Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Review

"The Voices Return"

Campaign

May 21, 2024 at 3:44am
By Jason Stettner

It’s been a long wait for the second journey of Senua, but alas like the shores of the boats you ride in on the story continues. This sequel is an incredible technical achievement in gaming, no other game looks better than this one visually. Although there’s more to a game than just visuals of course.

The story here is an emotional continuation of the struggles of our lead. It’s recommended to play with headphones on and I carry that suggestion forward. You can hear the voices, some positive and others have mixed thoughts on what you’re doing at all times. It’s an ASMR blast.

Anyways, Senua is out to understand the situation around the slavers and has basically allowed herself to be captured. Things go wrong as they always do and she finds herself shipwrecked and attempting to salvage a rather daunting situation. Like with the original game this is based around moving through largely linear environments while battling foes and solving the odd puzzle.

If you’re coming from the first game they’ve cleaned up the pacing incredibly well with a much better balance of what you’re doing. There are fewer symbol based situations and they’ve introduced ball puzzles which were fine. In general though, it focuses on story and less on having to be bored sitting around trying to look through shapes if that makes sense which was a neat mechanic at the time but it was time consuming.

So you’re exploring the vast land of a Viking dominated Iceland and there’s more to meets the eye here. There’s a darkness, there are monsters and Senua will have to do deal with those. It’s very much a story focused on her character and journey, but it’s neat to see elements of working with others present here.

It really adds to her character and while it would have been neat to see more of a focus on those around her as things did conclude I did fully understand that this journey is hers’ and I appreciate it not losing track of that although I can see where some may expect more closure to the world around her. But really, when you think about it the story really is the adventure her and the voices in her head do go on.

Gameplay

What’s really fascinating about this sequel is that at times I was confused between what was cinematics and what was gameplay. You may think that’s not a good thing, but it really was a special feeling as the blend is that perfect. It’s truly a natural continuation the whole way through and while segmented with chapters to feel the difference in areas it’s one smooth journey. It’s an incredible technical achievement like I’ve mentioned.

On Unreal Engine 5 this is the best looking game I’ve ever seen and it sets the standard for visuals in gaming. You do with that suffer on Xbox Series X with a 30fps cap and the resolution being a dynamic 1440p with a different aspect ratio applied since it’s widescreen the whole time. That again leads into the whole “cinematic” element to it. I would have liked a 40fps mode honestly, I hope they can possibly achieve that later on. There’s also HDR support with numerous settings and a dynamic difficulty by default option.

I found the combat aggressive, visceral and anxiety inducing which was great but never really felt like I struggled so I think you’ll be fine. It very much plays like a movie, but not in the Telltale sense as this truly is a game through and through. They really nailed the mixture of puzzles, combat and narrative. The music alongside audio here is remarkable, as is the game overall. The landscapes of Iceland were stunning and I’ve never seen such realistic detail within a world.

From the lighting to the textures to the ambience this is one peaceful an excellent experience the whole way through. I loved this story here and the setup of it. The performances were also something to highlight, Melina Juergens should win each gaming oriented acting performance award this year. Seriously, just incredible. I’ll also mention that collectibles are present in the form of posts and similar little trees to gather with more story context being provided like in the first game.

The Conclusion

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is an incredible technical achievement and the best looking game I’ve ever seen. To match that the story is well crafted, the combat feels visceral and the pacing is great. I can’t wait to see this sort of world be expanded upon and it left me satisfied yet at the same time craving more of this formula.

I can see though where some may find repetitive but I believe they did an excellent job of making everything feel distinct across your play and it shouldn’t feel like you’re doing the same thing ever. That is unless you’re running for a second go right away I suppose. It was neat to see the cooperative elements expanded upon as Senua interacted with other people.

I felt the struggle to survive throughout and the heroic build of this once slightly more fragile character that continues to grow in confidence and acceptance which is truly special. There aren’t many games like this out there, at this level of fidelity and none of them look quite so good. A remarkable game, true immersion and it goes beyond gaming. It really does feel like we’re at that final step between perfect realism and gaming. I hope everyone checks it out that can, because this was truly a special time to be had.

Read our Hellblade Review
View our Game Hubs

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Review on Xbox Series X
Review Code Provided by Microsoft

Rating Overall: 10