Recs.
Updated
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Intense boss fights
Though few in number, the boss battles in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice are a testament to how brutal the game's combat can be, with menacing boss designs and distorted arenas that inspire true fear in their intensity. These fights put Senua's skills as a warrior to the test with telegraphed moves that she must react to swiftly, along with tight windows of opportunity for her to wound the enemy. With no UI elements for health bars, neither for Senua nor the enemies she faces, these boss fights are an exercise of patience and mettle, giving an adrenaline-filled sense of satisfaction after a hard-fought victory.
Pro Powerful environments and atmosphere
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice boasts a beautiful, yet haunted atmosphere that evokes powerful feelings of awe, with towering mountains that stretch on for miles, lakes that glitter in the sunset glow and reflect the intimidating architecture of the Norse halls throughout the environment.
Cons
Con Too many puzzles
Because those with psychosis are adept at pattern recognition, Senua's strength with patterns translates into puzzles to solve throughout the linear world, but they're far too numerous and overstay their welcome quite early on. They often break the pace of exploration, with too many instances of Senua needing to loop around a small area several times in order to align shadows or illusory portals to open up the path to the next area.
Con Shallow combat
Although the enemy and boss designs are top-notch, the moment-to-moment swordplay with Senua isn't as deep as it could have been. Simple presses of light attacks and heavy attacks mixed in with blocks, strafes and rolls are most of what the combat has to offer. Occasionally an enemy will be blacked out and unable to take damage, and Senua can use her Focus ability to rectify this and continue attacking normally. On one hand, it's realistic that Senua's sword fights are to-the-point, but from a gameplay perspective, things can get dull rather quickly.