I am conflicted about Hellblade. On one hand, I feel it is the furthest step forward video games have taken as a storytelling medium that I've seen in a long time. On the other hand, it continues a trend that I've been criticizing games for since I started writing reviews in 2013. There's too much of it. Specifically, too many puzzles. The puzzles in this game are creative and relate to the themes in some incredible ways, but the game gets diminishing returns on those because of just how many there are in each area. The vast majority of the puzzles require you to focus on a door with a few Norse symbols on it, then find those symbols in the environment. These mostly work as perspective puzzles, but a few levels throw in extra elements that would keep these puzzles fresh if they weren't overdone every time. The most unfortunate thing about the overabundance of puzzles is that they make up a decent majority of the game.
The rest of the game is spent fighting enemies using the game’s rather simple mechanics. The combat is quite fun and the game throws just enough at you to keep the fights interesting. My personal favorite aspect of the combat is that the game totally allows you to use Kenny Omega’s V-Trigger move as a shield break, so you better believe I used that attack every chance I could.
The gameplay is what it is, but where Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice stands head and shoulders above other games is the story. This narrative follows Senua to the depths of Hel where she attempts to revive her lost love. The most impressive thing about the story is how the game uses the medium of video games to explore its themes. Senua is someone who suffers from psychosis and right off the bat, the game makes it clear that it is attempting to tackle issues of severe mental illness, going as far as having the mental health advisor as the first person credited in the intro sequence. The ways the game gets these issues across is incredibly effective. The most identifiable aspect of Senua’s psychosis is the voices she, and the player, hear throughout the game. Using stereo headphones is almost mandatory when playing because it truly makes the voices sound like they are in your head. There were many times where I wished the voices would shut up because they were either annoying or downright bullying Senua and myself. It wasn't lost on me that I have the ability to silence them by turning down the volume or turning the game off, but that people who suffer from schizophrenia don't have these luxuries. It is realizations like this that make Hellblade one of the most brutally affecting games I've ever played. As much as I can criticize the puzzles, no other piece of media made me empathize with not just a character, but other people, the way this one did. There is one moment in particular that shook me to my core and made me outright stop playing the game for a few hours because I wasn't prepared for how real the quote was (especially not at 6 in the morning). “What if each one of us is dreaming, even when awake? And we only see what our inner eye creates for us? Maybe that’s why people feared seeing the world through her eyes. Because if you believe that Senua’s reality is twisted, you must accept that yours might be as well”. This quote encapsulates what makes this game as a whole a mind-blowing experience. Not since “The Truman Show”, has a story made me question myself on an existential level the way Hellblade does. There is even a behind the scenes documentary, that is required viewing after finishing the game, that answers the lingering question of “Was any of it real” in possibly the most poignant way imaginable. Every aspect of this game is built to one end. Giving players an experience that many people go through every day in an attempt to make those players empathize with the people who suffer from mental health issues.
It's become a major part of my recent reviews to get political, but if there is one game that I feel everyone, regardless of political leanings, should play it’s this one. With the ongoing debate (or more appropriately, the lack thereof) about mental illness in this country, it is important to take into consideration the people who actually suffer from the symptoms demonstrated by Senua in the game. By turning mental illness into a scapegoat every time anybody does anything at all, we only further demonize mental health issues and move further away from being able to actually help people who suffer from these issues. The game even tackles this aspect of society in a way consistent with the rest of the story. There are a ton of games that attempt to take on real-world issues and while most newer games handle those issues rather well, none of them are as thought-provoking and poignant as Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. If there is one thing to take away from this review and the game itself, it's not only that we need to pay attention to our own mental health, we also must have empathy for those who suffer from severe mental illness, because they can't just simply turn it off and do something else.
After playing this game, and watching the making of, I came to the realization that video game stories are heading in the right direction. They have gotten to the point where they can handle sensitive issues well and use the medium in interesting ways to explore those issues. While it may not have the best story I've ever seen in a game, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is the biggest step forward I've seen video game storytelling take in a very long time.
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