Another AAA Game Disaster..

Asmongold Clips / Asmongold Reacts To: Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II terrible numbers and very short runtime has players up in arms
On this Asmongold Clips KZbin Channel you'll never quit finding all the funny Asmongold Moments with Mcconnell and the best Asmongold Highlights from the most popular games, like: Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield, Blizzard's Diablo 4, Dragonflight & Hardcore Classic WoW, the record breaking MMORPG FFXIV, Path of Exile 2, sneak peeks from Gameplay of the upcoming Riot MMO and playthroughs of many other popular games like Hogwarts Legacy, Final Fantasy 16, Elden Ring and more. Also Asmongold Reacts to a lot of content, such as World Record Speed Run of games, Blizzard Drama, "Asmongold AI", VTubers, and videos of some of the most interesting creators like penguinz0, Internet Historian, Emiru, Dunkey, Linus Tech Tips and more. Asmon is also known for his "The True Story of Asmongold", "Asmongold $2 Pizza" and "Asmongold $2 Steak" videos, the legendary Transmog Competitions and Mount Off competitions, Ban Appeals, Media Share streams, Reddit Recap Reactions and much more.
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[@-tHeGaMe-]

"Making video games is hard". The second you see this you know it's over

[@Uryendel]

They always forget the second part: "Making video games is hard when you're stupid"

[@nerrychael]

I mean it's pretty hard right and hard wrong too

[@rejectxz]

@@Uryendel You think these developers are stupid? This game looks incredible. Sure they made some compromises with the playability but I wouldnt call that stupid, just a different vision.

[@ChainsawGutsFuck]

Ain't even hard, just requires some creativity, passion, and _not_ allowing oneself to get GOATSE'd by fat cat shareholders.

[@ayayron8221]

i mean... it is though.

[@garienza]

Ever since TLOU2 I have always thought Western game devs are frustrated movie producers who didn't make it in hollywood

[@Ruffington_Roast]

Kojima would agree

[@yannispirou101]

Tlou 2 is much more of a videogame than most "interactive movie" games though, it lasts for at least 20+ hours and both protagonists have different arsenal and moveset. It might have a lot of cutscenes, but it also has a shit ton of gameplay as well.

[@GoodLosertjo]

Which is funny cause the bar for Hollywood is already so low

[@Ruffington_Roast]

@@itryesitr8053 It was utter garbage. Neil Druckmann is a tard, the favored passenger on the shortest of buses.

[@Ruffington_Roast]

@@itryesitr8053 The short bus is waiting on you

[@viciousoz4188]

I'm seriously having trouble understanding what people were expecting out of this game. It's the exact same as the first game. only even more cinematic

[@Haruka_May]

The problem is it's essentially the same game and same audience but everyone loses. It's more expensive to play for a similar experience and on their side it cost them way more to make.

[@aClownBaby-]

Price is too high for the content. Just make it €35 and it's fine

[@metallboy25]

When I saw the trailer it looked like another woke fемinist garbage game, so I never bothered with it. 😂

[@viciousoz4188]

@@metallboy25 It's far from it believe it or not. At no point do they try to push any kind of agenda. The game is solely about Senua's tragic story

[@viciousoz4188]

@@aClownBaby- It's free on Xbox Game Pass, so that's probably why I'm not complaining about the price

[@Ideeem]

Hellblade 1 was self-published and cheap and short. Hellblade 2 is published by Microsoft, expensive and short.

[@WhyAreYouGhe]

The first game was an indie title... Now the second one is called a triple A game? Wtf?! it's the same studio making the same type of game ffs...

[@M_CFV]

Its xbot cope since its the only game they have...which is funny since its on PC too. There is no exclusives for them anymore edit: I hated Jim Ryan too, apes. I own a 4080.

[@Falcons8455]

well when you make $ you can become a bigger studio

[@thisstuffisdumb]

being "indie" has nothing to do with budget, but if you have a traditional publisher of if you are self publishing. The Witcher 3 is an indie game and one can argue that Cyberpunk 2077, even though it's from a publicly traded company, is also an indie game because said company is not a publisher.

[@jacksonjacob7791]

​​@@M_CFVplaystation day 1 is coming to PC. Stay in your lane and enjoy your "timed" exclusives.

[@thepathfinder11387]

Ninja Theory even said they were developing Hellblade 2 the with the exact same indie thought process in mind. Bigger budget but it seems they wanted to stick to that short niche experience

[@TheGiggleMasterP]

Still longer than the most recent Call of Duty campaign

[@thefallenvalley4340]

Battle of mid

[@Pupixario]

CoD is live service Multiplayer game, tho...

[@goochipoochie]

Yes but CoD can make you spend 10k hours on its shiddy multiplayer and earn millions from selling skins every single week What can these guys make money from after the initial sales ? The initial sales are also looking like a disaster at this point

[@aceghostrus122]

5 hour campaign might be good. Don't judge.

[@worldwarmini3919]

⁠not for $69

[@merchant_of_kek5697]

It pisses me off that people don’t remember games used to have $60 price tags because of distribution costs… That was the reason for a price tag that high. Now it’s higher because producers said so.

[@YumiiSauce]

modern day gamers are the biggest consumers of mass media. it's all fake outrage

[@dashwhatchamakalit]

Distribution, physical printing, design, neat boxes and all the tchotchkies/maps/art books... I had no problem paying 60 bucks for that. Now? It's all digital. And the games have been... something... as of late, depending on who plops them out. And they can cut you from the digital store if they wanted to. -.-

[@killaknight12]

But then you ignore a decade of inflation. Games are one of the few things that had consistent pricing despite everything else costing more, since money slowly loses value. Whether or not the games are actually worth the price is another topic and probably very subjectiv.

[@fadillah6014]

​@@dashwhatchamakalitplus AAA game now pretty much half baked while back then all of them was finished product who still got updated

[@Splincir]

Yeah, the 150 employees at 50 to 100k a year across a 3 to 5 year dev cycle definitely had no bearing on the cost... it was definitely the printing of cds and boxes that drove pricing. Keeping the lights on and your employees paid and happy dar outweighed any box cost. Even if you take the lowest possible income, you were spending 37 million dollars just to pay your employees to make the game. We shouldn't make any excuses for the sad state of triple A devs currently, but at least try and have the minimum understanding of how a business is run.

[@thewhyzer]

I'm surprised Hellblade II is a AAA title in the first place. The first game seemed like an indie title with AAA level graphics, and for that one I have 11 hours recorded in Steam (though I don't know if any of that was idling for cards.)

[@suplextrain]

That was literally the pitch of the first game. As a more modestly budget game with AAA level visuals. Bumping up the budget for what is a niche game makes no sense.

[@Tanwolly]

There are actually losers that idle their games for cards? What? My God gamers are truly degenerate freaks.

[@DeReAntiqua]

Anything and everything is branding itself as "AAA" these days, that's why that one mouthbreather wanted to sell his game as "AAAA" recently. It all means nothing. Just like the "country financial credit scores" by these disgusting ratings agencies this was taken from in 2008.

[@MySkybreaker]

The budget was only 11 million though. They already made their money back according to them? ​@@suplextrain

[@LoudAngryJerk]

yeah, it's not. Being owned by microsoft does not a AAA studio make. Also, @@suplextrain that's not at all what the pitch for the first game was. The pitch for the first game was to use their in-house mocap techniques to tell an engaging story for less than 1/10th the price without sacrificing any of the quality. And they succeeded both times. The game is good. Asmon is, as usual, talking out his ass without even bothering to look into it.

[@davidjohnstone3846]

Short game doesn’t equal bad game, but value is something considered by gamers a lot these days as games are so expensive.

[@SpeedfreakUK]

They’re really not expensive. Super Nintendo games were literally like double the price. I shit you negative, Final Fantasy 3/6 costed over a hundred dollars in today’s money. Until the bump to $70 game prices had stayed the same for like 25 years.

[@red5robb1]

​@@SpeedfreakUK "Final Fantasy 3/6 costed over a hundred dollars in today’s money" ok but we werent spending a hundred bucks back then

[@mw2984]

@@SpeedfreakUK yeah and nearly 60 to 70% the cost back then are now not existend because of digital... fuck your argument. And I think most people dont think about the money but that this could have been just an DLC at this point instead of a full priced game. Especially if you consider that nearly all assets for the game already exist and they technically only had to write a story and put the assets together. It is just money grab for them thats it. And from a corporate standpoint its the right move because degenerate people still buy shit like that

[@wolfy9898]

Games are expensive, yes. But it is not a basic service, it is a luxury good.

[@Yesthuggu]

​@@SpeedfreakUKDon't compare kids games into adults games

[@darkxzero13]

Shadow of the Erdtree is $40 and I’d probably spend 5 hours alone trying to figure out a cool new look for my character

[@inputfunny]

Quality > quantity, enjoy your 200 hours of filler fetch-quests btw.

[@billybegood466]

@@inputfunny You have very clearly not played Elden Ring.

[@naughtydoc9914]

​​@@inputfunny average brain rot maidenless found

[@user-pt2bk7yn4d]

@@inputfunny what quality are you talking about bruh

[@ramr7051]

I don't think Shadow of the erdtree has facial captures of the characters involved, nor the level of graphical eye candy that Hellblade has. I love elden ring and played the whole thing, but the level of effort required to make it is different. Hellblade is meticulously made in every scene, elden ring is more generic and kinda repetitive, with lots of stuff among environments looking similar.

[@FabianRaimund_old]

How about some of you guys actually start playing the game and proceed to join the discussion afterwards instead of just jumping onto a hype train of hate without any foundation? Some of you seem to be so giga stubborn, saying things like: "but they said it's gonna be a AAA title", then complaining: "they said it's gonna be a AAA title and it definitely isn't!"... well, maybe you should have never listened to PR in the firstplace then! You believe shit and then complain about the shit you're believing, but instead of seeing yourself as the key problem you see the shit as the problem. Well, guess what: shit won't go away anyway so maybe start changing yourself. Now for Hellblade 2: First of all there are different status quos for what AAA actually means. For most people it seems to refer to something huge, something of large quantity, not necessarily quality, like a 150h+ open world - but what's actually AAA in creating a decent looking, massive world with practically 0 intent to convey a story, a plot, a character development? Well... guess that's a reason why so many people who like this kind of AAA are then disappointed with the game nevertheless, because it just rarely works. There are some exceptions, surely. In essence of Hellblade 2 I have to admit that the only thing, which fucks up, is the pricing for a game with large quantity for a game with small quantity of gameplay... and also some lengths in the 2nd part of the game. These things aside, speaking purely of AAA Standards, Ninja Theory has hit the mark - The production value of Hellblade 2 is insanely good! No bugs, stunning visuals, crazy good animations (especially when fighting - the way one animation flows into another is astonishingly fluid), a superior cinematography - and at last and most important: a phenomenal audio mix. One thing however, which is quite obvious, is the fact that this game seems to have been made for HiFi enthusiast... with great Headphones and an HDR Monitor this game is practically two times as great as if you're casually playing it. For me, personally, the game delivered exactly what I imagined after part I, albeit one or two things which I had hoped for and didn't find its way into the game. Nevertheless I can understand those people who hoped for a mesmerizing viking game after seeing the first trailer - hence being slightly misguided into seeing the game as something it could never be before it even got released. But for that we can seriously not blame the devs nut moreso the PR and marketing who want to milk the most money out of the crowd (thus speaking it's sad to see that once again the vision of a studio is hated on based on the poor execution of the publisher). If the communicatiom had been an honest one referring to what one could expect from the game, it might not have hurt as many feelings

[@AlisSpark]

Honestly, I don't mind short games, the first Hellblade was amazing and short, but at some point you have to consider charging a lower price for your game. 20$ would have been fine, too.

[@Jcannnon]

Exactly. If you have enough resources that you have to charge $50 for the game, you can surely make it 20 hours long.

[@jeremiah4979]

I would've bought it for 20 but definitely not 50.

[@ironiccookies2320]

Don't blame Ninja Theory for the price. It's Xbox who set the price

[@AlisSpark]

@@jeremiah4979 Well you still might, just on sale then whenever it's 20$ haha

[@G37NYC]

It is less than 20 dollars get on gamepass beat it and your done like everyone else..

[@TheMegazonyx]

They were so busy about making a movie, that they forgot they were supposed to making a game...

[@feykro222]

First game was exactly like that. I don't know why people were expecting something else.

[@ProjectPhoenix21]

@@feykro222yeah no kidding, it’s the exact same game mechanics from the first

[@lesslighter]

so... Hideo Kojima?

[@link99912]

It's fine for there to be movie-like games? It's been very highly rated. If it's a flop that's unfortunate, won't stop me from enjoying it.

[@KevinShmelvin]

Hideo kojima games have actual gameplay this game is just a cutscene with invisible quicktime events.

[@egr1957]

I hate when people state "We see and hear you." So cringe.

[@DreamTerrorist]

That's manufactured White House twitter kind of language. Very cringe. Woke speak.

[@karlhans6678]

Video game companies love to say that but they do the opposite.

[@ashentwo6608]

​@@karlhans6678fr in literally every single one of these you will find at least one "we see and hear you"

[@TheAzrai]

@@ashentwo6608 It's basically a patronizing pat on the head.

[@diabolicaldoodle]

Yep. 100% agree, it’s cringe as F

[@misapheonix]

The runtime is easy pickings, when the game itself is a carbon copy of the OG. The real problem is game "sequels" being anything more than straight up expansions, these days :/

[@Eirud]

They spent the last 7 years focusing purely on visuals, mo-cap, acting, and sound design, but forgot they were making a video game and not a movie. Doesn't help that they started promoting the game literally 4 and a half years ago in December of 2019 which created a massive lull in hype and expectation with very little promotion anywhere near release. This games life cycle genuinely makes no sense.

[@lofi1598]

he ps fanboy he didn't say nothing about spiderman miles morales 5 hour game ratchet and clank 5 hour and hitman 5 hour resedent evil 7 5 hour game Where his anger or he just negative because it is an Xbox game? The game is amazing and a masterpiece. I don't care about the opinion of the haters. he disgrace to the gaming community because he biased towards PlayStation. Damn he is hypocritical press. shame on him

[@hezshot964]

@@lofi1598I was so confused when people were hating on it when I was having a blast. Gamers are so toxic it sucks

[@TheCyanHawk.]

​@@lofi1598omg it's a real one in the flesh. And it lacks self awareness. This is amazing, I love this. All your comments are on xbox related videos white knighting. Keep up the good work little soldier 💪

[@jimboc669]

​@@lofi1598 are you broken?

[@dr.doctor4878]

Isn't Hellblade 1 like this? I think Hellblade 2 sticking to its identity is better than trying to be something else Dead Space 3 went more action because of Resident Evil 6?

[@Wakshak321]

I may be wrong on this but if I remember correctly, when the 1st game came out they said they were a small team attempting to make a AAA quality game with understandable limitations. They said they'd charge about half the price of AAA game since they'd offer a detailed but shorter experience, which was about 6-7h long. Now suddenly short games is something "our fans like" and the price is even higher, not to mention it was meant to be one of xbox's biggest releases. Something doesn't seem right.

[@1Synner]

Ninja Theory as a company and development team has always had a history of contradicting itself and bouncing back and forth between indie and AA/AAA, but the Microsoft buyout probably doesn't help the matters since they now have to cater to them and the investors rather than the public.

[@spencer6736]

Tbh Im someone who likes short games and often seek them out. But when I think of short games, I'm thinking of something indie or a walking simulator. Nothing priced triple a or even anywhere close to that.

[@tobiasreinhold7642]

@@spencer6736 One of my favorite indie games is "Renowned Explorers: Internation Society". Rogue-lite game where you play explorers around the early 20th century and you go around exploring different locales (deserts, jungles, transylvania, that type of stuff) to discover mystical things and treasures. Each playthrough only takes about 2-3 hours, yet I've still managed to get about 90+ hours out of the game over the years, because it always feels different with the huge number of characters to choose from. If I were to buy Hellblade 1 or Hellblade 2, I'd play it once. That's it. These types of story-heavy, short games are a mix between video game and movie. This means they have zero replayability unless you magically forget what happened.

[@DBTHEPLUG]

The Steam reviews are very positive. Who cares about people that haven't even played the game complaining? You don't play Ninja Theory's games, so it being shut down or not shouldn't even matter to you.

[@thelastmastergamer2846]

​@@1Synnerit's an Indie studio making a AAA game dude AAA doesn't mean. The size of the studio it just means hoe much money was poured into the game

[@Zaney_]

Litreally zero marketing for this game. Xbox is doing this intentionally to shut down ninja theory.

[@jacksnuller4867]

You don't need marketing if the game is good. Not to mention the game is front page on Xbox and game pass. Where the hell do you people find out about games these days? In TV commercials LOL.

[@Dead_Hitori]

Good

[@omgwat]

Well, I mean... we know why. They had 0 confidence in this game. That studio is absolutely dead.

[@dendrien]

first of the game was shit in the first place so why would a second one be better? why should any major comany advertise for a woke ass game? go woke go broke i say

[@extreme123dz]

@@jacksnuller4867 Flayers you stupid capitalist

[@planescaped]

What made the first game so special was because it was an indie game with breathtaking production values. Showing one didn't need to be AAA to get to that level. It was the quintessential "double A;" game. So the second game is then picked up by a big publisher, and charges full price without actually changing anything, and they're surprised there is backlash? Also wtf did Xbox Game Studios do for Ninja Theory anyway? Certainly not marketing... that's for damn sure.

[@FatManJackson]

"Enjoy shorter games" is the equivalent to "enjoy spending more money on more games".

[@gaminggaming.6071]

Shorter games with great pace are better than time waters

[@bragagamingz]

Not saying this game is good, but I prefer a 5 hour blast over a 80 hour nothing burger

[@FatManJackson]

@@gaminggaming.6071 unrelated to what I wrote.

[@FatManJackson]

@@bragagamingz cool story. Has nothing to do with my comment.

[@bragagamingz]

@@FatManJackson how so? are you dense? I'm saying I disagree with the presumption making shorter games is a money move, because game length is not a factor for quality

[@ricardomilos10]

why is nobody playing this game??? Because is not even a game, its a literal movie with barely interactable sections that cost 50 bucks for 5 hours of entertainment, ripoff

[@Pneuma777]

To be fair there's a lot of entertainment IRL that cost the same for like an hour of time instead

[@x8Ghostyx]

Most of the game is just cutscenes 💀

[@6ch6ris6]

do you think that about the first game, too? Because I didn't feel the first game was lacking. It was quite amazing. Short, but great and fun.

[@CarTastic-fv6eo]

Its even had hardly any marketing. The only thing we saw is was one gameplay, trailer and thats all. 90% of people did not saw this game is a thing.

[@sunderland666]

​@@6ch6ris6Did it cost 50 bucks though? I believe it was cheaper

[@wholetyouinhere]

In an age where AAA games are routinely maligned for focusing on graphics over gameplay, "we focused on graphics over gameplay on purpose" is a bold strategy.

[@iabaca]

Tooooooooo be fair....its a lose lose. One half of the gamers complain that games dont need to have epic graphics to be good, and the other half complain that games havent been mext gen on next gen consoles. They put all their effort into next gen immersion. And then the people complain because its too short. You cant win unless the game hits the middle spot and has been in production for over 10 years, which is a damn risky move.

[@MN-jw7mm]

@@iabaca It's not a lose lose if you can make a good game. In the last 10 years, Overwatch, BoTW, Sekiro, It Takes Two, and ER won GOTY. None of these games even strived for high-fidelity realism.

[@Mythicalgoon]

@@iabaca Elden ring wants to say hello.

[@isoprops3861]

These AAA game companies should just make movies at this point if graphics is all that matters to them.

[@EndersupremE]

Hellblade 1 was already like this, and ppl like me liked it. Wouldn't make sense to make it different in the sequence

[@anonisnoone6125]

Y tf does Microsoft love buying these gaming companies if they're not gonna do shit to actually promote their games? Do they think people just magically know a game exists.

[@vinsanity40k]

i guess there's a business strategy where you just buy your competition instead of trying to, you know, compete...

[@malohn2068]

This isnt new. Do we just want new shit to shit on? Senua Sacrifice 1 had the same exact "issue" and complaints. Its a short game with an experience you can't explain. Its a journey more than a game. People complained its too easy and the combat isnt like dark souls, it never tried to be that. Its like saying pokemon is bad cause it doesn't have weapons and team deathmatch

[@bearwithsunglassesandicecr5856]

R.I.P Ninja theory.

[@大]

rip skkibidi toilat

[@gundamdetractor337]

"Ninja tradition is no match for pure and everlasting evil!" -Akuma

[@fumirokugen576]

their games were never actually good anyway. The only actual decent game that they have are DmC but unfortunately, it has dmc name so the game is like another smear right after dmc 2 to the franchise.

[@HalitArzupnar]

o7 Ninja Theory

[@hadoken95]

good old day one Game Pass wrecking another one

[@SlaveToTheSystem]

5 years development for a 5 hour game at $50. That is what Microsoft will look at this game as and heads will be scratched with no live service or microtransactions to bolster revenue as it's a one and done title. Always remember these developers under Microsoft aren't out to please the consumer, they have to please Microsoft & investors now with ROI above all.

[@Paelmoon]

So how much per hour is the right amount? $1 per hour? $5 per hour? $20 per hour?

[@77dris]

It's included in Game Pass... so less than $15.

[@SlaveToTheSystem]

@@PaelmoonIt's the 5 years spent for such little profit that will be the concern. It's the business model Microsoft went for, which basically screams live service & battle passes in order to break out and get a return of profit for Microsoft. Having the team tied up and paid by Microsoft to release a 5 hour game in exchange for practically no return is the problem, especially after recently acquiring the studio.

[@vegitoblue8249]

Its very different. Studios that are owned by corporations had It too Easy. They did not have to make good games because Microsoft of Sony would be the One losing Money. They could just mess around all day and farm Money. Thankfully this Is changing

[@ceshmate1953]

Yes 5 hours of quality content. Since when is a game being short a problem ? The only problem this game had is the marketing.

[@TheRealTopGunZ]

5 hour tech demo with minimal gameplay mechanics gets 9's and 10's. 80 hours game that is praised by the creator of the legendary game that it got inspired from, with a deep lore and multiple gameplay mechanics, naaah, it's a PS5 exclusive, we will bury it.

[@MyZ001]

Yea, cause PS5 exclusive's obviously not get highscore's right... smdh

[@wr5488]

Rebirth got amazing scores though, like 10s across the board Scores and sales aren’t the same

[@AikanaroSauron]

Any console exclusive deserves to get trashed upon. And yeah, go play gay vikings for 400 hours in an annual Ubisoft AssCreed release.

[@Mrtrojano]

That is not true ,there are a lot of gameplay

[@AlexEternalChamp]

i presume you are talking about stellar blade. Yeh for this garbage ass game to have the same critic score as stellar blade which is an absolute delight to play is an affront to any gamer's intelligence. And if anyone tries to reason both game having the same scores is correct that person has lower iq than a chimp.

[@wolows]

Are we surprised? Hellblade was never god of war, it was always a small game. If you look up the first game the peak concurrent players is 5619. Idk why they insist on dumping millions of dollars and hyping up these small indie games like this because all it is going to do is look like a failure when it comes out.

[@lofi1598]

he ps fanboy he didn't say nothing about spiderman miles morales 5 hour game ratchet and clank 5 hour and hitman 5 hour resedent evil 7 5 hour game with 70 price Where his anger or he just negative because it is an Xbox game? The game is amazing and a masterpiece. I don't care about the opinion of the haters. he disgrace to the gaming community because he biased towards PlayStation. Damn he is hypocritical press. shame on him

[@roycastillo8620]

​​@@lofi1598 Spiderman miles morales (40 dollars when was launch) has side quest and is free world same as rachet and clank, all the games are like 5 to 10 hours only with the principal mission, but with the sidequest is always more. in all the games that exists only a few are longer than that, miles morales is like 20 hours with side quest and principal misión (40 dollars at launch), rachet and clank is 24/ 30 hours with the side quest, now hellblade is 6 to 7 hours and exaggerating doing everything, so u can't not compared

[@Zzplys]

Modern gaming in the toilet

[@NikoMoraKamu]

the industry is going to collapse soon

[@shittyhaircut]

modern _everything_ pretty much

[@thatonefpsgamer1339]

POV your bat shit delusional about how the past was

[@BlipperOfRays]

@@NikoMoraKamu Good riddance. Indies are way more fun anyway.

[@MewinMoose]

​​@@BlipperOfRaysthis is indie..it's a medium sized team doing something "weird" and for $50. First one got praised for looking so good and made by a small team and low budget.

[@KurosawaIsamu]

It's not that their fans enjoy shorter games. They accepted the first title's game length and limited scope because it was promoted as "not a AAA game" and was priced accordingly cheaper. The whole point of the project was supposed to be a smaller scope game on a smaller budget with a lower sale price could generate enough profit to be a successful business, which it proved true.

[@Sam_but_not_really]

i accepted it was short because the length worked perfectly for the set of mechanics the game had and for the story they went with. I found the price to experience ratio to be more than fair. I enjoy shorter stories and good pacing, i hate padded content. Short games are fine. What's not fine is to lie that game is 9 hours long when it is 5 hours long. That is simply false marketing and in case of game this short should be accepted as a valid reason to return the game - If it was used in marketing and not just taken out of something someone said early in the development. Even if (like the first game) it's made to be shared with people that aren't hardcore gamers saying it's 9 hours long because subset of players will definitely take that long is just as wrong as saying game is short because speedruners are beating it in minutes.

[@roderickmiller3199]

​@@Sam_but_not_really tbf I took about 9 hours to complete that's because the photo mode is really fun to use

[@lazerpants9026]

To be fair, it's still not a AAA game. It's barely a AA game. Having said that, I'm a big fan of the first game and I absolutely prefer shorter games. I'd rather have my mind blown for 6 hours and then move on with my life than slog through padded nonsense for 60 and not have time to have other experiences because my time is limited.

[@Film_Quest]

@@lazerpants9026100%

[@Jobocan.]

​@@roderickmiller3199That just means you spent plenty of time not actually playing the game.

[@arc2641]

I feel like we're being too harsh on it, although I do agree that in the value department this game absolutely is cheeks however we've also seen how fucking awful games that are on the other side of this spectrum can be, and yes there is middle ground to this but personally I think we should criticize the game for it's short comings and also celebrate its strengths and hope the game studios continue to publish artistic treats with gameplay and playtime to back it up. I personally enjoyed the game, all the Hiddenfolk trials and revelations were visually STUNNING and were delivered masterfully. The combat was decent, all the finishers and parries were satisfying. The character development was really nice, Thorgester was one of my favs. Overall, I'd recommend people to play this game if they want a break from their valorants, elden rings, fifa or whatever your current game rotation is, and enjoy this visually stunning art playable art piece. Also the bandwagon mindset is crazy how people who haven't played the game or it's predecessor for a single minute just start shitting on it for reasons other than the playtime and gameplay.

[@Bdoll1993]

Who are they making their metrics on? If you're rating how long a game takes but a non gamer is the person you're using as reference then it's going to be longer than the average.

[@quiethate]

Ever since developers started focusing on graphics instead of replay value and how the game plays , gaming as a whole has been in the dump

[@boringpatron6225]

There was always big focus on graphics, especially in AAA. Too many people even focus on graphics first more than gameplay. If you would release for full price 20+ hour game with great gameplay and graphics like Monster Hunter World (for example), bunch of nerds would complain that it looks like early PS4 game and that its too expensive. You just have no way to win over some people. Hell some people actually complained about graphics in Elden Ring.

[@TundraCrow]

Doesn't even need to be rep;ayable for me just something that leaves me happy and satisfied with the time I put into it. The game doesn't need to be 40 plus hours long to convince me to play it, but I will say a shorter game will need and smaller price tag if it is not designed to be infinitely replayable. Graphics are nice but the most important thing for me in a game is first how it plays and then second is engaging me with the character's or plot and the direction they are going.

[@jgooner894]

What rubbish, there’s not enough games that actually look this good. People want more single players games but now we’re bashing them?

[@ricardohoang8452]

@@boringpatron6225 You wanna mention graphic kids that Guerrillas sent???

[@victor_2216]

Replay value is worthless. The majority of people who play games never actually finish them. Focusing on replay value would only make games focus on something worthless. People love criticizing graphics like it's impossible for a game to have good graphics and remain good, which isn't true. GOW games are great, RDR2 is great, and both have good graphics.

[@ShinjiIkari007]

This entire game is shorter than some free demos. It's crazy.

[@ricardomilos10]

final fantasy 16 demo is almost as long as this full game

[@ShardDeVir]

​@@ricardomilos10 really? That is something.

[@siawenxuan353]

Dragon quest 11 demo is roughly 10 hrs😂

[@cvf4ever]

Unicorn Overlord's Demo was 8 hours long

[@madarauchiha116]

shorter than the first one? for real?

[@Regexion]

It's not a bad -game- movie, just horrible value. Similar amount of gameplay(barely any) and length as the first game. It's effectively two movies for 50€, so the only sane way to play it is on Game Pass.

[@tomassadil324]

L take. Telltale Games were also like $15 per episode and were amazing value and those were basically trainwrecks with all the game-breaking bugs and glitches. Hellblade 2 amazing experience, especially considering how smoothly it ran even on my RTX 4060 and basically I haven't even had any glitch, nor bug - Compared to other UE5 title I played - Immortals of Aveum, this game was godly optimized. Combat is also better than QTE of narrative games from decade ago (such as Telltale games, Heavy Rain or Detroit.) These types of nichés titles aren't for anyone, which is fine, but it feels as if those hating on them have TikTok brains with 2 minute attention span.

[@Regexion]

@@tomassadil324 No, they were 25€ per season, had plenty of player interaction, choices/actions that were meaningful, and replay value. Hellblade 2 has ONE choice and it has zero impact on the story. The game is equivalent to the first one in every objective aspect, yet it costs 20€ more.

[@tomassadil324]

@@Regexion not true. Upon release they were $15 per episode. I mean Expanse is for $40 - $45 and it's their worst and shortest installment

[@Regexion]

@@tomassadil324 "...available now for $4.99 per episode on PlayStation Network, and is available as the first part of a five episode season pass for $24.99 on PC and Mac..." - CBR article from May of 2012. And The Expanse is 25€. Stop lying.

[@Regexion]

@@tomassadil324 Oh I love YT shadow-filtering comments for no apparent reason. Won't quote the article directly this time. According to a 2012 CBR article by Robert Workman, they were $4.99 per episode on PSN and $24.99 as a season pass on PC and Mac. The Expanse released at $24.99 for all episodes. Stop lying.

[@emilemil1]

I don't mind the game being short if it's good, but to a lot of people the amount of playtime you can get for your money matters a lot.

[@selenium9479]

The problem isn't that it's short but that it hardly has any gameplay and it's boring as hell.

[@ChinLua604]

​@@selenium9479 speak for yourself

[@PlayWithPiwi_PWP]

for game that like movie its enough lol

[@kingm3llo]

It’s on gamepass

[@observerf-03p.d39]

​@@kingm3llo Let me say this: Katana ZERO, an indie game with similar length to Hellblade, is not only on Gamepass too but also provides a much better gameplay and narrative experience with endless replayability. Games like that would definitely not be a waste of time and money compared to a glorified cinematic that adds nothing meaningful to the first part of an engaging story.

[@GelatineRidder]

They didn''t promote it, because there was nothing to promote.

[@x8Ghostyx]

Xbox promoted their downfall 💀

[@vLarsn]

Just like the first game, it's a 5-6hrs asmr walking sim

[@FirewynnTV]

​@@vLarsnpeople forget about thus tries being that

[@DotDusk]

If they made some trailers to promote it, they would spoil the whole game. 😂

[@FazeParticles]

It’s a tech demo for a larger project whatever that is.

[@TheSilverwolf97]

I honestly hate when games drag out too long, don't mind the cinematic aspect of it either. The game should be cheaper tho, it's pretty much in the same scope as the original so I don't really know where did they put that "extra budget" to justify the price increase, the original game was $29.99 on release.

[@iheuzio]

shorter games are good, just look at ori. However, this studio advertised a baseline stance on the amount of hours, tricking them into purchasing the game. Turns out it is not what was expected, they are a very talented small indie team, not a AAA team. There's 20 developers that made hellblade 1 and 40 that made hellblade 2. I would say microsoft messed up on advertising since this studio is owned by microsoft, there's probably a wake of layoffs coming and maybe a shutdown as microsoft milks their cash cow. This has nothing to do with the ninja studio, but everything to do with microsoft being greedy. Saying that games are meant to be longer will yield games with artificially inflating the amount of hours through fetch quests and things that don't matter. Ori and the Blind Forest was 4 hours long, but that was some of the best 4 hours I've played. Soma is 10-13 hours to beat, subnautica is 28 hours to beat. All these games are perfectly fine being short. So I would say this is one of your bad takes.

[@DotDusk]

I've been bombarded by articles saying that Senua was the most hyped and anticipated game of 2024. I thought I was losing my mind because my impression was that Senua was a niche game that nobody cared. Good to see that jornos and a few influencers are still gaslighting their audiences.

[@DrTheRich]

It was a niche game, that a niche audience cared about, (like me) and they still do. Why people still even consider the words of jounros is beyond me. Or you just wat something to bitch about for the sake of it, that's also very possible.

[@SapiaNt0mata]

imo, Black Myth Wukong is the most hyped/anticipated game of 2024. August 20 for release is approaching.

[@M_CFV]

@@DrTheRich he is bitching about astroturfing which is a very legitimate compliant. Moronic 15-year old comment from you

[@kreenbopulusmichael7205]

@@SapiaNt0mata never heard of it

[@italianspiderman5012]

@@SapiaNt0matanah, it’s the same thing, the game had great trailers and showcases, so people that usually fall for hype traps are hyping it up despite all the signs that usually point to a massive disappointment.

[@PsychoBenches]

Graphics budget: $21,000,000 Gameplay budget: $120

[@ThisIsMeArnold]

It's just a different artistic approach to a game, Hellblade 1 was the same.

[@OilFreeFeathers]

​@@ThisIsMeArnoldHellblade 1 didn't take 7 years to make and release.

[@Xinamon98]

@@OilFreeFeathers Hellblade 2 took 4 years to develop.

[@leighsherval1023]

​@@OilFreeFeathers4 years between DmC and Hellblade. 3 years for Bleeding Edge. 4 years for Hellblade 2

[@NigelUltra]

That's the only strat they need. It draws in all the lowest common denominators.

[@zachster2016]

"5 hours!? There's no way. You must be expert speedrunners because all of our game journalists took at least 15 hours to complete this game"

[@lofi1598]

he ps fanboy he didn't say nothing about spiderman miles morales 5 hour game ratchet and clank 5 hour and hitman 5 hour resedent evil 7 5 hour game with 70 price Where his anger or he just negative because it is an Xbox game? The game is amazing and a masterpiece. I don't care about the opinion of the haters. he disgrace to the gaming community because he biased towards PlayStation. Damn he is hypocritical press. shame on him

[@virtualDan]

@@lofi1598stop the hate towards PlayStation,resident-ratchet are way over 5 hours Xclown fanboy.LMFAO!!

[@dusermiginte4647]

​@@virtualDanstay in school.

[@Carpirinha]

Short games aren't necessarily bad. Portal was short but it was a successful game. But if a game is going to be expensive, it better be worth the price.

[@Grauer1510]

10$ per hour. That's almost mobile phone internet costs around the 2000's.

[@DrTheRich]

Times change, cry harder... or better, work harder, stop wasting your time commenting online.

[@coffeebreak7668]

@@DrTheRich The lack of self awareness

[@razvangheorghe9230]

@@DrTheRich Cringe.

[@mangobango3908]

@@DrTheRich Dude is saying that you have to be dumb af to buy a 5h trash game for 50dollars but apparently you just showed that there are indeed dumb af people like you.

[@desertmammoth3159]

@@DrTheRich I gotta agree with everyone else. Hop off that cucumber, you don't need it.

[@FishyMango]

After playing Hellblade 1 you should've known that 2 would be nothing but a movie with minor interaction.

[@feykro222]

Exactly, people in comments are bunch of idiots for expecting something else

[@Hirome_Satou]

I mean, I think people did know that, which is why only about 3k people are playing it.

[@BasketCase-rr7tx]

Yeah this is just another thing that Asmon is complaining about for no reason. Everyone knew what this game was. It’s not shocking to anyone but him.

[@BasketCase-rr7tx]

@@Hirome_Satou it’s actually more to do with the fact that they have done a terrible job of marketing it. People actually liked the first game but many probably don’t even know this game is out.

[@dynamicflashy]

6 to 7 years of development, for a 5 hour campaign, bad ending, prettier graphics and no gameplay improvements.

[@Kodama867]

It is an obituary because Hi-Fi Rush got zero advertisement as well and despite selling good, got the studio shut down by Microsoft… who are now trying to buy Valve.

[@mrjoji9106]

I rememver this game being announced a few years ago and completely forgotten about I didn't see a single advertisement for it once the only reason i knew was out was from youtube walkthrough uploaded on YT

[@yuriyutani7907]

I really liked Senua's sacrifice. But I questioned what more could be done with such a concept. The first game really felt like the kind of game you can only make once. When I heard a Hellblade 2 was in the the works, I was skeptical. Just didn't think it would be this bad

[@x8Ghostyx]

Hellblade 2 is senua's sacrifice 💀💀

[@yuriyutani7907]

@@x8Ghostyx You're mistaken. Hellblade 2 is Senua's saga. Hellblade 1 is Senua's sacrifice

[@elikyiael8740]

i really didn't like the first one, the combat was cheap, the mechanics also, the concept was cool but it did not deliver at all for me

[@FirewynnTV]

This game is very good honestly. It's not much different than the first and feels like a full tie up of the story. People forget this team is like 20 people and that this game is 20 dollars less than a triple A game

[@x8Ghostyx]

@@yuriyutani7907 I meant its senua's sacrifice, cuz the game kinda flopped and xbox might shut down the studio

[@wavemoon]

50 dollars for a 5 hour game is actually insane. For 10 dollars per hour you get more value watching a movie in the cinema imo.

[@CarTastic-fv6eo]

I think the idea was to put game on GP and make people to play through service.

[@Paelmoon]

No you wouldn't - I checked. To go to see the new Furiosa movie (just as an example), with the family, would cost $122.60 (4 tickets). That's just the tickets. Lets say another $50 for overpriced food (I would bring sweets from the supermarket, but lets go with the venues pricing). That's the thick end of $200 for 2 hours. That's $100 an hour. Hellblade 2 costs $79 - and I can keep it forever. And lets say its the 5 hours people are saying (I took my time so it was a bit longer). That's $15.80 per hour + what time I might replay it later.

[@77dris]

It's less than $15... It's on Game Pass. And when you are done, you have other games you can play. If you are already a subscriber to Game Pass, the game is "free".

[@Czesiek123]

@@Paelmoon are you playing Senua with your family? no? So this is invalid argument, and i can buy sweets and play the game, does it increase the cost? Replayability in 5h game with no gameplay, good luck

[@Paelmoon]

KEEP COPING.

[@StuartHollingsead]

I still have yet to see a videogame company coordinate with a tv series release. For instance, Ghost of Tsushima could have been released and advertised with the remake of Shogun.

[@davepianist84]

The game is good but requires a lot of patience, that's the problem with cinematic games that are too slow paced and take the control away from you too often, if you compare it to "rise son of Rome" then you'll see a game that's pure action while also having an amazing story

[@Kyronetta]

Th worst thing about the game is how it’s $50. It should be 30 imo. You just don’t get enough content for that price.

[@bugarsandor2504]

AAA studios destroyed game industry with this price-length ratio. I don't want another boring 100+ hours open world game. I want experiences like this. Also it's in game pass, if you don't want to pay 50€/$ for it.

[@Odyssey636]

​@@bugarsandor2504you want short film movies with horrible gameplay and sub par stories? 😭 Hades 2 takes 5 hours at most too beat if you are good. But the game was 30$ and can be played for 100+ hours if u wanted too.😂 hades 2 is wort like 5x this game and is 50% the price. People like you is why gaming is in the dumps. You support games with no gameplay😂

[@erikasl.7050]

Exactly

[@forcebrand4678]

​@@bugarsandor2504You want walking and talking segments with occasional sprouts of generic gameplay? Goddamn, dude.

[@bugarsandor2504]

@@forcebrand4678 For me the story, the characters and the experience it gives me is far more important than the gameplay. I want something, that makes an impact on me. And fancy weapon upgrades, stats and exploration don't give me that. Good gameplay is also important, but I will choose games like Hellblade over any generic open world, hack and slash action "rpg".

[@nunab1864]

I'm usually a supporter of shorter games, not everything needs to be a 100+ hour collectathon. But a $50 game with a 5 hour campaign is pushing it.

[@traductus3337]

the first game came out 2017, we dint had this price inflation back then like it is now. The first game was 30$ and still is.

[@hunacean]

This is 100% Xbox's fault. The first the game was just like this, a cery short, but very transcendant experience. But they were talking it up so people expected a new God of War. This was always, since Ninja Theory started working on it, a short game.

[@jgooner894]

That’s not even the standard price for games though.

[@Odyssey636]

​@@traductus3337 price inflation hasnt affected games for 2 decades and it still hasnt affected games. There are still full fledged games coming out for 20-30$. The only games that "inflated" were the bad ones like this one, and the huge companies that i dont even look at when buying games like EA, blizzard, and ubisoft.😭 just cuz 4 or 5 bad companies raised their prices but everyone else lowered doesnt mean inflation 😭🤡

[@erikasl.7050]

Exactly, the first one was also short but it was priced at $20-$30

[@Chronon88]

Why is it a $50 release? Should be $40 like Helldivers 2 was. Even then they should know the game is short and kind of one-time experience and thus competes with TV shows and movies. $30 would be fair because no sane person would pay more for it when the other option is to sub for a Game Pass for a month...

[@Asrael-xy7uk]

As someone who is relatively new to gaming, I have still all those old games open for me which are like 20 bucks for 30+ hours gameplay (side quests can increase that exponentially). And even the few 70 bucks games I've invested 60+ hours in, I got during a sale when they were 3 years out. So for someone like me it's really difficult justifying buying any game at full price when I could just play all the other games I haven't played yet until the next sale, not to mention one that I probably am just going to invest like 5 hours in.

[@jbartpl]

Short is not the main problem for this game. The main problem is that its mainly a simple walking simulator with some puzzles. So they invested alot in visuals but where is the acctual game?

[@idkwhattonamethisyoutubeac4737]

That's the thing. that's the game. That's how it was always going to be, intended to be. The first one was exactly like this too. Not sure what people expected, it's just not for you.

[@octavianpopescu4776]

@@idkwhattonamethisyoutubeac4737 Ok, but then... who is it for? With 3-4000 players at launch, it doesn't seem like it's for that many people. I get the artsy/experimental approach, but it's falling a bit flat in this case.

[@nonikita]

@@octavianpopescu4776 Their first game released to highly positive revues with most people criticising combat, and it sold more then 2 million copies on Steam only. I really really enjoyed it and it was one of my favorite games from that year. I beat it in 2 or 3 sittings over a weekend and I loved it for what it is. I was expecting more of the same with slightly improved combat and hoped it would be an hour or two longer then the first one. There was probably some turmoil with Microsoft behind the scenes and the ex creative director left the studio. I don't mind the game being simple if it provides an emotional/sensory experience like the first one did. I will support this game and play it in two 2.5h sittings.

[@idkwhattonamethisyoutubeac4737]

@@octavianpopescu4776 It's for the "Videogames are art" people. The ones that like movie-like games. It's not getting players because it wasn't marketed at all.

[@upanddown1132]

Cause visuals are cheap, designing gameplay and animations are expensive

[@b0niK1337]

To be fair, it's "free" on gamepass, so there's no point to buy it on steam for millions of people.

[@77dris]

Exactly. It's essentially free to play for people that subscribe to Game Pass. And if you don't, you pay $15 to play the game. Really decent actually.

[@bb5307]

I never got this argument that 'It's free if you pay for it, monthly and continuously''. But yeah most people aren't gonna buy it on steam if theyre already paying monthy for gamepass.

[@kay_keik7842]

That's not an excuse for games to be shitty and giving then a pass for being on gamepass. It's lowering your standards and making excuses

[@cos0]

Yeah so is Netflix, Ubisoft+ but never mind how these subscription services will only become more predatory and hike up prices per month while simultaneously only putting out premiere content once per year or every every two years.

[@ceshmate1953]

​@@kay_keik7842the game isnt shitty.

[@TruthIsKey369]

They could just be frank about their game, that it is just a interactive movie that can last 5 hours or more, which in itself may defend that price tag. But if you're smart, you pay for a month of gamepass and play it for just 10 bucks. easy

[@ChrisPBacon2]

It was definitely the lack of marketing. I was interested in Hellblade II since I loved the first one, but I didn't even know that it had come out 'til yesterday.

[@Jgarcia05]

Isn't this comparable to The Order 1886? Almost 10 years after and devs commit the same mistakes wth

[@MasamuneYamato]

The Order 1886 actually had fun gameplay, though.

[@tyronebiggums4798]

Very standard 3rd person shooter with some interesting steampunk guns. Still got bored after 2 hours though

[@plameng2679]

@@tyronebiggums4798 go play fortnite kid

[@ProtomanButCallMeBlues]

Order 1886 was a great game, but it felt incomplete and was over-ambitious.

[@Loopylocokiller]

The exact same. Good graphics but underdeveloped gameplay and laughably short. Letterboxed image to make the game look “cinematic” when in reality it’s just to render less pixels to make the game run on consoles.

[@Suzette-QATAR]

Hellblade 2 is indie AAA game made by 80 people.

[@stefordlucky6056]

80👀

[@thosemerc3113]

Look up "AMC Squad" to see what quality indie-gaming looks like. It's also completely free btw.

[@rexraptor.]

Aaaaaaaa gaming

[@user-wg7km2wy3w]

Arkham Knight was made by 100 people

[@Sk1D420]

80 is a huge team 😂 most indie games are made with just 5-20 people. This is near Mid level studio, not indie.

[@nickmajora]

As long as it wasn't too expensive to make stuff like this is perfect for Game Pass.

[@frederikgoogel5611]

I think more than 5 hours just wouldnt benefit the game. Let it end when it starts getting repetitive. And seeing senuas 'gameplay' 5 hours may already be a stretch.

[@x8Ghostyx]

Xbox gonna shut down the studio, ninja theory's done for 💀💀

[@FirewynnTV]

Ninja theory is a small 20 man team and are probably safe. Xbox Gamepass subs went up because of this game releasing by a lot so that would quantify as "good sales", they judge total players instead of sales for their success.

[@x8Ghostyx]

@@FirewynnTV they judged hi-fi rush based on sales and not players, that's why they shut down the studio

[@KnowThatIDontKnowYou]

@@x8Ghostyx They didn't judge hi-fi rush, microsoft judged the current work of the studio when closing them down.

[@Fablemahn]

Wtf ​@@FirewynnTV where is your analysis coming from? Sarah Bond and Phil Spencer in late fiscal quarter both stated that Starfield did not move the GamePass numbers above 2%, surely you don't think Hellblade will convince people to subscribe to a dying subscription service.

[@zalabit927]

Nooo, not the guys that made Ninja Gaiden games😭 Oh wait, that's Team Ninja.

[@jorkan_22]

"Hellblade 2 is indie AA game made by 80 people"

[@大]

it was made by 4 people.

[@gdottothegamer1001]

Yeah, I thought it's a AA game

[@mercurymachines4311]

It's not AAA.

[@thefallenvalley4340]

1 graphics programmer and 79 HR personnel

[@BDrumev001]

It is either indie or AAA. There is no in-between and the terms are incompatible. Pick 1.

[@plaguedinformant4605]

Okay, I just want to put it out there a more positive review, yes the game is short as hell, but like I don't see it as a game in this sense, I think what they were trying to do and what they succeeded in doing was making more of like a movie interactive experience, because when I say everything, literally every single visual detail in this game was carefully done to blend together seamlessly and it comes out a pretty fucking amazing 5 hours, yes you need to kind of have an open mind because the story isn't traditional, it's like your reading a book from an author that wants to pull at your head a little, and yes, the combat is simple, but it's about as simple as it was before in Hellblade 1, it is basically bringing it to a different level in blending, and adding a million times more weight, like you feel the swings behind the sword, you see the gashes on the enemy cut deep, you try and dodge and Senua almost falls over from the quick swings of an axe, it wasn't going for a game, I think a good review is that it was a terrible game because they aren't outwardly trying to not be a game, it feels a lot more like an experience, like sitting down and reading a book and wanting to know.

[@GiltleyRage]

It's ok to release shorter game, some of my favorite games are short, but not for such ridiculous price. I'm sure there are people who want to play it but wait for some kind of Steam deal.

[@alienatedpoet1766]

Zero Marketing, niche series to begin with, biggest feedback is that there is no gameplay, "game" is only 5 hours long. Yeah they aren't surviving this year.

[@immortaldragon7980]

Lol u forgot to mention that one of the selling points was photo mode, who the fucks uses photo mode 😂😂😂

[@DBTHEPLUG]

The Steam reviews are very positive. Who cares about people that haven't even played the game complaining? You don't play Ninja Theory's games, so it being shut down or not shouldn't even matter to you.

[@ApocalypseGuy1]

@@DBTHEPLUG Very positive reviews dont matter if nobody bought the game, my dude.

[@Wonderbrut]

@@DBTHEPLUGyou fail to see the overarching issue with the game and that’s that Xbox NEEDED a win here and their general fan base doesn’t consist of people who wanna play an interactive movie the general consensus is that it’s a trash game but a great tech demo as an Xbox fanboy this shit was wack not to mention they literally didn’t improve on the combat whatsoever and instead just got rid of the dodge attack like did you even play the original? Say what you want but you and many like you on the internet are in the minority

[@alMighty8989]

@@immortaldragon7980 Me in Assassins creed games xD

[@RickyBobby576]

I played for 3 hrs. This game is not worth $50 more like $20. The gameplay is bland, the only thing it has going is the visuals, which isn't important. People want a fun game not a boring one.

[@PhycoKrusk]

This probably Nintendo is the only one actually making money.

[@jacobcustard146]

Yea the "making video games is hard" shit has officially become a Death flag for studios. Ninja Theory is toast.

[@trex7115]

9 hours look to be quite ideal. But 5 hours can be nice too provided it’s 5 hours of gameplay. I saw the gameplay, no way combat made up more than 2 hours. WTF is this ? Is it even a game ?

[@lofi1598]

he ps fanboy he didn't say nothing about spiderman miles morales 5 hour game ratchet and clank 5 hour and hitman 5 hour resedent evil 7 5 hour game with 70 price Where his anger or he just negative because it is an Xbox game? The game is amazing and a masterpiece. I don't care about the opinion of the haters. he disgrace to the gaming community because he biased towards PlayStation. Damn he is hypocritical press. shame on him

[@Ribcut]

AAA games are $70 now. This was $50. Discounted by $20 on release is a sign the game is shorter than most.

[@ricardomilos10]

A 5 HOURS FULL PRICED MOVIE GAME? I am sure game journos would love this one, but people that actually like videogames wont

[@ashenone6150]

its 50 not full price but also 5 hours is not worth 50 lol

[@daRealB-Rex]

surprisingly I saw several game journos who didn’t like its focus on graphics and cinematics over gameplay. Mild faith in games journalism somewhat restored (it’ll be gone tomorrow)

[@Nick-df5ts]

@@ashenone6150 the price is also high to incentivise people to get game pass instead

[@foulXD]

@@ashenone6150 10 f ing bucks per hour... yikes.

[@Grstrangler]

It's less then 10 dollars. Just don't buy it on steam pay for 1 month of gamepass instead.

[@gallavanting2041]

Hellblade 1 was a cinematic pretending to be a game, did anyone expect this to be good?

[@jgooner894]

You go in expecting that though and rate it for what’s it’s going for. I’m not gonna rate a game that’s not for me cause i’m not the audience.

[@Fairenough169]

They strived for immersion and story, and was a breath of fresh air. 0 time spent in an inventory system, no skins, no items. If those things are your definition of a “game” then broaden your scope. Do you seriously need rewards and level ups in every game?

[@shiny1475]

Did Senua really need a continuation? I managed to finish the first game in 6 hours, but when I launched the second one I had no idea what was happening. It felt like launching a different game with the same protagonist, almost like GTA

[@ajtgunslinger]

"Fans love short games." Sounds like some one trying to sell DLCs. Gaming has become such a joke. Scamming their communities.

[@95onimusha]

Do you realize that the first game has a fanbase, yes?

[@ceshmate1953]

Whats the scam here ? Where is the dlc ? Wtf are you talking about ? Yes, people like short games.

[@AliG4life]

Sure drama queen, you enjoy your really long Assassin's Creed instead

[@nonikita]

Limbo is an amazing game and you can beat in in 3h.

[@snintendog]

@@nonikita its also has more Gameplay than HB1+2 combined. I have yet to find a person that ACTUALLY liked HB1

[@1990erre]

They promoted the hell out of this game with all that facetech with that lady, but did nothing recently.

[@beanjuice6012]

Gamers dont know what they want from games anymore. They dont want long games nor short games.

[@ridongsridongs3183]

Considering how long this game was in development, and unlike the 1st game which was probably a indie game with a small budget that at least had a decent excuse for what it was, this one was in development when Microsoft owned Ninja Theory and fully financed the project so that the devs didn't had any problem and issue with the budget. The game being this short while it was in development for a long time, it's a shame.

[@GemayelDaniel]

5 hour game for 50$ is on the high side but this being a publicized negative is a very bad thing because it reinforces the trend of shoving 80 hours of filler content into a 10 hour game that most AAA studios tend to follow

[@zbigniew2628]

90% of this game can be a movie and there would be no difference maybe even 100%, coz its gameplay is an old wood of dated design. + Narrative does not make a point, coz first one already did everthing about it.

[@Siralexthegreat1]

I agree with you. I don’t have a problem with “movie” games or shorter games. There is room the industry for variety. The price may be a legit criticism, I don’t know yet I only played about 90 minutes and really enjoyed it.

[@DarkR3ignlol]

And its included in Xbox Game Pass. So realistically its 9.99$. When the complain is, that its a movie and there is little gameplay, then replayability shouldnt be a concern anyway. So play it for 10$, see if there is one or two other games you might want to check out. I try Diablo4 story at the moment for example, because heared much praise lately. I think this is a very fair price for a 5hour game. People are just too lazy to actually cancel their subscription. I think with all these gamepasses and a fair amount of new releases, gaming was never that cheap. Games with extremely high replayability you just buy. Storydriven games, wich i like, are an absolut steal with a subscription.

[@octavianpopescu4776]

If I'm going to pay for something, I expect it to provide me some level of enjoyment for my financial effort. And yes, time, but not just time, is a factor. I could pay way less to watch 2 films at the cinema, with a total runtime comparable to this game and get the same enjoyment. I'm not saying this to diss the game, but I don't think there's enough in it for it to be worth that much money. And considering the 4000 players at launch... it seems most people would agree with me. I mean, a lot of gameplay is just walking around and that's honestly not enough. And I can appreciate a shorter game as well, but make it 10-20 hours, 5 hours just isn't enough.

[@shanebovell6733]

The problem is the 5 hrs isn't good bruh. Chill don't usurp context for the sake of a narrative that doesn't apply.

[@raymondchen5047]

Just for a comparison: Stellar Blade also took 5 years to develop. It is a brand-new IP and Shift Up has never made any AAA console exclusives before.

[@65infanteria]

I really enjoyed the first game and was tracking on this one but I never knew its release date until it actually came out. I did pay full price since I want to support the studio and will likely just run through it this weekend. The first one's gameplay was like a simplified version of GoW (the viking one, not og greek) with the shoulder cam and limited mobility. I can't speak on this one yet but will advice you to give the first one a try.

[@NympoGaming]

To say that they didn't promote the game is outrageous. They marketed the hell out of it but the thing is there's only so many cutscenes you can show before you reveal the whole thing even more so that the Hellblade 2 is like 5 hours long. It's not bad marketing it's just that people decided the game isn't worth it.

[@BlueberryJamPie]

Game is way too short to not have regional prices as well. It's way too expensive for just 4-5 hours.

[@haurg7418]

If you cannot afford it you don't play it, or you get gamepass, or you pirate it.

[@onhillsgaming]

​@haurg7418 Either way, the game studio dies.

[@haurg7418]

@@onhillsgaming Nah Microsoft has approved a new project from Ninja Theory

[@orbbb24]

@@haurg7418 Because game studios NEVER get shut down unexpectedly. Especially not after a low selling sequel releasing 7 years after the first game.

[@haurg7418]

@@orbbb24 We found the expert!

[@大]

How many tabs does bro HAVE OPEN!?

[@khmer5o3]

lol.. he cleaned it up.. he usually has 2-3 times more than that open. I have about 30 open right now lol

[@bobtheape]

like 30 but thoses are rookie numbers I have 130 opened right now

[@MistaCUNextTuesday]

All of them.

[@khmer5o3]

@@bobtheape lol yikes, thats too much memory being eaten up.

[@skyvenrazgriz8226]

Yes

[@pablopablo3834]

Its so odd because people hyping up Hellblade were everywhere. Was it just the same people on different KZbin channels?? Lmao. The first game sold badly so why they made a second game is baffling. The combat from looking at videos of the first game is dreadful.

[@MerryBlind]

Heavenly Sword was so good back on PS3 as an early exclusive, but that was also criticized for being too short.

[@codyn3349]

It's a game that focuses on 1 story directly, not guiding you around multiple side quests & what not. It was the same for the 1st Hell Blade but everyone seems to ignore that one for some reason. Ninja Theory, a video game studio, had a story to tell and they did it within their expertise (video games). It's only got 3k people on Steam probably for 2 reasons 1. It's a niche linear story driven game, and 2. It's free day 1 on gamepass. I hope Ninja Theory doesn't get shut down but I also hope people realize that Senua's Saga isn't your typical RPG game, which a lot of people seem to be upset about. It's one of the most beautiful games to come out to date. It's got one of the most emotional and intense stories to date. And it's a fully finished game, which isn't common anymore. The game's a little short for the price they're asking though

[@DBTHEPLUG]

The Steam reviews are very positive. Who cares about people that haven't even played the game complaining?

[@AzoTheRed]

You are exactly right. If it weren't for the fact that it was free on Game Pass, I would have bought it on steam.

[@UchihaKuriso]

Honestly, its the price for me. I don't mind a shorter game, and I loved the first one, but gonna have to wait for a sale for this one.

[@Void6-]

I spent more money on frigging starfield and played probably about the same amount of hours going away incredibly frustrated and feeling scammed. Hellblade 2 does not make me feel like that. Its short but I think what they set out to achieve they did. I just hope the day 1 game pass helps them a lot with their sales. This is the type of studio I like to see thrive, bold new stories and devs taking risks, thats how gaming used to be.

[@PulseOfMe]

Short games are welcome, too many games are bloated these days to the point I appreciate a short game every now and then. People hating coz its now a xbox game that is why people suddenly hate this game and it's pathetic how people are such sheep's to hate because it's cool to hate anything xbox

[@Yorje]

I felt like her story kinda ended after the first game. She got closure and got over the death of her lover, she can finally move on and stop being a warrior and risking her life. Kinda dont even wanna know what the second game is about :P

[@DrTheRich]

First game was defeating what had control over her mind, and defeat that. This game she has the control back and is now going to use that to save others who also have been wronged. Seems perfectly logical sequence for a sequel

[@OilFreeFeathers]

​@@DrTheRichSeven. Years.

[@Wbfuhn]

If you can't make a game several hours outside of cutscenes and dialogue then what kind of game are you making? A cinematic interactive movie?

[@SanDukey]

So basically the price is the only problem here. If they had charged, say, $30 for it, that would be a steal to me, what with the level of visual fidelity and immersion in the concept. So once again, studio execs ruined a studio in the name of money

[@CoffeeAddictGuy]

Xbox really has gone downward spiral ever since that unveiling of the Xbox One. That previous Head of Xbox's decision really killed this console. Sheeeesh

[@Pochichitata]

right?? it's crazy a single decision like that destroyed the console

[@jeremyzak654]

​@@PochichitataIt was more then a single decision. Keep in mind, the "The Red Ring of Death" and "The Kinect" was pissing people off long before the "The Xbox One Reveal." The reveal was just the straw that broke the camels back.

[@phatdog]

What was wrong with the Xbox one? It was a huge improvement and even had better hardware then its competitors??? Yes forcing Kinect was weird but man that thing was WAAAY ahead of its time in terms of tech

[@worldtownfc]

@@phatdog If I recall correctly, with the Xbox One, Microsoft tried to do always online, game disk DRMs to prevent resale, and pivoted away from good games to focus on multimedia like sports streaming and Netflix. Afterward, Microsoft walked most of that stuff back, but it was too late. Sony seized the moment with the PlayStation IV and did the opposite with no always online, game disks can be resold, and focused on games.

[@icaruswindrune7116]

@@phatdog The launch Xbox 1 was actually weaker than the launch PS4 (720p vs 900+p on the launch PS4). The Xbox 1 S reached parity with the launch PS4 (and the slim) while the Xbox 1 X was the most powerful console of that gen. That said, as worldtownfc noted - Microsoft tried to kill the second-hand market, have always online requirements, and were more focused on being a multimedia center than a console at the time.

[@feykro222]

The first game was also interactive movie. Hellblade 2 has the same gameplay as the first game. I feel like people are idiots for expecting something else.

[@Giliver]

Yep they sure are

[@octavianpopescu4776]

I would have had no idea there was a first game, if someone hadn't attached that "2" in the name.

[@CaptainKenway]

@@octavianpopescu4776 I'm not sure why you think that advertising your ignorance is a good idea. It's a pretty well-known game and has almost 60k reviews on Steam (89% of which are positive).

[@Xinamon98]

The people complaining didn't play the first one, they just want to complain.

[@lanycera]

I think the bigger issue is the pricepoint of 50usd VS 30usd for the first one, and less gameplay time. Also, you can only recycle the same topics so much - a second game was never necessary.

[@mainuddin2916]

I'm still salty for what they did to dmc and how they behaved following that. Would be pretty happy if ninja theory shut down. They have quite the horrible attitude with a few underdog releases

[@CaptToilet]

It was 7 years spent on the graphics and a few months on gameplay. Don't get me wrong I don't mind 6 hour game if the GAMEPLAY is there and I go back time and time again. This game appears to be a one and done sort of thing. A visual spectacle and narrative experience for that first go around, but something that will be dropped like a hat till new hardware comes out to bench.

[@Mordikay211]

Crazy how you easily get 200+ hours from a 6 euro indie game.

[@jgooner894]

People don’t know what they want. A lot advocate for shorter games with more quality, now one is here, now it’s too expensive.

[@Odyssey636]

​@jgooner894 this game isnt good though😂? Its also not a game its a movie.

[@Odyssey636]

​@@jgooner894also animal well is longer than this shit and it was made by 1 person

[@jgooner894]

@@Odyssey636 Tell that to the people who liked the first game and who gave this good reviews.

[@jgooner894]

@@Odyssey636 What says a game can’t mostly be an interactive movie either? There can be more of them cause the market is saturated in other genres.

[@nicholaspaterson]

7 years for a 5 hour game and the best thing people are saying about it are the graphics, hind sight those people saying that are playing it on their maxed out 3090 P.C's.

[@ArariaKAgelessTraveller]

Good graphic are easily done nowadays thanks to Newer game engine Might as well make a CGI movie

[@DrTheRich]

Imagine mistakenly equating quality with duration... Have fun in your empty Ubisoft open worlds raiding the same camp for the 200th time...

[@gi5588]

@@DrTheRich🤡

[@OilFreeFeathers]

​@@DrTheRichBoth can be bad, and are bad. Go home. Tameem is waiting for you.

[@intrance96]

@@OilFreeFeathers You need mental help.

[@shaunk6822]

The first game had a $20 price tag and took about 10hrs to complete. They've doubled the price and halved the gameplay - not a great plan. The new one is on Game Pass though, so selling well on Steam might not matter too much

[@Nyarlah]

I think Hellblade 1 had a "timely" marketing advantage and checked many boxes at the very right moment. Massive promotion and universal appraise from people who never played it. But it still was a beautiful indie game. The sequel could never catch up to that virtual bubble the first game had. The studio did nothing wrong, the media is responsible for both their initial success and their current downfall.