Summary
First-party AAA games are always going to be controversial in some way. Unfortunately, that’s just an inherent trait of a game that’s technically being locked away from a portion of the potential audience. There also tend to be all these lofty expectations placed onfirst-party AAA games, and when they inevitably can’t reach them, they’re heavily criticized.Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2is experiencing that right now.
Released just last week,Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2has suffered a pretty divisive launch. While on one hand,Hellblade 2has earned acclaim from some critics, it’s also garnered a lot of criticism. The public perception surroundingHellblade 2is also a little all over the place right now, but one clear throughline in the discourse concerns the game’s shorter length. Though the situation is definitely complicated,Hellblade 2’s length might not be entirely worthy of all the ire.
Hellblade 2 Makes a Good Case for Smaller Experiences
Hellblade 2’s Shorter Runtime Feels Right
The firstHellbladewas a short and sweet affair, lasting around 7-9 hours. This shorter length suitedthe firstHellbladevery well, and a big reason for that is the narrative material the game is exploring.Hellbladefollows Pictish warrior Senua as she embarks on a journey to Hel, where she attempts to resurrect her murdered husband. All the while, Senua is battling her own psychosis, depicted as a set of Furies loudly whispering in her ear at all times.Hellbladetackles some very heavy themes, from domestic violence to mental illness to grief, and those themes can take a surprisingly heavy toll on the player.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2continues to explore much of the same themes as the first game, while also adding its own unique dash of harrowing violence and uncovered trauma. Much like the first game,Hellblade 2’s narrativecan start to feel pretty dense the longer the controller is in hand, and this is where many fans will find relief in the fact thatHellblade 2’s runtime is just 5-6 hours long.
Though it suffers some pacing issues in its first hour,Hellblade 2maintains a fairly solid momentum after that point and right up until the credits roll. There are plenty of little mysteries to keep players guessing, plenty of intriguing character dynamics and well-performed interactions, and a compelling central goal that the narrative is building toward. So whileHellblade 2’s runtimemight be short, the way its story is told makes that runtime feel like a natural fit.
A more cynical take is thatHellblade 2being a longer experience would have also made its combat and puzzles feel even more repetitive.
Hellblade 2 Is Still Good Value
When developer Ninja Theory was first acquired by Microsoft, andwhenSenua’s Saga: Hellblade 2was first announced, many fans believed the sequel would naturally be a much larger experience on account of its higher budget and larger development team. That presumption was a fair one, andHellblade 2’s prominent place at the heart of the Xbox Series X’s marketing did feed into that notion. So it’s fair for fans to be disappointed in the final product’s length.
But Ninja Theory was very upfront aboutHellblade 2’s length before launch. Back in January, Ninja Theory confirmedHellblade 2would have a similar length to the first game, and this gave fans plenty of time to decide whether or not they’d pick it up on launch. And though the $50 price tag seems high for such a short experience, it’s about on par with shorterPS5 first-party games likeSpider-Man: Miles Morales.Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2is also on Xbox Game Pass, meaning that fans technically only need to drop $10.99 to play it.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
WHERE TO PLAY
The sequel to the award winning Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Senua returns in a brutal journey of survival through the myth and torment of Viking Iceland. Intent on saving those who have fallen victim to the horrors of tyranny, Senua faces a battle of overcoming the darkness within and without.A crafted experience of cinematic immersion:Sink deep into Senua’s world and story, with beautifully realized visuals and encapsulating sound.Senua’s unique perspective:Experience the world through Senua’s eyes and ears, as a Celtic warrior who experiences psychosis.A journey into Viking Iceland:An epic journey across 10th century Iceland, recreated from real locations in stunning detail.Every fight tells a story:Brutal and visceral combat as Senua battles for survival.
