They say that the hardest battles are fought in the mind. And this game illustrates that wonderfully.

You play as Senua, a Celtic warrior on a perilous journey to Helheim to save the soul of her lover Dillion. And on her quest, she has to face various mythical beasts if she is to bargain with Hela, ruler of Helheim. But not only does she have to fight physical beats, she also has to contend with the demons in her mind.

This is not just a game, this is a full-on experience of what it's like to deal with psychosis, and goes to show that dealing with it is not cool or edgy in any way. It's very respectful in this sense and the fact that the dev team took great care with this shows through.

But not just that. Senua herself is a wonderful protagonist, strong and resilient even as she descends further into darkness on her quest. Her story is not explicitly told, rather through flashes that you have to piece together to get a full picture. And it is done well. As you get further into it, you begin to understand more about Senua, her story and the things she has endured to get to where she is now.

The sound design is excellent, very atmospheric and really gives you a sense of the environment, as well as the various voices you hear among your travels. Graphically it looks amazing, even on the lowest settings.

The combat feels good, the controls are tight, and it feels like a gritty and realistic fight, like you can feel the effort as Senua battles her foes. She also reacts to being injured, moving more slowly and taking longer to attack and dodge the more injured she is.

The puzzles are interesting, such as having to find the shapes of runes in the environments. However, there aren't that many puzzles and finding the runes can get a little repetitive after a while, but that is literally the only (albeit very nitpicky) negative I have.

All in all this is not just a game, this is an experience and one well worth playing through, just to experience Senua's journey as she is seeing it in her mind.