Cause of the other 1100 games in my steam, XBL and PSN backlog. Destiny 2 hits next week and I know I will spend a lot of time on that.
I really like this so far, though i’m curious to see where it’s going to go - i.e., how much of what’s going on is internal vs real. The constant whispering voices is a neat idea (although hard to hear imo at times and really dependent on your audio system) but also the shaking camera and shifting angle that both implies and experierences intense emotional distress. It does evoke in me a feeling i haven’t experienced since i was a kid. Just walking around feels like the unsteady cliff’s edge between breakdowns. I also like the combat - i’m not interested in hyper competitive combat games anymore because i don’t like the commitment required to learn them - and this one is still difficult enough for me to make it tense.
But holy moly did this game have a [only games made in Japan] moment:
When i reached the door of Surt (fire guy) the door wouldn’t open, so i went back toward Falraven instead - apparently there is a bug where you can’t trigger the door right next to it but have to be a couple feet back. I loved the nightmare like quality of the Falraven effigies. At some point Falraven grabs Senua…
And then holy shit. Is this a rape scene? Yes, it is a rape scene. She wakes up unconscious on the ground with her torso being pushed up from behind. WTF. It pans back up to see the Falraven “pecking” at her weirdly using its whole body. Uh huh. I’m surprised this didn’t blow up the internet. One of the more shocking things i’ve seen in video games, and i’m not sure yet if it’s appropriate or “earned” yet - i still haven’t beaten Surt - so ill see at the end how i feel.
This is pretty cool. I hope the game does well:
I hadn’t really paid attention to it until recently as it wasn’t on XBox. But I’m tempted. Without going into spoilers (I’m avoiding reading this thread just in case), are the story and gameplay worth it?
I remember hearing it is relatively short (6 hours?) and linear, but the story is affecting and gameplay good. Also, retail is only $29.99 (and another 10% off pre-orders/first week). I’m strongly tempted
I checked the XBox site when there were 10 minutes left on the discount (here in UK) and took the jump. I’m looking forward to trying it later this week.
Did Tom ever play this? Strange thing about pc games but even if he’s wrong I like to know his opinion.
It is on my wishlist – strong female lead? Psychological depression? Free combat?
It doesn’t seem to be in the site’s list of game reviews. Not sure whether @tomchick ever played it.
EG gave it an essential last year:
The subject matter and the trailer are what convinced me to get it:
I’ve played the first hour or so of the game and wow. The game knows how to immerse the player and generate unease.
I’m playing with headphones, as recommended on the main screen; the sound design is phenomenal. The wind, the creaks, the moans and the voices surrounding you, guiding, begging, chiding, laughing. It’s quite the sound landscape.
On a big screen on the One X, it doesn’t look half bad either (I’m playing with the enhanced visuals rather than 60fps as combat really doesn’t seem to be a major part of the game at this point).
So far, so good!
1 million!
I’m really glad to see that. That game deserves a big audience.
Ninja Theory has announced that its stunning action-adventure Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is making the move to VR, and will come to Oculus Rift and Vive on July 31st.
That’s super cool. I bet this would be amazing in VR, especially with all of the 3d sound stuff they did for it.
I was going to skip the game, but it seems like another good excuse to buy VR eventually.
Not anytime soon. My list for that is still very short.
Just got this at 50% off. Been on my wish list a good while now. Does the VR version need VR controllers or will a 360 pad suffice?
Do it. Do it (whispering from twelve places at once, in all kinds of tones and inflections… Do it)
I paid 15 bucks for it and it’s worth it. Good headphones are a must tho. Turn up the volume, this thing is very much about the audio. It is disturbing and arty and I like it.
Well, I said that when this game hits Game Pass that I’d play it, and now I have. I’ll give some impressions of how I appreciated it, but I have to point out that TimJames summarized this pretty efficiently back before the game was even released:
All true. The game looks pretty amazing, and the sound is really something else. Playing with headphones really adds to the experience, and the game suggests you use them when it starts up.
But, there’s some stuff in the game that I found a turnoff. Like, it’s a third person perspective game, but it’s pulled in oddly close on Senua’s shoulder, such that she takes up a pretty big chunk of the left side of the screen and leaves me feeling oddly claustrophobic. Like I’m looming over her shoulder, reading a book over her shoulder. I can imagine her at a certain point just turning to the camera and going, 'Look, just back off a little, ok?"
And I don’t think much of the combat either. The mechanics are mostly ok, you’ve got your basic strike, heavy strike, dodge and block, and they work ok most of the time. But the game has an auto-lock on, and while you can flip between them with the right thumbstick, you can’t disengage as long as enemies are around. So trying to create a little space when enemies gang up on you - and they will gang up on you - means you’re likely to just back into one or not notice when one comes up behind you and wallops you. I eventually cranked combat difficulty down to easy just to move on.
I did like the puzzles and the environments. I thought the trial of blindness was a high point of the game and I get the impression that bugged a lot of people, but I thought it was interesting working my way through an area with almost no visibility, using sound mainly to get around. And playing a character that was tormented by psychosis was interesting. Not the first time it’s been done I guess, but probably portrayed more even-handedly than most games.
So I liked it and enjoyed it, but it was short and there’s really no reason I can see to go back. Perfect for Game Pass, and I’m glad I waited.
I only played it for the first time last month and enjoyed it too but I’m glad it wasn’t any longer. It was the visual and audio design as well as the fragmented and unreliable narrative that kept me playing. Some of the setpieces and sequences were really striking. Did you watch the documentary after you completed it? I found that rounded the experience out nicely and gave me a much better impression of how Ninja Theory worked with experts and people who suffered from psychosis to craft the effects in-game.
I did watch the included feature, and I almost wish I had seen it before I played, spoilers be damned. I tended to take what I was seeing in the game at face value, despite the fact that Senua clearly has some mental health issues with the voices, etc. But the business about the runes and gods and such, I just figured ok, she’s doing these things. Maybe I’m a litttle too credulous at times.
Yeah, I know what you mean. For a while I was erring on a lot of it being real but towards the end I was thinking ‘Wait, what if all of this is in her head?’ And that was kind of fascinating to see play out and then be confirmed in the documentary.