Going in blind with this game, I was left with shock, awe and amazement. A unique experience like this turned unforgettable. And, oh god, the song during the credits, "Illusion", destroyed me. A marvelous game through and through.
Same. I remember it coming up in GOTY talks a few years ago but only briefly. When it came up on GamePass, I downloaded it and put it in my backlog list. When I finally started it, I finished it in two days. I’ve never had a games story grip me so hard. In contrast, I bought RE Village and have fallen asleep twice 😂 No shade to RE but Hellblade is on a completely different level.
A game I completed once - and never want to play again. It disturbed me on many levels. That soundtrack though is masterclass. And Melina Jürgens - who started out as Ninja Theory's video editor - absolutely NAILS the role of Senua in what was her first acting job ever. Well deserved awards for her performance.
There are 3 types of games for me that I really like and show how much I enjoyed them: - A game like Breath of the Wild that just blew me away and changed how I looked at games (and with how young I was when I first played it, even taught me some valuable life lessons like taking the time to look around, smell the roses, and enjoy the little things) that made me replay it again and again, trying to end on that perfect high note even if I didn’t 100% it (I ain’t doing all those Korok seeds, though I did do all the shrines). - A game like Red Dead Redemption 2 that made me want to play through it and do a bunch of the side content, but also got me invested in studying the characters and game design to understand WHY I loved it so much. - A game like Hellblade that surprised me and gave me such a unique experience that I wouldn’t dare to spoil it with a second play-through, not even if it had collectibles or anything like that.
As somebody *with* psychosis, I feel like this game captured the uncomfortable and difficult reality of it perfectly, to the point where it was physically hard for me to finish the game. Took me well over a year because of how much it hit home.
@@blackstep_dad2572 are you stupid. Psychocis is not an "spiritual" problem that goes away when you go to church on sunday. It's a mental problem that you have since birth. Also forcing your religion on random people you never met is really obnoxious.
"Experience" feels like the proper term here. The immersive visuals, the compelling narrative, and the intense audio all combine to make for a game you certainly won't forget.
I don't think it's underrated, everyone likes it. I loved it, at least. The only problem I found was the pace. It was slow, and it felt like it had many endings before the real ending. That made it feel even slower. In the end I was like "please, FINISH ALREADY". It's because the game is so well done, that I honestly suffered for Senua at every step. That girl deserved a good ending... I think I am gonna copy that as an individual comment, it's what I really think about the game.
I hear this game definitely must be played WITH HEADPHONES. I definitely need to play this game with that in mind. And now that 401 games are complete, the road to 500 is on!
People with a normal TV get better sound and immersion with headphones in every games. But it was said that this game was made using binaural method for sound, which is supposed to make sounds feel 3D by mimicking the way sound travels in your skull. Personally I never found any difference compared with normal stereo and I think it's gimmicky at best. That being said, you can always play games with actual 3D audio if you have a surround setup and it's always going to be better than an emulation of 3D sound. You can find decent 5.1 speakers at $70-$90 on Amazon. I understand that in Hellblade, the headphones can make it so you feel like the voices come from within your head. But actually, emitting the same sound from the 5 speakers around you at get you the same result.
Even after 4 years (almost) this game wakes such an emotional rollercoaster in me. While I do not suffer by psychosis, mental issues and carrying burdens from the past is something I know very, very well. This game is absolute masterpiece and very important piece of art. The soundtrack, camera work, binarual audio (especially on quality headphones), story and don´t get me even start with Melina´s performance. It was her first role ever and she even wasn´t applyig to it. Mindblowing.
I'm bipolar and when she walks through the muddied water the first time it captured the exact paranoid and uncomfortable unknowing of going through life with an anxiety/paranoia problem
@@blackstep_dad2572 This is a mental health, religion doesn't affect it. People who are religious have suffered from mental health, so don't blame it on religion.
@@Bennieboy918 Hey, here's the definition of bipolar from google- (of psychiatric illness) characterized by both manic and depressive episodes, or manic ones only. Does this help?
It really is a brilliantly immersive experience. Partway through the game I found myself noticing objects that were clearly going to be runes, but I hadn’t activated the door yet to go looking for them. And in the special features they talk about how the rune-finding is a representation of her psychosis because she’s seeing patterns where they don’t exist (don’t quote me on that it’s been a while since I watched the features). And the game had trained me to start seeing the runes everywhere too, even when I wasn’t yet looking for them.
I feel the collectibles being kept to a minimal really worked for this game, to the extent that I'm kind of hoping the sequel doesn't go heavy with them either.
I agree, while I usually can't stand overly linear games, this one is special because it isn't "game-y." There's nothing that takes you out of the connection and experience, and overdoing it on collectibles and other things that have to be there "cuz vidya games" would create more opportunities for that experience to be interrupted. So unless they can work everything in on the same level, I don't feel like they're needed
I played through Hellblade once and got the platinum, but ultimately I found it to be... kind of forgettable. I remembered Senua, the voices she experienced, how things looked, etc. But I couldn't remember the story, what I was doing, how the combat felt, or even the things I saw. It just didn't leave any kind of lasting impression, and only after watching this video did little snippets of the experience return. I appreciate what it did, but in terms of games that address mental health, I feel like Celeste did it far better. Not only do I remember the gameplay like it was yesterday, but the story moments that left me emotionally satisfied and attached to that world. Senua became more about the set pieces and voices than the story.
exactly my sentiment. if anyone asks for a good depiction of mental health struggles in a good game i will rather direct them to celeste than to senua. and i don't think it's an unfair comparison. it probably will be done even better than celeste sometime in the future
As someone who has a type of Mental Illness, (mind you, it’s not as hardcore or difficult as, like, dementia or Autism, but it’s still not easy!) I have give props to the devs of this game. And thanks Jirard, for showing everyone about this game.
@@gamerkingdom1442 By intense, I mean like "Needs a caretaker and struggles greatly". The vast majority of people with autism aren't like that I'm just saying what I have seen for years, in terms of the intense autism I seen in others. Never knew anyone with dementia, but I know it's extremely tragic and awful. I wish there was a cure for dementia.
@@KittyKatty999 I have a family history of dementia/Alzheimer’s, I lost family members and family friends to these terrible diseases. I also hope there’s a cure for them.
For those playing this game, after you've finished playing, you must watch the Behind the Scenes (in main menu). It explains why the developers made the gameplay mechanics that they made. Very interesting look into psychosis and schizophrenia.
The more I watch Jirard's videos the more I'm of the opinion that he is one of the best game critics there are. He doesn't just play the game for a day or two and he isn't biased (except when ihe game deserves it (with a few exceptions that make the video as a whole nicer)). He isn't like like those game journalist that ruined the possibilities for a bigger community or the right recognition by refusing to immerse themself in the game and it's game-loop... He does it all! Some times doing the things that nobody else with a sane mind would do. He always goes through every thing you can do in a game, exploring the good and the bad, giving honest opinions that don't stop at things like "It's to difficult :( it's a bad game"; he gives real reasons to make somebody want to play a game and I love him for that! Many of the games that I played and then completed I bought only because of Jirard... The batman series, Fez, Shadow of the Colossus, and many other games are now some of my favourite games that I only got to know if their existence because of this channel. So.... thank you Jirard the Completionist for being and amazing review and person!
Oh... and don't overwork yourself to much... even if it is your job, remember that games should be a fun (and some times challenging) explerience; they shouldn't become a reason for you to get hospitalized or in general make you feel miserable.
Great review! It's always cool to see this show feature games that have been out a couple years, because as a patient gamer (lol, backlog city) I tend to not play things right at release. I actually just played and finished Hellblade, so I was really happy to see this episode. What an incredible journey. And, yeah, the stress of potential permadeath really got to me as a person with severe anxiety - too bad I didn't search google about it from the get go haha. Looking forward to what Ninja Theory will do with the sequel!
I don't suffer from psychosis, but have other mental disabilities (mainly autism and bipolar disorder) and I appreciate Ninja Theory working to make a mental illness/disability accurate. Most developers wouldn't care to do the research. Thank you, Ninja Theory.
i wish more games had those, valkyries i think they were called? the voices that warned you of things. "watch out" a voice whisper behind my left ear. gotcha, i can dodge that enemy or ignore up to a point and then attack. the combat in this game was so damned enjoyable. i felt like a badass because i was in full controll, focused on the enemy infront of me. not focused on a radial disk vaguely depicting incoming enemy attacks with a smudge of red. OH lets not forget about the small hints of "what was that" "whats over there" "did i just see something" hinting at interactables or whatever. love the game. cant wait for hellblade 2
I wonder if it's like how in Control when playing with headphones when walking around The Old House those whispers throughout the hallways made me take my headphones off it was so overwhelming for me . I need to try out this game
Haven’t played Control but in this one the voices fuck with you. It was definitely overwhelming, I could only play an hour at a time because the creepy whispering and the occasional voice saying “there’s something behind you” and “you’re going the wrong way” and then some of them laughing at you, add to that the threat of perma-death gave me like anxiety (sorta wish he’d not revealed that spoiler that in the video). I agree with Jirard to play in the dark with headphones on, preferably where you can’t be disturbed. It’s a totally fascinating experience.
I really enjoyed this game too and I agree that it's kind of meant to be just a one-time experience. When I was done, I cried and watched all the extra things put in by the developers where they explained how they made the game. I can't really imagine playing through it a second time, so cheers to you on that. I had the same glitch happen with Yakuza Kiwami where I kept putting it into sleep mode and missed one of the chapter completion achievements, but since that game requires two playthroughs for completion anyways, it wasn't a big deal. I hope that's something that can be figured out soon to prevent the glitch from happening on other games.
God, i'm pogged out of my gourd to see any coverage of this? It's just so... amazing. And it's a joy to see it covered and discussed so earnestly and maturely my brain worms aren't the same sort as Senua's, but, being an agoraphobe, I can Big Confirm the feeling of being overwhelmed, and the (frankly kinda silly?) relief of, like, 'hey i went to the pharmacy and didn't freaking die' good job, dragonrider
As somebody diagnosed with psychosis 7 or so years ago, I’ve gotta say this game nailed the experience I face day to day. It takes a warrior to prevail through the up and down, torturous experience of the condition, but it’s not always bad and it must be embraced that my experience is that that I must face. Psychosis for me felt like descending into the underworld which is both epic and frightening. Both rewarding if you can conquer and endure the challenge, but also terrifying when you must succumb to the darkness and it’s evil presence. Happy to say I’m holding down a job in the real world and Doing my best to function as normal. I’m up and down but at least I don’t stay down. Thank the LORD who is my hope.
This is one of the few games that gave me a good sense of other peoples' experiences. I don't think playing it makes me any sort of an expert or anything, but thinking from another perspective to get at least some concept of those perspectives is always good. The other games that did this for me were Celeste and The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories. All three of these are great games!
I truly believe this is one of those games that elevate the media. Its a game you can recommend to people that dont play games, becase its gameplay is simple, but its narrative, character development, visuals, sound design are truly amazing and tackle an issue in a way movies or other forms of art would struggle with. It doesnt elevate the media as in "ground breaking original mechanics", but in the "new ways to tell a story" kind of thing.
I absolutely love this game. Just randomly came across it one day on sale and said why not. So glad I made that choice, was completely caught off guard and blown away. Glad you made it to this game and congrats on all the success. Looking forward to more great content
I have tried playing this game, I'm really bad at horror, and I am easily sensory overloaded, so i couldnt get far, it was the most intense experience in a game ive felt, and its impressive.
hey, i've been putting this game off, gonna play it next (just finished lies of p). anytime i watch your videos, it makes me want to play the game dude. almost like a kick in the butt. and i think thats kind of why you do this, to share that joy and get others to enjoy it. make sure to remind yourself of that. especially during those tough days. what you do is important to some people. even if just one, right?
Senua's Sacrifice was the 2nd game to make me cry IRL. At the end when she's pleading with Hela to kill her. If you didn't feel her pain, you _HAVE NO SOUL._ The 1st was Fallout: New Vegas when I learned about Chance the Great Khan for the 1st time. (A man so wracked with PTSD that he could defeat 50 Raiders with only a Combat Knife & Bloodfury but couldn't handle his Nightmares anymore & being So Tired of Living, he purposefully Overdoses rather then Carry On)
My wife gifted me this game for one of my birthdays. It was an experience like no other. I played while she just sat and watched everything unfold. I loved it.
This is a fantastic experience! I haven't been able to finish it yet because it's so heavy and stressful for me, the voices make it hard for me to continue through it, and the game really puts me on edge, they're very overwhelming, especially combined with my own anxiety it has sometimes caused me to almost shut down. The flashing that sometimes occurs also sometimes can make it hard for me.
I'm a bit conflicted. At one point, the expression of how psychosis shapes you is great. But we mustn't go the other way -- psychosis is a nightmare and we don't want to imply that it is simply an alternative perspective on the world. It's a real and very scary and uncomfortable experience, and sometimes allies of those with mental health or neurological disability play down that 'dis' part of it all. I've played the first part of the game and it was fun, but also very close to home and so I wouldn't recommend playing it completely immersively and cause yourself actual problems with absorbing that mindset.
Jirard's writing and reviews have improved precipitously over the years.
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To be honest, I think the graphics are among the best I've ever seen. Sure, it would have been great to have ray tracing on top of it, but the scene direction and level crafting is fantastic. There are improvements to be made, but the motion capture and the lighting really sells it all.
Idk exactly what's different, but the writing in this episode feels like a big step up in quality from before. And it was already good so idk how you keep doing it
Brilliant game. Horrific and brutal, yet impactful and relevant. Gives a glimpse into how people with psychosis struggle to live. Also, Jerguen’s performance is just unforgettable! The fact she wasn’t even an actor is even more impressive. Seems to me she wasn’t playing Senua, but WAS Senua. It’s game like this that I’m glad the games industry is getting more recognition for, as it proves games can be art. Also, I have to wonder if Eggers played Hellblade in preparation for making The Northman given how Hellblade is mostly period accurate.
From what the devs have said, she actually was an actor. He says in the documentary video that he knew he didn't have to teach her how to act. But yes, she wasn't a professional actor and was hired as a video editor for the project.
I like my games as games and I dont see games as art. Except this game. This game is ART. High Art. Better than many pieces of modern art. My GF suffers from psychosis. When I ended the game I hug her and cried. The end song is our song ever since.
I played this game over the course of a week. Soooo intense and beautiful. The one part of the game where all of Senua's voices go away, I felt...lonely. The voices were overwhelming at the start, but by that point in the game (you guys know which part I'm talking about), I had grown to appreciate them. They were a part of Senua, and therefore a part of the game, so I didn't like them disappearing for that one section. I also really appreciated the take the game had on Norse mythology, since we were seeing it from the PoV of an outsider. And the soundtrack NEEDS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE!! Not just via UA-cam uploads, but I want to be able to buy the soundtrack via iTunes or other platforms. This thankfully was a game that was pretty easy to 100%. A breath of fresh air after having so many games have a million trophies tied to multiplayer or really hard, rare moments. EDIT: The combat may be "simple", but I was so impressed at how every attack and blow felt like they had real weight behind them. It was so satisfying to overcome a swarm of enemies, because it felt quite grounded for me.
I had a game breaking bug where one of the runes wouldn't activate no matter what. I watched countless videos and my game just didn't work the same. I put the game down for a bit, but I was so enamored by the experience that I finally caved and downloaded a save file off the internet which allowed me to continue through the story. This is the only game I have ever done that for, and it was worth it.
I just finished this game last night.... Let me just say this: If more Psychological Horror games implemented the same 'voices' mechanic, it would add a WHOLE OTHER LEVEL of immersion. I missed only 8 of the 44 runes on my playthrough, and I won't be going back. I'm not a completionist... I'm in it for the story first time through at maximum difficulty (and what a story it is). You truly do feel the same emotions the character is feeling. Unlike here, I don't research a game before I play it. Every run is completely blind, so I took that 'if you die too many times it deletes your save game' to heart... I died only a handful of times (mostly to the timed puzzles), but every time I saw that shadow creep up my arm... I felt the fear she did. Highly recommend this game to anyone.
The frog in the car lapel is not level. Not a criticism or anything just wondering if it was intentional. Like a little Easter 🥚. Great video! Love the new intro!
this is 100% in my top 5 games. while even playing on the hardest difficulty its still extremely easy. its more about the journey, going through what senua experiences, i see the combat and puzzles as the "downtime" in the game, and seriously, melina juergens' performance was incredible, especially considering she had 0 experience before this game.
Heilung and danheim who composed the music did an amazing job who are dark wave and traditional Norse asatru pagan music. They are great and I reccamend there live albums and seeing them live too.
Part of what made this game so refreshing was precisely that it didn't have collectibles, levels, stats, items, cosmetics or other gamify-ing elements to distract from the experience that was so central to making it work. It's a game where you can lose yourself via the immersion. I hope they don't add any more collectibles for the sequel.
Gerard thanks for reviewing this game I have it among my backlog of games that I intend to finish (I still have to finish God of War 2018 game and Final Fantasy 7 remake though I play gears of war 5 daily=x box one & VR games on PS4)
I never thought I would love any other game that wasn't from NeoGeo or Nintendo, but, Ninja theory came out with hellblade, and my history with games was never the same again...
I'd argue that the game doesn't lie to you. The message says the rot grows each time she "fails" and that if the rot reaches her head, her quest is over. Nowhere does it say if you die in combat, the rot grows and if the rot reaches her head, you die.
4 year later: One masterpiece. Not every gamer needs to play this game. It's art. It's more than just a game. And It's not short, It's the right amount of time. You need education to realize what this piece of work means to all media.
It's intresting how he says mental health and now I understand this game. In the asatru groups, they see this ONLY as religious experiances to place ppl into there world. But now, I just see mental health is not a good idea to grasp religon as a cure.
I was trying to get all achievements as part of one of the "get 10,000 GS" challenges, and ran into that same bug. Fortunately I realized early enough that I only needed to replay about half the game, and a replay goes much faster when you're not trying to absorb the experience, but it's definitely a game that's amazing the first time, but doesn't gain anything from replaying.
& Yes, I am going to play the 2nd game. The 1st was fantastic. It was a perfect balance of Story-10 Characters-10 & Combat-7. EDIT: I loved the way you talked about the 'Rot'. It's a clever trick the Dev's pulled. Only if you let yourself STOP will the 'Rot' win. But if you never stop trying, it will never catch you. It's so simple & impressive. :)
It is a great experience, the audio is sublime with headphones. The gameplay disappointed me a little bit, the combat was good but I was expecting something more from the puzzles, they were all the same and pretty linear. Also I missed a freaking lorestone and you can't select and replay a specific chapter. In any case it is a fantastic game.
I asked before and I’ll ask again: Please consider Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling. If you love Paper Mario, you will ADORE this indie masterpiece. Please.
Hellblade is my second favourite game of all time - was my favourite until The Last of Us Part II passed it, The Last of Us and Uncharted 4 (all of which were my favourite games) by a long shot (they're all place 2 now). It's certainly the most important game of all time, in my opinion, and no movie, book, story, other game or any other kind of art (that I know of) has ever managed to depict mental health topics in such an authentic, real, accurate, responsible and impactful way.
When I first started I thought there was permadeath, wasn't til I was close to the end and pissed off that if I died the rot would go to her head that I found out I was all good.
Going in blind with this game, I was left with shock, awe and amazement. A unique experience like this turned unforgettable. And, oh god, the song during the credits, "Illusion", destroyed me. A marvelous game through and through.
Same. I remember it coming up in GOTY talks a few years ago but only briefly. When it came up on GamePass, I downloaded it and put it in my backlog list. When I finally started it, I finished it in two days. I’ve never had a games story grip me so hard. In contrast, I bought RE Village and have fallen asleep twice 😂 No shade to RE but Hellblade is on a completely different level.
I can't wait for hellblade 2 senuas saga
The best line in this game is "He believed in nothing he could not see. And he was blind."
A game I completed once - and never want to play again. It disturbed me on many levels. That soundtrack though is masterclass. And Melina Jürgens - who started out as Ninja Theory's video editor - absolutely NAILS the role of Senua in what was her first acting job ever. Well deserved awards for her performance.
There are 3 types of games for me that I really like and show how much I enjoyed them:
- A game like Breath of the Wild that just blew me away and changed how I looked at games (and with how young I was when I first played it, even taught me some valuable life lessons like taking the time to look around, smell the roses, and enjoy the little things) that made me replay it again and again, trying to end on that perfect high note even if I didn’t 100% it (I ain’t doing all those Korok seeds, though I did do all the shrines).
- A game like Red Dead Redemption 2 that made me want to play through it and do a bunch of the side content, but also got me invested in studying the characters and game design to understand WHY I loved it so much.
- A game like Hellblade that surprised me and gave me such a unique experience that I wouldn’t dare to spoil it with a second play-through, not even if it had collectibles or anything like that.
Whenever I recommend this game to people, I call it "the best game I can't play again." So I get what you mean
As somebody *with* psychosis, I feel like this game captured the uncomfortable and difficult reality of it perfectly, to the point where it was physically hard for me to finish the game. Took me well over a year because of how much it hit home.
You might have a spiritual problem. Find God and He will bring you peace 🙏🏻
Interesting to have someone with psychosis' perspective on this game. I'm glad you were able to finish it.
@@blackstep_dad2572 Religion divides, disregard this advice
@@blackstep_dad2572 no this has nothing to do with religion
@@blackstep_dad2572 are you stupid. Psychocis is not an "spiritual" problem that goes away when you go to church on sunday. It's a mental problem that you have since birth. Also forcing your religion on random people you never met is really obnoxious.
"Experience" feels like the proper term here. The immersive visuals, the compelling narrative, and the intense audio all combine to make for a game you certainly won't forget.
Such an under appreciated experience.
I love this game so much.
It almost makes me cry just by seing Senua´s suffering.
I don't think it's underrated, everyone likes it.
I loved it, at least. The only problem I found was the pace. It was slow, and it felt like it had many endings before the real ending. That made it feel even slower. In the end I was like "please, FINISH ALREADY". It's because the game is so well done, that I honestly suffered for Senua at every step. That girl deserved a good ending...
I think I am gonna copy that as an individual comment, it's what I really think about the game.
Hardly underrated, its got thousands of good reviews, literally 38000 on steam. That is not at all underrated.
@@Alfonso88279 I think you’re right. Poor phrasing on my part.
I hear this game definitely must be played WITH HEADPHONES. I definitely need to play this game with that in mind.
And now that 401 games are complete, the road to 500 is on!
Headphones will give you the best experience, but a decent home theatre works pretty good.
shit outta luck for me cuz I can only hear out of one ear.
Headphones absolutely change the experience for the better
People with a normal TV get better sound and immersion with headphones in every games.
But it was said that this game was made using binaural method for sound, which is supposed to make sounds feel 3D by mimicking the way sound travels in your skull.
Personally I never found any difference compared with normal stereo and I think it's gimmicky at best.
That being said, you can always play games with actual 3D audio if you have a surround setup and it's always going to be better than an emulation of 3D sound. You can find decent 5.1 speakers at $70-$90 on Amazon.
I understand that in Hellblade, the headphones can make it so you feel like the voices come from within your head. But actually, emitting the same sound from the 5 speakers around you at get you the same result.
I actually bought 3d binaural headphones just so i can replay this game. Finished last weekend. 😊
Love the updated intro with the numbering and the "all glory goes to the winner"!!
Even after 4 years (almost) this game wakes such an emotional rollercoaster in me. While I do not suffer by psychosis, mental issues and carrying burdens from the past is something I know very, very well. This game is absolute masterpiece and very important piece of art. The soundtrack, camera work, binarual audio (especially on quality headphones), story and don´t get me even start with Melina´s performance. It was her first role ever and she even wasn´t applyig to it. Mindblowing.
The soundtrack in this game deserves a grammy
Undertales soundtrack deserves a grammy.
That bridge scene
the game deserves a lot
They're bringing Heilung in to assist with the soundtrack for the sequel, so it'll be even better. :D
And the sound design and mixing deserve an Oscar.
Definitely an underrated title and was glad that there is a sequel coming for it.
I'm bipolar and when she walks through the muddied water the first time it captured the exact paranoid and uncomfortable unknowing of going through life with an anxiety/paranoia problem
You need God. People have given names and labels to a disconnection from God
@@blackstep_dad2572 This is a mental health, religion doesn't affect it. People who are religious have suffered from mental health, so don't blame it on religion.
Bipolar?
@@Bennieboy918 Hey, here's the definition of bipolar from google- (of psychiatric illness) characterized by both manic and depressive episodes, or manic ones only. Does this help?
@@blackstep_dad2572 this is absolutely inappropriate here.
It really is a brilliantly immersive experience. Partway through the game I found myself noticing objects that were clearly going to be runes, but I hadn’t activated the door yet to go looking for them. And in the special features they talk about how the rune-finding is a representation of her psychosis because she’s seeing patterns where they don’t exist (don’t quote me on that it’s been a while since I watched the features). And the game had trained me to start seeing the runes everywhere too, even when I wasn’t yet looking for them.
I feel the collectibles being kept to a minimal really worked for this game, to the extent that I'm kind of hoping the sequel doesn't go heavy with them either.
I agree, while I usually can't stand overly linear games, this one is special because it isn't "game-y." There's nothing that takes you out of the connection and experience, and overdoing it on collectibles and other things that have to be there "cuz vidya games" would create more opportunities for that experience to be interrupted. So unless they can work everything in on the same level, I don't feel like they're needed
This game Is so heartfelt it makes me cry. It spoke my language and encouraged so much. Very cathartic
I played through Hellblade once and got the platinum, but ultimately I found it to be... kind of forgettable. I remembered Senua, the voices she experienced, how things looked, etc. But I couldn't remember the story, what I was doing, how the combat felt, or even the things I saw. It just didn't leave any kind of lasting impression, and only after watching this video did little snippets of the experience return.
I appreciate what it did, but in terms of games that address mental health, I feel like Celeste did it far better. Not only do I remember the gameplay like it was yesterday, but the story moments that left me emotionally satisfied and attached to that world. Senua became more about the set pieces and voices than the story.
exactly my sentiment. if anyone asks for a good depiction of mental health struggles in a good game i will rather direct them to celeste than to senua. and i don't think it's an unfair comparison. it probably will be done even better than celeste sometime in the future
Yo, that new rendition of the theme song SLAPS.
As someone who has a type of Mental Illness, (mind you, it’s not as hardcore or difficult as, like, dementia or Autism, but it’s still not easy!) I have give props to the devs of this game. And thanks Jirard, for showing everyone about this game.
As someone with Autism, Autism is nowhere near as bad as dementia. Only in the rare cases where it's far more intense.
@@KittyKatty999 oh, okay. I’ve meet and had friends with Autism, but never met anyone with Dementia. Thanks for informing me.
@@gamerkingdom1442 By intense, I mean like "Needs a caretaker and struggles greatly". The vast majority of people with autism aren't like that I'm just saying what I have seen for years, in terms of the intense autism I seen in others.
Never knew anyone with dementia, but I know it's extremely tragic and awful. I wish there was a cure for dementia.
@@KittyKatty999 same here dude.
@@KittyKatty999 I have a family history of dementia/Alzheimer’s, I lost family members and family friends to these terrible diseases. I also hope there’s a cure for them.
YEEES! One of my alltime favourites, the passion the devs poured into this game is insane. It feels super looked over
This games is a masterpiece I would have never known what Psychosis is without this game.
This game is incredible playing with some good headphones.
For those playing this game, after you've finished playing, you must watch the Behind the Scenes (in main menu). It explains why the developers made the gameplay mechanics that they made. Very interesting look into psychosis and schizophrenia.
I already have enough voices in my head, I don't need more.
I see you in comicpop live streams a lot. Cool to see you here.
Its pretty irritating to hear all the whispers
@@zerowing3213 imagine how irritating they are in real life
The more I watch Jirard's videos the more I'm of the opinion that he is one of the best game critics there are. He doesn't just play the game for a day or two and he isn't biased (except when ihe game deserves it (with a few exceptions that make the video as a whole nicer)). He isn't like like those game journalist that ruined the possibilities for a bigger community or the right recognition by refusing to immerse themself in the game and it's game-loop... He does it all!
Some times doing the things that nobody else with a sane mind would do. He always goes through every thing you can do in a game, exploring the good and the bad, giving honest opinions that don't stop at things like "It's to difficult :( it's a bad game"; he gives real reasons to make somebody want to play a game and I love him for that!
Many of the games that I played and then completed I bought only because of Jirard... The batman series, Fez, Shadow of the Colossus, and many other games are now some of my favourite games that I only got to know if their existence because of this channel.
So.... thank you Jirard the Completionist for being and amazing review and person!
Oh... and don't overwork yourself to much... even if it is your job, remember that games should be a fun (and some times challenging) explerience; they shouldn't become a reason for you to get hospitalized or in general make you feel miserable.
Great review! It's always cool to see this show feature games that have been out a couple years, because as a patient gamer (lol, backlog city) I tend to not play things right at release.
I actually just played and finished Hellblade, so I was really happy to see this episode. What an incredible journey. And, yeah, the stress of potential permadeath really got to me as a person with severe anxiety - too bad I didn't search google about it from the get go haha. Looking forward to what Ninja Theory will do with the sequel!
I don't suffer from psychosis, but have other mental disabilities (mainly autism and bipolar disorder) and I appreciate Ninja Theory working to make a mental illness/disability accurate. Most developers wouldn't care to do the research.
Thank you, Ninja Theory.
i wish more games had those, valkyries i think they were called? the voices that warned you of things. "watch out" a voice whisper behind my left ear. gotcha, i can dodge that enemy or ignore up to a point and then attack.
the combat in this game was so damned enjoyable. i felt like a badass because i was in full controll, focused on the enemy infront of me. not focused on a radial disk vaguely depicting incoming enemy attacks with a smudge of red.
OH lets not forget about the small hints of "what was that" "whats over there" "did i just see something" hinting at interactables or whatever.
love the game. cant wait for hellblade 2
I wonder if it's like how in Control when playing with headphones when walking around The Old House those whispers throughout the hallways made me take my headphones off it was so overwhelming for me . I need to try out this game
Multiple voices in her head talking. It’s wild.
Haven’t played Control but in this one the voices fuck with you. It was definitely overwhelming, I could only play an hour at a time because the creepy whispering and the occasional voice saying “there’s something behind you” and “you’re going the wrong way” and then some of them laughing at you, add to that the threat of perma-death gave me like anxiety (sorta wish he’d not revealed that spoiler that in the video). I agree with Jirard to play in the dark with headphones on, preferably where you can’t be disturbed. It’s a totally fascinating experience.
Soooo glad you're playing this game! Love the new intro too!
I really enjoyed this game too and I agree that it's kind of meant to be just a one-time experience. When I was done, I cried and watched all the extra things put in by the developers where they explained how they made the game. I can't really imagine playing through it a second time, so cheers to you on that. I had the same glitch happen with Yakuza Kiwami where I kept putting it into sleep mode and missed one of the chapter completion achievements, but since that game requires two playthroughs for completion anyways, it wasn't a big deal. I hope that's something that can be figured out soon to prevent the glitch from happening on other games.
God, i'm pogged out of my gourd to see any coverage of this? It's just so... amazing.
And it's a joy to see it covered and discussed so earnestly and maturely
my brain worms aren't the same sort as Senua's, but, being an agoraphobe, I can Big Confirm the feeling of being overwhelmed, and the (frankly kinda silly?) relief of, like, 'hey i went to the pharmacy and didn't freaking die'
good job, dragonrider
Need to try this game. I’ve heard nothing but good things. Also the designers and producers of the new intro absolutely knocked it out!
As somebody diagnosed with psychosis 7 or so years ago, I’ve gotta say this game nailed the experience I face day to day. It takes a warrior to prevail through the up and down, torturous experience of the condition, but it’s not always bad and it must be embraced that my experience is that that I must face. Psychosis for me felt like descending into the underworld which is both epic and frightening. Both rewarding if you can conquer and endure the challenge, but also terrifying when you must succumb to the darkness and it’s evil presence. Happy to say I’m holding down a job in the real world and Doing my best to function as normal. I’m up and down but at least I don’t stay down. Thank the LORD who is my hope.
This is one of the few games that gave me a good sense of other peoples' experiences. I don't think playing it makes me any sort of an expert or anything, but thinking from another perspective to get at least some concept of those perspectives is always good. The other games that did this for me were Celeste and The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories. All three of these are great games!
You did a very good job of covering the literal insanity of this game. Thank you Girard.
I truly believe this is one of those games that elevate the media. Its a game you can recommend to people that dont play games, becase its gameplay is simple, but its narrative, character development, visuals, sound design are truly amazing and tackle an issue in a way movies or other forms of art would struggle with. It doesnt elevate the media as in "ground breaking original mechanics", but in the "new ways to tell a story" kind of thing.
I just finished this the other week and it has already become one of my top favourites
I absolutely love this game. Just randomly came across it one day on sale and said why not. So glad I made that choice, was completely caught off guard and blown away. Glad you made it to this game and congrats on all the success. Looking forward to more great content
god the music in this game is next level. also who knew donkey kong music made with a hellblade pallet would sound so good lol
the frog in a car pin on your lapel not being rotated correctly bothered me more than the insanity of the game XD
This game has been on my list for years, you have tipped me over edge and I'm going to get it. Looking good man, hope you're feeling well.
I have tried playing this game, I'm really bad at horror, and I am easily sensory overloaded, so i couldnt get far, it was the most intense experience in a game ive felt, and its impressive.
hey, i've been putting this game off, gonna play it next (just finished lies of p). anytime i watch your videos, it makes me want to play the game dude. almost like a kick in the butt. and i think thats kind of why you do this, to share that joy and get others to enjoy it. make sure to remind yourself of that. especially during those tough days. what you do is important to some people. even if just one, right?
You pronounced "began" like that to piss people off and I love it.
Senua's Sacrifice was the 2nd game to make me cry IRL. At the end when she's pleading with Hela to kill her. If you didn't feel her pain, you _HAVE NO SOUL._
The 1st was Fallout: New Vegas when I learned about Chance the Great Khan for the 1st time. (A man so wracked with PTSD that he could defeat 50 Raiders with only a Combat Knife & Bloodfury but couldn't handle his Nightmares anymore & being So Tired of Living, he purposefully Overdoses rather then Carry On)
Thank you! I love that you reviewed this game. The sound design was amazing.
Not a giant fan, but I truly appreciate that it exists.
My wife gifted me this game for one of my birthdays. It was an experience like no other. I played while she just sat and watched everything unfold. I loved it.
I did the same to my husband because I can't play these kind of games due to a brain injury. I love watching ppl play them though.
This is a fantastic experience! I haven't been able to finish it yet because it's so heavy and stressful for me, the voices make it hard for me to continue through it, and the game really puts me on edge, they're very overwhelming, especially combined with my own anxiety it has sometimes caused me to almost shut down. The flashing that sometimes occurs also sometimes can make it hard for me.
I'm a bit conflicted. At one point, the expression of how psychosis shapes you is great. But we mustn't go the other way -- psychosis is a nightmare and we don't want to imply that it is simply an alternative perspective on the world. It's a real and very scary and uncomfortable experience, and sometimes allies of those with mental health or neurological disability play down that 'dis' part of it all.
I've played the first part of the game and it was fun, but also very close to home and so I wouldn't recommend playing it completely immersively and cause yourself actual problems with absorbing that mindset.
Jirard's writing and reviews have improved precipitously over the years.
To be honest, I think the graphics are among the best I've ever seen. Sure, it would have been great to have ray tracing on top of it, but the scene direction and level crafting is fantastic. There are improvements to be made, but the motion capture and the lighting really sells it all.
If your plan is to lay more into video essays than reviews of a completion journey I'm here for it.
2 months later & I'm watching this break through again. Just to remind myself that I'm not the only one who felt this way.
Idk exactly what's different, but the writing in this episode feels like a big step up in quality from before. And it was already good so idk how you keep doing it
Brilliant game. Horrific and brutal, yet impactful and relevant. Gives a glimpse into how people with psychosis struggle to live. Also, Jerguen’s performance is just unforgettable! The fact she wasn’t even an actor is even more impressive. Seems to me she wasn’t playing Senua, but WAS Senua. It’s game like this that I’m glad the games industry is getting more recognition for, as it proves games can be art. Also, I have to wonder if Eggers played Hellblade in preparation for making The Northman given how Hellblade is mostly period accurate.
From what the devs have said, she actually was an actor. He says in the documentary video that he knew he didn't have to teach her how to act. But yes, she wasn't a professional actor and was hired as a video editor for the project.
Really loving the direction these videos are going! This video was awesome!
I like my games as games and I dont see games as art. Except this game. This game is ART. High Art. Better than many pieces of modern art. My GF suffers from psychosis. When I ended the game I hug her and cried. The end song is our song ever since.
I'm glad you did this game. Never got to play it and it was good to go through this journey
This video was so well made!
Really one of best vids of The Completionist!
I played this game over the course of a week. Soooo intense and beautiful. The one part of the game where all of Senua's voices go away, I felt...lonely. The voices were overwhelming at the start, but by that point in the game (you guys know which part I'm talking about), I had grown to appreciate them. They were a part of Senua, and therefore a part of the game, so I didn't like them disappearing for that one section.
I also really appreciated the take the game had on Norse mythology, since we were seeing it from the PoV of an outsider. And the soundtrack NEEDS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE!! Not just via UA-cam uploads, but I want to be able to buy the soundtrack via iTunes or other platforms.
This thankfully was a game that was pretty easy to 100%. A breath of fresh air after having so many games have a million trophies tied to multiplayer or really hard, rare moments.
EDIT: The combat may be "simple", but I was so impressed at how every attack and blow felt like they had real weight behind them. It was so satisfying to overcome a swarm of enemies, because it felt quite grounded for me.
I had a game breaking bug where one of the runes wouldn't activate no matter what. I watched countless videos and my game just didn't work the same. I put the game down for a bit, but I was so enamored by the experience that I finally caved and downloaded a save file off the internet which allowed me to continue through the story. This is the only game I have ever done that for, and it was worth it.
Never been this early to a TOVG video
Me either!!
Same.
What's TOVG? Sorry relatively new here!
It's not anything worth being proud of. I mean really, who cares? Go outside, kid.
@@sushantheshreztha8777 i dont know
I just finished this game last night....
Let me just say this: If more Psychological Horror games implemented the same 'voices' mechanic, it would add a WHOLE OTHER LEVEL of immersion.
I missed only 8 of the 44 runes on my playthrough, and I won't be going back. I'm not a completionist... I'm in it for the story first time through at maximum difficulty (and what a story it is).
You truly do feel the same emotions the character is feeling. Unlike here, I don't research a game before I play it. Every run is completely blind, so I took that 'if you die too many times it deletes your save game' to heart... I died only a handful of times (mostly to the timed puzzles), but every time I saw that shadow creep up my arm... I felt the fear she did.
Highly recommend this game to anyone.
Every time I se this new intro I get chills. It's so good.
The frog in the car lapel is not level. Not a criticism or anything just wondering if it was intentional. Like a little Easter 🥚. Great video! Love the new intro!
this is 100% in my top 5 games. while even playing on the hardest difficulty its still extremely easy. its more about the journey, going through what senua experiences, i see the combat and puzzles as the "downtime" in the game, and seriously, melina juergens' performance was incredible, especially considering she had 0 experience before this game.
I tried to play this game with headphones and I couldn’t take it.
Heilung and danheim who composed the music did an amazing job who are dark wave and traditional Norse asatru pagan music. They are great and I reccamend there live albums and seeing them live too.
Heilung worked on the soundtrack for the sequel.. Andy Laplegua from Combichrist is the one that worked on this soundtrack.
Part of what made this game so refreshing was precisely that it didn't have collectibles, levels, stats, items, cosmetics or other gamify-ing elements to distract from the experience that was so central to making it work. It's a game where you can lose yourself via the immersion.
I hope they don't add any more collectibles for the sequel.
Such a fun game with an amazing plot
This game was an experience, I've never played a game that made me feel like this.
Banger music and amazing story… I can’t wait for the sequel
I love in the intro your beard is just growing out of your skin with that concentraited look. LoL
Gerard thanks for reviewing this game I have it among my backlog of games that I intend to finish (I still have to finish God of War 2018 game and Final Fantasy 7 remake though I play gears of war 5 daily=x box one & VR games on PS4)
Jirard! I’m surprised you haven’t done a video on Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, both your RotN and SotN videos were great. Keep it up!
Wow, the animations are pretty slick. Caught my eye.
I'm here Early. A true fan
I never thought I would love any other game that wasn't from NeoGeo or Nintendo, but, Ninja theory came out with hellblade, and my history with games was never the same again...
Ok, but the voice nearly never lied to me. I just never got hit because they didn't say anything. I got hit cause I couldn't react on time
This game is so damned good! Especially in VR!
I'd argue that the game doesn't lie to you. The message says the rot grows each time she "fails" and that if the rot reaches her head, her quest is over. Nowhere does it say if you die in combat, the rot grows and if the rot reaches her head, you die.
I do love the new intro a ton.
I forgot about this game. Bummer about the achievements
4 year later: One masterpiece. Not every gamer needs to play this game. It's art. It's more than just a game. And It's not short, It's the right amount of time. You need education to realize what this piece of work means to all media.
It's intresting how he says mental health and now I understand this game. In the asatru groups, they see this ONLY as religious experiances to place ppl into there world. But now, I just see mental health is not a good idea to grasp religon as a cure.
I did not see this game coming.
I was trying to get all achievements as part of one of the "get 10,000 GS" challenges, and ran into that same bug. Fortunately I realized early enough that I only needed to replay about half the game, and a replay goes much faster when you're not trying to absorb the experience, but it's definitely a game that's amazing the first time, but doesn't gain anything from replaying.
& Yes, I am going to play the 2nd game. The 1st was fantastic. It was a perfect balance of Story-10 Characters-10 & Combat-7.
EDIT: I loved the way you talked about the 'Rot'. It's a clever trick the Dev's pulled. Only if you let yourself STOP will the 'Rot' win.
But if you never stop trying, it will never catch you. It's so simple & impressive. :)
Playing this game and beating it was constant anxiety with the rot
Played on Switch and loved it. Very much looking forward to the sequel!
It is a great experience, the audio is sublime with headphones. The gameplay disappointed me a little bit, the combat was good but I was expecting something more from the puzzles, they were all the same and pretty linear. Also I missed a freaking lorestone and you can't select and replay a specific chapter. In any case it is a fantastic game.
I asked before and I’ll ask again: Please consider Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling. If you love Paper Mario, you will ADORE this indie masterpiece. Please.
Hellblade is my second favourite game of all time - was my favourite until The Last of Us Part II passed it, The Last of Us and Uncharted 4 (all of which were my favourite games) by a long shot (they're all place 2 now). It's certainly the most important game of all time, in my opinion, and no movie, book, story, other game or any other kind of art (that I know of) has ever managed to depict mental health topics in such an authentic, real, accurate, responsible and impactful way.
Absolutely l o v e the new intro
When I first started I thought there was permadeath, wasn't til I was close to the end and pissed off that if I died the rot would go to her head that I found out I was all good.
You could say glitched achievements/Trophies could be a version of a completionist phsychosis
One of my favourite games of the last generation.
When the skull wrapped in cloth starts breathing and shit I get SO creeped out
Jirard Gerard you are world best gamer if you ask me I love watching your and max dood videos