“Hellblade 2” begins with Senua on a boat. Reconciled at the end of her first Hellblade game, she decides to attack the leaders of the Norse slave traders who once plundered the Orkney Islands. She is deliberately captured and held without weapons, and she travels in a boat with other slaves without weapons, but even though she has no weapons or allies, she manages to rescue her. and plan. It's not the most well-thought-out plan, but Ninja Theory still takes this very seriously, and they expect us to do the same.
Things take a turn for the worse, and Senua decides it's time to change her mission and free the island nation from the tyranny of the gods. “Hellblade 2” wants to explore themes of tradition and folklore as a tool to keep people from questioning or deviating too much from the norm, but not enough to make the themes interesting. It never provides any depth or insight.
Like the first game, the idea for Hellblade 2 is developed across three main components: narrative segments, puzzles, and combat. Hellblade 2's puzzles are occasionally clever, including one instance where Senua's voice prompts you to see the world in an unusual way. The solution is to focus on rock formations that look like faces when viewed from the right angle, and then disappear to reveal a new path.
However, these creative moments are the exception. Most of the other challenges are boring. Match magic symbols with painted objects that look slightly similar, find special stones, hold torches, and more. There's some shallow symbolism attached to it, but Hellblade 2 shows little interest in doing anything with it beyond acknowledging its existence.
That's when you don't actively undermine your commitment to symbolism. At one point, Senua retrieves the mirror, a mirror of precious childhood memories, and confronts some of her past demons in order to move forward. She fights and overcomes a spirit made of glass, and she declares that the grief of her past will drive her instead of holding her back. That moment is emotional. Ninja Theory then immediately strips the mirror of its meaning by making it a permanent combat tool. There, you can activate Senua's mirror superpower and use a special attack if she hits the bad guys enough.
