Highlights
- Hellblade 2 stays true to its emotional depth, doubling down on the gamification of mental illness in a short, impactful experience.
- Despite initial positive reviews, critiques of Hellblade 2 emerged for being underbaked and lacking depth despite its inclusion in Xbox Game Pass.
- Microsoft’s marketing aimed to position Hellblade 2 as their answer to God Of War, but the game’s production value and scope were never supposed to be that high.
When Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was released in 2017, it quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. I remember playing it late into the night, thankful for the darkness that concealed my tears as the credits rolled. As a queer person who has had to learn to live with the mental health challenges of bipolar disorder and PTSD, Senua’s journey resonated and comforted me in a way no other game ever had. So it might surprise you then, that when I heard Ninja Theory was working on a sequel, I was extremely hesitant.
Concerned About the Sequel
My biggest concern—particularly after Microsoft purchased Ninja Theory—was that the next entry in the Hellblade series would aim to be one of the massive, AAA experiences that are taking over the games industry, complete with a cluttered mini-map, crafting, side quests, and more. That’s not to say these features are inherently bad of course—they do have their place—but to me, this felt at odds with what Hellblade did so well. I didn’t want breadth, I wanted the series to maintain its depth; I wanted emotion, art, storytelling, introspection, mythos, terror, and magic. In fact, I was so concerned that the studio would trade in its depth for breadth, I didn’t foresee what actually happened.
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Console Divides Us
The original Hellblade wasn’t just a game to me; it was a shared experience with my best friend. We played it on PlayStation, each of us dealing with our own traumatic pasts. For my friend, it was their father, and for me, it was my mother. What made the experience so personal was that we were proverbially holding each other’s hands as we went through the process. We were in party chat, playing our games separately but progressing together.
The early part of the story was particularly hard for me, especially when I started to get triggered by the flashbacks that happened with Senua’s mother, which reminded me of my own struggles living with a mother who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and borderline schizophrenia.
My friend struggled near the end when the father’s shadow loomed large, and there was a lot of talk about Ragnarok and the end of days, which reminded them of when their father would talk about the Bible and the end of days, making them paranoid about the future. For both of us, it was a very emotional experience and an important step in understanding our pasts.
But now, my friend is on PS5, and we’ve yet to have the chance to share this experience again. Even if we did have it on Xbox, it just wouldn’t be the same. The ecosystems of the game consoles are different, and the share play functionality was integral to our experience. If the game got too intense for one person, we could always shift over to the other person’s game. Knowing that there are more players like us out there, it feels like an untapped opportunity. Microsoft hasn’t been the best at making exclusives work for the platform. Why not make it possible for Sony fans to play the game too? After all, the first game was available on PlayStation.
Doubling Down on Depth
To me, Hellblade 2 sticks closely to its first game on purpose. The goal seemed to be to double down on the gamification of mental illness and to really tighten up on the character experience. While many critics have called this approach shallow, with some even describing it as a tech demo, it was exactly what I expected. A short, intensely emotional experience that pushes the boundaries of how mental health can be portrayed in a game.
Unfortunately, Microsoft’s marketing bolstered it too much. It was marketed, in my opinion, to be their answer to God Of War, but the production value and scope were never that high. We forget that Hellblade wasn’t a AAA game. It was a budgeted release, and given that the sequel was stepping into the same shoes, there was never going to be a bigger, more bloated sequel.
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When Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 finally launched, it received initially great reviews from both fans and players. However, as more people played it, critiques began to emerge. Many criticized the game for being underbaked, too short, or lacking formal depth.
It debuted on the Top 50 Most Played Xbox games list in 23rd place, despite its inclusion in Xbox Game Pass. Given the lack of substantial promotion, I hope Microsoft will consider releasing Hellblade 2 on PS5 to allow a broader audience to experience it.
The Future of Ninja Theory
A report by WindowsCentral suggests that Ninja Theory’s next game is already greenlit, and they are not in danger of being shuttered like other studios. This is reassuring, but it would be unwise for Microsoft to cut ties with such a talented studio if Hellblade 2 underperforms by internal metrics.
The original Hellblade sold a million copies in its first year and reached 6 million players over four years. Now, in the Game Pass era, sales are fractional, and it’s about total players or hours played—data only Microsoft has full access to.
Microsoft recently confirmed in their official podcast, that it would be going multiplatform, bringing a quartet of first-party games to rival consoles.
While it didn’t specify which games, this shift could be an opportunity for Hellblade 2 to reach a wider audience. Microsoft, please consider making Hellblade 2 a multiplatform game. It would not only honor the legacy of the first game but also allow players like my friend and me to share this deeply personal and transformative experience once more.
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