Wrestling With Our Thoughts on Hellblade II - Easy Allies Podcast - May 24, 2024

[@silk3sm00th]

TLoU and Senua in the same sentence when it comes to gameplay is wild to me lol

[@superbadisfunny]

That's what i thought😂

[@TrinhNguyen-85]

The Last of Us combat loop is addicting and on a whole ‘nother level

[@Esteban45696]

Hard disagree found them equally shallow and dulles eachother. Both got great animations, but you've done it all after the first 20 minutes.

[@MulletMan3108]

Don't get how the gameplay and puzzles are so lacking in Hellblade 2. A short, linear game is fine, but at least have meaningful combat and other gameplay areas.

[@Mmachine88]

Yeah, some would say the combat is meaningful in context of the narrative and what they're trying for the players to feel. But reasonable people can differ!

[@Echo__plex]

Hellblade II is undoubtedly a visual and cinematic masterpiece. I think what's disappointing is the lack of evolution from anything else from the first game after such a long development. No innovation to the gameplay, and a less compelling story. Really unfortunate they didn't expand anything from the first game. I'm happy the game exists and think it's worth playing, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the final product we got.

[@bruhbun]

Cant wait for Hubers take on Hellblade 2

[@jozatelen9266]

He liked it. He talked about it on MinnMax podcast.

[@sashazyryanov]

14:43 This sign forbids blocking the road because it will be used in case of fire emergency.

[@Sorendimilo]

Would love it if Ben came back for a week to talk 1000 Year Door.

[@comradestannis]

Now if only *Wisecrack* could stop with the BetterHelp ads.

[@SOLIDSNAKES35]

I haven't played Hellblade 2 yet but I'm shocked to hear some reviewers say the game is no more than 5-6 hours max.

[@walterroux291]

Definitely not shocked at all. Honestly with the tone of it, I probably wouldn't enjoy a 20 hour Hellblade. I'm not a fan of bloat in my games, but to each their own of course.

[@nohumanape]

I'm a bit surprised that people can complete this game in 5-5.5 hours. This is a pretty tightly scripted game and I rolled credits at just under 7 hours. Now, that might not seem like a huge variance, but it is in the scheme of a game like this and at that length. It kind of means that the player moved through it as quickly as possible. No taking in the scenes/environments, no exploration (which does exist in the game), no finding of secrets (which does exist in this game), and probably just running the whole time. That is the only way that I can comprehend that anyone was able to complete the game a full hour and a half before me. And it kind of feels like it must sour people on the experience. It's a game that demands that the player be present and in this world for the brief time that you play through it. But I think that we are still in this moment where every new Xbox game from an acquired studio gets a sort of surface level overview so that people can evaluate it on the level of "is this game good enough to be competitive against Sony's 1st party games". And that does a disservice to some truly great games that have released under Microsoft Game Studios this generation.

[@pixeljauntvr7774]

​@@nohumanape That's kinda the problem now with Xbox exclusive games. They can't really be judged off their own merit. Every new game needs to make up for the shortcomings of Xbox titles up to this point.

[@EasyAllies]

Yeah, it took me 10 hours, and I know I'm on the slower end, but at the same time, even if you go for the secrets, they aren't THAT far off the beaten path. Getting through in 5 1/2 feels like you're specifically sticking to the critical path and running forward at all times. -Bloodworth

[@geneticjen9312]

Did you play the first one? Nobody would want it to be longer than 5-6 hours

[@DeesertFox416]

Gabby!!! Survivor this year was SOOOOO GOOODDDD!!! Ive never missed a season and I can tell you this one is so unpredictable and chaotic, fun watch.

[@Sputnik34]

Another great time with the crew! :')

[@Paradoxbear]

That Kingdom Hearts story low blow from Isla hit hard and hilarious from a big KH fan. You guys are awesome and always a daily watch for me. Keep it up you guys!!!

[@nohumanape]

I feel like Isla should consider going a little deeper into the game. I didnt have the exact same experince with the start of the game, but i definitely noticed a sizable improvement just past where i believe Isla to be currently. There comes a point where i feel like the pace picks up a bit. It more quickly moves between key set pieces, large narrative beats, more interestijg environmental puzzles, and more depth to the combat/enemy variety. And, I dunno, I actually found the combat to be pretty satisfying. I think that a lot of the confusion that people are experincing is just how cinematic it presents and how fluid the animation is. It triggers something in the brain that makes people believe that they must not actually be playing anything. But I got on a roll later on with picking up on telegraphed attacks and blocking/dodging/attacking appropriatly. And it truly was fun and satisfying.

[@paulsmith9192]

Any update with isla on elyuiden chronicle?

[@charoleawood]

56:27 isla is remembering the 1995 puzzle/adventure game "Shivers", a Myst-like affair.

[@fayte0618]

You guys should definitely discuss A bizdev from square Jacob Navok’s tweet thread about AAA its a very good insight on what’s happening specifically with Square Enix

[@LandOfTheFallen]

What is the last “must own” AAA hit that a Microsoft studio has made?

[@monkeymovie-rn4mc]

Starfield

[@cristopher3297]

Forza Horizon 5, before that Forza Horizon 4. Really sad.

[@samwisegame-geek3392]

Hi-fi Rush

[@kappachino335]

@@monkeymovie-rn4mc Is this a joke?

[@markusw3366]

Gears 5 probably

[@Iamcorrupt91]

I landed pretty negative on Senua, as a narrative experience it does incredible things and it has a tonne of technical A/V prowess, but the "video game" elements are actively detrimental to the package. The actual combat design is overly repetitive, and as I've been told intentionally "grueling" but it's not challenging its frustrating in its vagueness because you never know which set of rules you're currently tied down to.

[@theoakty9242]

Hellblade the first one was loved because of the themes and different style. Trying to do the same thing on a sequel and not changing anything apart from graphics is not gonna work. Also 5 years in development just for this is weird you'd expect more.

[@zhaf]

Oh no! Robamiani froze right after the Jason trailer. Jason got him!

[@nintendad8168]

it's a video game to me it should be fun first and foremost . Great they did their homework on mental health but i just wanna play a fun kick ass video game

[@ubersoldat91]

I rarely want to get into serious gaming while I travel, especially on the plane. I'd rather just watch something, but if I do play, it's often like binding of isaac or Loop Hero or similar type of game.

[@MrKryton24]

Gaming isn't really doing bad for us consumers atleast... we get so many good games a year especially indie... but AAA in the pursuit of ever permanent growth is the only thing ruining gaming. How to course correct that seems impossible since they only answer to board members / investors.

[@MrVideoGameDude]

I am defo biased as I mainly play Nintendo, and dabble in the odd PlayStation game. But at times you could close your eyes during the hellbade segment - and y'all were describing an animated movie. I'm so so over cinematic games - even spiderman 2 had segments where I put down my controller and the game continued the mission successfully (specifically the missions where you're gliding through rings). If a game doesn't heavily focus on good and fun gameplay, it loses my attention pretty much 9 times out of 10 these days lol

[@Zeee530]

Curious if you guys played the first Hellblade before jumping into this and are aware of what type of game the devs were trying to make with the first and whether that same vision carries into the 2nd

[@samwisegame-geek3392]

They all played the first one and sung it's praises back on the PS4

[@EasyAllies]

It's been since it first came out, but I did play the first Hellblade. I knew what to expect going in and I'm generally pretty open to lots of different types of games and approaches, but 2 still felt like it didn't hit as strongly. Like I said, in the end I came around and feel good about it overall, there are just some mixed feelings there. -Bloodworth

[@Zeee530]

@@EasyAllies ok, thanks for the honest coverage

[@geneticjen9312]

I'm with Don. Everything they said about Hellblade II is how I felt about the first game. Great visuals and audio in a game I just do not enjoy and I often like the slowest of artsy walking simulators

[@Deuce972]

It just makes you wonder why it doesn't work for this game, and yet I played Firewatch for the first time recently and I enjoyed it pretty much the whole way through.

[@cavs25100]

@@Deuce972it's the story. It's not anywhere engaging enough to keep my attention. Firewatch was the complete opposite

[@MulletMan3108]

​@Deuce972 I don't think it works because there's no levity with genuinely engaging gameplay. If there was tight and chunky gameplay mechanics then it'd be great but it's just too simple by the looks of it.

[@mihirchitnis905]

Did easy allies release the hellblade 2 and homeworld 3 review yet ?

[@echobay2023]

😊😊😊😊

[@lukemoonwalker8444]

Mortal Kombat 1 on Switch was awful at launch but they massively overhauled the visuals and 3D models and now it's far more faithful to the other versions of the game so I assume Shiver was just rushed to deliver the Switch version day and date with the other versions when in reality it needed more time in the oven.

[@Zynnix]

I think the biggest thing in terms of Hellblade 2 for me, is: Is it like the first game? Because I enjoyed that, and if its just more of the same, that's fine by me. I don't really care to hear about how bored people are because it's not for them, because if it's just more of the same, a continuation of the story, I'm interested. However, if it has somehow considerably been downgraded, I would want to know as well. Hard to tell, because I feel like covid broke the collective attention spans of humanity. I didn't mind the slow methodical pace, and I would like to see a story that keeps that authenticity of portraying this mental illness (neurodivergence, however you want to classify it) in an authentic way. It's just hard to trust the critics when they say they're bored by it, because people nowadays hardly seem able to read something the length of a tweet without losing interest. I guess I gotta resub to Gamepass for the summer and find out for myself.

[@charoleawood]

Considering the short attention spans of people today i find it good to separate out my sentences into their own paragraphs. Thusly. in so doing keeping every line in appearance a tweet and avoiding block text which looks rather like a wall that makes one go crosseyed. This bit of advice was passed to me years ago and i pass it to you.

[@thebestband8]

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first game but I actually really enjoyed 2. Isla is right in the case that it is totally up to each person to ask what do you want out of a game. For me, a 6 hours visually stunning adventure with a strong story and cinematic fights was more than enough for me. I’d say it definitely removes some of the more “gameplay” elements that the first one had. Combat is simpler, puzzles are simpler. I’d more akin 2 to a walking simulator while the first plays more “game like” if that makes sense. Personally, I didn’t enjoy the combat or puzzles from the first game so I enjoyed a simpler version of that. Regardless, I think the journey is worth taking

[@bruinfan05]

1:19:02 restaurant industry has been fucked as well. Tens of thousands of closures

[@tehgman2]

So ign owns digital foundry now?

[@kappachino335]

Why haven't you guys brought up discussion on the Elden Ring DLC? Especially when 2 breathtaking trailers have dropped in the last 4 months.

[@EasyAllies]

We talked about it in our spring game preview and had a whole segment on the trailer in February. We'll have more coverage coming soon, so it just didn't feel like there was a strong reason to bring up this particular trailer. -Bloodworth

[@kappachino335]

@@EasyAllies Ohh okay! I tried searching up your channel name alongside "Elden Ring" and didn't find anything related to the DLC, besides the talk about the twitter post a year ago. Thank you!

[@kappachino335]

@@monkeymovie-rn4mc I wasn't complaining? I don't know if it seemed that way but I was just wondering they hadn't covered it.

[@kappachino335]

@@monkeymovie-rn4mc I didn't mean to sound demanding or complaining. I was just wondering why they hadn't brought it up.

[@mrshmuga9]

Damiani being on TV reminds me of Snit from YTV, lol.

[@randolphsparks8519]

I live his little hat so much

[@Marty6804]

The main takeaway I got from the Blood and Isla Hellblade II discussion was the incessant amount of “You know” in every sentence from both of them. Unbearable.

[@VHSArchive42]

WALLS!

[@nisljdi98]

L&R

[@knightlife22]

I can strongly confirm that Indica is indeed a type of cannabis 😂. Indica, Sativa, hybrid. I’m in the business.

[@InnerRise]

And your business is in me

[@comradestannis]

What strain makes you happy and improves mood? I think I took a strain that ruined my mood.

[@darkraider7]

@@comradestannis in general indica makes you relaxed/sleepy. Sativa will make you more focused/energetic.

[@comradestannis]

@@darkraider7 Guess I'll try that but I think Sativa depressed my mood, oddly enough.

[@hododod246]

Nintendo probably bought Shiver to support port efforts close to US time zone. I am assuming Nintendo is helping big ports and it is difficult to help studios at US due to time difference. They are in florida. Potentially they can help european studios like Ubisoft.

[@charoleawood]

1:00:50 Alien isolation deserves to be remembered among the great Switch "impossible ports".

[@juiceboxkingxd3005]

No huber nooo! Skip ep y’all

[@ParadoxalDream]

1:04:41 Cyberpunk 2077 for Switch 2, calling it now. Nintendo will use that game for marketing the console like they used Skyrim in 2016-17.

[@sirmel11]

...What's wrong with Overwatch 2?

[@superbadisfunny]

Pointless game

[@sirmel11]

@@superbadisfunny That's not an answer...

[@the_sigil4340]

"You know" was pronounced about 1 million times in this podcast

[@Reaper616]

The problem with companies that make games is that they need them to make profit otherwise the company cannot survive or even worse never get investment for future games. Same as any company on earth. Getting a bit sick of the completely naive look at the layoffs and its repeated every week.

[@SHADOSTRYKR]

I don’t like booting my Xbox and before even seeing the Xbox logo a full screen ad for Hellblade II pops up. This game is niche and not mass market but Xbox sure is trying to force it to be

[@nintendad8168]

nobody wants to just say hellblade 2 kinda sucks

[@AuramiteEX]

Hellblade 2 is not a good game. A far superior "tech demo" was the Order 1886, and people were very harsh on that game. Hellblade 2 is nor fun to play, and is boring.

[@unknown-xu1vd]

nobody cares bout senua, nice tech demo, but that's it!

[@bruinfan05]

41:16 exactly, Hellblade shouldn’t be fun. Thus it’s not for everyone. The concept ALL videos must be fun ultimately will hold them back. It’s not like all books, movies, etc. are fun.

[@VHSArchive42]

Yay! Isla at the desk! 💜

[@ArielCleirigh]

So hellblade 2, just 5 hours to finish, chapter 3 sleeping people including MrMatty so, sure it has great graphics and sound for a Movie Not as a Game.

[@SkyFellowship]

Worst part about games like Hellblade is people without the condition talking shit about it, so thank you Isla for bringing it the fuck up because yeah we have D.I.D so we HAVE those voices and as a result we absolutely loved playing it and our alters were shit talking her voices whenever they were clearly being intrusive thoughts and the like.

[@nintendad8168]

holding thumb stick up as gameplay is stupid and not a fun video game sorry i need some action in video games hellblade 🤦🏻‍♂️ not for me

[@amard1981]

How high is ilsa? lol love it 😂

[@ibra9025]

How to u know she seems normal? Maybe just a little tired idk

[@samwisegame-geek3392]

She literally said she doesn't smoke

[@amard1981]

@@samwisegame-geek3392 lol, there are many ways to get high, also it was just an off the cuff observation…also I reckon your quite young & naive. Have a nice day 👍🏽

[@samwisegame-geek3392]

​@amard1981 bro I guarantee I am probably a good 10 years older than you

[@amard1981]

@@samwisegame-geek3392 how old then? Curious you didn’t mention it

[@byebyeblue]

Even 8-ish play hours Hellblade2 is still a better game than stellar blade.

[@leon6257]

Stop it. Get some help.

[@CZJames20]

Even if I was the biggest Xbox fanboy to ever exist on this planet, I would still tell you to get Stellar Blade over Hellblade 2 if you value your money at least a little bit.

[@pixeljauntvr7774]

No. It absolutely is not. You can lie to yourself. But spare the rest of us your foolishness.

[@Richardlucky]

Completely different games, aimed for different audiences. The value of a game is very subjective, I played hellblade on gamepass on pc and I will also purchase it to support NT, and when Stellar Blade comes to pc, I will definetly buy it too, and value each of them for different reasons. ​@@CZJames20

[@samwisegame-geek3392]

This is clearly a troll comment

[@monkeymovie-rn4mc]

I wanted to like hellblade but it just feels really bad to play even just to walk forward, looks crazy tho. Great show!