Microsoft Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - Information Thread, update (05/24): "Can Xbox Series S (and Steam Deck/ROG Ally) handle Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2?" (Digital Foundry technical analysis)

[Dexterryu]

17 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

Is this Senua 2? I am glad you're enjoying it but I couldn't take how sophisticating and depressing it was. So fuckin dark with such limited gameplay. I guess it's a decent movie if you look at it that way. It's definitely not a videogame. 

 

I played through the full game this weekend. I was a fan of the first game. The dark and claustrophobic stuff pulls back quite a bit after the opening section.

Having completed it, it's both a step up and step back from the first game. Graphically, acting, sounds, etc... are much better. Pacing/Narrative are a step back but still OK if you like Norse mythology. I think the main thing hurting the narrative is that the theme isn't quite a clear as it shifts from wanting revenge, to a bit of redemption, and then tries to merge the two together at the end (which it does sort of succeed in).

The pacing is frustrating at times, and especially in the beginning but that lets up a fair bit as the game both opens up and also brightens.

[skillzdadirecta]

3 hours ago, best3444 said:

 

Is this Senua 2? I am glad you're enjoying it but I couldn't take how sophisticating and depressing it was. So fuckin dark with such limited gameplay. I guess it's a decent movie if you look at it that way. It's definitely not a videogame. 

Yeah I'm talking about the second game. I beat the finished the first game the other night. Played the second for a total of three more hours last night and got

Spoiler

through the hidden ones and found the giant's dead baby.

That's where I left off because it got too late. I'm gonna reserve judgement until I finish the game but I can say, as I've said before, that I'm enjoying this more than Alan Wake 2 which it shares a lot in common with. I think they were going for a middle ground between game and cinematic experience (something a lot of developers have attempted with varying degrees of success) and so far, for me they've succeeded. I don't want to really say too much more until I've finished it, but I'm digging it so far.

[Best]

8 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Yeah I'm talking about the second game. I beat the finished the first game the other night. Played the second for a total of three more hours last night and got

  Reveal hidden contents

through the hidden ones and found the giant's dead baby.

That's where I left off because it got too late. I'm gonna reserve judgement until I finish the game but I can say, as I've said before, that I'm enjoying this more than Alan Wake 2 which it shares a lot in common with. I think they were going for a middle ground between game and cinematic experience (something a lot of developers have attempted with varying degrees of success) and so far, for me they've succeeded. I don't want to really say too much more until I've finished it, but I'm digging it so far.

 

That is exactly where I had to stop playing. I agree that it shares a lot of similarities to AW2 in the psychological aspects. You have a good perspective on what to expect from it. 

[skillzdadirecta]

5 minutes ago, Best said:

 

That is exactly where I had to stop playing. I agree that it shares a lot of similarities to AW2 in the psychological aspects. You have a good perspective on what to expect from it. 

Yeah that area gets really unnerving which i think is by design. I just think it does what Alan Wake 2 was trying to do better.

[TwinIon]

Only just started, but it's pretty clear how much of a technical showpiece this game is. Nanite (the geometry system in UE5) stands out in particular, though the volumetrics are also a high point of the early section.

 

I played through the first one in VR and despite how much better this one looks, I do kind of miss the VR experience for this one. It seems there are some unofficial mods, but I don't know if I'll try them.

 

Already I can tell that the consensus is right: this isn't a great game, but it should be an interesting experience. I'm glad that someone is out there making things like this. I also hope that this is the start of impressive UE5 games. 

[skillzdadirecta]

Credits rolling... still processing but off the top of my head I feel like the third act is missing some planned content. Like 

Spoiler

We never see the third giant and the discovery of his name is very abrupt.

Like they ran out of time and had to wrap up the game for release. That said, this was definitely one of the best looking games I ever played, not just from a graphical standpoint but from a cinematic standpoint. Like I want to show some scenes from this game to D.P. friends of mine. As far as cinematic games go this is one of the best. The last game I played that had this effect on me was Last of Us 2. Interesting that

Spoiler

the alternate narrators feature unlocks after you beat the game. encourages replay from a different perspective.

Game is short enough to try it out. Oh and I finally got a feel for the combat in the last damn act   Took me too long because I was so used to the feel of the first game which I had just finished. I can understand the criticisms comiing from folks who expected something like God of War but that's not what this game is. more thoughts tomorrow

[SaysWho?]

On 5/31/2024 at 2:41 AM, skillzdadirecta said:

more thoughts tomorrow

 

You lying mothafucka

[GeneticBlueprint]

I only played the opening act just today finally but I fucking love this game. It is beautiful in more than just the graphical sense. And it’s horrifying and terrifying and psychedelic. It’s great. 

[Keyser_Soze]

 

[TwinIon]

I just watched the DF interview and it was interesting. It was cool to hear them talk about the photogrammetry process and nanite. Something that came up a few times was how "expensive" it was to have nanite and non-nanite stuff together. At first nanite didn't do vegitation, but thankfully was updated to include it before they shipped. By the end it was the character models that were the biggest problem because nanite doesn't cover them and they were so high fidelity.

 

It certainly gives you an appreciation for what UE5 can do when fully utilized, but it's also interesting how much it seems like the dev process gets increasingly consumed by what UE is providing. It really seems like with nanite and lumen you have to completely buy into those systems for them to be worthwhile.