When comparing Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice vs Grim Dawn, the Slant community recommends Grim Dawn for most people. In the question“What are the best action games on Steam?” Grim Dawn is ranked 20th while Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is ranked 30th. The most important reason people chose Grim Dawn is:
Basically you choose 1 class and select skills as you level up. At level 10 you can select a second class, which already gives you 5x5=25 character type possibilities. Each character has dozens of skills, plus you have this additional passive skill tree that you unlock through cleansing shrines. Then there is item customization with crafted "modifiers", adding additional unique stats and skills that you can use, all this adds literally to thousands / millions of character possibilities. Do you want to use a double weapon shooting lightning bolts? You can do that. Do you want to summon your creatures and support them with fireballs? You can do that as well, you can push it wherever you want.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Amazing voice acting
Melina Juergens gives a riveting performance that showcases the full range of Senua's rage, vulnerability and introspection throughout her journey. Each tremble of fear in Senua's voice and her sharp cries of pain in battle further highlight her determination to reach her goal, pressing onward in the face of insurmountable obstacles.
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.
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 Compelling main character
Bolstered by an award-winning performance from Melina Juergens, The story constantly pushes Senua to her limits, both through the innumerable enemies who challenge her and the voices in her head that mock her to give up her impossible journey. She is an incredibly vulnerable character who fights on with her many fears and doubts, showing a different type of protagonist in the gaming landscape.
Pro The infighting of voices in Senua's head is unnerving
The many voices in Senua's head, all with their own unique personalities, showcase her struggles with psychosis, with the voices either taunting Senua, picking at her weaknesses, or encouraging her to stand her ground and fight. They can also be useful in battle, with some voices warning Senua to look out behind her as a new enemy spawns and readies to attack her. Constant exposure to these voices is unsettling, because their constant back and forth with praise or insults can take a toll on you after a while. Playing with headphones on is a must in order to feel the full experience of the voices and how well they blend into the gameplay.
Pro Complex leveling system with thousands of possible builds
Basically you choose 1 class and select skills as you level up. At level 10 you can select a second class, which already gives you 5x5=25 character type possibilities.
Each character has dozens of skills, plus you have this additional passive skill tree that you unlock through cleansing shrines. Then there is item customization with crafted "modifiers", adding additional unique stats and skills that you can use, all this adds literally to thousands / millions of character possibilities.
Do you want to use a double weapon shooting lightning bolts? You can do that. Do you want to summon your creatures and support them with fireballs? You can do that as well, you can push it wherever you want.
Pro Great homage to old school ARPGs
This game is very dark, and grim. It harkens back to games like Diablo 2 or Titans Quest. While other ARPGs have come out since then, none have hit all the marks of what fans of the genre have been asking for. For those that wish for an updated version of Diablo 2, Grim Dawn is the game for them.
Pro Exploration
Pro Highly modifiable
Relevant in modern gaming because the community can keep products like this fresh and varied, even if the developers eventually decide to slow down their updates (which they have not!). The possibilities are great with modding, while the experiences in Diablo 3 and Path of exile are a lot more static.
Pro Drop-in co-op (online and local)
Co-op is pretty convenient as players can drop in and out of your gaming session at any time. This way there is no wasted time jumping out of ones game in order to find players to play with.
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.
Con Only some builds are fun
There is a definite meta, with superefficient vs non-viable builds.
It's easy to mess up a build, and attribute and spec-bar points are non-respeccable (you can use a cheat editor, but devs want you to reroll a new char).
Con Difficult to move when fighting, especially when you are ranged
Con Static pre-rendered levels
This may cut down on replayability a bit as all the levels in the game are pre-rendered, meaning that each playthrough will have the exact same layout, making for something that can get tiring and too familiar. Similar games have gone with randomized levels, which can keep the game fresh. While Grim Dawn is meant to be a throwback to earlier games in the genre, some newer features found in more recent released would have been welcome.
Con Lots of trips to town
The majority of loot in the game can be useless, with odd stat restrictions or repeats of vendor items. This means the user will need to make many trips into town to sell it all off in order to have room for even more loot they will not necessarily need.