PSLS' Michael Briers: "Where Hellblade really sets itself apart is in its handling of mental health and, specifically, how it tells its fantastical, yet deeply intimate story through the wounded eyes of Senua. Shackled by a potent case of psychosis, in Hellblade, Ninja Theory’s Celtic warrior journeys through the fire and flames to rescue her wayward lover from the clutches of death itself, only in this instance the hell Senua experiences is actually a manifestation of her crippling mental illness. And therein lies Hellblade’s raison d’être."
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice gets a free PS5 upgrade with a 12.4 GB download size, launching alongside Hellblade II.
Admittedly, Hellblade: Senua's Saga is far from perfect and won't be a game for everyone, but now with a multitude of accessibility options it has made itself much more palatable for a wider audience, and with constant sale prices between $2-$4, Hellblade: Senua's Saga is too good to pass up for a unique experience that has stood the test of time and will do so once more with its even more robust and epic sequel.
The Hellblade games looked nice but they were essentially walking simulators with a minimal amount of combat tracked on.
At long last, it’s about time they upgraded it !
I didn’t like hellblade 2 at all, which lost all its mystery and originality in this graphically superb but extremely boring sequel. But I loved the first one. And I was pretty annoyed it was stuck on ps4 version on ps5. Bugs and didn’t run that well.
Now I’m going to play it all over again !!! In its nicest version on PlayStation.
Last Word on Gaming takes a look at ten games who treat mental health issues as respectfully and seriously as they ought to be in real life.
Titles that handle these themes well can genuinely help people feel seen or understood. Anyone interested in going beyond games and looking into real-world support options might find helpful resources at https://uvtreat.com/ especially for understanding different approaches to mental health treatment and recovery.
Well, I do appreciate it. But people in game community are not gonna like this. Some others do like this. Way back then, I wanted Spec Op the Line to be mainstream, but it was underwhelming. Hellblade and Spec Op The Line break away from typical action hero. They do share similar thing like mental illness, PTSD and morality. Spec Op The Line made you think like a hero, but it was all hallucinations and it back fire on you. Hellblade is more about the lost of your love one and caused fear in your mind. Both games have two broken main characters who are both psychotic. Even these two fall downs and broken, but why they keep moving ? Because they want to see this through and through until it's no longer in their head. I hope this game success for what it is. Ninja Theory should be proud.
It does but this game does a horrible job handling it
I am really enjoying Hellblade and I think it does a good job of trying to convey what it's like to live with psychosis. I have Schizoaffective disorder which is a combination of Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder so I was intrigued by this title when I first heard of the subject matter it was gonna deal with. I don't know about it going mainstream but I feel it will find it's audience as it is a very well made game and maybe it can help inform people.
Really looking forward to playing this tomorrow. The character of Senua looks pretty interesting and the premise of the story intrigues me like only a few other games did. I also heard, there is a documentary about her illness included with the game. Seems like Ninja Theory did everything right.