LTTP: Hellblade from Ninja Theory. I can't believe it was made by a team of only 20 people for less than $10 million ? Can't wait for Hellblade 2 !

[JDHarbs]

THE single most enthralling game experience of my life. I fully expected to just sit down and mess with it for about an hour or so, but it gripped me from the start and I ended up not putting it down until I finished 7 hours later. It's a relatively easy play as well since there isn't much to the gameplay, but damn did Ninja Theory nail everything else about this game.

Spoiler

I had no idea you were supposed to die to finish the game so that fight went on for like an hour with me utterly confused as to what I needed to do.

Top 10 (if not top 5) game of the gen. PLAY WITH HEADPHONES! And I highly recommend watching the behind the scenes afterword.

 

[Deleted member 79058]

I still have to play it yet. The Switch port looks pretty good visually.

 

[Level 7 Boss]

I purchased this on release on PS4 and it remains in my backlog. Just downloaded on Gamepass too, I need to get round to this.

 

[Deleted member 51848]

I just found that first 20 minutes of walking in a straight line unbearably boring and never went back. One day.

 

[Navidson REC]

How long did it take you beat the game? I've had it on my backlog for years, but I always end up chosing something different to play.

Click to shrink...

It's fairly short und very linear. Depending on your pace, maybe 5 - 8 hours? I really took my time with it, and I think I finished it over four sessions/evenings.

 

[DryCreek]

.

 

[60fps]

Heavenly Sword was a PS3 launch game in 2007, also made by Ninja Theory.

I'm now trying to wrap my head around how this compares to Gamefreak and Pokemon Sword/Shield.

 

[WhovianGamer]

I think Sony will regret not acquiring this team. Of all the teams Microsoft bought, these guys are the closest to what Sony is trying to achieve:

 

[TP-DK]

I started playing it last year but just couldn't get through it. I actually felt the combat was fine, but the walking parts and especially the puzzles made me drop it. I found that extremely boring and couldn't find the motivation to keep going.

 

[Joe White]

Finished Hellblade couple of days ago for the first time and it really is amazing experience. It's not the easiest game to play, as it skips the parts where player/Senua would feel all powerful and knowing, and her journey is mainly filled with hardship and downplay. But it's worth it, as both the player and Senua are so much stronger from the whole experience.

 

[Khanimus]

It's amazing what they pulled off.

 

[Dr Pears]

I thought Mortal Shell was even more impressive. Another Unreal Engine 4 title made by around ~15 core members. Its the first game from this newly formed studio yet the game is just oozing with style with a great combat system thats a great derivative of the souls games.

 

[Deleted member 4090]

Heavenly Sword was a PS3 launch game in 2007, also made by Ninja Theory.

I'm now trying to wrap my head around how this compares to Gamefreak and Pokemon Sword/Shield.

Click to shrink...

What are you trying to wrap your head around?

Pokémon Sword and Shield/credits

These are the credits for Pokémon Sword and Shield. Credits added with The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra DLC updates are indicated. Shigeru Ohmori James Turner Tomoya Takahashi Maiko Fujiwara Takao Unno Kazumasa Iwao Lead: Nozomu Saito Yicheng Fang Nicholas Dahms Tomoya Hasegawa Katsunori...

nintendo.fandom.com

A huge RPG with hundreds of enemy types and customizable characters and a simultaneous release in a bunch of languages has a huge number of people that worked on it.

 

[Puroresu_kid]

Thanks OP will download this on gamepass

 

[FarSight XR-20]

Yeah, different strokes and all that. But it left a bad taste in the mouth for me. Stunning game visually though.

I appreciate the edit.

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I don't know if you've ever watcher this documentary about the collaboration with people with mental health issues but I finally watched it and it was very interesting.

Hellblade: Senua's Psychosis | Mental Health Feature

A 25 minute feature about how we worked with experts in the field of neuroscience and those with lived experience of voice hearing to create a truthful repre...

www.youtube.com

 

[DanteSparda504]

Ninja Theory is extremely talented, people just like to pretend they are not because DMC fanboys are whiney.

I'm extremely happy that they now have Microsofts backing. They tell some of the better and more unique stories and often in unique ways. While Hellblade wasn't my favorite game of theirs, it's a stunning achievement of what they are able to achieve. I'm looking forward to seeing how Hellblade 2 turns out, and what they move on to next.

 

[Lobster Roll]

I made an LTTP thread about a month back for this game to a singular response, so I'm very happy to see another person's post pick up traction.

Hellblade deserves as much visibility and recognition as possible. It's an amazing game, and one of the most memorable experiences I've had in gaming. For a last gen game, it has stunning visuals too.

The setting, the story, the audio, the mood, the atmosphere, the lighting, the puzzles, the combat. All of it. It's such a cool game, and I urge everyone who has GamePass to give it a download. It's an extremely memorable experience.

 

[purseowner]

I don't know if you've ever watcher this documentary about the collaboration with people with mental health issues but I finally watched it and it was very interesting.

Hellblade: Senua's Psychosis | Mental Health Feature

A 25 minute feature about how we worked with experts in the field of neuroscience and those with lived experience of voice hearing to create a truthful repre...

www.youtube.com

Click to shrink...

Thanks! I have not. I'll give a look when I have a mo.

 

[Musubi]

If you play this game it cant be said enough. WEAR HEADPHONES!

 

[DarthBuzzard]

If you play this game it cant be said enough. WEAR HEADPHONES!

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More importantly, play it in VR. Game goes from a 7/10 to a 9/10. Definitely the way Ninja Theory wants it to be played.

 

[ZedKay101]

Are you sure they've only doubled the size of the team, OP? That would be somewhere in the ballpark of around 40 devs on the project, but Ninja Theory is a team of around 150 devs. I can't imagine all those otehr devs working on Project Mara/Insight when Hellblade 2 looks like their most ambitious project in terms of scope.

 

[5taquitos]

It's a sensory delight, that's for sure.

Gameplay is pretty mediocre, the middle section drags (which is odd for a game that's so short), and the enemy variety is weak (also odd for such a short game).

Still definitely worth playing.

 

[Ravager777]

One of two games which made me cry. Very emotional game! The only other game which made me cry was Halo 2 when I didn't get to finish the fight at the end. Brutal cliff hanger. I was 14 at the time.

 

[FarSight XR-20]

Are you sure they've only doubled the size of the team, OP? That would be somewhere in the ballpark of around 40 devs on the project, but Ninja Theory is a team of around 150 devs. I can't imagine all those otehr devs working on Project Mara/Insight when Hellblade 2 looks like their most ambitious project in terms of scope.

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Here they say that the team will be about twice the size of Hellblade's team. Will certainly be more than 40 persons during the whole development but I think they mean they want to keep it around 40 persons working on it on average.

 

[Depressed Panda]

Are you sure they've only doubled the size of the team, OP? That would be somewhere in the ballpark of around 40 devs on the project.

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Antoniades once said that he prefers to work with small teams.

 

[dsosarod]

Any idea how good (or bad) is the Switch port?

 

[mcruz79]

Great post OP!,
yeah! hellblade show how talented people at ninja theory are...
I really like the first game and hope the 2 deliver to the huge expectation.
really hyped for the second game.

 

[Addleburg]

I'm happy that the game has been successful and shown what can be accomplished by such a small team. It didn't do much for me due to it feeling a bit tedious, but I'd be down to try out the sequel.

 

[FarSight XR-20]

Any idea how good (or bad) is the Switch port?

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I didn't play it but I read it was a good port with minor differences.

 

[Sagroth]

This game, along with Nier: Automata, were the two games from last generation that hit me hardest emotionally. I was openly weeping during the entire final boss sequence in Hellblade. The gameplay loop had its flaws, but the emotional impact it had on me still makes it one of my favorites.

 

[defaltoption]

Excellent post, made me super excited to hear more about Hellblade 2 the future of the studio.

 

[HiLife]

Top tier auditory experience.

 

[KartuneDX]

Switch port worthwhile? Your write up was exceptional and put me on to a lot interesting facts about the game that have me way more interested to play

 

[Adrifi]

It was one of my favorite games maybe ever the first time I beat it, but I think it doesn't hold up as well on replay. Still, an excellent game.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Finished this on PS4 earlier today. It was... OK, I guess? Nothing I found mindblowingly amazing, but a solid, if somewhat samey, game. The graphics are top notch and the use of audio is very clever (some great music from VNV Nation and Andy LaPlegua of Combichrist fame), and the story is solid enough, but the combat sections quickly got tedious and the rune/portal puzzles eventually became rather samey. Props for the lore stones and the info on Norse mythology. I'll keep an eye on Hellblade 2 when it drops.

 

[Deleted member 54073]

Was great on the PS4. Guess I'll have to upgrade my PC for the sequel.

 

[Vitet]

I know David García, who also won a BAFTA for this game btw, and sometimes he showed me some examples of his audio implementation on UE4 (Rime and this) and his skills are mind blowing. He dominates the engine perfectly regarding audio.

 

[Pankratous]

It's a really amazing game.

One of the biggest things I loved about it was how simple the combat is. I think that really worked to it's credit. No stupid skill trees, or upgrades. No videogamey teleporting and double jumps. It was just excellent.

 

[THEVOID]

Wonderful OP. I played this on a whim because of Gamepass and I was seriously blown away. Such a unique emotional experience.

 

[Theorry]

It's a really amazing game.

One of the biggest things I loved about it was how simple the combat is. I think that really worked to it's credit. No stupid skill trees, or upgrades. No videogamey teleporting and double jumps. It was just excellent.

Click to shrink...

Jup really liked the combat. Felt powerful but you felt vulnerable also. Sometimes less is indeed better.

 

[GrrImAFridge]

Melina Juergens genuinely raised the bar with her performance, and it was great to see many media outlets recognise that rather than just dump the accolades at Naughty Dog's door (The Lost Legacy released the same year). I was especially glad when she won the BAFTA.

Needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to the sequel. I've no doubt Ninja Theory will deliver, especially now that it has AAA money to play with.

 

[woolyninja]

A great game that was exactly as long as it needed to be with minimal fluff. Hope they nail the sequel as I've loved Ninja Theory since the extremely underrated Heavenly Sword