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Genocyber
Jun 4, 2012

precision posted:

It would be nice if Ninja Theory would come right out and say it never happens, though, because then all the people claiming that it's happened to them (who all just happen to also hate the game for being "SJW") will look even more stupid than they already do.

I could have sworn that did confirm that some time near release but I might be mis-remembering.

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veni veni veni
Jun 5, 2005


I know I'm going to regret asking this but why exactly are the dumpster people calling it "SJW"? Unless it's just that it has a woman in it who isn't a big boobed anime.

SirSamVimes
Jul 21, 2008

The sky is full of words you've gifted me.


veni veni veni posted:

I know I'm going to regret asking this but why exactly are the dumpster people calling it "SJW"? Unless it's just that it has a woman in it who isn't a big boobed anime.

That's generally enough.

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."


veni veni veni posted:

I know I'm going to regret asking this but why exactly are the dumpster people calling it "SJW"? Unless it's just that it has a woman in it who isn't a big boobed anime.

1. Female protagonist with mental illness = oppression checkboxes
2. Don't spend 90% of game in combat = not a real game
3. Message of empathy and acceptance = stop shoving your political agenda down my throat

a kitten
Aug 5, 2006

Wow, drat.

That sure was an experience.



I think maybe I'll go for a walk now.

Over There
Jun 28, 2013

by Azathoth

a kitten posted:

Wow, drat.

That sure was an experience.



I think maybe I'll go for a walk now.

I had to take a couple breaks from the intensity

Yoshimo
Oct 5, 2003

Fleet of foot, and all that!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spdROxg2dJA Here's the awesome music from the final boss fight.

http://media.scotslanguage.com/library/audio/ayecan/census_orkney2.mp3 And here's what someone from where Senua hails from (the Orkney Islands in Scotland) sounds like in modern day.

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."


https://twitter.com/NinjaTheory/status/917405649654382594

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n7RTnRZ_QQ

SirSamVimes
Jul 21, 2008

The sky is full of words you've gifted me.


That video is super touching but they really should have used this song instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeNF2aB_FGU

Terra-da-loo!
Apr 6, 2008

Sufficiently kickass.
Started playing this again today. Got to the trial in the dark and kept thinking "I don't see the big deal." Then I got to the house area, the big deal, and holy poo poo. That's some freaky stuff.

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."


There was a recent interview with Tameem Antoniades that is pretty informative if you've been following the development of this game. I think it's the first that says anything official about the so-called "permadeath" mechanic, the meaning of the finale, and how well the game sold. Worth a read.

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."




Cool article on the animation behind Hellblade and how they got such fluid motion capture on a limited budget.

https://80.lv/articles/the-animation-of-hellblade-senuas-sacrifice/

veni veni veni
Jun 5, 2005


The quality of the animation is so good I almost don't notice it. You just kind of forget it's computer animated.

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames
Has the dust settled on how well the game did financially yet?

veni veni veni
Jun 5, 2005


Apparently it just broke even, which the company was expecting to happen months from now. So, good I guess? I'm not sure how all of that works but they seem happy with it.

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."


It's been nominated for a bunch of awards and I hope it will become less of sleeper hit once it starts showing up on a lot of reviewer's year-end lists.

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames
Yeah I imagine it's the kind of game that will have a pretty long tail sales-wise, like Journey.

veni veni veni
Jun 5, 2005


Also worth noting, I don't think it's been on sale once so they aren't desperately trying to recoup costs or anything.

haldolium
Oct 22, 2016



Perestroika posted:



Anyway, it's a bit of an odd comparison, but somehow this game reminded me of Spec Ops: The Line quite a bit.


I find the comparison fitting, SpecOps is what I'm reminded of mostly as well here. But not in a good way.

All I get from Senua is a creepy atmosphere and very dull gameplay. Pretty much the same feelings that SpecOps evoked (not creepy there, but "alternative war"). Both promise much, and for some reason it resonates with a huge amount of players, but not with me. Both games are caged into a known genre with all their unique approaches taking actually place outside of that. I miss the connection, the game interweaving the narration and journey of a psychosis beyond "binaural 3D audio" whisperings (that frankly are such a common tool in horror movies and games that it just doesn't work as intended for me) and some effects here and there. I would've appreciated a wilder, less narrow approach (if that makes sense) with a lot less of safe space in terms of gameplay/mechanics. I don't really have the remedy ad hoc for what I've appreciate instead for this particular topic, all I know so far is that Seduna is unconvincing and breaks the 4th wall often, exactly like SpecOps, through unimaginative and frankly boring gameplay.

Ineffiable
Feb 16, 2008

Some say that his politics are terrifying, and that he once punched a horse to the ground...


This is also a game they published themselves if I remember right? Which is why there's no physical edition and they could settle on a $30 price point. So they pretty much broke even already and we still have holidays to give people lots of gift cards or steam library gifting. And it hasn't been on sale at all on PC or ps4, those sales should give it a real boost.

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames

Ineffiable posted:

This is also a game they published themselves if I remember right? Which is why there's no physical edition and they could settle on a $30 price point. So they pretty much broke even already and we still have holidays to give people lots of gift cards or steam library gifting. And it hasn't been on sale at all on PC or ps4, those sales should give it a real boost.

Yup. I think they did good here.

haldolium posted:

I find the comparison fitting, SpecOps is what I'm reminded of mostly as well here. But not in a good way.

All I get from Senua is a creepy atmosphere and very dull gameplay. Pretty much the same feelings that SpecOps evoked (not creepy there, but "alternative war"). Both promise much, and for some reason it resonates with a huge amount of players, but not with me. Both games are caged into a known genre with all their unique approaches taking actually place outside of that. I miss the connection, the game interweaving the narration and journey of a psychosis beyond "binaural 3D audio" whisperings (that frankly are such a common tool in horror movies and games that it just doesn't work as intended for me) and some effects here and there. I would've appreciated a wilder, less narrow approach (if that makes sense) with a lot less of safe space in terms of gameplay/mechanics. I don't really have the remedy ad hoc for what I've appreciate instead for this particular topic, all I know so far is that Seduna is unconvincing and breaks the 4th wall often, exactly like SpecOps, through unimaginative and frankly boring gameplay.

Different strokes, but I legit loved the gameplay in this game, to the point where I actively want an arena/boss rush mode.

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."


There's a fair amount of depth to the combat that most people will probably never see because the game never gets so hard or complex that you have to rely on chaining combos or anything like that. I found it satisfying enough, with one of the best perfect parries in all video games, but the fights in Hellblade are only a means to an end, and I finished most encounters just feeling relieved it was over. Ninja Theory was kind of between a rock and a hard place here. If you make the swordplay too frequent, flashy, stylish or "fun" then all of a sudden it becomes the main focus of the game, we're not seeing the encounters to be truly menacing as Senua does, but as titillating kickflip monster arenas in between puzzle rooms. If Senua's abilities seem so far above our own, it becomes harder to empathize with her struggle and easier to see her as just another video gamey superhero with Mind Powers. If you give her a skill tree or +2 sword of dexterity then we're not seeing the world as she sees it, there's some abstraction of a UI obscuring our vision. I love that when Senua squares up against some 8ft tall demonic norsemen, the fear is written wide across her face. When she gets hit she doesn't just flinch a little like most game protagonists, but recoils in pain, stumbles backward, and falls down. For me the emphasis wasn't on the combat itself so much as just trying to help Senua survive. By the time the game really lets you set loose with everything you've learned it's almost over.

But I went into Hellblade understanding and expecting it to be light on the swordplay. In fact if there's anything I could criticize I'd say there are probably one or two more fighting sections than were really needed in the second half. It's not a game I would recommend on the merits of its combat system alone, like SotC or SpecOps before it all comes in service to the greater narrative.

exquisite tea fucked around with this message at 08:18 on Nov 5, 2017

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."


Final NT developer diary is up, discussing the launch and its impact. Hellblade has sold over 500,000 copies between PS4 and PC in its first three months, they were expecting to cross that threshold in eight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDvATt2VBxU

The game is also 25% off on Steam and GOG for the first time ever.

resting mitch face
Apr 9, 2005

5) I hear you.
Oh my god this is probably my favorite game this year.

Wear headphones.

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."


In case you ever wanted to know more about what the experience of playing Hellblade from the perspective of a person who actually suffers from psychosis is like, this video is incredibly dense and fascinating to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52flQkqj5gs

Kithyen
Oct 18, 2002
I DON'T KNOW THE BBCODE FOR BIG RED TITLES SO I CAN'T FIX THIS FUCK
Hellblade coming to Xbone in April

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames

Extremely surprising but cool!

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."


The Bonx version will get three display options similar to Monster Hunter World’s enhanced settings, which is nice. I played this game on PC but I’d recommend the higher framerate setting for snappier combat.

Gort
Aug 18, 2003

Good day what ho cup of tea
Just got around to playing this, it was rad as gently caress. It was cool slowly figuring out the combat mechanics - I basically never went to the pause men so I only worked out parrying once I was fighting Valravn, and charge-up and running attacks once I was entering the final few gauntlets.

Wafflecopper
Nov 27, 2004

I am a mouth, and I must scream

I just got this and I love the visuals, mood, and presentation in general, but is there more to the gameplay than walking around looking for runes while gradually getting more annoyed at the whispers in my head telling me over and over "she has to find the runes" and to "follow the screams" (what screams? I can't hear any) and the occasional fight? I really want to like this but the rune hunting is getting old real quick and I'm only like 20 minutes in. Right now I'm looking for the rune that looks like a Y with a vertical branch between the other two. The dudes hanging up on the wooden structures look like they should work but they won't trigger it.

e: finally got that one but I'm still really hoping this won't be the majority of the gameplay

Wafflecopper fucked around with this message at 11:57 on Apr 17, 2018

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Raised by Hamsters
Sep 16, 2007

and hopped up on bagels
Stick with it. While the rune match puzzles are kind of always there, it tones way down after the first 2 sections.

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