Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "SENUA'S SAGA: HELLBLADE II SALES & REVIEW ROUNDUP"

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/AnalyticNotorious Mass Effect: Hellblade II - A Descent into PsychosisUnveiling the depths of Senua's psycheHellblade captivated gamers with its portrayal of psychosis in a historical fantasy setting. Now, Ninja Theory, under Microsoft's wing, delivers the sequel: Hellblade II.Celtic Warrior's OrdealReprise your role as Senua, the fierce Celtic warrior burdened by her psychosis. Embark on a perilous quest to liberate your kidnapped villagers from the clutches of Vikings. Brace yourself for a harrowing journey that transcends typical action-hero narratives, delving into the darkness of Senua's mind.A Symphony of SufferingHellblade II isn't your average action game. Senua's internal battles with visions, voices, and depression are central to the experience. Expect a blend of exploration, puzzle-solving, and sword-wielding combat woven into a narrative tapestry. Forget complex character development or weapon upgrades – the focus is on Senua's raw struggle. Prepare for repetitive combat sequences punctuated by moments of intense swordplay and environmental puzzles that involve deciphering runes or manipulating surroundings with mystical elements.A Feast for the SensesHellblade II shines in its meticulous portrayal of Senua's psychological state. Witness the torment in her eyes through detailed facial expressions. Immerse yourself in the world through haunting soundscapes and captivating voice acting.Critical Acclaim, Divided OpinionsHellblade II prioritizes a story-driven, psychological experience over adrenaline-pumping action. If you crave narrative depth and emotional resonance, this game is for you. However, be prepared for a relatively short journey (around 6 hours) with a €50/$50 price tag.Reviews are generally positive, commending the game's storytelling, atmosphere, and visuals. Critics highlight the innovative portrayal of mental health, but some find the combat repetitive and the gameplay lacking variety.Here's a glimpse of what reviewers are saying:IGN: Praises action sequences and psychological storytelling, but critiques combat depth.PCMag: Labels it an "interactive arthouse movie" with superb storytelling but shallow combat.GameSpot: Commends visuals and sound design, but finds the story and gameplay shallow.Metacritic: Critic score: 80, User score: 7.4.Polygon appreciates the mental health portrayal but notes repetitive combat.Eurogamer highlights atmospheric storytelling and emotional weight.Game Informer and Destructoid commend the emotional and immersive experience but point out limited gameplay variety.The VerdictHellblade II offers a unique experience that blends psychological depth with a captivating narrative centered on Senua's harrowing journey. While some may find the combat repetitive, the game's emotional resonance and immersive atmosphere are widely praised.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

So I have my holy water to my right, my Bible in my lap, and now I am officially ready to get into Hellblade 2, which is a psychological trip for any action game fan out there. Now, of course, Senua Saga, Hellblade 2 is developed by Ninja Theory, now owned by Microsoft. And the main focus of the story is Sinha, of course. The Celtic warrior and Sinewa must rescue her kidnapped villagers from Vikings. And the setting involves a lot of dark landscapes and psychological battles, not typical of action hero traits. So before I get further into that, basically getting into the overall of, new implications of the game they had a photo mode so May 15th I forget when this game came out

but May 15th photo mode returned to send you a saga Helblade to and basically here's a little snapshot at how it works once again analytic dreams video on Spotify to see the video along with the audio so that being said this is a little example video of how the photo mode works in the midst of the game. So as you're fighting, obviously looks super realistic. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is actual gameplay. I know you probably think that's a cutscene. The way they run, the way they optimize this game, they make every cutscene. No, they make the gameplay look like a regular cutscene, right? So that's a very spectacular achievement because the graphical quality. I don't even know how they're going to make a return on investment in this game because from what I've

heard when you make games graphically enhanced like this like it's just super hard to get a return on investment simply for the fact that now you're putting so much resource into a great graphical package that whenever you need or you're going to need a even more of return as far as financially to make it make sense as far as why you put this much money and to make her hair this detailed you know what i mean like look at her hair right now look at all the detail her hair so doing all that people are probably thinking to themselves we could have saved five to uh 600 000 maybe cutting back on a graphical budget you know what i'm saying and maybe that's a little exaggeration but y'all get what i'm saying like putting that much money into graphics

maybe not maybe won't make the most sense if you don't sell well and as we've seen with final Fantasy 7 remake um there's no guarantee that any game is going to sell well in 2024 so that being said let's actually look at sales and kind of get into how it sold overall so basically the developer came out and thank fans and also uh oh goodness i don't i don't know if this game sold the greatest Yeah, you know, it's so funny. I didn't even say that to like bashy. I was just prefacing it because I know I've heard that from multiple game insiders that. Dang.

Yeah, so still, yeah, that's not, let me see. All right. So apparently Hellblade, because I'm looking this up in real time. But what is being said is that, Hellblade 2 isn't doing big numbers, but it's not technically selling bad. So I don't know. I think they're trying to cope. And what I honestly think is that Hellblade 2 is a solid performer.

But as far as it being a sequel, because the rule of thumb as far as marketing is, if something's originally a success, quality-wise, the sequel is going to have even more financial value. usually what the sentiment is in the marketing standpoint because now the sequel is coming with some sort of a proven concept so it's projected to sell even more so since launch they said an estimated 25,000 units on Steam and Xbox only sees 70% of that 874,000 revenue generated on PC so far not even a million dollars PS5 Pro version will likely be fast-tracked so hmm okay so this game's not selling well that's okay because you know i actually looked at the

seller list as far as the best selling on on xbox playstation PC i didn't see it but i still wanted to make sure it was um because just because something isn't selling like top five or top 10 in the world doesn't mean it's not like in the top 20 or 30 so it doesn't mean that nobody's playing this game of course or else i wouldn't even be talking about it honestly but As far as what it projected to do, what is currently doing, it said that the sequel is not really performing the best. So, yeah, I'm not going to be a dead horse, but there you have it. It's not performing the best. So I would guess that we're not going to get a, maybe we'll get an ending to the trilogy, but I would guess not.

Because looking at, let me see, looking at Xbox, I don't see it nowhere to be found. It just came out like two months ago. so and usually they people play shooting and sports games but sometimes you can see the new releases creeping in so yeah even ghost ghost recurrence so no nobody's okay so let's look at PlayStation no it's not in PlayStation all right let's look at PC yeah safe to say this game's not performing the greatest so going back to my whole graphical standpoint as far as putting all your emphasis on making the best graphical product maybe you're spending unnecessary money that you could probably use in other areas that's just where I'm believing it at so anyways let's get back into

the overview of the game so uh sinua is plagued by visions and inner voices and depression and the game involves repetitive gameplay with moments of sword fighting and puzzle solving There's no role play elements like development stages or new weapons. Combat is repetitive with a focus on sword fighting. Puzzles involve finding hidden rooms or using magical elements to alter environments and as far as the visuals and audio. The game excels in portraying Senua's psychological pain through detailed facial expressions. There's a lot of strong audio design with ambient noises and well-designed.

well-voiced dialogue enhanced immersion that is one thing I kept hearing throughout the gaming industry is that this game should easily win best graphical

performing game I don't know the actual category but as far as the category for the best graphics or whatever it's going to easily win that like it's not even close like the amount of like honestly you really can't tell what's a cut scene and what's game play and for most games you can easily tell so for this game it really does a great job on keeping

you immersed into the entire game from start to finish so they said it would easily win you know best graphically enhanced game and as far as the soundtrack they said it's up there as well because um the sound effects is on point and the music is on point so as far as the technological standpoint this may be the best game released in 2024 if we're just solely focusing on a technical aspect respects of being a game developer, graphics, audio design, music, soundtrack, all on point. So, yeah, with that being said, the reception, it's not for everybody, but it is a short game. It's around six hours, and it costs $50. So personally, hearing six hours in $50 in the same sentence for video gaming, like, this ain't no movie.

my video games that's just personally I can't do it that's just I can't even I can't even justify that type of purchase so anyways as far as reviews and ratings is generally favorable reviews for the game talking about the storytelling atmosphere and visual design some of the criticisms is coming from repetitive combat and limited gameplay variety because of the game I don't know because of the graphical enhancement the actual the actual actions in the game it's kind of limited because you can't have too much going on because of the graphical um visuals put on display like if you're going to have more that that's why if you ever see an online game it could never look like this because it's just too much stuff going on for it to have this much attention to

detail graphically. So because it's a single player graphically intensified game, I would excuse the limited gameplay variety. So anyways, getting into some of the bigger publications, we have IGM praising

the action sequences, the psychological storytelling, but also criticizes the combat depth. PC Mag said it was an interactive art house movie with superb storytelling, but lack complex complex combat game spot said the visuals were great sound design was fantastic but finds the

story and gameplay shallow metacritic gave it a score of 80 the user score for this game is 7.4 polygon appreciates the mental health portrayal of the game but notes repetitive combat you're starting to hear a recurring theme euro gamer highlighted the atmospheric storytelling and emotional weight. Game Informer and Destructoid commend the emotional and immersive experience, but guess what? Limited gameplay variety.

So with that being said, Hellblade 2 offers one of the most unique psychological depth storytelling that you've ever seen in the video game. game but of course to each his own as you know despite the criticisms is highly regarded for its emotional and immersive experience so that being said click my link to my bio let me know one of my social medias what do you think about sinuous saga hell blade two and if you haven't played it but if played the original or if you haven't played it in general will you be willing to give

this game a try