Excellent Movie, Terrible Game

[Artistical]

First off, I'll start with saying that I loved the game's presentation, even if the black bars are a bit intrusive. The graphics are top notch, audio is incredible, the story is decent (not great, though). I can absolutely see how this game can generate a deeply emotional response for those of us who have suffered trauma, and to those who struggle with mental issues.

That said, though, Hellblade 2 would have had a better chance at succeeding if it had been a two-part movie, or a miniseries. The game is very evidently presented in the language of film, with frequent DoF tricks, a very specific anamorphic lens emulation, and the usual artifacts that come from filming something on a camera being reproduced to painstaking detail.

I mean, sure, it wouldn't be as immersive, of course, I totally see that. But the immersion the game achieves is very quickly broken when you have to position Senua at the right spot to see the glyph, or when you have to time dodges and parries according to the Big Book of Melee Combat In Games.

But, if it were a movie, it would have allowed the franchise to not only expand into different media, but also to allow NInja Theory to exist.

Mind you, I'm talking an animated movie, á la Love Death Robots. Rendered in Unreal Engine 5. Pretty much, the game, without the game parts on.

But since it's a game, it comes with a bunch of caveats that make me fear about the future of Ninja Theory, particularly after what happened with Tango Gameworks. The original Hellblade was an excellent game, perhaps a bit longer, but it was a game that had a lot going for it, an original concept, top notch graphics at the time as well, and a more coherent presentation for a game (it was very filmic, even using real actors for cinematics, but it didn't break the game rules so much).

But mostly, it costed 29.99 USD on release.

Ninja Theory could take that chance because the investment wasn't as high, and the consequences of failure weren't as dire. They could get away with the "AAA Indie" moniker because that's what they were.

Now that they answer to Microsoft, it's just "AAA". And AAA games come with expectations and a million strings attached. Like graphics (which massively increase the spending), and gameplay with staying power. Guess which of these Hellblade 2 actually accomplishes?

Because there isn't much meat on this gameplay's bones, we all know that. We might love what little there is, and understand the narrative intentions of the presentation, but let's face it, there just isn't much game in this game. So, if the visual, filmic aspect of the game is its only redeeming value, then it shouldn't have been a game, but a movie. Because I'm sure Netflix would have gladly forked over the cash, just as they did with Love Death Robots, and the result would have been pretty much the same (barring some "immersion") that we got with the game.

But why would I think that? Why can't I just "play the game" and enjoy the experience? Why must it be a movie in my eyes?

Because the price of entry wouldn't have been 60 USD.

If Hellblade 2 had costed 29.99, like the original, it would have been fine, even great. There's nothing on that price range that comes close. But for 60 USD, you have to start competing with Elden Ring or Ghosts of Tsushima, games with incredible narratives, but hefty gameplay to boot. Hell, even if you want to compare it with purely filmic experiences, you're competing with The Last of Us or Final Fantasy VII Remake, which ARE games. Hellblade 2 doesn't hold a candle to any of those games in the gameplay department, and it can compete in the presentation side, but not win by a large margin.

So, what's the problem? Why can't I just keep my mouth shut and enjoy those other games instead of harping about this in a forum?

Because this means Ninja Theory is likely to close. They already have a massive flop under their belts, the terrible Bleeding Edge. Hellblade 2 is clearly a return to known territory, but with Microsoft budget. The thing is that, with Microsoft budget, come Microsoft expectations, and if a wonderful game like Hi-Fi Rush couldn't make the cut in their eyes, imagine what a glorified movie that can be beat in an afternoon means in the grand scheme of things?

So, yes. Ninja Theory should have made a movie. Or a mini-series. Different expectations, but I bet, more solid results. It's very hard to complain about something like Hellblade 2 when you didn't pay much for it, but 60 USD is too much to ask for a long movie and pressing some buttons from time to time. I loved the experience, but it really isn't worth that price of entry. And that makes me fear this will be the last we see of Ninja Theory.

I desperately hope I'm wrong about that.

[mjhcsta]

Save your money and just watch the Movie for Free!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nvd5G9KngY

Your Welcome!

[Super Clutch]

Originally posted by mjhcsta:

Save your money and just watch the Movie for Free!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nvd5G9KngY

Your Welcome! :theorder:

No need to post this everywhere.

[AaronLibra]

Truly, this was one of the 5 of my most highly anticipated games (and I'm a stickler when it comes to being genuinely excited for games), but as soon as they sold out and put themselves in front of the Microsoft crosshairs, I could've been physically sick right there on the spot. It was a sad, sad day.

To cut down on some words (since sometimes when I get to typing I don't stop lol), I'm going to say that I completely agree with everything you've said in your initial post. I've been reading through alot of the reviews and there was one long one that I saw earlier today that was saying much of the same stuff. As the day has gone on though, the sentiments are becoming more and more commonly stated.

The general consensus being that even though it's slightly better visually than Senua's Sacrifice, its fallen quite a long drop in terms of gameplay...

I think the big mistake they made was putting too much focus on expanding the team size that they lost their way and confused themselves into thinking that "immersion" is solely determined and processed by eyeballs. Hellblade 1 was incredibly immersive. We fell in love with Senua and her journey, the atmosphere and the struggles. We felt an emotional connection to the story and how it developed. Yes, it was a gorgeous game to look at, but the graphics isn't what drove us or the experience. The graphics didn't mingle with our souls or weigh on our hearts.

Real immersion comes from breathtaking performances from the actors, remarkably phenomenal writing and narrative construction and then how the world is built and the ways we're able to interact with it. It has nothing to do with framerate limiting, letterboxing the screen and layering a multitude of Instagram filters on the game camera.

I'm not trying to sound rude or go too harsh with my opinion here. It's clear that alot of time and work has been put into creating this project. I guess my main point is that it's incredibly obvious that Ninja Theory had very little say in what they've ended up creating here...since they did everything right the first time, there's no reason why they shouldn't have been able to do the same thing again but better (we could even go waaayyy back and look at what they created with Heavenly Sword or even Enslaved, those were excellent games and Heavenly Sword still stands up today actually). I'm just saying that the outside influence is strongly evident and too many suggestions were made (or forced) by people that have no emotional connection or vested interest in the actual story...or maybe I'm wrong? There's gotta be a reason though. Development progress isn't supposed to go backwards...but then again, we're living in a backwards world these days, sooo...

Moral of the story: We see this happen time and time again in the industry when big corporations flash massive cheques in the faces of small studios. Chalk it up and put it in the file folder to let it serve as yet another example warning to the next small studio that does something so right that they get lucky enough to be presented with a similar offer BUT THEN TURNS IT DOWN (please). I'm certainly not suggesting that all corporations are bad, since there are examples that exist where these types of deals have worked out...I can't quickly name any of them off the top of my head, but I'm sure it exists. However, think about it. If a studio is operating and creating things that they love, the way they want to create them...suddenly having an overlord does nothing to make any stage of that experience better. Be it for the studio itself OR the consumer in the end. Get a better accountant...not a silly cash infusion and less soul.

All this said, I'm still looking forward to seeing what Project Mara is going to put us all through. Super excited actually. To be fair, it's not in my Top 5 but it IS Top 10 (mostly because it's not even close to being done yet). But here's to looking ahead :) Cheers!

[Kleerex]

Originally posted by mjhcsta:

Save your money and just watch the Movie for Free!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nvd5G9KngY

Your Welcome! :theorder:

You're*

[Zebedee]

Originally posted by Artistical:

So, what's the problem? Why can't I just keep my mouth shut and enjoy those other games instead of harping about this in a forum?

Because this means Ninja Theory is likely to close.

They've just had another game greenlit to go with Project Mara (currently in early production) so they're fine.

[Desmond]

Excellent Movie? Nah. I've just gone through 2 hours of repeating corridors of rocks trying to finding the hiddenfolks. What kind of movie does this? 2 hours of the exact same scenery with the character doing the same thing over and over. If this is a movie, it's torture. That chapter should have been 30 minutes long max. It's a walking simulator with barely any variety of scenery. The "good" graphics is mostly due to the use of new technologies of Unreal Engine 5. With more and more UE5 games coming out people will soon realize this game doesn't look that special at all.

[Diss]

I really agree with this. Its super disappointing and i played a bit to much to get a refund.

[MicroPiggie]

Originally posted by AaronLibra:

we could even go waaayyy back and look at what they created with Heavenly Sword or even Enslaved, those were excellent games and Heavenly Sword still stands up today actually).

Heavenly Sword needs a remaster - fantastic characters and would love to explore that world

Nariko and Kai

[Prince Ian]

All I ask is that next time SONY releases a game like this, that you take the time out of your day to write this same lengthy review and analysis.