebones and IMO doesn't really do a decent job. If you have time, either watch a recap video on YT or if you have even more time, play the original game.
 
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