Right, okay,
So, let's break down the game, the idea of the game and why this game is such a masterpiece.

I've heard *so many people* calling this game "walking cutscene simulator" and I completely understand why; the ratio between cutscenes and anything else is a bit tipped on the cutscene part compared to Hellblade 1. But I want you to take something into an account here, that is very present in both games - what the ♥♥♥♥ did you do when it *WASN'T* a cutscene in the first game? Walking through Valravn's illusions? Okay, sure. Solving puzzles, which is basically seeing a symbol from a specific perspective? Okay, sure. Fight? Okay, sometimes, sure. And? What else? Nothing, right? That was the whole ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ point.

Both games had it present, but people seems to have forgotten the first one being so.. bland compared to the second. Oh, you mean that the fake rot mechanic in the first game was good? Yea, you survived barely dying, in the end Hela watched you get consumed by darkness.

Anyway, now that I addressed the rants time to give some comparisons and say some good things for once.
First of all, for what is worth, even though it barely had advertisement, people jumped on playing Hellblade II, because there were promises for technologies that indeed came into fruition. Oh, little Billy, you don't like that the fights look like cutscenes? Haven't you thought that this is EXACTLY the goal here?

I've called it before around my friends, this is Psychosis Movie: The Game. Everything, from the cutscenes, to the fights, to even walking with your followers looks like a movie. That's the point - seamless story-rich game. Hey, uh, fun fact, when Druth literally spammed the ♥♥♥♥ out of you in the first game and Senua replied, anyone noticed, that if you are able to rotate the model, Senua does not talk or react, at all? One of the things I noticed, which by the way I don't see often, I was surprised, was when Senua was walking with Fargrimr, Thórgestr and Ástríðr Senua pays attention, looks at them slightly while walking with them and her facial features, including mouth are moving. Such detail is relatively easy to miss when you compare everything else in the first game.

There are some plot holes, or at least not explained well, like for example, how Senua got in the slave ship in the first place. She just got out of Hel and, what, was captured as a sacrifice for giants? The ♥♥♥♥? Secondly, if the first game was all in le head, I get it, but still, why is her darkness only shown at the very end of the game as a "Is this my destiny", while the rot on her arm is basically not there. And third, I do miss seeing little eyeballs in a very small section of Valravn's map in the first game, what happened with that.

Okay, so, now the story of Hellblade 2.

It is basically a rundown of what the Icelandic people believed in Norse mythology, up to and including the sacrifices they've made to appease their gods and beasts. Senua was in a ship, which was meant for those people tied in the ship to be sacrifices for the giants. The story revolves around the storm, breaking her ship and breaking her out, as well as discovering the purpose of her slavery, being able to capture her slaver and form, basically a fellowship against the giants. The Furies, aka the voices in Senua's head are still present, remember, she suffers from psychosis. The people around her started seeing her more like an oracle or a seer of sorts, due to her psychosis and ability to see differently, which, I do admit is a weird direction compared to the first game, as in both games Ninja Theory consulted specialists and real, actual people suffering with psychosis.

Now combat, don't even argue with me that it's bad, if you think it's bad go refund the game or unown it if you passed 2 hours, you piece of ♥♥♥♥ .The combat is absolutely marvelous. I've already replayed, multiple times, some scenes that has the perfect throat-singing soundtrack to back up the fight. There is a fight scene, where you feel like everything is going full chaos.

Now, as much as I do adore, and I mean I absolutely adore the combat system, there are a few things, especially compared to the first game that are incredibly noticeable. Maybe that's why there are a lot of people criticizing this game.

First, why, oh why did you remove the kick? Rather, it was not removed, but I see it never had a place to be implemented. The one thing that you can stagger your foes for a while was the kick in the first game.
Second, I get there are a lot of people who hate that, but you only fight one guy at a time. The whole point of the darkness in the first game was that due to Senua's condition suddenly 2-3 Northmen spawn to gank your ass. I personally do not mind that, but it was noticeable.
Third, again probably due to Senua's condition, there were enemies that were untargetable unless you parry or focus in the first game. In the second game that is completely non-existent. I think there was once during the Hiddenfolk search there was an unkillable enemy unless you focus, but that's it.

Now, all of this can be said as 'negatives' for some, so let's see some positives:
The combat is seamless. And by seamless, I mean you literally feel like you're watching a movie while spaming left, right, WASD, space and sometimes CTRL or E.
Because it needs to be seamless, there are so many unique animations of the enemies dying. There is an animation if you finish with a light attack, an animation after heavy attack, an animation after parry and light attack or parry and heavy attack. There are some unique animations for example Senua grabs the shield from the shield enemy and protects herself from the fire of the firebreather enemy. That's incredibly cool.
Also, secret hint, if you have an enemy that throws spears or axes, instead of dodging, try focusing just when the enemy threw the projectile.
Yes, basically, there are unique ways to use your Focus, not only to slow time like in the first game.

Third, finally and probably one of the biggest strengths: Ambience and Music.
I'll be honest, I found out about Heilung from the Game Awards when they presented the trailer for Hellblade 2. But since then I prayed, every day, that they make the soundtrack. Obviously they did not made the soundtrack, but they helped a lot with OSTs or ambient noises and I am sure Heilung will be more recognized now.
So yea, I hoped and bet that half of the soundtrack of Hellblade 2 to be from Heilung. I might be wrong in my prediction, but I've heard pieces, which I knew are Heilung-made in the game.

Now, what is the big conclusion of all of this? Well, one of the things, which would be a good thing to do for those giving hate and negative comments is to not compare it constantly with the first game. I did it in this review and look how many different things there are, the narrative, the story, everything. Why? Well, if you see quite literally any advertisement material in the past couple of years (albeit it wasn't many) for Hellblade 2 and, specifically commentary on what they will do for the second game, every one of them said that this game will be a lot different. And that's why it is a lot different than the first game, not because Ninja Theory or Xbox or Microsoft or whoever are dumb ♥♥♥♥♥, but because it was by design.

It's a different game from the first, I understand it's a bit too different for some people, but I believe this is a massive upgrade, not a downgrade. 9/10
As for recommending it, it's 50 euro. Either catch a sale or get it if you're really dedicated, because it's only a short 6-hour-ish game. But yes, I do recommend it strongly

Right, okay, So, let's break down the game, the idea of the game and why this game is such a masterpiece. I've heard *so many people* calling this game "walking cutscene simulator" and I completely understand why; the ratio between cutscenes and anything else is a bit tipped on the cutscene part compared to Hellblade 1. But I want you to take something into an account here, that is very present in both games - what the fuck did you do when it *WASN'T* a cutscene in the first game? Walking through Valravn's illusions? Okay, sure. Solving puzzles, which is basically seeing a symbol from a specific perspective? Okay, sure. Fight? Okay, sometimes, sure. And? What else? Nothing, right? That was the whole fucking point. Both games had it present, but people seems to have forgotten the first one being so.. bland compared to the second. Oh, you mean that the fake rot mechanic in the first game was good? Yea, you survived barely dying, in the end Hela watched you get consumed by darkness. Anyway, now that I addressed the rants time to give some comparisons and say some good things for once. First of all, for what is worth, even though it barely had advertisement, people jumped on playing Hellblade II, because there were promises for technologies that indeed came into fruition. Oh, little Billy, you don't like that the fights look like cutscenes? Haven't you thought that this is EXACTLY the goal here? I've called it before around my friends, this is Psychosis Movie: The Game. Everything, from the cutscenes, to the fights, to even walking with your followers looks like a movie. That's the point - seamless story-rich game. Hey, uh, fun fact, when Druth literally spammed the shit out of you in the first game and Senua replied, anyone noticed, that if you are able to rotate the model, Senua does not talk or react, at all? One of the things I noticed, which by the way I don't see often, I was surprised, was when Senua was walking with Fargrimr, Thórgestr and Ástríðr Senua pays attention, looks at them slightly while walking with them and her facial features, including mouth are moving. Such detail is relatively easy to miss when you compare everything else in the first game. There are some plot holes, or at least not explained well, like for example, how Senua got in the slave ship in the first place. She just got out of Hel and, what, was captured as a sacrifice for giants? The fuck? Secondly, if the first game was all in le head, I get it, but still, why is her darkness only shown at the very end of the game as a "Is this my destiny", while the rot on her arm is basically not there. And third, I do miss seeing little eyeballs in a very small section of Valravn's map in the first game, what happened with that. Okay, so, now the story of Hellblade 2. It is basically a rundown of what the Icelandic people believed in Norse mythology, up to and including the sacrifices they've made to appease their gods and beasts. Senua was in a ship, which was meant for those people tied in the ship to be sacrifices for the giants. The story revolves around the storm, breaking her ship and breaking her out, as well as discovering the purpose of her slavery, being able to capture her slaver and form, basically a fellowship against the giants. The Furies, aka the voices in Senua's head are still present, remember, she suffers from psychosis. The people around her started seeing her more like an oracle or a seer of sorts, due to her psychosis and ability to see differently, which, I do admit is a weird direction compared to the first game, as in both games Ninja Theory consulted specialists and real, actual people suffering with psychosis. Now combat, don't even argue with me that it's bad, if you think it's bad go refund the game or unown it if you passed 2 hours, you piece of shit .The combat is absolutely marvelous. I've already replayed, multiple times, some scenes that has the perfect throat-singing soundtrack to back up the fight. There is a fight scene, where you feel like everything is going full chaos. Now, as much as I do adore, and I mean I absolutely adore the combat system, there are a few things, especially compared to the first game that are incredibly noticeable. Maybe that's why there are a lot of people criticizing this game. First, why, oh why did you remove the kick? Rather, it was not removed, but I see it never had a place to be implemented. The one thing that you can stagger your foes for a while was the kick in the first game. Second, I get there are a lot of people who hate that, but you only fight one guy at a time. The whole point of the darkness in the first game was that due to Senua's condition suddenly 2-3 Northmen spawn to gank your ass. I personally do not mind that, but it was noticeable. Third, again probably due to Senua's condition, there were enemies that were untargetable unless you parry or focus in the first game. In the second game that is completely non-existent. I think there was once during the Hiddenfolk search there was an unkillable enemy unless you focus, but that's it. Now, all of this can be said as 'negatives' for some, so let's see some positives: The combat is seamless. And by seamless, I mean you literally feel like you're watching a movie while spaming left, right, WASD, space and sometimes CTRL or E. Because it needs to be seamless, there are so many unique animations of the enemies dying. There is an animation if you finish with a light attack, an animation after heavy attack, an animation after parry and light attack or parry and heavy attack. There are some unique animations for example Senua grabs the shield from the shield enemy and protects herself from the fire of the firebreather enemy. That's incredibly cool. Also, secret hint, if you have an enemy that throws spears or axes, instead of dodging, try focusing just when the enemy threw the projectile. Yes, basically, there are unique ways to use your Focus, not only to slow time like in the first game. Third, finally and probably one of the biggest strengths: Ambience and Music. I'll be honest, I found out about Heilung from the Game Awards when they presented the trailer for Hellblade 2. But since then I prayed, every day, that they make the soundtrack. Obviously they did not made the soundtrack, but they helped a lot with OSTs or ambient noises and I am sure Heilung will be more recognized now. So yea, I hoped and bet that half of the soundtrack of Hellblade 2 to be from Heilung. I might be wrong in my prediction, but I've heard pieces, which I knew are Heilung-made in the game. Now, what is the big conclusion of all of this? Well, one of the things, which would be a good thing to do for those giving hate and negative comments is to not compare it constantly with the first game. I did it in this review and look how many different things there are, the narrative, the story, everything. Why? Well, if you see quite literally any advertisement material in the past couple of years (albeit it wasn't many) for Hellblade 2 and, specifically commentary on what they will do for the second game, every one of them said that this game will be a lot different. And that's why it is a lot different than the first game, not because Ninja Theory or Xbox or Microsoft or whoever are dumb fucks, but because it was by design. It's a different game from the first, I understand it's a bit too different for some people, but I believe this is a massive upgrade, not a downgrade. 9/10 As for recommending it, it's 50 euro. Either catch a sale or get it if you're really dedicated, because it's only a short 6-hour-ish game. But yes, I do recommend it strongly