If you know what Hellblade is about, you know it’s not a typical action game – it’s a cinematic, psychological journey that prioritizes atmosphere and storytelling over complex gameplay. Maybe you’ll never play it, but I still have to share this – I’ve just finished Hellblade 2. Pros: breathtaking audiovisuals – from incredibly detailed environments and cinematic camera work to top-tier sound design; probably the most beautiful game on Unreal Engine 5; immersive atmosphere; epic combat; a psychologically well-crafted story; engaging characters; full Czech subtitles; collectibles that expand the world and lore; replayability through alternative story perspectives; film-quality performances; authentic environments captured with photogrammetry; and binaural audio that makes you feel like you’re truly inside Senua’s head. Cons: could have been a bit longer; very linear; the slower, atmosphere-driven pacing might not be for everyone. Verdict: Hellblade 2 is an experienc...

I think that, at its core, this is a game that didn't need to be made; given that the Hellblade story was already great just as it had been developed during its first instalment. Going beyond that, giving the game a chance anyways, we find an ok but not amazing game. Puzzles are mostly uninteresting, the story too, and the world is beyond linear, going back to FFXIII levels of passageway traversal. This all makes up for what to me felt like a worse version of the original game for around 5 of its 6 chapters. There are though, two redeeming qualities that are worth talking about. The first one being the interactions between Senua and Ástríðr, and, also somewhat, between her and Thórgestr. We get to see her again speaking to someone, or at least trying to. We see her troubles and insecurities as she speaks. This builds great scenes, we can see and feel her inner fight between liking and at the same time not quite being able to trust Ástríðr and Thórgestr. By the end I feel ...

Despite compromises, obviously, I cant believe that they got this to run well on the Steam Deck. Impressive job! Now if other UE devs could do the same...

- Good mainplot. Made me weep at the end. Melina Juergens acts incredible even though she's an actress without prof education! - Awesome graphics - Awesome music (Dark Psy Trance Celtic Folk? 😮) - Epic fighing. - Kinda boring pazzles, but it's fine. Hoping for next game. P:S: Dark Rot mode is insane! Good luck with that. And don't start playing for the first time with it!

I liked the first Senua game, but this one is different: - The story is all over the place - Swordfights are tedious and have no real challenge - Game has tons of graphic violence without much sense in it

The experience is sensational. It's also so much more polished than Senua's Sacrifice. Sword combat is more exciting and engaging. And so brutal...love it. Bonus point for letting us use both AB/XO buttons for dodging. I had yearned for something cinematic since Remedy's Control and AW2, though very different, Hellblade 2 feels just right. Can't wait for a third game honestly

The game is a movie. It looks good and plot sucks. No proper Icelandic history, no clear mental illness immersion. Game stuck in between. Failed to deliver any of those two.

It's a graphically beautiful bit of work, but if you wanted more of the Senua experience and the amazing storytelling of the first game, prepare to be horribly disappointed. The story is shallow and treats Senua's psychosis like a superpower rather than a very real mental health struggle, and the metaphors and symbolism are really beaten over your head. The inclusion of a cast of NPCs might have been interesting, but the interactions with them felt shallow and unrealistic. The fighting and puzzles are far more tedious in this sequel, and the "boss" fights are much less imaginative. All in all, something I'd have loved to watch as a movie, but a major let down as a video game.

If you liked Hellblade, maybe don’t buy Senua’s Saga. The awkward renaming that separates it in your library already hints at what follows: a sequel that loses what made the first game special. Senua’s Sacrifice was flawed yet powerful, carried by its sound and story. Saga looks only marginally better, runs poorly even on low settings, and its voices have turned from haunting to hand-holding. On Steam Deck it is near unplayable despite being “Verified.” @NinjaTheory: Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga would have worked far better, keeping consistency while leaving space to grow beyond a single character that is already hard to develop further.

For a one time experience it's mostly fine... But not good. Puzzles are laughably easy, but tedious. Combat is good looking, but boring. The traversal is painfully slow. Why do I have to keep holding the sprint button to walk half of the speed what a normal human would? The protagonist over-acting the facial animations are a big turnoff and immersion breaking. Nobody moves their mouth this way. The constant screaming is agonizing. The story is ehhh, I guess ok? Nothing revolutionary, but well it kept most of my interest for the 6 hours of gameplay. The narration was amazing in the first game, greatly pushed back in this one. Performance is abyssimal. Overall, not worth the price, maybe if it was around 20-30$.