Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was introduced in 2019 proper after the presentation of the brand new technology Xbox Sequence X|S consoles. The trailer impressed with the ambiance, animations and element, though at the moment the event of the sport was nearly to start. Did the authors handle to show their imaginative and prescient into actuality and repeat the success of the unique recreation in lower than 4 years? Examine it with out spoilers in our Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II evaluate.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
1285 hryvnias
Professionals:
story, route, music, appearing, graphics, sound.
Purchase within the Xbox Retailer
8.5/10
Estimated by ITC.ua
(not) Savior
As promised within the finale of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Senua has many extra adventures forward of her, and certainly one of them is expounded to slave merchants. The Normans raid the islands, abducting folks, together with these from the Senui tribe, who’ve simply returned from a visit to the Gaelic. With a view to attempt to cease human trafficking, the heroine decides to give up with the intention to attain Iceland and kill the particular person accountable for these kidnappings. From this second, a brand new chapter within the historical past of Senua begins.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a recreation that fully will depend on your private notion of the story. By way of creativity, this can be a virtually flawless story that doubles the achievements of the unique. Senua continues to battle outdated and new demons inside herself, however this time she’s not alone.
All of the characters’ dialogues and Senua’s monologues look natural and pure, and at one level even with a lightweight contact of humor.
Heroes do not go someplace simply because the screenwriter needed them there. Historical past brings 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 screenwriters make it clear that this time the primary place of occasions is the actual world, and everybody we meet and kill are actual folks. However the peculiarity of Senui can change this notion of actuality by giving it fantasy colours impressed by Scandinavian mythology.
Senua suffers from psychosis. Individuals with this psychological dysfunction expertise severe disturbances within the notion of actuality (hallucinations, delusions, stupor).
And as much as a sure level, this system works, however nearer to the tip recreation it turns into more and more tough to determine the “actual” setting of the sport. When making an attempt to investigate a number of recreation scenes, doubts and questions in regards to the logic of the world construction start to seem. The primary cause for that is the opposite folks we meet.
In Senua’s Sacrifice, it was logically defined that all the things we noticed was not actual, and that Senua lives in a “life like” world, not a fantasy world. In Hellblade 2, the direct interplay with folks calls into query the life like setting of the sport.
You may attempt to clarify and justify something, and perhaps the builders will give solutions throughout repeated playthroughs of the sport, however I want to instantly see at the very least the logic of the world construction that was within the first recreation.
The Narrator’s voice returned and an attention-grabbing narrative resolution associated to it. After finishing the sport, you can begin a New Recreation, or replay particular person episodes by 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 likewise their imaginative and prescient of what’s occurring to Senuya and their angle in direction of her. Thus, for a whole image and understanding of what really occurred, it’s advisable to play the sport a number of occasions.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 has extra supplies, certainly one of which is a video about Senua’s psychosis. You may watch it on the developer channel, nevertheless it has Ukrainian subtitles within the recreation.
Accumulating all of the Pillars of Historical past (much like the lore stones from the earlier recreation) will open one other Storyteller, however I will not spoil it. The Pillars additionally unlock extra materials about Grettir, the protagonist of the story informed by the Pillars.
Along with pillars, Stone Faces had been added to the sport, behind which Story Timber are hidden. I could not discover all of the faces, so I do not know what impact they’ve on the story.
Senua didn’t eliminate the voices that generally inspired the heroine to proceed the trail, and quite the opposite, to surrender. And generally each on the similar time.
I preferred the implementation of voices in subtitles: from which aspect we hear the voice, from that aspect the subtitles seem. A really elegant resolution that permits non-English talking gamers to not get misplaced.
The sport obtained textual content Ukrainian localization. The interpretation is properly completed, I didn’t discover any misprints, and the well-known “credit” are undoubtedly absent.
(not) Flawless
Earlier than transferring on to the gameplay components, it’s worthwhile to 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 totally different degree of notion in comparison with the unique.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is maybe probably the most lovely recreation as we speak, each technologically and artistically.
In 2019, the event of the sport was simply starting, therefore the announcer trailer performed the function of an idea through which the builders confirmed their imaginative and prescient of the sequel: its ambiance, temper and technical state, which they attempt to attain. So usually are doing Naughty Canine, автори Uncharted та The Final of Us.
The next trailers have already proven precise gameplay footage, and surprisingly, they’re fully true to the discharge model of the sport. Technical specialists like Digital Foundry will make an in depth comparability between the promised graphics and the actual factor, however wanting on the photographs on the display proper now, it is exhausting to think about a recreation extra lovely than Hellblade II.
Screenshots, particularly of dynamic scenes, don’t even come near conveying the element of the atmosphere, the standard of results and the cinematic nature of the sport. Already in the course of the opening scene in the course of the storm, it’s exhausting to imagine that this isn’t a pre-rendered video. Some landscapes are straightforward to confuse with actual photographs of the island. I’m certain that quickly after the discharge we are going to see numerous photographs evaluating actual and digital Iceland.
To reinforce the cinematic really feel of the sport, the builders determined to broadcast the picture in a 2.39:1 facet ratio. Additionally, taking into consideration the viewing angle and bokeh, the sport simulates an anamorphic lens. To place it very merely, for instance, if a 50 mm anamorphic lens has a compression issue of two.0, the vertical angle of view stays 50 mm, however horizontally it corresponds to a a lot wider focal size of 25 mm.
Within the picture mode, you possibly can allow the usual 16:9, through which case the picture will likely be cropped on the edges of the body, however you can not play on this mode.
And though the rocky volcanic floor of Iceland in direction of the tip of the sport has already begun to sting the attention somewhat, it’s unimaginable to not cease having fun with the great thing about open areas, mountain peaks on the horizon and villages with detailed courtyards.
Nevertheless, expertise has its worth. The builders selected Unreal Engine 5 and determined to make the sport in 30FPS for present technology consoles. Most gamers perceived this truth as the shortcoming to optimize the engine on the Xbox Sequence, and there may be some fact on this. The brand new Unreal Engine is admittedly demanding.
Choices in regards to the “base” body fee are made on the design stage, as a result of the detailing of the atmosphere, animations, results and different visible parts rely on it. Video games designed for 30FPS can have visible glitches or much less easy animations in the event that they merely add 60FPS with out extra processing.
Hellblade 2 isn’t a dynamic recreation, so the choice to take a position as a lot as doable within the visible element, sacrificing excessive efficiency, is kind of logical. I performed on PC and all the things performs positive at 60FPS. Nevertheless, on the second playthrough, I attempted to play in 30FPS “mode” and to my shock, the gaming expertise didn’t change in any respect. Taking part in at a better body fee is nicer, but when I had the selection to play at 30FPS, however with higher graphics, I would select that choice.
As for optimization, I acquired the next body fee values on my {hardware} with the best doable graphics settings with out DLSS (Ryzen 2700x, RTX 4080 Tremendous, 32 GB RAM at 3200 MHz):
1080р
70 FPS
1440р
55 FPS
4К
35 FPS
In notably tough scenes, the body fee at 1080p and 1440p drops, however with a extra trendy processor, you possibly can depend on a steady 60FPS with VSync enabled for a easy picture. For a steady 60 frames in 4K, you’ll have to allow DLSS/FSR/XeSS, or sacrifice some graphic settings.
I additionally need to level out that even on the lowest doable graphics settings, the sport nonetheless appears lovely. So even homeowners of not very highly effective PCs, having recorded 30FPS and diminished the graphics settings to the minimal, will have the ability to get pleasure from this story.
Graphics settings in 1440: Excessive, Medium, Low
(not) Voitelka
Many hopes had been primarily based on rethinking the fight system, which within the first half was easy and at occasions frankly dragged the sport on. Sadly, virtually nothing has modified by way of mechanics on this facet of the sport. Even some components had been eliminated. For instance, a operating kick.
However after Senua’s Sacrifice, it turned clear that the authors are making a plot-centric recreation, the place the primary ingredient is the story. All the pieces else works for her, so now the simplified fight system doesn’t disappoint, as a result of there usually are not many fights within the recreation in comparison with different components.
The small variety of fight scenes allowed every of them to be directed individually. As within the first half, we battle head to head with the enemy, however this time there may be all the time just one enemy in entrance of us. Because of this resolution, every battle feels private, tremendous intense and as if on the final breath.
The dynamics of the battle is added by the atmosphere, which creates the sensation of an actual battlefield, the place warriors eat life. Different enemies or innocents are continuously flying into the body, whom they will kill with out blinking an eye fixed. Individuals can crash into us simply once we try to make the ultimate blow on an nearly completed enemy. From behind, sparks fly from the homes engulfed in flames, and the rain washes the blood of the freshly killed draugr from the face. Add to this contemporary technological implementation and all impressions and feelings will multiply tenfold.
In Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, battle scenes are higher dosed. I by no means as soon as felt like I used to be getting uninterested in numerous back-to-back arenas. That is the place the unique sinned, particularly close to the tip of the sport.
I used to be glad with the execution of the fight element of Hellblade 2, nevertheless it all will depend on your notion of the sport and expectations.
Along with the fight system, the builders revised the method to puzzles. Searches for runes have been diminished a number of occasions, however they’re nonetheless centered on small arenas. Some spatial puzzles had been excluded altogether, and new ones had been added of their place. They’re additionally repetitive, however now some lengthy ranges can consist solely of small puzzles that open the way in which in a protracted “hall”.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is probably the most technologically superior audiovisual expertise as we speak, with a simplified fight system that solely enhances the narrative element. And the significance of the theme of individuals residing with psychosis strengthens the emotional connection between the participant and the primary character.
However even exterior the context of a socially essential subject, I like to recommend everybody to strive Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. At the moment it is extremely essential to help the builders of excellent video games, particularly because the recreation from the discharge is accessible within the Recreation Cross subscription and in addition has a Ukrainian translation.
Conclusion:
Hellblade II didn’t change the fundamental idea. It is nonetheless a recreation with strolling and puzzles, and somewhat combating. Melina Juergens’ story, route and appearing are the spine and major driving power. For this largely distinctive expertise, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is unquestionably price a strive.
Purchase within the Xbox Retailer
