Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Review

Cambridge-based game developer Ninja Theory has produced praiseworthy yet commercially unsuccessful games for most of its history, ever since the days of Kung Fu Chaos, a 3D fighting party game made exclusively for the original Xbox console.

The same was true for Heavenly Sword, an action/adventure developed for Sony as a PlayStation 3 exclusive, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, a multiplatform release published by Bandai Namco, and DmC: Devil May Cry, which was also controversial among fans for the changes it made to the beloved CAPCOM series.

Ironically, Ninja Theory found its big break when it opted to self-publish a game for the first time. I’m talking, of course, about Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, which the studio devised as a so-called ‘independent triple-A’ game. The game only took three months to break even, and its stellar reviews attracted Microsoft to the UK studio at a time when they were looking to increase the size of Xbox Game Studios. For its part, Ninja Theory clearly understood that despite the success of Hellblade, financial trouble was just a failed project away. They, like other independent studios in a similar position (Obsidian, inXile, Double Fine Productions), chose the (alleged) security of having such a big parent company.

Following the acquisition, Ninja Theory released the multiplayer online action game Bleeding Edge. However, it wasn’t received well, and development was shut down less than a year after launch.

By then, the studio had already unveiled Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, the sequel to its most acclaimed game, at The Game Awards 2019. Between the first game and this announcement, Sony Santa Monica released the massively successful God of War reboot, also heavily rooted in Norse mythology and very much narrative-driven. Many Xbox fans initially hoped Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II would borrow some things from God of War, especially when it comes to size and scope.

However, having played and finished Ninja Theory’s first-ever sequel, I can tell you that despite the long development, the studio made the interesting choice of keeping the same short length. The game will last between six to seven hours, largely depending on how quick you are with solving the environmental puzzles that are dispersed throughout Senua’s journey.

Its structure is also virtually the same. This is an extremely linear affair where players only have very limited exploration and interactivity with the environment. Sometimes, they can discover totem-like structures that provide bits of lore on the world designed by the development team, but that’s it. There are no upgrades or new gear to be found nor resources to be gathered.

Combat is also largely unchanged from the first game, consisting entirely of one-on-one fights. You can perform many of the same moves: dodge, parry/block, light attack, and heavy attack. Actually, for some reason, Senua no longer has the kick move, which is a shame since her enemies sometimes use quick slaps and the like. Anyway, there’s also still the same mirror item that allows her to focus and slow time for a few seconds.

Like the original, the game is entirely HUDless. In this sequel, Ninja Theory went one step further and delivered Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II in a cinematic 2.39:1 aspect ratio, which means there are black bars on regular 16:9 displays, just like you’d find in most movies.

That is all to say, in most ways, this is really more of an experience than a game. Each step of Senua’s brief journey acquires meaning thanks to the constant introspection enabled by her inner voices, once again one of the highlights of the experience. They are a reflection of her psychosis, yes, sometimes inciting her to press on and be strong, but just as often expressing her self-doubts and fear of failure. But they also serve as constant commentary on what’s happening around Senua.

In Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, though, the protagonist isn’t just left to deal with her own ghosts. There are real people Senua encounters and befriends once she gets to Iceland. Her objective quickly changes after she learns what’s truly going on in this dark, forsaken, yet beautiful land. In her quest to free the people of Iceland from the giants, Senua has three companions: Thórgestr, Fargrímr, and Ástríðr, each with their own well-defined personality.

Ultimately, it would be a crime to spoil (besides the fact that it is forbidden by the review embargo guidelines) the story since it is so vital to this game, so I’ll just say that it deals gracefully with universal themes like what loss, pain, and grief can to do a person. There’s also Senua’s own path to accepting her own inner darkness as well as dealing with the ever-present shadow of her past.

It is a beautiful, incredibly poignant story that anyone should experience for themselves. That is why I mentioned in the headline how Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II might be the perfect Game Pass experience. Even gamers who would rather prefer a more traditional game are very likely to be driven to play it since it will be on the subscription service on day one. I certainly recommend it.

On that note, Ninja Theory will assuredly get their latest work in the hands of many more users, which is great for this type of experience. However, I’m not so sure Microsoft will be just as happy with the return on investment, especially since Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is otherwise sold at $49 (instead of the original’s $29) and is unlikely to set sales charts on fire. I expect Microsoft will eventually release it on PlayStation consoles to maximize profits.

I still have to discuss the audiovisual department. There’s not much to say here except that it is absolutely stellar. Unreal Engine 5 is used to its full extent, with Nanite making a particularly impressive showcase of its virtual geometry in the impressive rendering of Iceland’s rocky environments. The atmosphere and lighting are fantastic, although I found certain scenes to be a bit too dark, to the point where you literally had to increase the gamma to see anything.

Performance-wise, the game had only minimal stuttering. On an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU, I could play with DLAA, DLSS Frame Generation at 4K resolution and max settings with around 80 frames per second on average, gaining around 30 frames thanks to Frame Generation.

The audio component is just as good. As with the original, the developers recommend playing the game with headphones for the best experience, but a good Dolby Atmos setup also works well to reproduce the voices and sounds that surround Senua. The voice acting is also excellent.

Reviewed on PC (code provided by the publisher).

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II keeps virtually the same scope and structure of the independent triple-A game made in 2017 by Ninja Theory. The story is just as poignant, the visuals are stunning, and the experience is one that every Game Pass user should check out for themselves. However, those hoping for a more traditional game in the vein of the God of War reboot will inevitably be disappointed, and this is unlikely to have nearly that level of success, which is what Microsoft still desperately needs.