HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE (PC)

juliusfatai (58)in #gaming • 6 years ago (edited)

A unique trip to the deepest darkness, where the toughest battles are fought: in the mind of a Celtic warrior with a serious psychotic disorder. The only thing he has left to fulfill is an important mission where he must face all his fears in order to rescue the soul of his deceased lover from the same hell. Accompany Senua in his journey and experience a relevant story by the independent study Ninja Theory.

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A triple A independent game

Those responsible for creating this risky but much-needed proposal are the independent triple A team of Ninja Theory , directed by Tameen Antoniades. It was created 14 years ago, based in Cambridge (United Kingdom) and since then they have released titles such as Kung Fu Story, the acclaimed Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, Razer and the latest in the Dante saga, Devil May Cry: DMC, focused from a different perspective than the rest of the titles of the devil hunter. Until now they required third parties to be able to publish their works, companies like Namco or Capcom, but with Hellbladethey have managed to produce and publish the title themselves, thus obtaining the distinction of "an independent triple A proposal". For players, one of the details in which this idea is noted is that the game is only available in digital form, although according to Ninja Theory, disregarding the physical format helps reduce costs for end consumers. This is reflected in the price of € 29.99 with which the game has gone on sale.

The process of creating the history of Senua has been very special for the entire developer team. They started with the idea in 2014 and from the beginning they wanted to share the progress of the project with the world through some "Development Diaries" as well as a final documentary of about 25 minutes that is included in the game. The newspapers are available on your YouTube channel and in them we can find the various aspects that make up the game. In one of them the mentioned creative chief of the team, Tameen, leaves us with a phrase to understand the reason for the distinctive character of his new IP: "When everyone in the room is screaming, jumping and shooting, one way to stand out is so just stay still. "

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The hardest battles are fought in the mind

Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice is a very special title precisely because of the message that carries its history. The core of this is its protagonist, Senua, and the psychotic disorder that suffers. His mission and sole purpose is to free the soul of his beloved and therefore makes a trip down to the very Helheim (Nordic hell) and carrying the head of it, regardless of the price you must pay to help you get rest, even if it entails losing oneself entirely to oneself in the deepest darkness that lurks within them.

Ninja Theory wanted to do an adequate and realistic work and therefore consulted various academics, experts and even patients suffering from similar disorders in order to create an experience true to real psychosis. As a curiosity, the first message we read when opening the game warns us precisely of this fact. In order not to confuse psychosis with other diseases or morphologically similar terms, it is characterized because people who suffer from it can not perceive reality objectively, they have hallucinations, they hear voices and see things or people that are not really there. Even today it is considered a taboo subject and is rarely treated in the film genre (it is even more unusual to see it in a videogame) and that is why it is so important that there are developers who dare to do so.

To recreate this disorder and make the game felt as close as possible they were trying different ideas and consulting them with experts and patients periodically. One of the strengths of the game is in fact the voices we hear on both sides, symbolizing one of Senua's hallucinations. These can sometimes help us by indicating the direction in which we must look to solve a puzzle or warning that we look behind our backs when an enemy is about to attack, but in others where we need concentration and silence we will become overwhelmed. have constant whispers in the head. The effect has been achieved masterfully and to fully enjoy the experience it is strongly recommended to play with headphones. Even so,

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In addition, Melina Juerguens (video editor of Ninja Theory and who plays the protagonist) performs a very credible performance that comes to put the hair on end on more than one occasion when he screams in despair or you see the fear or anger reflected in the look. The curiosity of why she ended up interpreting to Senua a worker of the own study and not an external actress was that she helped from the beginning in the work of mocap (motion capture technology) to mold the model of the Celtic warrior and after several months of interpreting it they decided that was perfect for the role.

These voices and the rest of the sound effects , as well as the characteristic music that accompanies the different compasses of the tour of Senua, are perfectly implemented in Hellblade, allowing a great immersion rarely achieved with such mastery in a videogame.

Advancing and fighting in Helheim

The setting of the title is based on the Viking era and our protagonist belongs to a small Celtic tribe with strong religious and mystical beliefs. All this is reflected both in the detailed scenarios and in the stories we hear while doing "focus" (one of the mechanics of the game, based on focusing the view on something) in the various stone monoliths that are scattered around the scenes . From them comes a voice that explains various legends in which we will find deities recognized as Odin, Loki, Hela and others while we learn interesting stories.

In terms of gameplay , at no time do we have indicators on the screen such as maps, tutorials that explain the movement or collectibles. The story that Hellblade wants to tell does not require adornments or distractions. Even so, we will find some puzzles in our journey, such as closed doors with marked glyphs that we must find recreated in the environment (for example, a cross shape, found in two tree branches observed from a specific perspective) and illusions that we must decipher, how to discover that a stone wall has an entrance if we observe it through a certain "magical" arch. Many could cross to the title of walking simulator and although that is one of its parts, to walk and explore in search of answers, it will not be a pleasant way, but a journey towards the deepest darkness.*

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Regarding combat, they do not present us on a platter the movements to use to attack (quickly and lightly or in a stronger and more forceful way), dodge and block, but we must intuit them and learn as we face the different types of enemies. The combat does not have an excessively high difficulty and can be adjusted in the menu (Easy-Normal-Difficult or Automatic). One of the first warnings offered by the game is that the "dark rot" that stalks our protagonist, present in his right arm, will extend every time we die, and may stop our progress if it reaches his head. Finally this will not have repercussion beyond the environment of the game, that is, we will not lose our game getting the rumored and feared "permadeath". Even so, this premise increases the tension, together with listening to voices constantly and feeling vulnerable. Therefore, the battles will be a challenge for those players not so used to chaining attacks with defense and evasion.

Even so, it is necessary to see some other type of enemy, since those that appear end up being repetitive and once we learn their movements and how to attack (which they always repeat), the difficulty of the combat ends up falling in the number and not so much in his ability. The bosses, although scarce, are well achieved and distinctive, so we will enjoy (or suffer) by facing them. Nor can we change weapons or increase our armor, but this feature reinforces the concise character that wants to release the title.

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An interesting addition is the photo mode , which can be activated at any time (even during cinematics and battles), allowing us to change the angle of the scene and add different filters and effects to give our captures an epic and special character.

Regarding the technical section, in the PS4 version we have not experienced frame falls or serious problems. It maintains a good graphical aspect, between the best thing existing nowadays in the console and maintaining the type in PC , something surprising when being a relatively small developer team. The design of characters, their photorealistic expressions and their great realism are quite an experience. In addition, the style with dark tones and visual effects created to enhance the recreation of psychosis will make us feel immersed and trapped in Helheim.

Complete the game will take us from 7 to 9 hours and despite not being too rejugable for being a round game, it is a trip worthwhile for all those able to withstand the horror in the mind of Senua. Accompany her to the deepest darkness and share her fear and madness to understand the real difficulty that people suffer that every day must face their inner monsters. A unique experience with a very relevant and untreated message. The hardest battles are fought in the mind but we should not give up and let the darkness engulf us. With help, we can always find that ray of light and hope necessary to find peace.

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This analysis has been done on the PS4 version

conclusion

Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice is a unique and special proposal whose core is in the treatment of psychosis and its masterful recreation. Atmosphere in the Viking era with history and very interesting mythological legends, graphic aspect more than remarkable and sound effects and excellent music, recreating the voices that the protagonist listens to in her head in a chilling way. Gameplay based on the combination of walking and advancing the world with puzzles of illusions and perspective, as well as various challenging matches that will not make things easy for us. It is not a game for everyone, but it will please and surprise those willing to live a different story and enter into the deepest darkness that can lodge a sick mind.