• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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 .

King Dazzar

Member
You're not even half way yet lol

yT4znaQTqEdq0.webp
Right there, tells you all you need to know. 10 outta 10 my arse!
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
he just needs a second playthrough
I don't understand how it's a bad thing to play a game twice. It literally has a new game+ narrator. If you watch that Karak Karak review he makes a good point in that you can't swing your sword around in the air to practice, just in the set fights. So chapter 1 went by without me really knowing how it played or the timing, or even that there was a sprint button, or being ready for that boss. So I played it again. I thought the game was fantastic the 1st time through and wanted to play it again, but especially to see how I felt about chapter 1. I also went and saw Avatar 2 twice.

If you don't like the game, that's fine. I don't troll anyone about it. But I think it's amazing and I enjoyed it even more the 2nd time through.
 
I don't understand how it's a bad thing to play a game twice. It literally has a new game+ narrator. If you watch that Karak Karak review he makes a good point in that you can't swing your sword around in the air to practice, just in the set fights. So chapter 1 went by without me really knowing how it played or the timing, or even that there was a sprint button, or being ready for that boss. So I played it again. I thought the game was fantastic the 1st time through and wanted to play it again, but especially to see how I felt about chapter 1. I also went and saw Avatar 2 twice.

If you don't like the game, that's fine. I don't troll anyone about it. But I think it's amazing and I enjoyed it even more the 2nd time through.

I'm just fucking with you Miku don't worry. I don't think you should go to prison for your 10/10
 

XXL

Member
I tried out Hellblade 2 last night for about an hour or so. I never played Hellblade 1.

This is barely a game.

I think conceptually there is something there that is cool, but there actually is nothing really there as a game.

Pros
- It's beautiful looking
- the animations are pretty great
- some of the transitions from you being crazy are well done.

Cons
- the voices in your head are unbelievably annoying and just spam basic shit at you.
- there is no gameplay, you just walk and then have extremely basic sword fights
- there are invisible walls everywhere
- as beautiful as it is, the environment is mainly just rocks so far
- the transitions between locations are super jarring

I'll try to finish it today or over the weekend.

Anyone giving this 10s should be banned from reviewing videogames.

Even the 81 on metacritic (as of right now) is crazy town to me.
 

DavidGzz

Gold Member
I don't see that at all. You would have to literally strip out most of the gameplay in TLOU 2 (even just the Abby part) to make it comparable to HB2.




This Ellie and Abby fight? Nah, they are identical. TLOU2 even has quick time events. Maybe that's the deep mechanic they stripped in HB2 lol. I wasn't talking about the sneaking around, seeing through walls, using traps, etc. Come on.
 

DavidGzz

Gold Member
I tried out Hellblade 2 last night for about an hour or so. I never played Hellblade 1.

This is barely a game.

I think conceptually there is something there that is cool, but there actually is nothing really there as a game.

Pros
- It's beautiful looking
- the animations are pretty great
- some of the transitions from you being crazy are well done.

Cons
- the voices in your head are unbelievably annoying and just spam basic shit at you.
- there is no gameplay, you just walk and then have extremely basic sword fights
- there are invisible walls everywhere
- as beautiful as it is, the environment is mainly just rocks so far
- the transitions between locations are super jarring

I'll try to finish it today or over the weekend.

Anyone giving this 10s should be banned from reviewing videogames.

Even the 81 on metacritic (as of right now) is crazy town to me.


Karak's review above vs. your 1-hour review. I think I'll go with Karak. 81 is fine and an average from people who actually played and beat the game. Crazy town is reviewing a game after an hour.
 

Topher

Identifies as young


This Ellie and Abby fight? Nah, they are identical. TLOU2 even has quick time events. Maybe that's the deep mechanic they stripped in HB2 lol. I wasn't talking about the sneaking around, seeing through walls, using traps, etc. Come on.


My bad. I didn't get that you meant that one fight.
 
Last edited:


This Ellie and Abby fight? Nah, they are identical. TLOU2 even has quick time events. Maybe that's the deep mechanic they stripped in HB2 lol. I wasn't talking about the sneaking around, seeing through walls, using traps, etc. Come on.


Bruh these one on one fights are trash. Nate vs Sam. Abby vs Ellie. Sam vs Higgs. Senua vs litterally everything. They stink more than Topher and Starfield
 
Last edited:

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
What will be the retail on this though, I doubt anyone on PS5 will pay more than 20 ~ 30usd for this now the cat is out of the bag about how short and how much it lacks gameplay.

Its worth it just for the PR value. I mean imagine headlines like "The best graphical showcase for Sony's new Platform is MS' Hellblade 2".

Its UE5 so it'll be a very cost effective port too.
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
I'm just fucking with you Miku don't worry. I don't think you should go to prison for your 10/10
I don't really have a problem with you since you usually are just joking around, but if you don't have a problem with my opinion you can stop bringing it up anytime. I didn't post it in this thread. You're just mocking me, and when asked even the most basic question about why that would even be bad to play a game twice, you have literally zero answer. If you have literally no answer, why bring it up and mock it?
 
I don't really have a problem with you since you usually are just joking around, but if you don't have a problem with my opinion you can stop bringing it up anytime. I didn't post it in this thread. You're just mocking me, and when asked even the most basic question about why that would even be bad to play a game twice, you have literally zero answer. If you have literally no answer, why bring it up and mock it?

sorry mommy
 

DavidGzz

Gold Member
I want to play in photo mode res/settings, it looks better.
8b2Hellblade2WinGDKShip.jpg

1f4Hellblade2WinGDKShip.jpg


Going to up the res and see if that does the trick.


I just checked, for me there is zero difference so yeah, playing at 4k should do it.

I'm really happy about not noticing any clipping yet. Her ponytail sways about realistically and never clips thank God.
 
Last edited:

XXL

Member
Karak's review above vs. your 1-hour review.
This is the least surprising thing ever.

I mean.....
Joke post of the year. XSS and XSX will sell at least 50% more than Xbone. We'll see who is right in 7 years. You're taking some poll at a comic convention as gospel. What percentage of the combined 150 million consoles sold between PS4 and Xbone do you think have a powerful gaming PC? The bulk of console buyers do not have a gaming rig, enthusiast sites have your views skewed.

Funny how these guys keep coming into Game Pass threads trying to smother the flame that is Game Pass. The amount of warriors on this forum is endless.

I see what's going on. You're butt hurt about PS5 being inferior when it comes to graphics that you have to diss on Xbox. Nothing more to see here from you besides more useless comments. You can downplay XGS and Game Pass all you want, people could do the same for PS5 games.

Yep, Game Pass will be even bigger next gen. PS5+Demon's Souls and that's about it until the next big exclusive. Meanwhile I'll spend most of my time on XSX and those sweet Game Pass games.

Yep, totally possible but you also have to imagine how Game Pass, which is now at 15 million subs, will snowball if they don't put their games on PS5. Short term loss of money but long term 15 dollars a month from 20, 30, 40+ million subs at some point will make it worth. I'm sure they have some smart people working there that will figure it all out.

I've been eating good with Game Pass. My PS5 will be dusted off soon for Ragnarok, otherwise I haven't touched it much this year. I think Microsoft's contingency plan has been great. Didn't they just say they've made 2.9 billion in the least year with Game Pass? I can't keep up with the games on there. Persona 5 is up next.
Make-Up Meme GIF by Justin

So let me guess, Karak loves the sweet Game Pass game....Shocking...
 
Last edited:

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I tried out Hellblade 2 last night for about an hour or so. I never played Hellblade 1.

This is barely a game.

I think conceptually there is something there that is cool, but there actually is nothing really there as a game.

Pros
- It's beautiful looking
- the animations are pretty great
- some of the transitions from you being crazy are well done.

Cons
- the voices in your head are unbelievably annoying and just spam basic shit at you.
- there is no gameplay, you just walk and then have extremely basic sword fights
- there are invisible walls everywhere
- as beautiful as it is, the environment is mainly just rocks so far
- the transitions between locations are super jarring

I'll try to finish it today or over the weekend.

Anyone giving this 10s should be banned from reviewing videogames.

Even the 81 on metacritic (as of right now) is crazy town to me.
This is one of my gripes, because that's not how this thing work. It should have been some creepy reverbed to hell and back barely voices, which just resembles words. I don't know if it make sense. But I am guess it has been sterilized for "modern audiences"...
 

DavidGzz

Gold Member
This is the least surprising thing ever.

I mean.....









Make-Up Meme GIF by Justin

So let me guess, Karak loves the sweet Game Pass game....Shocking...


Bunch of quotes with truth to them at the time. It was said XSX would be more powerful, that didn't end up being the truth. And I did have to dust it off for God of War. But I have to dust my XSX off too, I am a PC main.

But yeah, everyone is crazy except for you. Let's ignore the 83% on Steam and 81% with critics because of your 1 hour experience lmao!
 

XXL

Member
This is one of my gripes, because that's not how this thing work. It should have been some creepy reverbed to hell and back barely voices, which just resembles words. I don't know if it make sense. But I am guess it has been sterilized for "modern audiences"...
100% it's actually just annoying the way it is. The first part climbing up the rock ledge at the beginning almost made me turn it off.

"You can grab that"
"She won't make it"
"You can do this"
"Why are you doing this"

I was like wtf. Lol.
 

Bernardougf

Member
What a shit show is this thread guys.

Anyway, even if you could not like it, Microsoft has shown everyone, for the very first time, what these console are capable of.
the only thing they showed was a tech demo with great graphics for corridor walking when you dont have to account for normal gameplay ... its not worth nothing for real games with more complex gameplay, it cannot be the bar for anything, outside other corridor walking simulator
 
Last edited:

Shakka43

Member
I tried out Hellblade 2 last night for about an hour or so. I never played Hellblade 1.

This is barely a game.

I think conceptually there is something there that is cool, but there actually is nothing really there as a game.

Pros
- It's beautiful looking
- the animations are pretty great
- some of the transitions from you being crazy are well done.

Cons
- the voices in your head are unbelievably annoying and just spam basic shit at you.
- there is no gameplay, you just walk and then have extremely basic sword fights
- there are invisible walls everywhere
- as beautiful as it is, the environment is mainly just rocks so far
- the transitions between locations are super jarring

I'll try to finish it today or over the weekend.

Anyone giving this 10s should be banned from reviewing videogames.

Even the 81 on metacritic (as of right now) is crazy town to me.

Describe this game with a single image:







Randy Orton Reaction GIF by WWE
 

Vroadstar

Member
Bunch of quotes with truth to them at the time. It was said XSX would be more powerful, that didn't end up being the truth. And I did have to dust it off for God of War. But I have to dust my XSX off too, I am a PC main.

But yeah, everyone is crazy except for you. Let's ignore the 83% on Steam and 81% with critics because of your 1 hour experience lmao!

Nba Playoffs Smiling GIF by NBA
Busy Philipps Tonight GIF by E!
 
the only thing they showed was a tech demo with great graphics for corridor walking when you dont have to account for normal gameplay ... its not worth nothing for real games with more complex gameplay, it cannot be the bar for anything, outside other corridor walking simulator

Pretty much, it’s also smeared in Vaseline and letterboxed. It makes it difficult to play even if there was a real game here
 

XXL

Member
But yeah, everyone is crazy except for you. Let's ignore the 83% on Steam and 81% with critics because of your 1 hour experience lmao!
First off I was just giving my impressions, not reviewing it.

I made that clear.

I didn't say anyone was crazy except me. I said giving it 10 is insane (as a game that is) and 81 seems like crazy town, meaning too high (to me). You just took offense to that and got triggered by it.

You want my honest opinion about the reviews.

Sure.

First the numbers are so low right now, it's hard to get a solid impression.

But, I do understand there are some people that like these types of games.

I also know there is a serious fear of Xbox hardware being eliminated right now and I think that is partially playing into the favorable looks on this particular title. Not to mention it checks alot of boxes the media likes.

For me as a piece of interactive art it's ok (it's definitely beautiful) but it has some seriously annoying shit about it though.

As a game, it's trash. Its barely a game.

So overall I think Ninja Theory is a talented studio that is digging their own grave making walking simulators.

And I think fanboys (like yourself) have killed your own brand by ignoring issues with Xbox games (like this one) and doing this persecution routine every fucking time instead of acknowledging different opinions, all while whoring for Game Pass (which I'm sure you can relate to).

All fanboys are bad, but I'll give you an example of the difference between Xbox fanboys and Playstation fanboys that you can see in this very thread.

No one is trying to say the Order 1886 is a 10/10 or even an 8/10. They acknowledge the downfalls, while highlighting the good parts. They even agree with the 63/100 score.

People (like you) are in here are trying to dismiss every single criticism of Hellblade 2 as people just hating on it and then try to gaslight you if you don't think it's a high as it reviewed or you think it is and won't acknowledge all of its numerous flaws, ever. You guys did the same thing with Starfield.

This is all part of why your favorite ecosystem is going down in flames right now.

Look in the fucking mirror.
 
First off I was just giving my impressions, not reviewing it.

I made that clear.

I didn't say anyone was crazy except me. I said giving it 10 is insane (as a game that is) and 81 seems like crazy town, meaning too high (to me). You just took offense to that and got triggered by it.

You want my honest opinion about the reviews.

Sure.

First the numbers are so low right now, it's hard to get a solid impression.

But, I do understand there are some people that like these types of games.

I also know there is a serious fear of Xbox hardware being eliminated right now and I think that is partially playing into the favorable looks on this particular title. Not to mention it checks alot of boxes the media likes.

For me as a piece of interactive art it's ok (it's definitely beautiful) but it has some seriously annoying shit about it though.

As a game, it's trash. Its barely a game.

So overall I think Ninja Theory is a talented studio that is digging their own grave making walking simulators.

And I think fanboys (like yourself) have killed your own brand by ignoring issues with Xbox games (like this one) and doing this persecution routine every fucking time instead of acknowledging different opinions, all while whoring for Game Pass (which I'm sure you can relate to).

All fanboys are bad, but I'll give you an example of the difference between Xbox fanboys and Playstation fanboys that you can see in this very thread.

No one is trying to say the Order 1886 is a 10/10 or even an 8/10. They acknowledge the downfalls, while highlighting the good parts. They even agree with the 63/100 score.

People (like you) are in here are trying to dismiss every single criticism of Hellblade 2 as people just hating on it and then try to gaslight you if you don't think it's a high as it reviewed or you think it is and won't acknowledge all of its numerous flaws, ever. You guys did the same thing with Starfield.

This is all part of why your favorite ecosystem is going down in flames right now.

Look in the fucking mirror.

The discussion of HB2 regarding the inflated scores on last stand media should be interesting.

I hope they’re savage about it and discuss the clear disparity here and why it exists
 

DavidGzz

Gold Member
First off I was just giving my impressions, not reviewing it.

I made that clear.

I didn't say anyone was crazy except me. I said giving it 10 is insane (as a game that is) and 81 seems like crazy town, meaning too high (to me). You just took offense to that and got triggered by it.

You want my honest opinion about the reviews.

Sure.

First the numbers are so low right now, it's hard to get a solid impression.

But, I do understand there are some people that like these types of games.

I also know there is a serious fear of Xbox hardware being eliminated right now and I think that is partially playing into the favorable looks on this particular title. Not to mention it checks alot of boxes the media likes.

For me as a piece of interactive art it's ok (it's definitely beautiful) but it has some seriously annoying shit about it though.

As a game, it's trash. Its barely a game.

So overall I think Ninja Theory is a talented studio that is digging their own grave making walking simulators.

And I think fanboys (like yourself) have killed your own brand by ignoring issues with Xbox games (like this one) and doing this persecution routine every fucking time instead of acknowledging different opinions, all while whoring for Game Pass (which I'm sure you can relate to).

All fanboys are bad, but I'll give you an example of the difference between Xbox fanboys and Playstation fanboys that you can see in this very thread.

No one is trying to say the Order 1886 is a 10/10 or even an 8/10. They acknowledge the downfalls, while highlighting the good parts. They even agree with the 63/100 score.

People (like you) are in here are trying to dismiss every single criticism of Hellblade 2 as people just hating on it and then try to gaslight you if you don't think it's a high as it reviewed or you think it is and won't acknowledge all of its numerous flaws, ever. You guys did the same thing with Starfield.

This is all part of why your favorite ecosystem is going down in flames right now.

Look in the fucking mirror.


Yeah, whatever. Star Field isn't for me at all. True fanboys don't gush about games that aren't on certain pieces of plastic. PS4 had my favorite games last Gen so shove the fanboy shit up your ass.

I've stood up more for Xbox around here in the past because of the lopsidedness of this forum, but I barely even play it.

I do like Game Pass. I mean, Im getting to play a $50 game this month off a sub that I need to have anyway so that my kids can play online, what's not to like?

I'm a game fan. But call me whatever makes you feel good, papi.
 
Last edited:

GudOlRub

Member
The discussion of HB2 regarding the inflated scores on last stand media should be interesting.

I hope they’re savage about it and discuss the clear disparity here and why it exists
Either the people who played it and did not like it are not leaving negative reviews, or it's just people who haven't played the game throwing a hissy fit since user scores for the game are more positive than negative. So there's really no discussion to be had about any disparity so far.
 
Top Bottom