How Hellblade 2 Succeeds & Fails

[@Jessesloveshack]

yo what happened 2 ur company dude?

[@Sparda11222]

This is a great "game". The first one was never about combat and game mechanics, and neither is this one. It's all about subtleties and the underlaying subtext. The fights are more like cinematic encounters of mental struggles. This game is all about the mind of the main character. Understanding her madness and how the world looks for her. The pattern searching while trying to make sense of things, the unreal enemies (that are not really there most of the time), her inner dialogue with her and her and another her. The constant self inflicted mental harassment. You just sink into all of it, start questioning what is "real" and what is not in this game, and are just unable to disconnect until you see the credits. I played the first one in a single night (all in one go - never saved). The sun rise sent me to bed with a smile on my horrified face, but sad that it had to end. It was wild. This is not an action game, not an rpg, not an assassin creed clone or a god of war wanna be. These games are just the most immersive stories you will ever experience. You are there (play it with surround headphones during the night - and you will need therapy after that :)) . You understand madness and become it. And a fair warning, it could actually really affect some of the more sensible people. It ain't for kids, that's for sure (18+ , should tell you something)

[@bbqR0ADK1LL]

I love shorter games that do something interesting. I loved the first game & I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Glad to hear it's good & haven't heard any complaints about major bugs. A little disappointed that they haven't improved the combat, but I'm here for the narrative focus & crazy audio experience. Subbed to Game Pass & downloading now.

[@frog42]

Great Review!

[@Xboxcampking334]

The reviews I seen been good so far 🎉

[@ItsHyomoto]

I can't help but feel that "the presentation" is carrying this review, since without this pinnacle of graphics and sound, what are we actually looking at? A fairly rudimentary walking simulator? Maybe the review isn't doing it justice but I wasn't interested before and I'm even less interested now. It just has a very "I can see my hands!"-style VR enthusiasm that makes it sound like once you peel that back it's actually very underwhelming.

[@infinitedm5396]

It just means the game isn't for you. Some games are more focused on story and immersion than gameplay. and that's ok.

[@noidadmin5617]

​@@infinitedm5396No but like this is different. It's like they were given just too much time but didn't know what to do with it. But still somehow made something that feels like half of the game

[@infinitedm5396]

@@noidadmin5617 I feel like that's still judging the game based on the amount of Mechanics you get from another game.

[@kirkenseth]

It sounds like you wouldnt have liked hellblade 1 so by all means, it seems you arent the target audience my guy

[@supertenor2767]

If you've got Gamepass, it's a no Brainer. I'm an hour or 2 in. There's some combat but it's all so seamless, it's like an interactive movie on steroids.

[@insertnamehere8723]

After hi-fi rush, does anyone really think these studios under xbox are safe or immune from the big layoff trend? Does funding really mean anything under xbox's absolute lack of leadership these days? Pretty much all signs indicate this studio may well be on the chopping board after a soft development hell and the current AAA trend of overinflated budgets never destined to meet arbitrary corporate growth projections. I mean, the elegant solution would be to stop inflating budgets, set realistic sales targets, executives take a pay cut, and invest into projects that can grow. Oh, and here's the big enchilada: maybe stop relying on game pass! Consodering a portion of revenue from a subscription is never going to make as much money as a whole game sale without a service, why does anyone need to be reminded about how idiotic and counterproductive this stratergy is? It's not exactly a good look closing more studios than released IPs after a huge acquisition. It's especially more odd that xbox's statments contradict their actions when talking about growing studios while simultaneously preventing that from happening.

[@First-Last_name]

The first 1 was a surprise out of the blue for many. Double A game release AA.

[@harouchr]

These graphics are insane

[@TheCreepypro]

sound like a good time

[@luvstagrind]

So I will say the game looks good but the gameplay loop is just too repetitive. I think it had some areas that lasted too long and had me thinking "okay I'm over this part."

[@irishstew9951]

Shame this place sawed it's soul out lmao

[@Mauwe]

The only thing it got going for it is graphics wow a must buy nahhh im good

[@gamingidiots7495]

Why dont yall jump ship and move over to second wind? It seems to be going great over there.

[@dynomar11]

It's not that easy, but these view counts comparatively to before everyone left. Yeesh

[@gamingidiots7495]

@@dynomar11 just do the same stuff that made nick get canned. Like make great videos, be a real person, make some relatable content. O wait.....that's the problem....they can't........

[@NatTelAmped]

@@gamingidiots7495Yahtzee didn’t get canned. He quit after Nick got canned.

[@gamingidiots7495]

@@NatTelAmped missed the point. But okay nerd thanks for the clarification.

[@TOShepardReborn]

​@@NatTelAmped No one in this thread said Yahtzee got canned.

[@notmedude]

Another feel bad game that looks amazing. Too niche for me tbh and I have enough suck in my life anyway so why playing this?

[@TheSonicshadowman]

If you are into videogames in general or mental health, you will like them not as games, but as experiences. I had my doubts until i played the first one a week ago, and led me to understand the world through the lens of someone with psychosis. This 2nd one shows her personal growth and struggles a little bit further. Try them out, they are pretty short and they come with Game Pass

[@PainCausingSamurai]

I hope this game has a satisfying ending because it looks like Microsoft is going to shut down the developers

[@BrettMedlock]

I feared this too but apparently NT is at work on its next game that was greenlit by MS

[@PainCausingSamurai]

@BrettMedlock That's not actually a good thing in this case. It seems like Microsoft's recent gaming decisions are being made by someone who is only interested in very short-term business. Shutting down a publisher to recoup the budget of a greenlit game is a tricky way to post a positive on a quarterly report.

[@BrettMedlock]

@@PainCausingSamurai yeah for sure. Seems like all of MS decisions lately are based on short term wins that’ll have a drastic negative impact in the long run

[@ipityplaystationpeasants2305]

​@PainCausingSamurai NO IT IS NOT. U making stuff by unverified sources bit speculations and assumptions. Plz cite what your saying.

[@PainCausingSamurai]

@ipityplaystationpeasants2305 I'm just making a prediction based on how Microsoft has recently shut down studios like Tango and Arkane.

[@Mikulover39-js5oy]

This is a 5 hour boring walking sim that for some reason took 7 years to make,, in ps3 era, a 8 hour game did not takes 7 years to make, like they should just make a 3 hour movie and release it on gamepass, no point in making something that is barley a game

[@BrettMedlock]

The dev stated they started developing HB2 shortly after it was revealed, in early 2020. So it wasn’t being worked on for 7 years

[@First-Last_name]

I'd rather 5 hours packed with fun, then 200 hours of tedium, like some games

[@Mikulover39-js5oy]

@@First-Last_name there no fun to be have here this game doesn’t understand what it means to be a fun games it just boring with a combat that feel scripted and a lot of walking