Hellblade Officially Priced & Dated

Hellblade was just announced to officially release on 8/8 of this year but surprisingly they are going to be selling it for a budget price: $29.99/€29.99/£24.99 and is being advertised on PS4, Steam, and GOG.

I was a bit wary about that cost but it seems they are specifically wanting to make a game that feels AAA but is tailored to be a smaller experience.

Official announcement can be found here.

I liked all of NT's previous games so I'll probably give this a go. I'm also always happy to support new business models and if this proves successful it might open the door for other devs to pursue similar projects. That said, her teeth are freaking me right the fuck out.

Interesting. I wonder if it won't just mean it's a short experience with no aims for any open world, side quest anything added on. I think there is value in that.

I think it's a budget price because the development was specifically made to have as low a cost as possible. I remember in a GI article they literally did mocap in one of their boardrooms. I'm interested to see how it does.

Looks like heavenly sword 2? I really liked heavenly sword but it was way to short, and seems like they will be doing something similar with this?

So does this mean Hellblade is a... B game?

The Game Informer cover story a couple of issues ago was very interesting and I went from nothing absolutely nothing about the game to highly anticipating its release. Ninja Theory really wants to tackle a AAA quality feel with a much smaller design team than what's standard for that and I hope this does well for them!

The idea of the cheaper, smaller scale experience that still has the top tier production values is something that they've been talking about basically the entire production of this thing, so it's good to finally see what that price actually is.

I'm quite curious to see if this does well and shows a market for this sort of thing.

Nice, finally a release date! I was worried at one point that the game had just disappeared for good, but was glad to see it surface earlier this year again.

Definitely no complaints about the price, even if the skeptic in me is now quietly whispering about it being a few hour experience with easy gameplay. Guess we'll see in August.

Hm...I'm somewhat interested in this, it's been on my gog wishlist for a while. But I haven't really followed it much, and just now realized that they are sending a celtic woman to viking hell? That seems a) dumb and b) like squandering the potential of the interesting and original setting that something centered around actual celtic culture could be? The norse gods stuff - or at least elements taken from that - just seems very much ubiqitous in certain types of games, to the point where I have a hard time caring about something that advertises itself with "Ragnarok".

I'm not sure about the final product but I think this is the perfect direction for them. I remember Heavenly Blade having such a weird and almost unnerving set of characters that it all felt like some nightmare fever dream. Similarly Enslaved had some weird characters and some pretty good writing. While not especially realistic, the characters in their games always seem very authentic to the world they inhabit, and weird, always really weird. So it's perfect that they're just diving deep into this topic with a full blown game.

The only reason I'm still interested in this is binaural recording. The combat looks bad and I don't like her ordinary new face.

@odinsmana: This is the very definition of a "B" game.

So between this, Yakuza: Kiwami & Uncharted: The Lost Legacy there are 3 budget priced AAA-esque games coming out in August. Cool.

If it's linear like Enslaved, that's an interesting pricing strategy.

I might check it out.

I think this is a hell of an ambitious idea, and the little I've seen of the game seems dang promising as well, with its real unique approach to combat. I'm also admittedly a sucker for anything Ninja Theory.

They write good stories and good characters, sometimes fantastic ones, and that goes a long way with me.

I'm very disappointed they've decided to go digital only for the release of this game.

This game seems way more ambitious than I ever thought it would be. They're tackling a tricky subject (mental illness), selling it for a low price, and not compromising on production values. The only thing I worry about is how they handle mental illness, and how good of a value it ends up being. Hope it turns out well for them, because we definitely need more games like this.

This trailer got me real psyched, even if I've already been pretty interested from the start.

I hope some of the previews talking about the mentall illness aspect aren't just buzz words, would definitely make this even more interesting if it's handled well. https://www.vg247.com/2017/08/01/hellblade-senuas-sacrifice-draws-on-lived-experiences-rather-than-cheap-tropes-for-its-depiction-of-psychosis/

Also for PS4 Pro owners, there's an option to either enhance the resolution or lift the framerate up to a (hopefully) solid 60FPS.

I've been saying for a while now that game companies could make more profits by selling a lot of budget priced games rather than fewer $60 games. I hope this turns out well and tests that theory.

Seems they traded off the cost of physical manufacturing in order to sell it at a cheaper cost (at least it partially seems that way).

Trailer looked great and eerie as fuck. The animation on her is quite impressive. Not sure if I'll pick it up at launch but it's definitely on my radar.

Glad this game is trying something new, and it looks good. Cool to see independent developers getting out there and doing some bigger things.

Really worried about how this developer will handle mental illness based on their past work. I didn't like the writing or social commentary in DmC or Enslaved at all. Enslaved I liked a bit for its brand of weirdness, but DmC's writing was just really fucking lame and, unpleasant I guess.

@dinosaurcanada: They've apparently supported by a charity organization called the "Wellcome Trust", that is aptly enough attempting to educate the broader masses on different forms of mental illness, and removing some of the stigma that's associated with it. What "supported" means in this instance, I have absolutely no idea. I can tell you however that they have been working closely with their researchers, and have spent much time speaking to people with different forms of psychosis.

So, if nothing else, the boys and girls have done their research.

Also, I fucking loooooved the writing in Enslaved, you're a madman. I also really like it in DmC and Heavenly Sword. They tell some of my very favourite vidya game stories, so I'm excited about this one.

The Raptor News Media fight in DmC was amazing for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it was a spectacular piece of commentary on how the news media is used.

That's one purty looking videa game i tell you what, I just hope this doesn't fall into the sucker punch category with it's writing (although i would say the quality of writing in their games has always been top notch so i'm optimistic.)

This game looks and sounds pretty fucking cool. I don't love everything NInja Theory puts out, but I'm always rooting for them.

@glots: great trailer. I think the eyes are the craziest looking part.

Excited for this.

Also as someone with mental health issues I have no problem with them being handled in something. Ninja Theory do well with story too so I think they will have something to say.

I've enjoyed most of NTs games and I'll definitely check this one out with that price.

Been following the game for years but at this point all of my hype has vanished. I'll see how the QL turns out. Good luck Ninja Theory.

I am really looking forward to the Brad's review now, the game looks a bit bland from the mechanics perspective yet very interesting from the subject matter and setting perspective.

It's mediocre. This has been my experience so far:

So far, it feels like it would have been better as a movie. I've barely played it at all. I have a sword, but I can't use it yet and get accustomed to the controls early because the game wants you to play its way, to present its story how it wants. It started with a really long boat ride which I had no control over and which just had the camera on her back the whole time. I'm now in the first detective vision part and don't know what the game wants me to look at. There are symbols everywhere. The screen gets redder when I look at the door, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do beyond that.

It's probably something obvious and when I figure it out I'm gonna be pissed.

Edit: Jesus Christ, how could I not notice that for so long? Fuck me.

Later:

I like the controls. Ctrl to parry, Spacebar to dodge, run with Shift, attack with the two mouse buttons, interact with F and target switching with the side buttons of the mouse. But I don't like how it plays. The combat is overly telegraphed and pretty simplistic. You don't even need to face an enemy to parry. If I get a Game Over and have to start over, it won't be because of the combat, but because of not knowing what to do on short notice. I died a few minutes ago because I took a wrong turn as a fire was spreading.

If someone could tell me how to turn off the chromatic abberation and motion blur, that would be great. Why are these things so popular?

Edit: Stuck again at a vision puzzle. Do any of you honestly like these?

Later:

I hate these puzzles. I really hate them. If there's a secret to finding the patterns, I can't see it. How is this shitty gameplay mechanic representative of psychosis? I know crazy people see patterns in things, but this is just dumb.

Watching a Cohh playthrough now, and the game is amazing. So immersive, dark, and jarring. And my god is it gorgeous. The animations and VO are ridiculous too. I could see how actually playing might be frustrating at some points, and immersion breaking, but watching is very addictive with this one.

@ezekiel: Why am I not surprised? :D

@quipido: I bought it impulsively based on Brads enthusiasm and because I haven't played anything on my PS4 in a while and what you said about sums it up. The gameplay is strangely mediocre for a Ninja Theory game considering DmC was phenomenal in that department. The face capture is unnerving as always but even the levels seem very lackluster so far. I'm hoping there is a deeper payoff in the end because so far simply playing it is O-K at best and tedious at its worst.

@ezekiel: reading how much you dislike games that are light on gameplay in these forums over the last couple years im surprised you even gave this a shot. Did you expect more indepth gameplay? I was actually surprised you do more than just extremely simple fighting and watching cutscenes in this game myself. But yeah, totally, the puzzles and the combat arent greatly satisfying nor deep. Havent had any trouble with the puzzles though, theyve been pretty breezy so far for me.

Afaik the only 'secret' to finding the signs is that when the screen gets filled with 'red signs' it gets more intense the closer you are to whatever you should be looking at.

As an interactive experience rather than a pure 'Im having fun' videogame I think its pretty fucking rad. Really digging the atmosphere and Im really curious where the story'll go.

Oh and I really like Senua, she is one hell of a diehard sedulous mothereffer .

@lestephan: I think cinematic games have a place, but it depends on how they're done. I was interested in the idea of it, psychosis and Norse fantasy, and I liked the character design before they changed it. I also wanted to try out a game with binaural recording. But my interest waned over the years. It doesn't feel like a waste of time, but it's mediocre. I barely care for her story. The puzzles have gotten less annoying, at least. I just reached the ship at the sea. The almost universal high scores boggle my mind.

it's almost like art is subjective or something

Anything that sends Jim Sterling and John Bain into a ridiculous tirade is top of my list. Plus the mental health angle manifesting itself in the way it does. Hopefully they manage to get that on point. I played through Town of White earlier in the year and that seemed to hit some bleak notes.

@ezekiel: I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made the assumption like that about you. I thought you were a bit more stiff about it (hahaha I'm not sure it's the correct expression but you probably still get what I mean right?)

Seems we we were going into this game for pretty much the same reasons. Although the 'this game uses binaural sound' thingie that popped up when booting up the game was a pleasant surprise to me. Immediately grabbed my headphones.

And I'm not sure I necessarily dislike the new design, it is different than in the early trailers though, and you are absolutely allowed to have your opinion about how it turned out in the finished product.

I havent read any of the reviews yet, I'm surprised that its unanimously praised. I like the game a lot but it's definitely flawed. I'll read some of em after im finished with the game. Probably over the weekend.

Had no idea this thing existed till today; sounds alright though its Game Reviewer fodder (i.e. short, good presentation, probably relatively easy) so can't really put any stock in that. Might be worth playing post Black Friday though.

I'm not hugely intrigued by what I'd seen so far, although I note and respect Brad's caveat note (I would like this kind of follow up 'extended take' to be a thing that GB do a bit more often... Not all games lend themselves well to being judged for purchase via the QL format alone).

My take mirrors Jeff's from this week's Bombcast. I look forward to seeing the balance and spread of reviews because I could be persuaded.

Feels like Enslaved, just some 'Okay' gameplay to get you between the way more interesting set pieces that the game is actually about.

@efesell: I'd say Enslaved was not only a much more involved and interesting game to play, but also visually a lot more striking.

Well the latter at least has stayed true for this and most other games.

I'm rooting for them since I liked their other games, but when I looked at gameplay walkthroughs on Youtube I just kept seeing her walking around, hearing annoying voices, solving a few puzzles, and having a couple sword fights that didn't look that fun. Seems like there wasn't much combat and unlike a Telltale game, the story nor dialogue seem intriguing enough to keep me around. The graphics are crazy, but I need more than just that, which is weird, since DmC and their other games had good combat systems.

I wouldn't expect this game to be as indepth as DMC with it being a budget game, to me it looks real cool and 8-10 hours is longer than i expected.

@efesell: not quite sure what you mean by that?

This is a boring story. It's one-note, grim and depressive all the way through. Would have been more effective if they had contrasted that with moments of beauty and optimism. Maybe they could have looked at her past more, let you play out some of those moments, when everything wasn't dark. I just don't care much for Senua's story, just hearing all the time what happened, but rarely being there or seeing it.

It reminds me of how unrewarding Gone Home was. Everything that mattered had already happened and you just listened to your sister brag of her love life for an hour or however long it was. At least when they do mental illness and delusions in movies, there are other characters. Tangible characters, I mean.

I don't have psychosis myself and I'm sure they did their research but the way the mirages and voices are presented seems like how any random movie or game would do it. I wonder what people who have experienced that feel about it.

The audio tricks their using seem amazing. I'm actually thinking of getting this because of the price, seems like it does some cool and interesting stuff which is worth supporting on it's own.

For me it was never as profound as what the game portrays. Granted, I honestly don't know how severe mine was in the grand scheme of things. Oh, and this was a decade or so ago, so I wouldn't have a great memory of it. I do remember hearing voices which sometimes conflicted with each other, tho they weren't necessarily talking to me all the time.

Oh, and I should mention that the whole finding shapes and matching them up thing is totally something I would've done (and still do kinda). I do appreciate the game for doing it, even if it can get annoying.

I dunno if this is game of the year material, but I'm glad to have tried it out and will be finishing it....when I can stomach playing it again.