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Senua Saga: Hellblade 2 is a modern marvel!

Gamer79

Predicts the worst decade for Sony starting 2022
So after hearing the hype for this game I finally got a chance to try this game. I am playing on a 4k QD-Oled and the game is a complete eye orgasm. The game opens up with this impressive CGI (or what I thought) opening with a recap of the first game. That is good for me because I never played the first. So then it cuts to this impressive CGI Movie (or what I thought) on this ship scene with Senua being a slave on a ship during a terrible storm. The Ship gets destoryed and Senua ends up stranded on the beach. The gameplay starts and to my shock and Awe the Graphics did not downgrade. I thought that whole opening scene was a CGI film but turns out it is the game engine. Character models are just absolutely insane and far and away the best I have seen in any game. The Texture work is just insanely detailed and the whole presentation is really the bee's knees. In my nearly 40 years of gaming experience this is far and away the best looking game I have ever seen. This game looks like I hope God of War 2 was going to look. I am playing at 4k/60fps with DLSS set to Quality and it is simply so slick. Simply a stunner:!

 

Thief1987

Member
The game opens up with this impressive CGI (or what I thought) opening with a recap of the first game. That is good for me because I never played the first. So then it cuts to this impressive CGI Movie (or what I thought) on this ship scene with Senua being a slave on a ship during a terrible storm. The Ship gets destoryed and Senua ends up stranded on the beach.
Well, they spent 7 years on these cutscenes. They forgot to make a game in the process, but it's details
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
The fights on this game with headphones are completely slept on for how intense they are.

I actually really enjoyed my time with it. I waited until all the hype and hate had died down and played it with 0 influence.

That's a lie I played it while on my medical cannabis and I was blown away.

I swear I don't feel like I saw the same animation twice in the fights, when she rolls on the floor or something. I even re did fights if I died learning tge mechanics and the fights didn't go 100% the same.

On a 4090 pc it's jaw dropping.

Play with headphones
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
I should finish this game.. played 2-3 hours, quite enjoyed it. So many games so little time..
 
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Killjoy-NL

Member
The fights on this game with headphones are completely slept on for how intense they are.
I can only speak on Hellblade 1, but it's combat was one of the most realistic and engaging combat in any game I've ever played and I will die on that hill.

If HB2 has the same level of combat or better, I can easily see where you're coming from.
 
Imagine how cool of a game this studio could make if they moved on to another IP.

I’m so disinterested in the mental health angle this series has been taking.. the knowledge that she’s just climbing under an empty boat freaking out about voices and hallucinations that only exist in her head just.. takes me out of all of it.

I’d love to see this level of production effort put towards a story that feels more more tangible.
 
Its impressive for sure.

I think they could have gone for more obtuse puzzles. Swordplay is pretty good IMO. Precise and parries feel good.
 
Imagine how cool of a game this studio could make if they moved on to another IP.

I’m so disinterested in the mental health angle this series has been taking.. the knowledge that she’s just climbing under an empty boat freaking out about voices and hallucinations that only exist in her head just.. takes me out of all of it.

I’d love to see this level of production effort put towards a story that feels more more tangible.

Thing is, a new IP wouldn't change much, these guys just don't "get it"/don't have the technical know-how as to make a "proper" video game :

- Heavenly sword : "muh facial expressions!"/Look at the cinematic-ness !1!1!", a sub-par GOW clone that ran terribly on the PS3.

- Enslaved : "muh facial expressions!"/Look at the cinematic-ness !1!1!", zero challenge, auto-pilot gameplay with "platforming " sections worse than Uncharted in how easy, no-stakes, zero difficulty everything was.

- DmC : absolute travesty of a DMC game, color coded enemies (lol), terribad, edge-lordy story (at least Capcom's entries are goofy on purpose) and while it does have some actual gameplay compared to their other games, it was because it was already based on an existing, gameplay-heavy franchise.

- Bleeding Edge : a MP "video game" alright, one that died a swift death for obvious reasons (i.e , it just wasn't good).

Hellblade : "muh facial expressions!"/Look at the cinematic-ness !11!"/"muh mental illness, so brave !1!".
Zero gameplay.

Hellblade 2 : "muh facial expressions!"/Look at the cinematic-ness !11!"/"muh mental illness, so brave !1! Pt.2".
Zero gameplay.

In fact, I always wondered how the hell this company managed to stay afloat all these years since their games never did light the world on fire nor did they sell that well.

Absolute travesty of a company, the pretentiousness always seeped through their projects with their illusions of grandeur always shadowing the (non-existent) gameplay.

We may shit on Ubisoft or heck, even Kojima (which is apparently all the rage the past few years) but fuck man, at least there's some meat on those bones in the form of...actual gameplay...in a videogame.

Ninja Theory, besides the tech-side of things, always have and will always be hacks, when you make video games that don't have actual gameplay in them...yeah, I think we have a problem
 
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My only complaint with the game was the combat where you have to use the Focus to beat some of the enemies, makes it kind of repetitive. But it’s so visceral. Story was great, the other characters were very good. I also preferred the puzzles of the second game to the symbol matching of the first.
 

Cakeboxer

Gold Member
Only played the first game and the combat was not as bad as some people pretend since 2018. Overall too much walk + talk for my taste, so i'm gonna pass on part 2.
 

GymWolf

Member
Thing is, a new IP wouldn't change much, these guys just don't "get it"/don't have the technical know-how as to make a "proper" video game :

- Heavenly sword : "muh facial expressions!"/Look at the cinematic-ness !1!1!", a sub-par GOW clone that ran terribly on the PS3.

- Enslaved : "muh facial expressions!"/Look at the cinematic-ness !1!1!", zero challenge, auto-pilot gameplay with "platforming " sections worse than Uncharted in how easy, no-stakes, zero difficulty everything was.

- DmC : absolute travesty of a DMC game, color coded enemies (lol), terribad, edge-lordy story (at least Capcom's entries are goofy on purpose) and while it does have some actual gameplay compared to their other games, it was because it was already based on an existing, gameplay-heavy franchise.

- Bleeding Edge : a MP "video game" alright, one that died a swift death for obvious reasons (i.e , it just wasn't good).

Hellblade : "muh facial expressions!"/Look at the cinematic-ness !11!"/"muh mental illness, so brave !1!".
Zero gameplay.

Hellblade 2 : "muh facial expressions!"/Look at the cinematic-ness !11!"/"muh mental illness, so brave !1! Pt.2".
Zero gameplay.

In fact, I always wondered how the hell this company managed to stay afloat all these years since their games never did light the world on fire nor did they sell that well.

Absolute travesty of a company, the pretentiousness always seeped through their projects with their illusions of grandeur always shadowing the (non-existent) gameplay.

We may shit on Ubisoft or heck, even Kojima (which is apparently all the rage the past few years) but fuck man, at least there's some meat on those bones in the form of...actual gameplay...in a videogame.

Team Ninja, besides the tech-side of things, always have and will always be hacks, when you make video games that don't have actual gameplay in them...yeah, I think we have a problem
Spot on, never understood the love for these devs at all, even their best game like heavenly, dmc and odissey are 7\10 at the very, very best.
 

b0uncyfr0

Member
Sarcastic Mixed Martial Arts GIF by UFC
 

Roberts

Member
This is like a videogame equivalent of an art-house film. Stuff like "whispering useless crap" and "techdemo" sounds too much like "Where's the plot?" or "Pretentious slop" when certain people talk about thematically more challenging films.
 
I liked the original Hellblade 1 a lot more because the actual combat was better (you could fight with multiple enemies) and there were more puzzles. Hellblade 2 looks stunning though. My only complaint was the softness of the image, but I found a solution to this problem. I had to turn off a lens distortion.

Open engine.ini Add the following text at the bottom of the file

[SystemSettings]
r.NT.Lens.Distortion.Intensity=0
r.NT.Lens.Distortion.Stretch=0
r.NT.Lens.Softness.Intensity=0
r.NT.Lens.Softness.RadiusSampleCount=0


Hellblade2-Win64-Shipping-2025-01-10-00-44-19-936.jpg



Hellblade2-Win64-Shipping-2025-01-10-00-41-34-079.jpg


My hellblade 2 album

 

Skifi28

Member
It looks great technically, but I've seen nothing that makes me want to play it yet. Either gameplay or aesthetics.
 
I guess we define "marvel" very differently.
Watching paint dry has more interactivity and suspense than that boring tech demo.
 

Phobos Base

Member
Something that rather confused me is in the first game it's made clear what she's seeing are her own illusions, yet in the second every else can see them as well?
 

Topher

Identifies as young
Fantastic looking game. Just not a fun game. Incredibly boring and horrible combat.

everyone hating on it but when it comes to PS5 they'll buy it. pathetic.

That doesn't make any sense. Why would people who dislike the game buy it again?
 
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I dunno myself. As a fan of Hellblade I just found the sequel to be a huge downgrade over the original in every way other than presentation 🤷‍♂️ but I guess technical marvel, if nothing else, is still a marvel.
 
Haven't finished it yet. Life is busy. But I liked what I played. Game is drop dead gorgeous. I also totally get that people criticize it for being like an arthouse film. Problem is, I happen to like arthouse films. So, yeah, right up my alley.

Also, I gotta say, I think this would have been better received on PS5, where artsy games are more common.
 

Kvally

Member
Graphics: 10/10
Gameplay: 4/10

I like the story they are doing, and it looked banger. Probably best looking game this gen. But when it's short and there is a lack of actual game play, it becomes more of a walking simulator than an actual game. I guess you have to go into it thinking it's a Heavy Rain or an Until Dawn, because there just isn't enough actual game play for this to be enjoyable.

I didn't hate it, but it was boring to me. I finished it beacuse I wanted to see how the story played out.
 

fallingdove

Member
So after hearing the hype for this game I finally got a chance to try this game. I am playing on a 4k QD-Oled and the game is a complete eye orgasm. The game opens up with this impressive CGI (or what I thought) opening with a recap of the first game. That is good for me because I never played the first. So then it cuts to this impressive CGI Movie (or what I thought) on this ship scene with Senua being a slave on a ship during a terrible storm. The Ship gets destoryed and Senua ends up stranded on the beach. The gameplay starts and to my shock and Awe the Graphics did not downgrade. I thought that whole opening scene was a CGI film but turns out it is the game engine. Character models are just absolutely insane and far and away the best I have seen in any game. The Texture work is just insanely detailed and the whole presentation is really the bee's knees. In my nearly 40 years of gaming experience this is far and away the best looking game I have ever seen. This game looks like I hope God of War 2 was going to look. I am playing at 4k/60fps with DLSS set to Quality and it is simply so slick. Simply a stunner:!


Lol. No.
 
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