Senua's Saga: Hellblade II Reviews
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is intense, captivating, and breathtaking. From the moment I began to play, the beauty and quality of this game has enthralled me. It was difficult at times to even consider it 'just a game'. I could spend long periods just admiring the textures and use of light and color. Even in simple moments when you are merely wandering a path or exploring a hut, it looks like a movie.
Ninja Theory took a very big risk with Hellblade 2, and the gamble paid off in part. By moving away from the extreme darkness of the first game, the studio avoids taking the easy way out or creating a feeling of repetition. Now, the title also has a more conformist form, a rhythm, dispensable NPCs and certain flaws that have only been ironed out, which may not appeal as much as the more intimate, anxiety-inducing first experience. A interesting game, but not a fantastic sequel or the masterpiece it could have been.
Review in French | Read full review
Hellblade 2 doesn't have the enchantment of the first whisper.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Short, but furiously staged and audiovisually impressive adventure that leaves much to be desired in terms of gameplay and narrative.
Review in German | Read full review
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a fantastic experience and a great sequel, but it is one the finishes rapidly and without a warning.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is an impeccable story of coming to terms with trauma and making difficult decisions, punctuated by moments of outstanding beauty and strength.
Ninja Theory manages to place Senua in the Olympus of videogames with the most visually and sonorously powerful game we have seen so far. A spectacular, stunning and awe-inspiring journey.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The newest chapter in Senua’s story is powerfully told but feels like it’s missing a few pages.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II features intense audio, beautiful graphics, and wonderful camera work, creating a powerful presentation that’s worth experiencing. However, the narrative doesn’t quite stick the landing.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a stunning and immersive storytelling experience that really puts the player into the mind of its titular character. It's even more narratively-focused than the first game (not to its detriment), with a bigger emphasis on how Senua sees and interacts with the world around her. The whole experience from start to finish has been beyond memorable.
While Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 might not set any new standards with its simplistic gameplay mechanics, from an audio-visual experience standpoint, it's frankly quite a stunning experience. Hellblade 2 is as close to playing the leading role in a big budget movie as you’re likely to get, and Ninja Theory’s continued coverage on the complexities of severe mental health issues deserves to be commended once more. Bravo, Ninja Theory. Bravo.
This is a masterpiece of gaming with atmosphere so powerful, that the player forgets to breathe and absorbs the story with all their senses, unable to divert their eyes, and oblivious to the surrounding world. Terror and awe are constant during this phenomenal, but too short adventure.
Review in Polish | Read full review
For most of its duration, Senua’s Saga is undone by its own admirable precepts. It’s too enamored with its central conceit of letting us hear the voices in Senua’s head, too concerned with being serious and sober, too in love with the barbaric world it’s trying to create and the relentlessly grim story it’s trying to tell to work as a worthwhile piece of entertainment. I really hate to say that, because Ninja Theory’s dedication to their vision is laudable, especially in an industry full of cookie cutter sequels and generic retreads focused on hitting the broadest possible audience. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II deserves respect, but it doesn’t necessarily deserve to be played.
Hellblade 2 sticks to what its predecessor was good at, delivering a technically, visually, and narratively impressive experience, even if it's one that feels a bit too familiar and straightforward from a gameplay perspective.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II from developer Ninja Theory and publisher Xbox Game Studios proves there is more story to tell from Senua’s journey, and that the story is still centric to the game. The sequel extends and expands Senua’s character, opens her world to more possibilities, and maintains its quest to replicate and address mental health issues and disorders caused by trauma. The gameplay mechanics and action are still essentially the same as the first title, although those elements appear to be far smoother in their execution and less of a drag to the story.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 starts incredibly strong in the first half, but after certain revelations, the story speeds up to a point where the conclusion feels rushed and half-baked.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is yet another arresting, artful chapter in an adventure now two games long. Though it might approach iteration with a very safe hand, only going so far as to correct the original's shortcomings, Ninja Theory's clear strengths in story craft, audiovisual design, as well as their care for the dark subject matter manage to shine through brighter than ever before.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is well worth the wait and is a serious game of the year contender. Senua's follow-up journey is the best exploration of mental health that we've seen in games to date, using incredibly striking visual imagery, metaphors and immersive soundscapes to have you feel right there next to her. In what has to be the most photo-realistic game of all time, you're guaranteed to be constantly taken by the hero's adventure as you take in the beautiful and often haunting Viking Iceland. Through mud and dirt, blood and bones, Senua and Ninja Theory in turn bare all to you, the player. A masterpiece, benchmark and magnum opus, Hellblade II is crucial storytelling you won't soon forget.