Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was introduced in 2019 instantly after the presentation of the brand new era consoles Xbox Sequence X|S. The trailer impressed with the ambiance, animations and element, though at the moment the event of the sport was nearly to start. In lower than 4 years, have been the authors capable of flip their imaginative and prescient into actuality and repeat the success of the unique sport? Examine it with out spoilers in our evaluation of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
1285 hryvnias
Execs:
story, course, music, performing, graphics, sound.
8.5/10
Ranking ITC.ua
(not) Savior
As promised within the finale of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Senua nonetheless has many adventures forward, and certainly one of them is said to slave merchants. The Normans raid the islands, kidnapping folks, together with the tribe of Senui, who has simply returned from a visit to Gel. To attempt to cease human trafficking, the heroine decides to give up in an effort to get to Iceland and kill the particular person answerable for these abductions. From this second a brand new chapter within the historical past of Senui begins.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a sport whose impression relies upon totally in your private notion of the story. Creatively, it is a practically flawless story that doubles the achievements of the unique. Senua continues to struggle previous and new demons inside herself, however this time she shouldn’t be alone.
All of the dialogues of the characters and the monologues of Senua herself look natural and pure, and at one second even with a slight contact of humor.
Heroes do not go someplace simply because the screenwriter needed them there. Historical past takes them there. Each cease and each motion is a consequence of the heroine’s actions. And just one second doesn’t give me peace.
Within the new half, the writers make it clear that this time the primary setting of occasions is the true world, and everybody we meet and kill are actual folks. However the peculiarity of Senua can modify this notion of actuality, giving it fantasy colours impressed by Scandinavian mythology.
Senua suffers from psychosis. Individuals with this psychological dysfunction expertise critical disturbances within the notion of actuality (hallucinations, delusions, stupor).
And as much as a sure level this method works, however nearer to the tip of the sport it turns into more and more tough to determine the “actual” setting of the sport. When attempting to research a number of sport scenes, doubts and questions start to come up relating to the logic of the universe. The principle cause for that is the opposite folks we meet.
In Senua’s Sacrifice, it was logically defined that every part we noticed was not actual, and Senua lives in a “life like” somewhat than fantasy world. In Hellblade 2, direct interplay with folks challenges the sport’s life like setting.
You possibly can attempt to clarify and justify something, and maybe the builders will give solutions throughout repeated playthroughs of the sport, however I want to instantly see a minimum of the consistency of the universe that was within the first sport.
The Narrator’s voice has returned, with an fascinating narrative determination related to it. After finishing the sport, you can begin a New Recreation, or replay particular person episodes, altering the Narrator. On this case, we are going to hear the story of our companions and the folks we met on our journey. And in addition their imaginative and prescient of what occurs to the heroine and their perspective in the direction of her. Thus, for a whole image and understanding of what really occurred, it’s advisable to undergo the sport a number of instances.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 has further content material, certainly one of them is a video about Senua’s psychosis. You possibly can watch it on the builders’ channel, however within the sport it has Ukrainian subtitles.
Having collected all of the Story Pillars (analogous to the lore stones from the earlier sport), one other Storyteller will open, however I gained’t spoil him. The Pillars will even unlock further materials about Grettir, the primary character of the story that the Pillars inform.
Along with the pillars, Stone Faces have been added to the sport, behind which the Story Bushes are hidden. I couldn’t discover all of the faces, so I don’t know what affect they’ve on the story.
Senua didn’t eliminate the voices that both inspired the heroine to proceed the trail or, quite the opposite, to surrender. And typically one and the opposite on the similar time.
I preferred the implementation of voices in subtitles: from which facet we hear the voice, on that facet the subtitles seem. A really elegant resolution that enables gamers who don’t communicate English to not get misplaced.
The sport obtained textual content Ukrainian localization. The interpretation was nicely carried out, I didn’t discover any typos, and the infamous “credit” are undoubtedly lacking.
(not) Flawless
Earlier than shifting on to the gameplay components, you must perceive the context of the visible element of the sport, as a result of it’s the graphics that essentially change and produce the sequel to a totally completely different stage of notion in comparison with the unique.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is probably probably the most stunning sport of our time, each technologically and artistically.
In 2019, growth of the sport was simply starting, so the announcer trailer performed the position of an idea during which the builders confirmed their imaginative and prescient of the sequel: its ambiance, temper and technical state that they try to realize. So typically do Naughty Canine, авторы Uncharted и The Final of Us.
The next trailers have already proven actual sport footage, and, oddly sufficient, they’re fully per the discharge model of the sport. Tech specialists like Digital Foundry will do an in depth comparability of the promised graphics and the true one, however trying on the picture on the display now, it’s tough to think about a sport extra stunning than Hellblade II.
Screenshots, particularly of dynamic scenes, don’t even come near conveying the element of the surroundings, the standard of the results and the cinematic high quality of the sport. Even in the course of the opening scene throughout a storm, it is onerous to imagine that this is not a pre-rendered video. Some landscapes can simply be confused with actual pictures of the island. I am certain that quickly after the discharge we are going to see numerous pictures evaluating actual and digital Iceland.
To reinforce the cinematic really feel of the sport, the builders determined to broadcast the picture in a facet ratio of two.39:1. Additionally, considering the viewing angle and bokeh, the sport simulates an anamorphic lens. To drastically simplify, then, for instance, if a 50 mm anamorphic lens has a compression ratio of two.0, then the vertical angle of view stays 50 mm, however the horizontal angle corresponds to a a lot wider focal size of 25 mm.
In photograph mode, you possibly can activate commonplace 16:9, during which case the picture can be cropped on the edges of the body, however you can’t play on this mode.
And whereas Iceland’s rocky, volcanic floor is beginning to get slightly tough by the tip of the sport, it is unimaginable to cease having fun with the great thing about the open areas, the mountain peaks on the horizon, and the villages with detailed courtyards.
Nevertheless, know-how comes at a worth. The builders selected Unreal Engine 5 and determined to make the sport at 30FPS for present era consoles. Most gamers perceived this truth because the impossibility of optimizing the engine on the Xbox Sequence, and there’s some fact on this. The brand new Unreal Engine is actually demanding on {hardware}.
The choice on the “base” body charge is made on the design stage, as a result of the element of the surroundings, animations, results and different visible elements rely upon it. Video games that have been designed for 30FPS might have visible glitches or much less easy animations in the event that they have been merely given 60FPS with out additional growth.
Hellblade 2 shouldn’t be a dynamic sport, so the choice to deal with the visible element as a lot as doable, sacrificing excessive efficiency, is kind of logical. I performed on PC and every part performs effective at 60FPS. Nevertheless, on a second playthrough I attempted enjoying in 30FPS “mode” and, to my shock, the gaming expertise remained just about unchanged. Enjoying at a better body charge is extra gratifying, but when I had the selection to play at 30FPS, however with higher graphics, I might select this selection.
As for optimization, I obtained the next body charges on my {hardware} with the best doable graphics settings with out DLSS (Ryzen 2700x, RTX 4080 Tremendous, 32 GB RAM @ 3200 MHz):
1080р
70 FPS
1440р
55 FPS
4К
35 FPS
In significantly heavy scenes, the body charge in 1080p and 1440p sags, however with a extra fashionable processor you possibly can depend on a steady 60FPS with VSync enabled for easy photos. For steady 60 frames in 4K you’ll have to allow DLSS/FSR/XeSS, or sacrifice some graphics settings.
I additionally wish to level out that even on the lowest doable graphics settings, the sport nonetheless appears to be like stunning. Subsequently, even house owners of not very highly effective PCs, having mounted 30FPS and lowered the graphics settings to minimal, will be capable to get pleasure from this story.
Graphics settings in 1440p: Excessive, Medium, Low
(not) Warrior
A lot hope was positioned on rethinking the fight system, which within the first half was easy and at instances frankly delayed the sport. Sadly, on this facet of the sport, nearly nothing has modified by way of mechanics. Even some components have been eliminated. For instance, a working kick.
However after Senua’s Sacrifice, it grew to become clear that the authors have been making a story-centric sport, the place the primary ingredient was story. All the pieces else works for it, so now the simplified fight system doesn’t disappoint, and there’s not a lot fight within the sport relative to different components.
The small variety of struggle scenes allowed every of them to be directed individually. As within the first half, we struggle nose to nose with the enemy, however this time there’s at all times just one enemy in entrance of us. This determination makes each struggle really feel private, tremendous intense and prefer it’s on its final legs.
The dynamics of the battle are added by the surroundings, which creates the sensation of an actual battlefield, the place warriors are gnawing out life. Different enemies or innocents continually fly into the body, whom they’ll kill with out blinking an eye fixed. Individuals can crash into us after we are attempting to make the ultimate blow to an nearly completed enemy. Sparks from homes engulfed in flames fly from behind, and the downpour washes the blood of a simply killed draugr from his face. Add to this contemporary technological efficiency and all impressions and feelings can be multiplied tenfold.
In Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, fight scenes are higher dosed. I by no means as soon as felt like I used to be getting bored with so many consecutive arenas. The unique was responsible of this, particularly in the direction of the tip of the sport.
I used to be happy with the execution of the fight element of Hellblade 2, however it all will depend on your notion of this sport and expectations.
Along with the fight system, the builders have reconsidered their method to riddles. The seek for runes has been lowered a number of instances, however they’re nonetheless centered on small arenas. Some spatial puzzles have been excluded altogether, and new ones have been added of their place. These are additionally repetitive, however now some lengthy ranges might consist solely of small puzzles that open up a path in a protracted “hall”.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is probably the most technologically superior audiovisual expertise of the current, during which the simplified fight system solely enhances the narrative element. And the significance of the subject of individuals residing with psychosis strengthens the participant’s emotional reference to the primary character.
However even exterior the context of a socially vital matter, I like to recommend everybody to attempt Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. Right this moment it is vitally vital to help the builders of fine video games, particularly for the reason that sport from launch is out there within the Recreation Go subscription and likewise has a Ukrainian translation.
Conclusion:
Hellblade II did not change the core idea. It is nonetheless a strolling sport with puzzles and a little bit of fight. The trunk and primary driving pressure is the story, course and performing of Melina Jurgens. For this largely distinctive expertise, you must undoubtedly attempt Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.