Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

The Good
Hellblade is the kind of game that I think of when people talk about if video games can be considered art. There's so much to take in during this whole game; the story, the visuals, and even the audio is incredible. If you haven't played it, I HIGHLY recommend going into it knowing as little as possible.

I don't know how to explain this game without spoiling a bit, but I will make an attempt.

You start the game as a woman showing up at an island while you can hear voices saying encouraging and discouraging things to her. You can tell that she hears the voices in her head, and she does for the whole game. The first impression you get from Senua might be that she is a bit "crazy," but you start to understand her and her mental state. Senua suffers from psychosis, and from what I've read online (from people claiming to have psychosis or share the symptoms), they portray it accurately. There are people that argue that the game isn't accurate enough, but there were researches of mental illness working on the game, so I think I'll assume it's as accurate as it can be. Regardless, the game still sheds some light on mental illness, so hopefully the people who play it can begin to understand how hard it is to live with them.

The story is a little hard to follow, but it's still very well-written. I won't say much, but Senua's goals are clear-- although it's difficult to be sure if she'll reach them. It's also sometimes hard to tell what's real and what isn't, because of her psychosis. I went into this thinking that all of the unrealistic things (the enemies, gods, etc.) were there just because of the fantasy setting, but then I started to question how much of what she experienced was even real in her world. Even after the game ended, it had me wondering what will happen to her now that her adventure is over?

There is an interesting part of this game that I like that many people don't. They tell you that there are limited lives. They tell you upfront at the beginning of the game, and it made it really scary to play. At first, I liked fighting since the combat felt solid and enjoyable. However, as the battles got harder, my heart would start to race when she pulled out her sword. People complain about it because they're bad at video games. I loved the thought of losing my save from dying too much because it adds a very unique horror element.

The Bad
Not much, to be honest. It did run poorly a lot, but that was probably my pc's fault.

The Bottom Line
It's a good game, go play it. I won't say anything about it.