2017’s Hellblade is still a standout in storytelling, and costs just $3 on Steam

At The Game Awards 2019, Microsoft surprised everyone not only with the announcement of the Xbox Series The goal was to show off the potential of photorealism, and the game chosen was just that Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. The trailer is eerie and moody, with Senua belting out a Scandinavian folk tune and shining intensely as flames and light surround her. If Microsoft wanted to make a memorable splash, it certainly succeeded.

Hellblade 2 was an interesting choice to announce the upcoming consoles. The first game, Hellblade: Senua’s sacrifice, was released in 2017, and while it had a strong impact on its release with critics and players alike, it faded from public consciousness after a while. Anecdotally, I know a lot of people who had heard of it but didn’t play it for one reason or another. But since Senua’s Saga has been delayed several times, with an expected release in May of this year, it’s a good time to jump in. The game is short – about six hours long – but it took a big risk by centering a story about mental illness. a AAA level action game. Plus, it’s only $3 on Steam until January 25, so you have almost no excuse.

In Hellblade, you play as Senua, a Pictish warrior who has traveled to Helheim (the underworld of Norse mythology) to rescue the soul of her deceased lover and best friend, Dillon. While she encounters many of the creatures and creatures you would expect in such a setting, two elements make the journey even worse. The first is a rot that starts on her hand and spreads across her body the more you die in the game, with the promise (and threat) of erasing all your progress if it reaches her head. Not only does it increase the pressure to complete an already challenging experience, but it also drives home just how dangerous Senua’s quest really is.

The second is the hallucinations. Sometimes they appear in the form of environmental puzzles and collectibles, such as marking runes, but they also appear as voices, known as Furies. The Furies will inundate Senua (and the player) with commentary, most of it demeaning. There is also a narrator who addresses the player in a deep baritone that overpowers every other Fury, and who tries to convince Senua of her weaknesses. The sound mixing brings in voices from all around you (the game is definitely best experienced with headphones), telling you that you are ‘pathetic’ and ‘cursed’, and even suggesting that you are harming yourself.

Much of the conversation around Hellblade concerns the portrayal of mental illness, particularly psychosis. Senua has a physical goal to free Dillon, who was her only comfort, but she also tries to find peace from her ‘curse’, which takes the form of auditory and visual hallucinations. Throughout the game you will see flashbacks and collect clues from her reality, and how trauma and violence affected her. Although much of what she experiences is mythological in nature, the line is constantly blurred between what is real and what Senua believes is real. That doesn’t mean the game wants to completely cut her off from reality. In a way, it works to validate her point of view and create an understanding with the player about the nature of what she is seeing. Her psychosis isn’t necessarily a bad thing, even though it can be harmful.

Developers at Ninja Theory worked with mental health professionals and people who have dealt with the condition to sensitively depict Senua’s journey. While the results haven’t always resonated with players across the board, and there’s certainly criticism of the use of a serious condition as a core story and game mechanic, the fact that these conversations emerged at all was new in 2017. Of course, the indie scene and other smaller titles told these stories long ago Hellblade came along, and 2017 was actually a great year for thoughtful stories about mental illness and trauma (What remains of Edith Finch And Night in the forest for example, came out that year). However, this was not as common on larger releases.

I haven’t experienced psychosis, but I know how overwhelming mental illness can be. I have to deal with intrusive voices that have convinced me several times that I am worthless and cause me to go into myself. Senua’s intrusive thoughts take a form that can actually shape her reality. But it’s not all dark. Senua’s psychosis offers her respite in the form of Dillon, whom she travels to the underworld to save. While Senua was ‘cursed’ with these hallucinations from birth, Dillon saw her as a person. She carries his head with her, but in her mind he is very present, speaking to her from a cloud of blue light. While psychosis is seen both in the game by others and in real life as something that needs to be cured, here it gives her a sense of comfort. It offers a more multi-dimensional view that doesn’t force Senua to get rid of it, which feels refreshing.

Even without all that, the game itself is stunning. Ninja Theory’s marketing was based on the idea that Hellblade was an independent game with AAA level visuals, and the game still looks fantastic even by today’s standards. It makes perfect sense why Microsoft would emphasize this Senua’s Saga for his announcement. If a 2017 game looks this great, imagine what the 2024 version would look like.