Hellblade 2 is perhaps the most visually remarkable Xbox title to date, but is ultimately undermined by its emphasis on fidelity over story and gameplay.
Ninja Theory writes: "We've added some fixes to improve the game experience"
"Misaligned peach fuzz around Senua's neck and face has been corrected"
ahh, just the patch ive been waiting for, can jump in now, safe in the knowledge, misaligned hairs have been aligned...
what a Day to be alive
You don’t even notice peach fuzz on most people, unless you look really close.
I like it when devs do something different. I’d love to support every game that separates itself from the boring and tired FPSs.
My issue with H2 is that there is no physical release. Id love to play this game, but i need a physical release. If one never comes, then so be it.
The story tramples over the foundations set in the first game. Senua is insane. She sees things that aren't there. Hears things that aren't there. The enemies she fights were monstrous "demons" but were they really?? Likely not. They were just men. In the old game, the voices in her head are openly antagonistic. It made you further question her sanity and her grip on reality.
In Hell Blade 2 (granted I haven't finished yet) the monsters ARE real. Everyone can see them. Gods and giants aren't just fables. They are there in the flesh threatening humanity. The voices in her head are cheerleaders now. Senua's story has taken on the "Chosen One" quasi-mary sue element.
Hellblade 2 erased the main reason Senua and her story was interesting. They butchered her.
It's been a long time since I played the original but in this game they have fully turned her father into a villain that was just "holding her back". Because of course he's just an evil man trying to hold her down. And now he's the one who led the mob that killed her mother and burned her at the stake.
Like I said before, it's been a while since I played the first game but from what I remembered, he loved his wife. She went insane like Senua and was killed. He started seeing the same signs of insanity in Senua and sequestered them away from the village to protect her from them.
If he's the one who lead the mob to burn his wife at the stake, why the fuck would he hide Senua away from the village? The puzzles are mind numbingly simple in this game too. That's secondary to the way they butchered the world they set up in the first game.
After I beat the first game, I always felt it was a mistake for Senua to have survived. She should have died at the end with her beloved like a classic Greek Tragedy. The first game was a beautiful story, the sequel ruins everything that was special about it.
I agree with everything you said, Xbox fan girls need to destroy their consoles and quit gaming.
@Rynixe
Chill with the fanboy crap. The first time I played Hellblade was on Playstation. I obviously have an Xbox as well since I'm playing the sequel. I have had both consoles since launch. I'm giving my honest review of a video game and comparing it to its predecessor. Don't look any deeper than the words I put in my working review. I'm not a fanboy. To be honest, Playstation "fanboys" should be terrified if Microsoft really leaves the industry.
Sony with no competition is a terrible site indeed. People have the shortest memories. I have also been warning you guys about this. Microsoft leaving gaming is going to be the worst thing to happen to Playstation fans.
U are wrong they were real the demons the journey was real she wasn't crazy like her father said the developers have stated that the ending was her relising through her grief she couldnt bring him back no matter what and it was time to let go
The giants in the game probably aren’t real, they are a metaphor for natural disasters.
Wasted visuals, the game is interesting only at the 4th chapter, dumb ending
rushed and unfinished story
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 launched last week to solid reviews from both fans and players. But its playercount? That's another story.
That's awful. This combined with the really low Steam numbers paint a disastrous picture imo. Really bad timing too because Tango was closed down for a similar thing. Great reviewed game, and low sales and/or player count. Hi-Fi Rush reviewed a hell of a lot better and it was widely loved by everyone, Hellblade 2 nowhere near that.
I know the rumor is that the studio has their next game already green-lit, but if I worked at Tango, I would be furious. "Why do they survive while we get binned?" I'd be telling myself.
But the suit woman will have you believe "Oh we have different metrics for the success of one studio compared to another studio. We judge each studio and game on their own set criteria" or something like that, I'm paraphrasing here but you get the idea. But no one who works there knows what the hell that even means. I mean the DLC for Redfall was getting worked on days before they even got the news their studio was getting dumped in the trash. So what are these mysterious metrics to let studios survive and others perish? I bet this is all hogwash, I bet MS don't even really know. They just had to make cuts and certain studios just found their way on the chopping block. Someone had to bite the dust, why not you?
Well I bet all this does nothing for the confidence of other employees in other studios. The truth is you have no idea where your career will be in a year from now working at one of their studios that aren't the mega big ones. MS just have too many studios to manage efficiently. "We'll just throw money at them and buy them and worry about the details later on. I mean we can do it, we're Microsoft."
...have you seen what the top 10 consists of? Its things like fortnite, roblox, CoD, apex... etc. This being a new game that has a niche appeal is actually surprising to see at 23. Its also the 33rd top paid game on the PC through the MS store.
Those are dreadful numbers any way you slice it dude. They hyped this game to hell for the last 4 plus yrs. It was supposed to be xboxs big game this yr. Ninja Theory is probably sweating right now.
And it's already slipped out of the Top 100 on Steam. Meanwhile a port of the 4-year old Ghost of Tsushima is sitting comfortably at #8.
One of the biggest games of the year, a multi million sequel and heavily advertised game, at 23 most played? There's no way to justify those numbers.
^^heavily advertised game...?
I mean, I knew the game was coming but outside of a boot screen ad for it, there has been little to no marketing. And yet it still managed 23rd. Make of that what you will.
Here in the East Coast on NY/NJ on cable tv Hellblade 2 has been advertised pretty well. I see the commercials every day at least 3 times a day for the past 3 weeks. It's even advertised as YT commercials.
What an idiotic comment. Let me guess the next comment would be GTA V outsold everything so....
Absolutely terrible numbers all round for this game. Ghost of Tsushima at number 8. Good games going to sell regardless of excuses
Nice try on spinning it but it debuting at 23 isn’t a good thing. It’s one of MS anticipated exclusives.
That GP adds no value to a game..
ninja theory got it all wrong, from being sold to MS to only prioritizing graphics
23 is high just shows how shite Xbox lineup is. Game should have come at 70’s.
What a disaster, 2 failures in a row for Ninja Theory, first Bleeding edge, now Hellblade 2, any way you slice it these are not the numbers the most awaited game of the year for Xbox should show (before Activision purchase), also player numbers is extremely low and even more surprising considering is day 1 on gamepass.
If they worked on heavenly sword instead then they would have something worth playing and waiting for... unfortunately that won't happen.
The lowest common denominator isn’t after great games. Look at xDefiant player numbers.
If this game cost more and took longer to develop than Hi-Fi Rush, then I would worry if I were Ninja Theory. Projects may have been greenlit, but the increased scrutiny over at MS may very well put them on the chopping block. The incredible irony here is that it was PlayStation players that pushed the original game passed its 1 million copies sold milestone. With that purchasing power cut out, and the Game Pass effect having trained Xbox players to not purchase games, it seems that the sequel may have been set-up for failure.
And that's exactly what pisses me off about Hellblade 2 not being on PlayStation, Sony promoted the original game and I bought it basically on D1 back in the day because I liked what I saw and ended up really enjoying it!
I really hope Hellblade 2 is next on the porting list because I would buy it in a heartbeat, asshole microsoft robbed me of this game!
Just get an xbox. Then it will be YOU that is robbing Microsoft. Gamepass is a hell of a deal and an addictive one at that.
No darth, buying an Xbox only helps xbox lol he can play gamepass on com if he wants to take advantage of them destroying themselves.
If anything I would say that these sales figures and player counts may actually fast-track its PS5 port.
Just get an Xbox? You're kidding right? No one paddles out and jumps on a sinking ship.
I wouldn't buy an Xbox for this lacklustre game and I wouldn't sign up to gamepass if I did. People want to trade their long term sustainable games industry for a short term saving, go ahead and see how it turns out.
Actually we're seeing how that turns out. Unsatisfied Devs. Mediocre games and a failing Microsoft games division.
You can play it on PC. Heck you can play it, on just about anything, if you have decent Internet. It is an amazing looking game.
@Darth
I would have. But ES6 is coming to PlayStation after all, so there's really no need.
Hellblade 2 has great presentation, and that includes more than graphics.
81 meta-critic
Steam user score 85% from
(2,677)..
Death stranding
7.4 user score
Last of us part 2
5.8 user score on meta..
Days gone 71 meta-score.
All you proved with those numbers is that Xbox fanboys do everything they can to make Sony games look bad and Xbox games look good, while Sony fans mostly are busy playing games instead of review bombing Xbox games.
Death Stranding
82 meta-critic
The Last of Us 2
93 meta-critic
Figured I'd give some context since you conveniently left those scores out.
Btw, why not use Meta for every game or doesn't it fit your agenda?
Current Gen scores:
Hellblade 2 - 7.4 User Score (81MC)
Death Stranding 2 - 7.6 User Score (85MC)
Last of Us Part 2 - 8.1 User Score (90MC)
Days Gone - 8.5 User Score (71MC)
Death Stranding on Stean has 91%
Days Gone on Steam has 92%
Yeah and many games before it have done what it did and more. Why are we impressed by features that have been standard in many games before? Sites are gonna keep up these fluff pieces for a while longer while everyone has already moved onto some indie game that costs less, took less time to make and does more with gameplay. So many games have been killed off by negative reviews and negative opinion pieces for being more of less like Hellblade 2, but nah this one's special.
It dosent even go beyond beyond its mediocre combat.
Graphics will get outdated in a mere two years.
And there is no combat system to hold it up.
Fidelity over story and gameplay? “Extremely minimal gameplay with simple puzzles and flat combat.” - Wow that's pretty damning. I'm still going to check it out though. It will be an experience
someone wrote: "IGN 8 but Gamespot 6, so it is 7" lol
Confirms what we already knew.
As I said monthy..even years ago. It was a clear sign that they showed almost zero gameplay during the last 4 years, since its first trailer. Its more like a beautiful tech demo than anything else I bet.
Feels we’re split between two camps with these reviews
Those giving it perfect or almost near perfect scores only really talk about the graphics with how impressive it is. It’s the main core topic discussed.
The other talks about everything else while not getting sucked into how pretty it is.
Feels like it’s early 2010s where graphics were everything