Hellblade 2 Senua's Saga Review Roundtable

NOTE Jordan's audio was corrupted during the first half of the recording. It clears up in the second half, but we apologize for the issue.
Check out our review roundtable of Hellblade 2.
We're joined by Tamoor Hussain from GameSpot, Jon Clarke from XboxEra and Stacey Henley from TheGamer.
Hellblade 2 is a dull, dated game that is dragged along by its incredible presentational flair. For a game shown alongside the debut of Series X, it's not reflective of the story Xbox is trying to tell with its first party. It's a hugely dissapointing sequel.
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[@DedicatedBeard]

first time here.... guy in the top left (guessing host) needs to fix the echo chamber lol

[@RosstheBoss6666]

Guy on bottom left is the most unlikable person I've ever seen.

[@Marioheat]

hahah yet the Xbox era guy somehow thinks this game is a masterpiece. Masterpieces out there include zelda Botw, mario galaxy 2, GTA IV/San Andreas, MGS3, half life 2, Bloodborne, elden ring, etc etc. To put HB2 up there in that level is either paid shilling or delusion

[@Mmachine88]

Over 35+ critics also think it's amazing with them all giving the game a 90 and above score

[@Marioheat]

yea the majority xbox channels. Question remains: hb 2 really up there with actual masterpieces of gaming? cmon my guy, nothing about this experience,qs good as it is, is pushing gaming or changing it nor excelling it

[@Mmachine88]

@Marioheat ehhh I wouldn't necessarily say majority are xbox channels giving the game "glowing" reviews, but there were zbox channels that gave the game a 6 or a 7out of 10 too. Playstation games end up with dozens and dozens of "perfect" scores to their games too. I don't think it's always an automatic "of course they gave it that" kinda situation. But as someone saying through the game now, no. It's definitely not a masterpiece lol. Tbh it's a 8.5 at best imo Though I will say it definitely did push audio and fidelity my dude. 100%

[@Wonderlust-i6g]

Yep, xboxera the joke of the review industry. Starfield 9.7 redfall 8.5. Absolutely toxic group of people over there.

[@PlaystationTalks]

guy top right always talks shit about sony story games yet gives this a 10 a legit walking sims hahahah

[@DedicatedBeard]

What has he talked shit on?

[@ArielCleirigh]

Yet even is he gave a 100 to hellblade 2 its Not sure a 60 at best.

[@Mmachine88]

@@ArielCleirigh Over 35+ critics would disagree who all gave the game a 90 and above score.

[@PlaystationTalks]

@@Mmachine88 yet its a 80 on meta hahahahahah flop

[@Mmachine88]

@PlaystationTalks How's an 80 on meta a flop? Please please , fill me in. Oh actually it went up recently, has an 82 now. Do you consider Stellar blade at an 81 to be a flop? How about Ghost of Tsushima at 83? How about SONYS Rise of the ronin at 76?

[@WickedRibbon]

Great chat. It's great to hear four different perspectives on a big new release. On the wider topic of Ninja Theory, I hope Microsoft harnesses their technical and cinematic talent to make a leaner project - one with a shorter development time. It would be a damn shame if such a talented team, with all that combined knowledge, were broken apart and scattered to the wind.

[@Cathal.]

I'm playing it right now. The visuals are state of the art. But the game interaction is very slow and very unsatisfying. Given how long the game has been in development, I think players were expecting an evolution not just in how the game looks but also in how the game plays. And this ain't it.

[@Oggar0912]

Dont want this to sound too negative...but if your content is based on talking, you GOTTA have good audio, lol

[@VGC]

We usually have great audio but tech issues come for us all unfortunately.

[@AlwayzFresh]

It's a $10 tech demo at best.

[@thenewreviewdotnet]

Let be honest, if it had been a first-party Playstation title, these so-called "journalists" would be licking Sony's boots. It's blatantly obvious. It's sad.

[@Wonderlust-i6g]

Who is this clown in the top right. This “game” is not a 10/10. The way he defends it is completely ridiculous.

[@JonathanPerez-yf3zx]

Really disappointed by xbox

[@markshorthouse8564]

He's a xbox cringed fanboying

[@Mmachine88]

@DonJohnston-lc8yv Totally disagree. What because they don't shit on Xbox 24/7 like majority of outlets? Give me a break. The game has over 35+ reviews on Metacritic that gave the game a 90 or above score.

[@Mmachine88]

@DonJohnston-lc8yv Holy smokes... ima be totally real with you homie, I had no idea they gave Redfall an 8.5 ... this honestly kinda changes my perspective my dude. WOW, that's honestly kinda wild. The Starfield one .. there are some dudes who love Starfield and see past it's shortcomings. I loved Starfield myself, but I think the highest I could give it with how it was at launch would be like 8.5 but more like an 8, as someone who did really enjoy it. But shoot, I really didn't realize that about Redfall. One thing I will say, he .. who was in this "round circle" vod, isn't the one who reviewed Redfall, after I just watched their Redfall review lol. That was the dude Jessie, he tends to just be more positive with their reviews in general, doesn't seem like it's specific to only Xbox, but that's besides the point, lol Good looking out for me though, for real lol

[@chrisyiotis936]

Dudes you already got bought by ign,no need to try so hard

[@portalplayer]

the other 3 really tore this game apart. i feel a bit bad for the only guy who liked it.

[@mr.b1613]

He's delusional and ignorant, probably why this game about schizo appeals to him

[@palregionplays]

Stacey wearing the best England shirt in recent history! 😊

[@TheRogBG]

You mean Steve?

[@chosenreaper6224]

Are those moments in combat scripted or is it random? If it’s random, that is awesome!

[@chinkasuyaro8983]

The game is all about suspense. The spoilers do not help.

[@ArielCleirigh]

According to MrMatty, hellboring 2 is worst than hellblade 1, sure graphics are great yet he said chapter 3 will make people sleep.

[@Mmachine88]

Awwww so MrMatty is the spokesperson for all Xbox content? TF dude

[@jordbertcedillo]

No wonder nobody follows you guys

[@aynrandom3004]

The issue is that people are expecting a traditional and typical third-person game. In terms of audio-visual immersion, this easily scores an 8 or 9. Episodic adventure story games often have minimal gameplay mechanics and receive high praise, just as point-and-click games are judged on their writing and story. This game should be evaluated within a different context. This is no God of War or Spider-Man. Play the game first and form your own judgement. KZbinrs just love to create engagement with hateful and dumb takes. Don't be a sheep.

[@liger344]

Yall are on crack giving it a 6 😆

[@unk_GHOST]

Whoops wrong roundtable, this is garbage.

[@nixy..]

The guy on the upper right had to give it a 10 lol. He says it’s a narrative walking sim & there’s a need to say that to justify the score, do what you have to do. But on the Xbox page the game is described as an action/adventure game.

[@Mmachine88]

BRO "walking sims" are literally categorized as adventure games. Jesus you're clueless.

[@nixy..]

@@Mmachine88 I know you’re trying to protect the dropouts, but I think the avg person that reads action/adventure, is not assuming that it is a narrative walking sim.

[@Mmachine88]

@nixy.. protect the dropouts?? Lol I don't even know what that's supposed to mean 😅 Well in fairness, I think thr genre "adventure game" or "action/adventure" is kinda a lost genre. I don't think anyone really really knows. My thought process when. I hear it jumps to like a point and click game or puzzley game. I think Zelda used to be classified as a action/adventure game or maybe I'm confusing it with it now being classified as an adventure game? I don't know bro. But all I was saying is walking Sims technically adventure games and vise versa. I also actually wouldn't classify this game a straight up walking sim either though. It's for sure closer to a walking sim than a straight up action game

[@mushypee1]

Best looking game that's subjective, amazing audio but the gameplay itself aint great. Ive played the game. Combat is more viseral but lacks less options in terms of combos. I preferred the original HB combat. Enemy variety is lacking, so called bosses are just bigger versions of what you have come across in the game already. Puzzles are less frustrating but still wish they did something else. A lot of waking and I mean a lot it. Visually a masterpiece but gameplay is King and that's where it sorely lacks. Just because its an immersive cinematic experience, it doesnt mean that gameplay cant be better. 7.5 out of 10 for me and the metacritic scores reflect that. It's a devissive game... Xbox just can't catch a break. All those studios and they cant produce a crtically acclaimed game.. I guess they will have to rely on COD to save the day...

[@DedicatedBeard]

That’s the issue. Everyone keeps wanting each game they release to be an acclaimed masterpiece and ‘needs’ to be that it puts the game at the time in a losing battle lol. Same thing happened with Starfield as it was hyped to be the game of the generation by media and fans. It’s a lose lose

[@jonmartin9732]

Are you posting this comment everywhere

[@colaboytje]

I have to agree. In terms of hardware, the Xbox series X has the potential to bring fantastic games of al genres. But even Forza just wasn't a good enough game. Forza Horizon 5 was great, but that was in 2021. Halo Infinite went through dev hell and just isn't good enough. I think that Microsoft is stepping out of game production more and more, and is relying on game pass.

[@mr.b1613]

it's a boring 5 hour tech demo

[@Manmade023]

Another gamepass garbage

[@cristianspiridon]

Sometime i wonder if some reviewers are gamers or they just review and don’t even understand games. The bold guy looks like he’s reading when he talks about the game. Did he forget the game already? And the guy with the band on his head… the game is wasting my time… man this is a story focus game! They will not give you Castelvania puzzles or Death Souls action.. they just want to teleport you in this beautiful world to tell you a story!

[@tomsimmons7673]

Tam is a huge souls fanatic. Not surprised by his take.

[@cristianspiridon]

@@tomsimmons7673 Yes but is not correct to play Grand tourismo and complain that you don't have weapons...

[@wck]

What the hell

[@khs511]

Lol Tamoor dude is one biased mf. Never listen to his commentary on any Xbox title.

[@cheeks3211]

What's that make Mr.MattyPlays? The guy who does Defining Duke Xbox podcast? guy just gave it a scathing review as well.

[@khs511]

@@cheeks3211 Mr. Matty can hate it. Unfortunately we are witness to Tamoors history. He has this very transparent twat persona specifically reserved for Xbox titles.

[@Jacob_35mm_movie_club]

Tamworth is always down on any xbox game always thought that reviews would be different if it wasn't an xbox game sad tbh the many other reviews are raving so strange

[@khs511]

@@Jacob_35mm_movie_club Game reviewers: we want variety in games 😡 Game that unapologetically has different goals: no we meant a reskin of other games 🤪 It's just moving goalposts for Xbox titles.

[@khs511]

@@Jacob_35mm_movie_club He's so transparent at this point. And the fact is you can see the disdain on his face when god forbid he has to say anything remotely nice about a xbox title.