Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☑ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☑ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

Like to pet the cat
　　　　　 　____
　　　　　／＞　　フ
　　　　　| 　_　 _ l
　 　　　／` ミ＿^ノ
　　 　 /　　　 　 |
　　　 /　 ヽ　　 ﾉ
　 　 │　　|　|　|
　／￣|　　 |　|　|
　| (￣ヽ＿ヽ)__) __)
　＼二つ

Okay, so this is a game helps to understand how it feels like when suffering from a mental illness. The constant whispering and illusions are definitely damaging the sanity. The lacking of clues on sealed doors, unexplained portals and broken paths are not helping either. Maybe there are clues in the whispers, but I’ll rather keep them muted. In the end, I have to play a few adult games to lift my spirits before coming back to finish the game.
Achievements are not missable except for the Nordic mythology collections. You can select chapter to complete them so no worry. The whole game is less than 10 hours in terms of contents.
While the game can run smoothly on steam deck in default setting, the battery drain is significant and the deck can become very hot. It’s better to limit the deck to 30 fps for better overall performance.

So on of the first things you'll see when starting the game is a disclaimer about how they worked with psychologist to create a realistic depiction of psychosis and that people who suffer from psychosis may find it disturbing. Don't assume that's just a "We hope nobody is offended" type of statement, like I did. I have psychosis, and just the opening scene, the voices in her head (especially since I had surround sound headphones on) triggered my own psychosis. I had to take a break about 1-2 minutes in, but decided that I was so impressed with the depiction of it that I would calm myself down and keep playing. Her hallucinations are done so well, the live action rotoscoped people she hallucinates are so uncanny and uncomfortable (My own hallucinations don't look anything like that so I can't say how accurate that part is). Now typing it out it sounds like a very backhanded compliment, but I actually really appreciate how much effort was put into depicting her psychosis in a way that was so real to me that it instantly triggered my own. It's not often that we get good/"accurate" (it's different for everyone, so nothing is gonna be accurate to everyone) depictions of something like that and it deserves a lot of praise just for that aspect alone.

So I just wrapped up Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and man… what a ride. I went in expecting a cool indie action game with some Norse mythology thrown in - and what I got instead was one of the most intense and emotionally raw gaming experiences I’ve ever had.

Let’s start with the obvious: this game looks amazing. Like, shockingly good for a game that isn’t AAA. The environments are moody, unsettling and beautiful all at the same time. And the sound design is easily some of the best I’ve ever heard in a game. You need to play this with headphones. The voices inside Senua’s head constantly whisper around you, and it’s incredibly immersive (and often terrifying). They mock you, help you, confuse you - and honestly, they add a whole new layer of tension to everything you do.

The combat is not super complex, and the enemies don’t change a whole lot throughout the game. But it works. It’s fluid, satisfying, and most of all - tense. You can only take a few hits before you’re done, and there’s a “permadeath” system hanging over your head which makes every fight feel like it really matters. I’m not exaggerating when I say my heart was pounding during some of the bigger battles. That said, the enemy waves can drag on a bit, especially in the second half. There were moments where I felt like the game just wouldn't stop spawning enemies, and I wanted to move on already. Also, the camera can be a pain when you’re backed into a corner, but the voices help you out, warning you to block or dodge. Creepy and useful, honestly.

Now we get to the puzzles… and yeah. This is where the game tested my patience. Most of the game is made up of environmental puzzles - lining up symbols, finding shapes in the world, that kind of thing. I didn’t use any guides, and honestly, I regret that. Solving the puzzles didn’t feel clever, they felt more like "trial-and-error until you get lucky." More than once I spent way too long circling an area, only to realize I missed a tiny detail or didn’t look through the right angle. It got frustrating fast, and it really killed the pacing for me at times.

But all of that feels secondary when you start unpacking the story. This game is about Senua, and what she’s going through, and it’s heavy. She suffers from psychosis - hallucinations, delusions, distorted memories - and the game pulls you into her mind completely. It’s vague and messy and confusing at times, but that’s kind of the point. The world shifts, reality bends, and you’re never really sure what’s real. That’s her reality - and the game doesn’t let you look away from it.

Without major spoilers, I’ll just say the ending hit me hard. It’s not about saving anyone in the rational sense. It’s about accepting loss. Letting go. Coming to terms with things you can’t change, and learning to live with pain instead of being destroyed by it. That struck a personal chord for me - I’ve gone through something similar, and watching Senua go through that journey felt raw and real. There’s a moment near the end where everything just clicks, and I sat there in silence after the credits rolled. Not because it was sad (though it was), but because it felt true.

The way Hellblade handles mental illness is unlike anything I’ve seen in a game. It doesn’t romanticize it or turn it into a gimmick. It respects the experience - the confusion, the isolation, the desperation - and it tells a story that sticks with you long after you’ve put the controller down. Senua isn’t just a warrior fighting monsters - she’s a woman trying to hold herself together after everything she’s lost. And you feel that, every step of the way.

TL;DR; It’s not a perfect game. The combat could use more variety, the puzzles drag things down, and the gameplay isn’t for everyone. But honestly? None of that matters much when the emotional core is this strong. Hellblade is not just a game, it’s an experience. One I won’t forget anytime soon. 9/10

It really isn't combat focused - the fights are awesome though. The puzzles were a bit tedious at times. The psychosis aspect was wild and i truly feel for those that suffer from it in real life, that must be very difficult. Great game overall. Play with headphones for the best experience, the audio is epic.
---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☑ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☐ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☑ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☑ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

This game is unique. It deals with serious, difficult and unfortunately all too often ignored topics about mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia. In doing so, hallucinations, traumas, fears, psychoses and delusions are portrayed well and realistically, for which the developers have also brought many experts on board. For this reason alone, you should definitely play it.

Good game - 8/10
Combat is very basic - soft and hard attacks, kick to breach the defense, dodge and parry. I heard a lot of bad stuff about combat, but its not that bad at all. Its like God of War combat without special attacks. The only annoying thing is changing the target. For me it was very easy - I died only once in combat. Other times I died were when you need to run.
Puzzles are fine, but it starts to be stereotypical after a while. I was stuck once for like 10 minutes, but otherwise its easy. Nothing to hurt your brain.
Storywise its very nice. As a melancholic I like this style very much. Voices in the head are phenomenal with headphones. Stones with northern mythology are nicely done and fun to listen to.
Its 8 hours long, so for somebody like me, who doesn't finish games anymore its very possible to finish this game. And its very untraditional experience.