Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga just got its first gameplay trailer, it’s second overall and our third look at the upcoming sequel to the highly acclaimed Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. There are a lot of things that we do not know yet about the title, but even then, there is a lot to unpack from what we have. Spoilers ahead for Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.
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The Sequel Still Leaves Things Unclear
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a game that deals with a heavy topic and purposefully leaves a lot of things to the player’s imagination as to whether or not anything that transpired during the game was real or all in Senua’s head. Senua, who lives with psychosis, overcomes her inner monsters, literal and/or metaphorical, and finally comes to terms with her reality and moves on with her life past the death of her beloved.
Initially, I questioned Hellblade 2: Senua’s Sacrifice’s choice to use more NPCs and characters to join Senua, as it seemed that it would confirm whether or not things are real. But with Senua’s name being called by the giant and recognizing her in the brand new gameplay trailer, things are still left muddy as to whether or not it is literal, metaphorical, or even more likely, both.
Melina Juergens Returns as Senua
Hellblade would not have worked as well as it did if it weren’t for Melina Juergens performance as Senua, and all the more impressive in addition to her raw emotion and power was the fact that it was her very first acting role. Luckily, it will not be her last. She will return to play Senua in Hellblade 2, but with a brand new outfit, as seen in an Instagram post from the Ninja Theory official account in addition to the trailers.
Melina has undergone two or perhaps even more years now of training in preparation for this brand new outing for Senua. Unlike the raw and emotional yet strong Senua of the first game, the sequel looks to bring an angrier, more rage-induced feel to her character, and things cannot be more exciting.
New Combat and Gameplay
For all of the good things that could be said about Hellblade, there is fault to be found within the game’s simplistic and repetitive combat, and it is yet to be seen whether or not it truly fixes this issue. There are, however, some new aspects to the game itself that wasn’t present before, such as there being characters other than Senua and her foes. Another new mechanic is being able to throw spears, as seen in the new gameplay trailer. It is still yet to be seen whether the combat has improved, though videos and posts about Melina’s training have us hopeful.
Developer Size
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was shockingly made by only 20 people (link: https://www.windowscentral.com/senuas-saga-hellblade-ii-direction-team-size) and proved to be one of the highest quality games in the market despite being described as an “independent AAA” title from the team itself. Thankfully, the sequel now has twice as many people working on it, which could mean 40 people are still developing the game, smaller than most AAA titles but bigger than most indies. With a lot of new team members, there is a lot more to be expected out of the upcoming game.
Release date and Platforms
Despite all of the information already provided about the game’s story and gameplay, there is still no word yet with regards to when it will finally release. However, the platforms have already become known, and unfortunately, the title will not see a release on PlayStation platforms, unlike the last game, which was a timed exclusive on the PS4, likely owing to Microsoft’s acquisition of Ninja Theory. The game will be out on Gamepass on the Xbox Series S|X and on Windows platforms.
