Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

The sound design is absolutely amazing in this game and it creates an experience that I have never had in any other game

What a beautiful and powerful experience. Besides talking about psychosis, the game deals with loss, guilt, grief and sadness in a very deep way. You can almost feel what Senua is going through at every moment. What a game!

One of the most unique game experiences I've ever had. I was able to 100% it in ~8 hours and felt like I definitely got my money's worth in every minute of it. This is actual art and the acting makes your really feel like Senua is a real person. The gameplay is satisfying, but the combat is fairly simple with a few interesting big fights and puzzles that make you try to see and think about the world differently. As a whole this is a beautiful and intense story with incredible audio and visual elements. It's incredibly immersive with no HUD or really anything that isn't part of the game's world. Horror elements that aren't cheap scare tactics but a legitimately harrowing experience that accurately portrays psychosis from the perspective of someone suffering. Ninja Theory did something amazing with this one. I highly recommend this game.

If just you didn't have to walk around matching arbitrary runes to arbitrary scenery. Gameplay drudgery. Couldn't finish.

A solid 7/10

The newer game is a 10/10 but this one been their 1st attempts has some flaws, I guess they learned.
Puzzles are a little boring and fights are a bit unoptimized compared to the newer one if I can say that.

Still totally worth playing!!!

It was hard at times to play this game, being mentally ill myself, but in the end it was a good and rewarding experience.

Hellblade feels like deep depression. Amazing story and world. The sound design is especially very good, I see why it won awards for it. I like that it is also not too long.

Don't use DirectX 12, way too much stutter. I have RTX 4080 Super and the stuttering was too annoying. Use DirectX 11 for a smoother experience. Game still looks amazing on DirectX 11

stunning graphics, good combat, great characters. 10/10

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is good looking game, while it might be a walking Sim, and a little bit flat on game-play (Senua is not Kratos), it has story and charm that will have rooting for Senua, 8-12 Hours long grab it on a sale.

This might as well have been a movie. Everything that made it a game was awful. Combat was boring, movement was horrid. The puzzles were tolerable at best until the Odin trials. The story and character are amazing, but you would have to pay me to play this again.

An amazing looking, plodding walking simulator that has far too many frustrations to be worth the effort. Others may love it, but after 10 hours, at least one of those lost to a stupid door rune bug, I just couldn't be bothered to finish it.

This is a unique piece of interactive art that explores complex themes of mental health and human resilience. The story, visual style, and sound work together to create a powerful atmosphere that immerses players in Senua's dark and poignant world.
Although the game has linear gameplay and is relatively short, its quality and attention to detail leave an unforgettable impression. Hellblade is a prime example of how video games can be more than just entertainment—they can be a medium for conveying profound and important narratives.
If you're looking for something unique and memorable, this game is an excellent choice.

poorly optimized, pretentious, buggy and with atrocious combat

It's pretty good. Puzzles aren't very fun but the combat is satisfying. Great acting and graphics.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a pretty interesting game. I'm honestly not sure how this flew under my radar back in 2017. It's been sitting in my library for quiet some time and it's only a few days ago that I finally tried it. I am relatively pleased to have done so.

At it's core, Hellblade truly is just a walking simulator set in incredibly gorgeous and creative environments with a bunch of puzzles sprinkled in. The very few times you aren't walking is during combat. This game's combat is very simplistic and often feels repetitive as it features very few combos and moves. It's so simple in fact that the game doesn't even see it necessary to give the player a tutorial. Like at all. This game's overall game play and control scheme is so straight forward that a monkey can learn it at a glance.Where Hell blade shines, however, is in it's phenomenal story telling that's presented masterfully by the fantastic performances of the voice actors, the creative visuals (that brings the world. story and its characters o life) and complex themes.

This game truly is all about story, and not much about game play at all. The entire experience feels and plays like a literal animated movie that just happens to let you press a few keys to move the character from one scene to another. So this begs the question, why not just release a movie instead? It'd most likely be cheaper and potentially reach a much wider audience. Regardless, this game features some of the best directing I've ever seen in any games thus far. The shots, the visual creativity and the scenes. Every shot in this game feels like it's been done carefully to present the story in a very creative and meaningful way. From a narrative perspective, this game truly has it all. Lastly, it's very impressive how committed this game is to presenting mental illness so accurately and realistically. Not many projects are brave enough to even tackle this topic let alone present it in all it's morbid glory. Props to the team for that.

This game's game-play is indeed boring. Had the story and the narrative been lacking, this game certainly would've been pretty terrible. But it's not, and because of it's masterclass story telling, the combat simply did not need to be creative, or even really that good. It ended up being just fine, just fine enough to compliment the game's experience while still keeping your attention on the plot. The puzzles are my biggest complaint. I detest puzzles. Like so much. So perhaps this is quiet subjective. This game's puzzles ranged anywhere from "that was alright" to "i want to quit the game" for me. To add onto that, I felt like this game overstayed it's welcome a little bit. I completed the game in 10 hours, but had it been 6 or 8, I do believe it would've been much more enjoyable. It would've hit that perfect short but sweet spot. I only say this because by the 8th hour of playing this game, I was really getting fed up and tired of the puzzles. I was just looking forward to the game ending.

To conclude, this is a good game if you're really into atmosphere, great deep stories and complex characters/lore. It's very story rich and dark, which I love. It's a shame some aspects of the gameplay were a bit of a let down, but all in all, still a very solid and enjoyable experience.
7/10

If I was a cow and this game was a miking machine, then this milking machine milked me for 5.7 hrs and I loved every minute of it. I'm really sad now that its's over, but I know that there is a second milking machine on the way and my udders are sooo ready and so full of milk I can't wait. 9/10 milk me.

A fresh approach to gaming brings a subject that's still taboo in today's society. I loved how Ninja Theory tried to bring the mental illness subject to this game, giving us a way to see in the eyes of those who are suffering from this. It helps to bring awareness about the topic. The combat was fun and well-polished, it was not very challenging but still fun to play. It is a short and well-polished experience, and I can't wait to play the second game.

+ Great feel and visuals, interesting bits of story, and some of the puzzly bits are really clever and cool.
- Other puzzly bits are ridiculously annoying, the combat's pretty easy, and some cutscenes are looooong.

pretty good game, shows a lot, what goes inside people who have mental disease, ..... I think, I enjoyed the game.

Feels like a mixture of lean and Xanax: someone will find it delicious, and some will find it terrifying. But even with these strange feelings I want to appreciate the devs for the enormous work they've done by a such small team.

A Must-Play. An experience rarely seen in video games. Gripping, emotional story, stunning visuals and innovative audio design. Also, the portrayal of mental illness is very immersive, and the gameplay, while simple, enhances the overall experience. Highly recommended! 9/10

An incredible journey that should not be spoiled and is worth a play though. It only takes about 8 hours to 100%, is more cinematic than action, and has 0 replayability...so just be aware of that when deciding what price is right for you. Pick it up on a sale, or at least that's what I did. But the music, atmosphere, world building, and mythical lore are fantastic. The dialogue and voice acting are second to none and with a high end graphics card, it looks more like a movie than a video game.

I am not sure what all the jibber jabber about mental health and that weird "trigger warning" at the beginning are all about. They apparently paid for "mental heath advisers" for reasons that makes about as much sense as wheels on a frying pan. This game is a fantasy adventure about a woman seeking the soul of her dead lover and risking Hel to find it. It has magic and myth all wrapped up in some easy combat and a little exploration with puzzles. Highly recommend for the vast majority of people. And for those that may find a fantasy video game where the voices of the dead speak to you too triggering, I suggest monopoly.

Definitely among the unique games i've played so far and this game does a great job of showing what people suffering from mental illness has to go through. The game offers little when it games to gameplay and mechanics but man does it deliver when to comes to story and environment. Senua goes through literal hell to save her lover's soul and her psychosis doesn't do her any favors as she constantly struggles with voices inside her head doubting & distracting her throughout the game. As players we get a front seat in her mind and team ninja has executed this concept masterfully, u get to feel what she's going through. The game looks beautiful even today, even though the story is quite short and gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, there's some gameplay mechanics that are just great and adds to this game's mystique, u have to play it to appreciate it.

Do i recommend this game?

Is it worth the price?

(Overall Rating- 3.4/5)

Highly recommended If you want to immerse yourself in a beautiful world and story. Good gameplay and the combat felt balanced and rewarding. Its a really well made game and nothing really bothered me gameplay wise. 9.5/10

Amazing game! Just finished it and love the Nordic story. I have an interest in the Nordic Viking history and this games was a treat! Bought the 2nd game and started playing. Love that one as well so far!

Very smooth gameplay and combat, and cool little puzzles along the way. The story, which is the focus, is cryptic, but straightforward. I don't think this is a banger but it's a cool story to watch unfold and the protagonist, Senua, is really easy to like.

Overall, I enjoyed this game. It takes the difficult topic of mental illness, and makes it understandable to players who are not familiar with it. The overall story is a fairly basic revenge story. A loved one is killed and the protagonist goes a a revenge quest. Adding Senua's psychosis to the story adds a unique spin on one of the most over done tropes in games, movies, and books. There are only two negative points for me. The main one is that combat can be a little tricky. Senua seems to move a little slower than the enemies in combat. The other issue is one that I think was intentional by the games designers. The objectives are sometimes hard to figure out, and can leave you wandering around trying to figure out what you are supposed to do. I liked that this aspect added to the disorientation presented by Senua's psychosis. It would have been nice to have a hint button, since a couple of times I had to peak at a walkthrough to figure out how to move on.

Although I have mixed feelings about this game, I would recommend playing it, but: unless you are truly eager, I would wait for it to be discounted in one of the regular Steam sales, because; if you neither replay parts of it, nor watch the video that is included via the main menu, you can finish it in under 10 hours.

I shall try to avoid any spoilers in this review, except for something that you either might read in the introduction on the store page, or that becomes obvious within the first minutes of gameplay.

The story is engaging, with a mix of history and mythology, as you play the Celtic young woman (a Pict from the Orkney islands) called Senua, who wanders into a world based on Norse mythology.

The cons of this game are the fact it is very linear and you get much less gameplay than say: The Witcher III.

The graphics are generally good, although there were a few minor glitches where your view was sometimes obscured by the enemy you were fighting, or you could see through objects if you rotated the view.

As someone who is not a big fan of most of puzzles you find in games, this was not to my liking, nor were the tasks you had to hurry to finish in a certain time or has to restart from the last save.

It is daring that they discuss certain topics in the game, such as mental health issues, and not everyone might like to see a world through the eyes of someone who experiences this.

Instead of a strong and independent fighter like a lot of games, Senua talks about her issues, losses, troubles quite a lot during the game. You have to be okay with this introspective narrative.

The game was good enough for me to check out the sequel, in the future.

This game was terrifying, captivating, and beautiful all throughout.

I really, really enjoyed this game. I had originally pirated it and played through it once while I was working. I did not really get to immerse myself into the world. This game, however, absorbs you. Put on a headset and turn the sound up. Turn off your lights and use blackout curtains. You will feel something. I am not sure what I felt, but it was something. It is worth the purchase, and now I am looking forward to the sequel.

This game is like a 6-8h of ASMR but after 4h in a crazy bipolar ASMR you can understand how feelings unfinished can destroy someone.

10/10

great game that is a visual work of art, and should be played with headphones and a controller. mostly slower paced when wandering through the story, but it's linear enough without feeling boring. Love that there's minimal interface, and no tutorial. More games need to get out of the way and let you experience it like this. VERY aesthetic and tactile. Every surface and sound is highly designed. the mo-cap and facial animation is unmatched. Can't believe this game is from 2017. Hell even the Ray tracing effects look good! (*though they basically tank the framerate as lots of stutter is introduced.)

This game is a visual and auditory masterpiece. The story telling is top notch and gave me chills throughout. the depiction of psychosis was disconcerting and surreal. It never felt forced or disingenuous. The game is visually stunning, and the use of the visuals and sounds transported into the game world.

A game about madness. A game to drive you mad.

I was somehow under the impression that it was an action game. In reality, it’s more of a visual novel-like game with puzzles and some combat elements. I’d describe 'Senua: Hellblade' as the 'Dark Souls' of visual novels.

There's no HUD, no tutorial, and no tips. I played using a full guide and managed to enjoy it; otherwise, I would have abandoned it since I strongly dislike one of the common puzzle types here — where you need to pass through portals to change minor elements of the environment as a solution.

The story unfolds slowly, and most of the time, you're just simmering in the cauldron of insanity alongside the main character.

This game isn't for everyone. It’s beautiful, but also weird. Get it on sale if you're curious.

Fun fact: It’s interesting to track people’s opinion about this game through achievements. Players either give up after the introductory chapters or see it through to the end. Quite uncommon thing

Its an amazing psychologically crazy game. They do so well to capture what goes on in a 'crazy' persons head.
Well crafted, beautiful story. The levels are immersive and lore is deep and moving.

This is a must play game I would recommend to players who like a singleplayer game with interesting puzzles and good combat with a very engaging story.

I will start with the story it is one of the best part about this game. You play as a girl named Senua obviously who is a female viking Celtic warrior and the game is set in the viking error with the viking myth and lore. She is the last viking left alive and is one a quest to viking Hell to defeat the God Hela and fight for the soul of her dead lover. On top of that Senua suffers with mental illness and a dark past. She hears voices and sees hallucinations which all play a part in the story as well. The game does a really good job of blending it all together and making you feel for the character and people with mental illness altogether.

Now onto the gameplay. Firstly the combat. Some people put shit on this part of the game but there is more than I expected there to be in this area of the game. You only have 1 weapon and there are no skills or abilities to unlock but I wasn't expecting that from this game. The game itself linear for the most part and isn't very long with only about 11 chapters. You do have however a light attack and Heavy attack which you can string together for combos in whatever order you desire. You also have a running light and heavy attack which can start combos as well. On top of that you have some nice defensive mechanics as well such as a last second parry and cool movement options like sidestepping and back-stepping. You also get an ability you can use pretty early in the game that helps in combat a lot. The only thing that I didn't like about the combat was the fixed camera position during combat that kind of acts as a lock on mechanic which can be a problem sometimes esp when you encounter multiple enemies at once cause you can't change the camera position when enemies are present.

The other aspects of gameplay include:

puzzles which is the other really good thing about this game. I have never quite come across puzzles like the ones in this game before. They are unique, can be challenging and are engaging.

finding lore-stones which is the only side thing in the game but is worth it cause you will find out more about the lore of the vikings via finding them. And if you find them all you will unlock a special small side story content. The only issue is t he game doesn't really tell you this. But you can go through chapter select and redo chapters again to get all the lore stones which is cool.

Enemies and bosses. There were enough enemy variants introduced throughout the game that all attack differently and carry different weapons . The bosses are all unique as well and play a part in the lore or the story or both. They are beatable while being quite challenging as well. There was only one boss which can be a problem if your eye site isn't very good or clear cause he uses a specific visual trick quite a lot that makes the screen flash red and makes it hard to see him. You can roughly make him out before he does an attack during this sequence but your eye site needs to be pretty good.

Controls which are basic and simple which is all they need to be. No issue with them at all.

Replay-ability unfortunately is almost non existent in this game but it is only a minor issue for this game since it is a story driven game and they are making a second one. Outside of redoing chapters to get missed lore stones for the side story or doing the game again on a harder combat difficulty there is nothing much else to do.

Now onto the visuals and performance. The visuals are pretty nice and the game takes advantage of ray tracing and other modern nvidia features since the graphics overhaul update if you have the right video card. Sensua also looks very lifelike and realistic esp in the face. The game perform pretty well but again your framerate will suffer a bit if you enable ray tracing on the highest setting unless you have a really high end RTX card. That said outside of that I have never had crashes or freezes with this game. The graphic options are well thought through as well.

The music and sound for this game is really well done and suits the game and adds to the experience even more. In fact listening to the game with headphones actually makes the game even more immersive.

Overall I highly recommend this game for all gamers. It is a fun unique immersive story driven singleplayer experience with that should not be missed. I give it a 9/10

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice may not excel in combat mechanics, but its stunning visuals, incredible sound design, and intense atmosphere more than make up for it. The puzzles, while not overly complex, effectively extend the game’s length, but it remains a short and emotionally gripping experience that can be completed in 6 to 7 hours. The environment and sound truly immerse you in Senua’s troubled mind, making it a memorable, though brief, journey that stays with you long after the credits roll.

Hellblade is undoubtedly a unique game. The audiovisuals are impressive, but I confess that I felt that this was prioritized over the gameplay. The combat is interesting, but the enemies are repetitive, the controls are a bit clunky (no matter how hard you press the button to run, Senua will actually only walk a little faster, as if she were pressed to go to the bathroom), and the puzzles are ok. I'm interested in playing the second game because I hope all these problems will be solved.

The quick and dirty recommendation guide (pick as many +/- points as you like and make up your mind if it's worth buying):
+ strong narrative
+ outstanding sound and visual presentation
+ responsive, intense and simple combat
+ nightmarish horror atmosphere (without jump scares)
+ superb voice acting
+ frightening and well-designed end bosses
+/- combat lacks complexity and may be too simple for some
+/- no replay value (it may have for a revisited experience)
+/- bit short, which is compensated by fair price and gameplay without tedious and lengthy grinds
+/- high stylized presentation of events and plot may not be everyone's taste (totally mine, though)
- gameplay doesn't offer much variety
- not much to explore apart from lore stones telling you about Norse mythology (which is quite important, however!)
- lack of variety in enemies and their appearance

The details:

Hellblade tells a story about suffering, sacrifice, darkness and endeavor. Following the story of Picts warrior maid Senua, you embark on a nightmarish and mind-twisting journey to Helheim, to save a beloved one’s soul. However, for Senua, many things aren’t what they’re supposed to be, for she’s suffering from severe psychosis. While you often can’t decide what’s real and what not, you must overcome many obstacles and enemies – the latter seemingly coming right out of Hel(l).

No other game, up to this point, managed to devour me – getting me so immersed – like Hellblade did. This game just pulled me deeper than any other game has accomplished in recent years, and I, mentally, switched off everything else around me and Senua’s reality became mine. The sound design and visual presentation is outstanding.

I was always a fan of non-linear storytelling and Hellblade totally nailed it. Its presentation is intriguing, captivating and keep you ever so interested in what happened (to Senua) and how everything will turn out.

As for the gameplay I was kind of surprised of what they came up with: There's a level where there is nothing but darkness and you have to find your way out, without fighting, only using your senses, as Senua's reaching out with her hand to frisk her surroundings, or running from one light source to another to not getting devoured by darkness. In other parts, cynically spoken, you could call it 'walking simulator', but, as for myself, I was so immersed in the world that I didn't mind. It doesn’t deliver any boredom even when ‘nothing’ happens.

There is one thing to explore off the main paths, however: Lore stones. These stones – telling you about Norse mythology in appearance of an old friend – are optional but critical in further expanding on the whole game’s story. At first one might not see the entangled meaning of Norse mythology and it seems rather random, just to give this game a Norse touch although you're not playing a viking heroine. Certainly, Vikings are involved in the story but that doesn’t necessarily explain why you keep hearing stories about the Northmen. But keep your wits about you and you’ll come to realize the importance of those stories.

I also enjoyed the combat, although it lacks complexity and deep mechanics. So, what is to like about it? Its responsiveness and simplicity made it a blast to play. It is quick, brutal, intense and it just works without any clumsiness. In that regard it is sort of 'flawless', straight on point. Don't expect anything near like Dark Souls, though.

Visual clues were used in a clever way and weren't spelled out boldly for you with exclamation marks, compass needles and the like. Even in one given situation where acting under pressure and time limit was required, I managed to find all the necessary clues at the first try without said compass needle or other HUD markers pointing out where to go – there are voices telling you to "focus" or to look in another direction. The lack of (almost) any meta information fits the theme of the game and it is an enjoyable change in a video game. That being said, there's no "meta game" telling you how to do things (apart from the game options menu). No HUD, no text boxes or pop ups. Everything you need to know to beat the game is offered by the environments and from 'within' the game.

It absolutely has become one of my favorite games by now at this time.

This game plunged me into a world of darkness and despair, where I began to loathe both the world and myself. I questioned my very existence, all because of the haunting background voice given to the character.

If you cannot defeat grief, face it. Accept its presence, and let it become a part of your strength, not your chains.

A really well written story wonderful game play and well though out keeps you engaged though the whole game as a side note as one who lives with someone who is a schizophrenic that has and still does work really hard to control it I can say it really shows the chaos that they live with i really can't give this game any more prase then a 10 out of 10

one of the best games i've ever played. a beautiful canvas with an emotional and profound look at a person with deep emotional trauma and severe mental health complications.

Boring walking simulator but combat is kinda fun with the parry. Unskippable cutscene is time-consuming and you'll get plenty of eye-contact with Senua.

Good story. Game play is pretty linear. You can't really lose your way along the storyline. Combat and puzzles are fairly simple. I don't think it's replayable. I finished in about 8 hours or so, but spent a while going back into the game looking for the lorestones I missed. If you find it on sale, it's worth picking up.

i can totally understand why this game wouldn't be it for some people. Puzzles can be quite tedious (makes up a big part of the game) and the game doesn't really give you directions on what to do (gotta hit esc to figure out the keys) so initially while trying to get a hold of figuring the game out it can be quite confusing. Combat wise i agree with some people's review mentioning that its quite repetitive (the whole evade/block & hit mechanism) but as you play the game you will understand that that's not the focus of the game but more so the aspect of immersing yourself in the story and trying to understand whats going on inside Senua's head- her thoughts and her fights with herself as she tries to save her loved one. Besides that, as someone who has been through a minor case of psychosis before, playing this game at first made me really uncomfortable in my own body especially when traversing through really dark spaces and I would say the devs did a great job with creating a much realistic feeling to this game while making it a wonderful gaming experience for the majority of the gaming crowd out there.

definitely one of those games that you gotta try it out to see if you would like it or not. Personally i gave it a shot and i'm glad to have played it especially since this hits somewhat close to my heart.

Rather disturbing and more scary than it seems, but definitely a unique and refreshing experience.

Hellblade is a gripping, emotionally charged journey into the mind of its protagonist, Senua, as she battles grief, trauma, and psychosis. With its stunning visuals, immersive binaural audio, and heartfelt storytelling, the game masterfully blends mythology with a raw exploration of mental illness. Combat is simple yet intense, and while some puzzles may feel repetitive, the overall experience is deeply impactful. Best experienced with headphones,

your free trial of hell :D

Beautiful game with stunning audio and visual design.
The focus for this game lays in storytelling and atmosphere which is masterfully done.
The combat system is very basic and even on hard not challenging (for the ones that care about that).
My main complaint would be the running speed is very slow which can be frustrating when running from place to place while doing the puzzles.

Nordic Story Full of Meaning with Psychological Horror in the Ears.