- Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios , Xbox Game Studios
- Release Date: May 21, 2024
- Also On: PC
- Critic score
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- By date
- Unscored
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May 23, 2024If you sincerely appreciate masterful visuals, pitch-perfect audio, and visceral story-telling then Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is about as perfect of a game as you can get. However, those looking for substance gameplay-wise will wish there was much more to it.
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May 21, 2024Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is the greatest graphic marvel that can be found on consoles, but when it comes to playability it doesn't measure up and even falls short of the first. Yes, its "great graphics" are going to leave you with your jaw on the floor from start to finish... It's a shame that the same can't be said about other sections.
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May 21, 2024Senua'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.
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May 21, 2024Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a beautiful but ultimately hollow game. The fantastic presentation props up a story that is less personal and engaging than in the first game, and the gameplay feels like an afterthought. It was great to see Senua again and to see her outside of the grief-misery she was enveloped in during the first game, but beyond that, there's not much to Hellblade II. It's a short and less memorable experience that shows off Ninja Theory's visual craft to its fullest — but it achieves little else.
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May 21, 2024Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is best experienced for yourself, not spoiled by a friend or watched on a YouTube channel. To fully understand what it's trying to do, you need to hear those voices for yourself, feel that anguish and pain as it happens, and continue to press on through it. It's a powerful game with a powerful message, even if some parts of it aren't as engaging as the rest. Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 requires your patience; if you provide it, you will be rewarded handsomely.
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May 21, 2024While graphically Senua's Saga: Hellblade II offers memorable glimpses and moments, anything beyond the visual impact and the dark and fierce atmosphere is disappointing, especially for a sequel announced five years ago on which Microsoft bet big.
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May 21, 2024Hellblade 2 is truly magnificent, superbly produced, it offers a distressing atmosphere as possible, extremely careful and rarely has the sound design of a game been so impressive. In addition, Melina Juergens' performance is particularly notable and we want to follow Senua's journey. The problem is that overall it's quite boring: the fault of the repetitive puzzles and the long and completely useless fights which weigh down the whole thing. It's sad.
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May 21, 2024Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a gorgeous game full of industry-best visuals and cast performances. It is also not terribly fun to play.
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May 21, 2024Senua's Saga: Hellblade II keeps the basics intact, and while a strong lead character, great animations, and simple but enjoyable combat continue to deliver, the poor pacing and performance issues prevent this sequel from breaking free of its past.
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May 21, 2024Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is the best-looking video game we've ever played. It sounds incredible, Melina Juergens acts herself inside out, and on a purely technical level this is just next-level stuff all round. However, we still don't feel as though extending Senua's plight into a Saga is a good idea. We remain unconvinced, and it's because this sequel feels like diminishing returns, as we had worried it might. It's not as vital or as unique in 2024, and it goes for bombast as a means of smoothing things over, resulting in a good game, an interesting eight hour romp, but nothing that screams must-play. Weak combat and dull puzzles are just more salt in these wounds, unfortunately.
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May 21, 2024If Senua’s saga is indeed what counts for therapy in her blood-soaked world, far too much of Hellblade II feels like she walked out of her sessions with time left on the clock.
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May 21, 2024A nuanced journey that plays it too safe.
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May 21, 2024I just wish it had a little more to say, and gave us a little more to do.
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May 23, 2024Ninja Theory has failed to take a noticeable step forward since the original. In Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, the developers buried the original idea of mixing mythology and mental disorders, giving their own variation of God of War. The sequel turned out to be linear and very colorful. However, the primitive gameplay and absolutely empty ending leave the player exhausted and disappointed.
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May 21, 2024Based on its new naming convention, the use of "saga" in Hellblade 2's title, and Microsoft's acquisition of developer Ninja Theory following the success of Senua's Sacrifice, it seems as if Hellblade is slated to be a series as well as a staple in Xbox's first-party lineup. That said, at this point, I don't exactly understand where the series is headed, if not to the box office. There are plenty of games that prove games can be art, but as some studios lean harder into proving that in one specific way that cribs from Hollywood, we're seeing some games that feel afraid of being games. With too much focus on cinematics and too little on creating an experience that is engaging, Senua's Saga fails to reach the same highs as its predecessor--even if it does look stunning whilst trying.
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May 21, 2024Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is one of the most visually impressive games of its generation and contains gripping performances from both Juergens and O’Reilly. Unfortunately, repetitive combat, lacklustre puzzles, and dull traversal hamper the experience, as does a lack of focus in the wider story.
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May 21, 2024Though Hellblade 2 has the power to force your jaw open and give you goosebumps, too often the whole project ends up feeling like a very expensive tech demo – an absolute tour de force of technical achievement bogged down in its own sense of gravitas and mystery. Keeping you off the stick for so many of its most impactful moments, and not giving you enough to play with when you do have control, hobbles the potential of this visual and aural masterpiece enough to make the whole experience feel like it was constantly trying to find a foothold on that dread Icelandic scree, and never really getting to its feet until you come staggering over the finish line.
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May 21, 2024By the end of Senua’s saga, however, I was left wishing there was just a bit more meat on the bone of this gorgeous, meticulously prepared piece of mutton.
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May 21, 2024Fittingly for a game where our hero hears multiple voices in her head, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is confused about who it is, what it wants, and where it's going. Is it an indie game eager to be unique in the marketplace, or another triple-A hit with the usual trimmings? Is it a peaceful puzzle game, or a mini soulslike? Is it an inwardly reflective tale about the demons of trauma, or a very literal tale of gods and monsters? Is it even a game, or is it an interactive art piece?
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May 21, 2024A joyless slog of barely interactive entertainment and a muddled portrayal of mental illness… that just so happens to have the best graphics ever on a video game console.
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| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
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May 21, 2024A brilliant narrative adventure game that is also the best looking video game I've ever played. Sadly, dull puzzles ruin part of the show. Even so, you need to play it.
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May 21, 2024Senua’s enduring compassion and dedication through a rage-inducing journey of pain left a significant impression on me. Despite dealing with a fantastical world, Hellblade II is often, hauntingly, all too real.
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May 21, 2024The game is short, and I finished it in about 10 hours. But it packs a number of gorgeous scenes and scenarios into that brief span, from battling a monster in a volcano pit to the rhythm of metal music to navigating a Silent Hill-esque forest. This was an exhausting, beautiful experience that shattered me often, built me back up, and constantly challenged what it meant to manage one’s darkness. Senua is a broken person, but because of that, she fits into this broken world.
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May 21, 2024Just like its forbear, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is an oppressive, powerful and haunting example of the power of video games, and one that sets its own parameters for what a digital experience can be. It is a game that must be experienced, not least because, there’s nothing else quite like it. [Review in Progress]
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May 21, 2024With Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, Microsoft and Ninja Theory have produced a masterful sequel following the first one’s footsteps. The atmosphere is as incredible as ever, the work on the technical and artistic side leaves us breathless, and the graphical fidelity reaches heights rarely seen on home consoles. Regarding the main issues worth mentioning with Hellblade I, they have been toned down but not completely eradicated. These include, for example, the feeling of playing through an interactive film punctuated by slightly tedious puzzles, and a lifespan that is likely to disappoint many. Fortunately, there are other revisions to counterbalance this feeling, such as the more intense confrontations and the adventure’s overall faster pace. There is no doubt that die-hard fans will be delighted, and that the game will find its audience. And for the rest of us, in the worst-case scenario, some of its magnificent landscapes will be fantastic wallpapers material.
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