So, my first post ever. I’m usually really bad at online social… stuff, but I promised a certain someone I’d post here, so here I am.
I suppose it’s only natural I start by talking about Hellblade– because without this game, I wouldn’t have met the person that showed me to BLAEO in the first place. It is also the perfect game to introduce myself a little bit to this community.
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Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice</div>
8.5 hours playtime
14 of 14 achievements
Maybe Hellblade is not the best game ever made, but it sure is my favourite one nonetheless and also definitely the one that had the most impact on me.
I… have acute PTSD, you see, and I suffer from hearing voices as well as having very vivid graphic hallucinations sometimes. There were a ton of moments and entire sequences and/or cutscenes in the game where I sort of became one with Senua and Senua became one with me, so many were the similarities between what was happening on screen and even what was being narrated to what I’ve been through in real life– even the wording they use, things like “darkness” and “curse” are eerily familiar to me. There were at least 3 times while playing the game where I had to just stop and take a step back, breathe deeply and very calmly because it was all getting too real for me.
Personal input aside, the storytelling, while nothing particularly groundbreaking, is extremely well thought-out and the narrative itself is conveyed in a truly satisfying crescendo. In addition, Senua is an incredibly flawed, believable, strong, proper protagonist and is supported by a great ensemble of characters both seen and unseen, all of them magnificently voice acted. On top of it all, the sound design and OST are both beyond perfect and it really add to the veracity of the experience.
The game is incredibly well optimised because even though I don’t even meet the minimum requirements in certain areas, I was able to run the game with almost every visual aspect set to high. Can’t remember the last game where I was able to do that and have it run exceedingly well at a constant 30fps. Sure, I would’ve preferred 60fps, but beggars can’t be choosers and I was overjoyed to just be able to play it anyway. If I’m ever able to afford a new PC, I’ll definitely play it again with everything set to maximum, but in the mean time I’m still a happy wolf :)
I don’t much care for achievements, but I actually ended up getting all of them for this game, which I suppose wasn’t all that difficult since only one of them is not story related ^^
Anyway, and despite being a cinema kind of guy first and foremost, I also love video games and I’m very much looking forward to becoming a part of this little community. I’m hoping to be able to write a post about Virginia soon, which is the last game I finished and it actually fits this month’s theme here at BLAEO.
There are a lot of games I have that I still haven’t played and that I really want to. I Also gotta make some lists, I love lists :D
Thank you for reading! May your dreams always be kind and pleasant, and may they never be shattered <3
Congrats for completing the game and for writing your first post here! :D
I was really impressed by both storytelling and writing in this game. It felt really genuine and authentic.
I’m looking forward to reading your review of Virginia. It seems we played the same games this month. xD
Anyway, welcome and enjoy your stay! o/
ps: Lists are the best thing about this site!
I want to make so many lists, but there’s so little time :o
Virginia is definitely gonna be my next post, so look forward to that at some point, I guess? ^^
This game looks like a movie… reading what you wrote made me more willing to play. : )
It’s an incredibly cinematic movie, but in the proper sense of the word, not like other games that throw the word cinematic around. You know what I mean, I hope ^^
Hellblade…sure is my favourite [game] nonetheless
I haven’t had the time to add any games yet, just created a list to see how it worked :p
Ooh pretty screenshot, I’ve not the gameplay with such colours. Glad you enjoyed it. :) Thanks for sharing the music as well, it gave me goosebumps.
I’m glad you liked it :)
The game is so beautiful and feels to intimate, even when it’s dark and gloomy. Incredible game and incredible music!
Hi, and welcome! Thank you for sharing your experience with Hellblade. Sometimes the best (and hardest) moments come from games that hit you closely - like Hellblade clearly did. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it and I hope I get a chance to play it someday.
I also enjoy lists, and I’m interested to hear what you felt about Virginia! It’s a unique game for sure - and cinematic, for good and for ill.
Regarding Virginia, “for good and for ill” is indeed the correct way to put it, but more on that on my upcoming post (creating hype here) xD
You should definitely grab Hellblade at some point if you have the chance (I probably would’ve never been able to play it if it hadn’t been a gift, the most amazing and beautiful gift I ever got, and from someone who was a complete stranger at the time).
First of all, welcome to BLAEO. And thanks for sharing your thoughts on Hellblade, it was very interesting to read (and made me want to play it even more)
Lists are love <3
Thank you so much for your kind words! :)
Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!
Let’s see how long I can last at an online community ^^
Thank you for the write-up on Senua – I keep hearing nothing but good things about that one!
Welcome aboard, and good to have you here! :)
Thank you, it’s nice to be here, hopefully I can stay for a long time :)
Hellblade and Senua are <3 ^^
I intentionally avoid watching anything about Senua’s Sacrifice, because I’m hoping to experience it myself someday, but it looks incredibly cinematic, and embraces a theme that’s so rarely seen in games. I’m glad that it made such a strong impression on you, and touched you on a deeper, more personal level as well. Also, welcome aboard. :)
That’s a good approach, I did exactly the same. And yeah, I’d love to see more games tackle such sensitive themes in the same respectful, caring and realistic way Hellblade did.
And just like with Senua, I can guarantee you that any future “reviews” of mine will never contain any spoilers ;)
Welcome to BLAEO :)
I’m extremely interested in this game. I got other games during autumn sale on Steam so I have to delay its purchase. Hopefully I should be able to pick it up during winter sale. Games that deal with mental/psychological issues really interest me due to personal reasons. I know this game will speak to me (except the combat parts).
Thanks a lot for your spoiler free review ^^
Thank you!
I think this game is the pinnacle of respect and realism within a fictional story for tacking this particular subject. I too am always interested in these sorts of games and I really can’t recommend this one enough. Whenever you end up playing it, let me know what you thought :)
PS: my reviews will always be spoiler free, so fear not ^^
Whenever you end up playing it, let me know what you thought :)
Oh, I have absolutely no idea when I’ll end up buying it. I’m saying winter sale but who knows :) If you really don’t mind some random review for the game that pop in your notification box months and months later, then sure I’d be happy to let you know :D
S: my reviews will always be spoiler free, so fear not ^^
Thank you so much for this. Not a lot of people respect this issue as much as I would like them to. If they want to add spoilers, there are tags for that but some don’t even use tags or any other type of warning :(
I don’t plan on going anywhere, so whether you play it tomorrow or a year from now, I’ll be here to hear your thoughts on it :)
And yeah, I hate spoilers too; I especially hate when people spoil movies for me, but video games too, of course! People just have no respect sometimes.
PS: year, here, hear… I promise I wasn’t trying to make that hard to read xD
Welcome to BLAEO :)
I heard many good things about Hellblade, unfortunately i heard some spoilers too. But since i have old PC who knows when would i get to play it, so by that time i guess i will forget everything i heard about it :D
Also it is nice reading spoiler free reviews about anything and i agree with one of your comments “People just have no respect”.
Thanks for lovely read. I never knew how to express myself nicely, but i always enjoying reading things :)
Thank you for your nice words :) Also, you expressed yourself very well in that comment ;)
I hope you get to play Hellblade some day, it’s definitely worth it!
Yay to your first post! Welcome to Blaeo I guess ;)
Also congrats on finishing the game. I have not played it, but it seems to be awesome :)
Also nice work on Virginia I guess? You said you finished it at least :D
Hope to read more from you in the future, don’t be shy, we don’t bite. Also it can become super addictive to write updates O.o
Have a great time!
Happy backlog killing :)
Thank you for the welcoming words :)
I’ll try to write a post on Virginia soon and from then on I’m not sure if one post per game finished or just a monthly one– depends on time ^^
Sounds great :)
I confess when I wrote the comment, I skipped the part, where you talked about the game, since I normally do that, when not having played it. But then I had a dry spot in my game, so I strayed back and read it and… I feel you. I am having depression for a couple of years now and there are some games out there, that were sooooo close, it actually got though going on. Sometimes they just felt too familiar. And some are absolutely the opposite and make me doubt myself even more and that sucked in a way even more :D
Actually, what I try to say with that: I understand how this game is super special for you. Also I heard it from a couple of ppl by now, so I guess that really says something about it.
I wish you all the best! Keep on gaming and enjoying life!
Thank you, all the best to you too! :)
And I’ll never ever have spoilers in my “reviews”, so don’t be afraid to read, hehe
edit: I actually wanted to say something else and then forgot cause my brain is like that sometimes (apologies for that). But yeah, if you ever feel depression is getting to be too much to handle and want to talk about it or about anything really, I’m here for you. Take good care of yourself :)
Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind :) :*