Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga Review

Performance

The game performed very well on my 3070 and Ryzen 5 5600, staying in the 60 FPS range for the vast majority of the gameplay. I played it at 1440p, with DLSS On with Auto quality. Graphics settings were optimized settings according to BenchmarKing on YouTube, with shadows and global illumination set to High and Medium respectively.

Gameplay

To put it bluntly, this game is mostly a walking simulator. There is some combat, although it’s kind of shallow. I wouldn’t say these two things are strict negatives, since the focus of the gameplay is to be a carrier for the story, but it does lose it some points. Given the length of the game, these two things work well as a vessel through which the story is told.

That being said, I did have one problem that detracted from my experience (minor spoiler ahead!):
During the course of the game, there are a few moments where you have to find a symbol(or parts of one) in the surrounding area. The first one or two times, this felt like a fun puzzle to keep you more engaged. But as the game went on, it just felt like an unnecessary pause in the story.

Art

Here is where the game shines.
I’ll start with the audio design, as it is the main selling point of the franchise. The game utilises binaural audio, which is audio recorded with two microphones to simulate two ears. The voices that Senua hears, alongside the narrator, are all implemented in this way, and when playing with headphones it really feels like you are hearing these voices from all around you.

When it comes to music, in each scene I felt that it added so much substance, texture, and feeling to it.

Another thing I have to mention is the voice acting. Ever voice actor seems like they gave it their all with each line delivered conveying every emotion the player is meant to feel. Conversations between characters felt real, natural, instead of the dialogue sounding like it’s being spoken in a controlled studio environment.

Visuals were very specific and deliberate. Each scene, effect, what-have-you, looked like it was expertly picked out to fit that particular moment of the story. From beautiful landscapes, to dark and grimy caves, magical lights, there was never a moment where your eyes would tell you that something doesn’t fit right.

Graphics

If you’re looking for a game that will push your PC to its limits, this is the game that will do it. The game is absolutely GORGEOUS, to the point where I’d say that it is one of the highest fidelity games out there currently. Without exaggerating too much, it felt like I was watching a movie rather than playing a game, with how real surfaces and characters looked.

Verdict

If you want a short, cinematic experience with a great story, great audio, great visuals, and amazing graphics, this is probably the game for you.
The reason the rating is not higher is because of the gameplay drawbacks I mentioned above.