New Gameplay Shows Why Hellblade Isn't What You Think

Game Informer: "Watch our interview to learn about the puzzles in Ninja's Theory's new game and why it isn't really a stylish-action game like DmC."

[Razzer]

Looking forward to this!

[mikeslemonade]

Gameplay doesn't look very good. Calling a high 70s meta score.

[AdonisIsBeast]

Go on OpenCritic's website and place your guess then

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Is that where we're at now? Calling metacritic scores for games before they release?

[S2Killinit]

Looking forward to this. Its looking amazing.

@mikeslemonade
It was good enough to bring you here in a hurry to talk it down.

[UCForce]

"Sigh".

[Seraphim]

How did Heavenly Sword fair? I'd imagine it'll be on par with that +/-1. End of the day though Hellblade is likely to be a solid experience worthy of more appreciation than it's given. Ninja Theory is a very capable studio so it's likely this game will be solid, appreciated, underappreciated, loved and shat on. Only time will tell just how good it truly is.

[corroios]

In others words i dont have a ps4 to play this game.

[Goldby]

@corroios

it will be available on PC as well.

[ZombieGamerMan]

mikeslemonade WRONG!!!! It will get high 9's because of female protagonist

[donthate]

This looks like another mediocre game from Ninja Theory again to me too

[InKnight7s]

DmC is classic for now Nier outdone it in everyway.

[DedicatedDark]

DmC was pretty terrible. Don't put it anywhere near the lvl of Nier, there is much care put into Nier.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Agreed

[TC731]

DmC's combat was the best of any Devil May Cry game. Shoulder buttons controlling the weapons, etc. Sorry Dante wasn't a weaboo's wet dream in that game.

[WeAreLegion]

The combat was nowhere near as good as DMC3 or 4, dude. It was still a fun game though. But be realistic.

[darren_poolies]

DmC is not even close to being "terrible", in fact it was actually pretty great. But most people don't know that because they refused to play it because they were too busy crying about Dante.

[StifflerK]

I liked DmC a lot. It's my second fav DMC game behind DMC3.
I've picked up Nier but haven't started it yet - looking forward to it though.

[bluefox755]

Wow, this is a beautiful looking game, I didn't really know anything about this game, but after this video my interest went up for sure.

[81BX]

Same here. Wow!

[3-4-5]

* Not really my type of game and doesn't completely appeal to me, but at the same time it does look really good and kind of fun, so it would be a game I'd probably take a chance on during a price drop.

For some people I'm assuming this game looking amazing and you can't wait to play it day 1.

[CrimsonPheonix]

The graphics look nice but gameplay wise from those few glimpses it looks like a last gen tomb raider knock off.
I hope i'm wrong but the way the guy was talking as though the game was full of new experiences didn't didn't match up with what I was seeing.

[1nsomniac]

Been waiting for this game for so long. A little worried about their comments on game length & price. Hope they haven't decided enough is enough & cut it short. Sounds like they've been making some serious game changing decisions. I'm glad they've stuck with & focusing on the mental illness theme though.

Hope they do it justice so to speak.

[Sunny_D]

Yeah, they want to make their game be something that's between an indie title and a triple a title. Maybe it will be $40?

[S2Killinit]

"Indie" means independent, a game can be indie AND a "AAA", full priced game. As this looks to be.

[Goldby]

@SunnyD

At the end of the day though, this is a big step for Indie games, as its looking like a full AAA release but without the political BS thats associated with publishers

[Retard]

AA Game all the way.

[Bolts]

Their hype and refusal to describe the gameplay loop told me all I need to know. It's going to be another No Man Sky type game that is focused on the "experience" instead of real gameplay. Heavenly Sword 2 is the game they need to make. Instead we're getting Firewatch with swords.

Epic.Fail.

[Critic4l_Strik3]

This is Ninja Theory mate.

[Darkwatchman]

Firewatch was good, though. Oh wait, I forgot that real gamers have very rigid tastes and don't like "walking simulators". Only filthy casuals like all genres :(

[_-EDMIX-_]

?

Ok

Maybe you should watch the numerous numerous videos on the actual games development they're actually pretty extremely transparent.

[Maxor]

"Firewatch with swords" LMAO. Sadly that is exactly what this game is. Rumors are that the "action" in this game are so basic that the combat won't even feature combos.

People who are expecting this to be an action game are in for a huge disappointment. This is a Tell Tale game with AAA engine graphics.

[Goldby]

did you even watch the video, there is a moment when Senua is fighting and guess what she does, a combo with her sword.

[ClayRules2012]

Looks better & more interesting each time they show more footage & talk about the game! For such a small team, Ninja Theory has created a really beautiful looking game. From all the footage shown so far, this team has put some triple AAA big time developers to shame ( in the graphics department ) "in my opinion"

I'm looking forward to this unique story & different type of gameplay.

[Imalwaysright]

Not just graphics wise but animations wise as well. In this video https://www.youtube.com/wat... they say that they didn't have a big budget for the animations but that didn't stop them from making animations on par with the best this industry has to offer.

[MasterCornholio]

So no face is tired in this one?

That makes BioWare look really bad in my opinion.

[Goldby]

@Master,

well from what i ahve seen, Senua's face is tired. but it actually looks tired from the real time motion cap tech

[Elda]

I like NT games,definitely looking forward to playing Hellblade.

[BushLitter]

Yup, all of their games have been excellent imo. Very well-crafted, story-driven experiences with great combat. I think Hellblade is going to be remarkable

[Critic4l_Strik3]

I hope they show up at E3 with a release date!

[ChickenOfTheCaveMan]

That looks so cool, it's nice to see that nowadays some studios are still taking chances and testing the waters.

[jv303]

Gotta say, I'm not impressed. The gameplay reminds me of Ryse - very pretty, but too tightly linear and with shallow, basic combat.

[UCForce]

It's more like Infinity Blade and Resident Evil 4.

[TheVetOfGaming]

Looks like it could be pretty amazing. Kind of like an uncharted rpg with swords.

[Perjoss]

I admire him for admitting it might be a niche title rather than trying to sell it to everyone.

[opinionated]

Looks pretty cool. I will wait it out and see. A lot of the things he was talking about made me remember what I dislike about the cinematic pacing trend of modern titles. You can make it "look like a triple A title for half the price." He's says it's not all "fight fight fight these days" but there have always been distractions. Puzzles and side shit are nothing new.

What he means is that instead of puzzles you can have your character walk at a snail pace for 10 min and people will eat it up. He called it niche for some reason but there is a huge market for these titles and I say good for them.

I just hope most developers don't fall into that mindset though. Narrative depth instead of gameplay depth isn't a good trade in my view. Just because it's cheaper and easier to do? If team ninja did that for example, that would suck. If Sucker punch comes out with some slow cinematic narrative driven story then I'm going to be like wtf lol.

The next real evolution is dynamic narrative. The nemesis system from the mordor games on steroids. The story changes around you in real time. That's when narrative and gameplay will truly come together without sacrificing gameplay for theatrics. I can't wait to see Levines next game.

[OB1Biker]

I understand what your saying and mostly agree that the dynamic narrative you allude to is the way to go.
That's not new though and even TLOU on ps3 (probably other games too) paved the way. Like when you try to escape David as Ellie or the story emotional symmetry of carrying Sarah in the intro and carrying Elie at the end bringing up the whole storyline together. Its not just about cutscenes anymore, but still are complementary.

[opinionated]

That is a scripted event though, it's not dynamic. It's an interactive cutscene. That's what this dude in the interview is talking about. Instead of gameplay you can have interactive cutscenes. The dynamic narrative is completely new. The nemesis system is the only thing that comes close.

[Goldby]

@Opinionated.

Puzzles aren't going to be like normal puzzles found i game, but instead displayed the same way people (Like myself) see the world with mental illnesses. we see patterns in this that some may not notice. images have certain meaning towards us, not always the same , but there are meanings. and that is only one part of what Ninja Theory is doing with this indie game

[opinionated]

What kind of mental illness do you have? I see patterns in things all of the time. I remember everything and piece things together, this is a normal thought process.

[Goldby]

I suffer from Depression, Anxiety, PTSD and psychotic depression. its not always patterns like for example every 5 minutes a subway passes by, or every 5ft theres a light posts.

at least for myself, in a scattered pile of leaves i see patterns, instead of skylines and building i normally just see their right angles and don't actual see the building. and thats before my brain starts to hallucinate images

[opinionated]

So you are just chillen at the house and a subway train will go by your window every five minutes when there is no subway?

What's the wildest hallucination you have ever seen? I used to take drugs to experience these things lol. I'm just weed and alcohol now.

[Goldby]

@Opinionated

on a daily basis i am seeing people fall off of the top of buildings, i've seen a leafs morph into piles of breathing sludge just to name a few.

i see eyes in almost all windows, and hear voices screaming and yelling at me to kill myself because no one would care to see me tomorrow.

[mixelon]

I hope you're getting the appropriate care/medical help to assist you. Good luck with this, unseen disabilities can be really grinding.

[masterfox]

"why it isn't really a stylish-action game like DmC." <--- huh ? who exactly thought that ?, I think the devs said from the very beginning the game was going to have action elements with a deep development of the main character story, they never mention a DMC hack/slash direction, I'm pretty sure I never hear that.

[Goldby]

thats the media,

they ahve been labelign it a hack and slash for a while, and Nt wants the world to know thats not what they see in their game

[--bienio--]

I can't wait for this game!! It's looks like form me Hellblade can be even a Goty! My Pc is ready!!

[hiredhelp]

Tripple A quality half the time half the price..

[Imalwaysright]

I'm calling it now, this game will be this year's dark horse.

[SirBradders]

It is usually the transparent / honest devs that make them hidden gems. You simply know exactly what your singing up to and expect no less or no more.

It's the dirty buggers that hype things up with selective marketing that flop hard a loose trust.

[SirBradders]

What an honest guy, he's got my purchase.

[Goldby]

the entire team has been honest. from the developer diaries to the time Dominic gives people to answer questions via emails.

This is going to give a AAA game a run for its money

[TC731]

LOL at the people dogging DmC...I guess the Dante in that game not looking like a J-Rock idol means more than the best gameplay/combat of the entire series.

[mixelon]

The combat was much deeper in 3 & 4.

Whether something is fun or not is subjective though, it's fine to prefer one, but technically there's more going on in the earlier titles, and more skill involved in their execution.

[Mr_Luke]

I'm really praying that this game is going to be epic!!! But... my sixth sense is telling me the opposite and i don't know why. I hope i'm wrong, i have my eyes on this since it was announced.
Fingers crossed!!! For all of those that are waiting for this title (like me) and for NT.

[theshredded]

Looks hella lit! Everything looks really fantastic.

[jokerisalive]

This game looks UNREAL!!!! To me its kinda like a spiritual successor to Heavenly Sword. She even looks a little like Nariko. Cant wait!!!

[WeAreLegion]

It's exactly what I think it is. I'm expecting an excellent story with gameplay that draws me in. That's what Ninja Theory does. And they always keep it fresh. I'm excited.

[Adexus]

Had my eye on this for a while and it's looking really fantastic now.

[GrimDragon]

Game looks beautiful.

[Sweetbrandigirl]

Looks BORING ! walking in the dark YUCK ! Puzzles YUCK ! It kind of reminds me of Tomb Raider in a way anyone else get that vibe ?

[Goldby]

its not just walkign in the dark. the fact that you can play that section completely without your TV even being on is a remarkable feat that no other game has managed to do to date.
And just a heads up, theres puzzle solving in almost every game now a days, from The Last of Us to Destiny, To anything in between.

[Sweetbrandigirl]

I'm Not sure how you can play that or any part of any game without your TV being on. How would you known whats happening or when that part of the game has pasted ? Yes I known lots of games have puzzle but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it .... LOL Oh i'm played TLOU over 25 times and for the life of me I can't remember there being ANY puzzles in the game.

[Nodoze]

I really do not like him. Sounds to me they are not sure of what they are making. Focus is now on mental illness? Perhaps this is hitting a little close to home for him. Sorry but they should have kept the focus on core combat, and provided a rich world to play in. Mental illness sub content is just ridiculous. The justification on his own mind (ill or not) is that the indie revolution is great, and now they can cut it short and don't need to sell as many copies.

Major major red flags on this one now. It WAS looking good, but now I have serious concerns.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

The mental illness aspect was was detailed almost 2 years ago. It's not new news.

[KieronTimotheos]

Yeah i cant wait for it!

[PistolsAtDawn]

Let's see if this game gets the same criticisms as Mass Effect for "horrible animations". This game has MUCH worse animations as of this video, and doesn't look anywhere near as taxing as Mass Effect.

[_LarZen_]

Lived with mental illness since I was just a child. So it's going to be really interesting to play this game to see how they maybe portrait some of my issues. But also to see how others illnesses are perceived.

[Einhander1971]

Looking forward to this:)

[level 360]

I thought the character looked a lot like Charlize Theron..
Like the look/feel of game play.

[Platformgamer]

Well, that's disappointing

[EricHonolulu]

Visually looks like a great game and some of the combat sequences look great as well. One weird part I noticed is that sometimes when she is fighting two enemies, when she is bashing one in with her sword, the other enemy is right next to her just looking at what she is doing instead of trying to hit her.

[Bathyj]

Wow, Character models are gorgeous. Combat looks interesting too. Feels heavy and brutal. We'll have to wait and see if it is also deep. I hope so.