Haven't been this disappointed by a sequel since Halo Infinite. I don't think Hellblade 1 is a masterpiece like most do but I did like it and it stuck with me. It told a great story with an interesting protagonist and incredible atmosphere, but it's gameplay was lacking and it was at times a fight to stay awake more than anything. I hoped Hellblade II would address this and craft a more engaging loop to support its story but Ninja Theory have elected to instead downscale it's interactive elements in favour of chasing cutting edge visuals.
Presentation This is where the game excels. Almost any praise you hear about this game will be due to its insane graphical fidelity. This is probably the most realistic looking game I've ever played and photo mode enthusiasts will have a field day with it. Its absolutely beautiful from start to finish. But it's not beautiful because of it's fidelity, it's beautiful because of its art direction. You don't need cutting edge graphics to make a visually appealing game, even for one aiming to look like our world.
Making a game that looks this good has come at a cost. A cost we've seen many games pay before in pursuit of graphical fidelity: Bloated development cycle, short run time, and limited interactivity. Now of course it's perfectly fine (and sometimes preferable) for a game to be short but it's worth mentioning that Hellblade II's length is likely less a creative decision and more a technical limitation due to the sheer manpower it takes to produce anything at this level of detail.
The performances are incredible and the music is great. I'm patiently waiting for the OST to drop on Spotify.
Exploration & PuzzlesI have no issue with long cutscenes or extended periods without combat. I'm a big fan of Metal Gear Solid 4 and Firewatch, for example. I'm very patient and tend to take things slow for my first time anyway. Hellblade II is very boring to play. The first game had a LOT of perspective puzzles that certainly did get old. While most of HB2's puzzles are perspective based there is a significant reduction in the amount of these. Unfortunately they've replaced that with nothing. You will spend hours just holding forward and occasionally pressing A. Going through several minute long animations where letting go of the thumbstick makes Senua stop moving. Climbing cliffs and crawling though tight spaces at an agonizing pace.
I guess you're expected to just look at things and marvel at the fidelity but it's 2024 and games have looked realistic since the late 7th gen. You're making a game, not a movie. This is not how you tell a story in this medium. Even games that emulate film & TV like The Quarry, Quantum Break or anything Telltale, have more compelling gameplay than just holding forward or doing easy puzzles that were played out halfway through the first game. Boring is the best word to describe Hellblade II.
CombatContinuing with the trend of oversimplifying simple things, let's look at Hellblade II's combat. Combat this time is much more cinematic and scripted which does lead to few very exciting and intense scenes but also make it very slow and sluggish. There are no new combat moves and one has been removed (no more kicking). Every fight is one on one, even when multiple foes are present. Enemies can no longer flank you and there's no target cycling because there is only one target. Senua also feels much less responsive in combat this time around. Constantly getting stuck in stagger animations after most actions and forcing me to mash an input just to get her to move. There's much less combat this time too and they never really do anything clever with it like at the end of Hellblade 1.
StoryLastly there's the driving force of the whole game. The thing that made Hellblade 1 so memorable despite it's mildly dull gameplay. The story. It's alright I guess. It lacks the emotional punch of the first game and doesn't really feel like a story Senua needs to be involved in but I like the new characters and the idea of these settlements living in fear of nocturnal giants is pretty interesting. It's not really the kind of story a Hellblade game is fit to tackle in my opinion but it's not bad. There were a couple of things I hated though:
The Furies are incredibly annoying this time around. They NEVER shut up. Constantly nagging in your ears for 99% of the runtime. Telling you how to solve puzzles before you've even seen them, explaining every little emotion or thought Senua has in excruciating detail, speaking over other characters who are talking, etc. Very, very annoying. Pull your hair out kind of annoying. The psychosis gimmick has really worn thin.
Senua's journey just feels like a rehash. Her father is still in her head berating her, many more scenes of the furies blaming her when Unnamed Character #14 dies so we have to spend 3 minutes sitting here while Senua is sad about it. Just the same shit really but executed worse.
No spoilers but the game almost kinda won me over towards the end but then they pulled the most tired, overused cliche in the book. I rolled my eyes so hard they did a full spin.
I do not recommend Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
2.5