Dont be Silly Wrap your Willy » Reviews » Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
View Store Page
View Community Hub
Find More Like This
772 people found this review helpful
34 people found this review funny
3
25
15
14
4
4
3
30
Not Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 9.7 hrs on record (5.2 hrs at review time)
Posted: 14 Jun, 2020 @ 1:27pm
Updated: 14 Jun, 2020 @ 1:30pm

Oh boy i guess this review is not going to win me any new friends but i dont think that Hellblade : Senua's Sacrifice is a good game.... Here i said it.

If you are still here and didint leave your home with axe in your hands to look for me let me explain why do i think so.

First of all credit where credit is due. I wouldnt dream of taking away from this game what it does right . Presentation in this title is just top notch . Everything from visual style to music and everything in between is a solid 10. Vistas are hauntingly beautiful and whispers send chills down your spine.

It's also clear that devs did their due diligence towards subject of schizophrenia and mental illness in general. I'm no expert but it sure feels heartfelt and genuine. But that's where one is forced to draw a line and talk about GAME part of this game.

And the game part is ... dull. I'm sorry it really is. You are stuck with single type of puzzle which for the most part is more annoying than it is actually challening or engaging. Yes i guess it's fun for first few sections to look around the environment for certain shapes but after 10th one i'm left with a wish for a skip button because it adds nothing to experience besides wasting your time.

Same can be said about combat. Dodge, attack,attack and repeat until all foes are dead . It's as shallow as a puddle of water and without any elements from RPG or Action games it doesnt get any better and again is there just to waste your time and you are left wanting a skip button to move on.

Hmm , you want to skip puzzles and you want to skip combat so you could move on through story ... so i'm left with a question why is this a game even? Obviously there's basically no game here, just a story , which is great and deep and i cant praise it enough , but that's it. It's a great story but not a great game. This could have been a movie or novela or maybe a comic book.

Believe me , i feel bad about not liking this as much as everyone else does . I had highest of hopes for this game as i'm a huge fan of Norse mythology and everyone was talking how amazing this is going to be and ... i dont know, it's just not. As a game , something you take your controller or keyboard with mouse and just PLAY this is boring.

Phew ...
Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny Award
34 Comments
< 1 2 3 4 >
Opus Magno 5 Apr, 2024 @ 5:22am 
Appreciate honest reviews that can separate one thing from another and analyze each on their own merits.

Really loved the story, music and art as well, didn’t care about the combat part tbh, just a side-effect for story purposes and the puzzles were few and far apart to not get me bored.

But what I really enjoyed was the way the game plays you from the start… plays with our heads…something few games do nowadays - you know what I’m talking about…😁

You probably got yourself a friend through this review… or not, love is the same 🍻
karhu 18 Aug, 2023 @ 9:49am 
Imagine writing such an accurate review a no life loser steals it to gain rep, lmeo.
Dont be Silly Wrap your Willy 14 Jul, 2022 @ 1:42pm 
I know. Many people have reported him and flagged his stolen reviews but steam doesnt give a shit :)
NatanBlock🐾 14 Jul, 2022 @ 1:25pm 
Dude, your review was stolen.
https://steamproxy.net/id/thegoodsupremeleader/recommended/414340/
Joker3115 24 Nov, 2021 @ 2:13pm 
you are not alone on that feeling. Although I believe we are a minority in feeling this way about the game
The Dude 17 Nov, 2021 @ 3:15am 
A little late to this discussion, but... my two cents. I completely agree with what you've said. In terms of a "game" and "gameplay" it doesn't have much going for it.

However, I think this is why some people are at odds with it. I don't believe it is so much meant to be a game as it is an experience. I disagree that you would get the same reaction with a comic book or watching a movie. While both of those mediums are immersive in their own regards they aren't at the same level of immersion as video games are. I think the developers purposefully scaled back some of those aspects as it would've deterred from the main focus which is to step into the shoes of someone with mental illness/psychosis. Plus there was only 20 developers working on the entire game.
zelmo73 9 Apr, 2021 @ 5:36am 
I agree. I own Hellblade on Xbox One X and it's meh for all the reasons you described. I feel the same way about God Of War for the PS4 Pro; I fired it up after almost 3 years and it's still just as boring as it was in 2018 too. Of course, if they are able to improve that one on the PC like what happened with Horizon Zero Dawn then I might pick it up on sale.
XCERIIS 9 Apr, 2021 @ 1:15am 
That's pretty much the generalization of every gameplay these days. Huge story, but nothing else and repetitive grinds. Might as well be a ARPG, atlest it would have a shitload of loot.
Jobko 5 Apr, 2021 @ 1:31am 
As for the combat, I think it's good enough. Blocking, timed parrying, kicking shields down are 3 things you forgot, as well as combination attacks. So there is more there than you described, but I it is repetitive in terms of animations/feeling - it's almost arcade like. I think combat is also important though, as it creates a real threat and reason for Senua to be terrified, and puts you on your edge in certain situations. It also ties into her backstory about learning how to fight from watching her husband. Obviously you could do away with all this and just make it a walking simulator, but some of the most delusional and on edge times for me were in the combat/puzzle scenarios.

I can see what you mean though, these are indeed the weakest parts of the game, but I still to this day love replaying it for the story delivery and to speedrun these sections which makes them very bareable.
Jobko 5 Apr, 2021 @ 1:31am 
I agree that the puzzles were repetitive, same with combat, but I'd like to critique on every puzzle being the same. We have the pattern puzzle, Valraven illusion puzzle, aligning elements of the world together puzzle, light-based puzzles, and a mixture of all these elements at different stages, with each puzzle being varied by the situation you're in. Sure, not much, but for what could be a 4 hour rushed experience, or a 8 hour drawn out experience, it's enough to be interesting. These puzzles also fit into the narrative of psychosis/schizophrenia, and the commonality of patients with these mental disorders seeing extra meaning and patterns/symbolism that doesn't exist.