Should you play Hellblade 1 before playing Hellblade 2?
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is here to continue the saga of Senua. Hellblade 2 takes up an indefinite amount of time after 2017 Hellblade: Senua’s sacrifice.
The events of Hellblade 1 have a certain effect on it Hellblade 2 – specifically on Senua – but you must have played it Hellblade: Senua’s sacrifice to enjoy Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2? Let’s break it down.
Should you play Hellblade 1 before playing Hellblade 2?
The short answer is: you don’t have to play Hellblade 1 before you start playing Hellblade 2.
There’s a handy overview video (which can be skipped) when you start a new game Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. Furthermore, the events of the Senua’s sacrifice are more background than fundamental to the events of Senua’s Saga – they are good to know and they shape the world, but they are not strictly necessary.
Image: Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios via Polygon
Anyway, when you start a new game, you get a five-minute video with cut-out megalith footage showing all the events of Hellblade 1. It’s thorough enough to get you started Hellblade 2 without too many questions.
However, if you missed anything in the video, here’s the crash course you can get ready for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2: Senua hears voices (the Furies). Her mother also heard voices. Senua’s father was a bad man and killed her mother because he thought the voices were bad. Senua fell in love, but things didn’t go well. People died. Senua continued to hear voices and now had another voice in her head: that of her father (The Darkness and later the Shadow). Senua went to Hel(l) to retrieve her lost love and kill a god. She was semi-successful and finally learned to accept loss as part of life (but still stabbed a god). She learned to live with the voices as part of her.
That last part is why you hear the voices everywhere Hellblade 2 are neither encouraging nor discouraging; they have taken on a role more as observers or commentators (or a Greek chorus) than as antagonists.
For more Hellblade 2 guides, check out our guides on the Freyslaug rune puzzle solutions, Hiddenfolk puzzle solutions and Bardarvik sea giants rune puzzle solutions.