SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II

XSX, PC

Microsoft had a terrific 2021 with Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite, but its policy of buying up smaller studios is also beginning to bear fruit. One such is Ninja Theory and its action-adventure game Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, which didn’t just break ground on making photorealistic games on an indie budget but also raised awareness of mental health conditions such as psychosis.

Now, as part of the growing Xbox Game Studios family, the Cambridge-based team has even more resources to widen its scope. For narrative and (probably) budgetary reasons, Senua’s Sacrifice was an often introspective game focused entirely on the titular character, with other cast members featuring as live-action to surprising effect. The sequel, however, doesn’t have such creative constraints – so we get to experience scenes with a more epic sweep, such as Senua leading a band of fellow Pict warriors into a cave to kill a giant… before it all goes horribly wrong.

While we might expect a darker God of War, it seems Senua’s condition of hearing voices and seeing visions will still be core to how the player will experience her journey. After all, psychosis isn’t something you simply fix between adventures.