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After a 7-year wait,Hellblade 2, the sequel to Ninja Theory’s 2017 hitHellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, will finally launch on May 21 this year. Unlike the first game, though,Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2will only land onXbox and PC, as Microsoft acquired Ninja Theory in 2018.
January’s Xbox Developer_Direct provided an in-depth look at the game, showing off its astounding photorealistic graphics, while subtly hinting at the story. It was also confirmed that the game will cost $49.99 and be roughly as long as its predecessor (7-8 hours). This may have disappointed some who wanted a longer experience, but the revamped combat system should make up for it.
Hellblade 1Was Developed By Less Than 20 Devs
In a 2022 interview withVG247,Hellblade 2combat designer Juan Fernández acknowledged the limitations behind the first game’s combat system:
We did many things well, but I think there are many things that could be improved that I would change today. You have to remember that the team that worked on Senua’s first adventure was incredibly small for a development of this kind, about 15 people in the studio most of the time.
It is Looking More and More Likely That Hellblade 2 Will Be Another Former Xbox Exclusive Coming to PS5
This is an apt justification for the solid-but-barebones combat of the first game. However, the production quality was stellar considering the miniscule size of the development team. With theXbox acquisitionallowing for higher budgets and more developers, Fernandez reports major improvements for the sequel’s combat system.
Hellblade 2Dials The Combat Experience To 11
To makeHellblade 2‘s combat better, the key issues in the first game’s combat system had to be identified. Fernandez explained:
What I was least satisfied with in Hellblade 1 was the lack of variety of enemies, long-term combat was suppressed […], the way the difficulty systems were tuned, the enemies had too much life, they had a lot of durability, we had a lot of variety of attacks and combos but really the enemies do not encourage you to use one or the other, people found two or three movements that they liked and repeated them constantly, there were very generous timings of parries and stories that can still be balanced more intelligently.
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With enemy variety, overall difficulty, repetitive attack combos, and parry windows highlighted as the growth areas, the team set to work onHellblade 2‘s combat. Fernandez affirmed that the game will benefit heavily from more developers and resources:
We are raising the bar of doing more with less. We are more people than with the first Hellblade but the quality that we are giving versus the team behind compared to similar ones, I think that it’s through the roof.
Creative director Tameem Antoniades has alsocommentedon the combat system, claiming that it will be “real and brutal“, even mentioning that Senua’s actress has been training how to fight for two years to make her character’s moves look super realistic in the game.
Xbox Exclusive ‘Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2’ Finally Gets Incredible Trailer at Xbox Developer Direct 2024
Hellblade 2VFX director Mark Slater-Tunstill also revealed in theJanuary Developer_Directthat the combat system has been reworked to be more visceral, and to give the player the feeling of ‘having just scraped by’ after every encounter. All these upgrades prove Ninja Theory’s commitment to delivering a far better combat system forHellblade 2, and we can’t wait for it.
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Content Writer
Articles Published :247
A lifelong gamer, lover of cars, and Master’s student of Automotive Journalism, Viraaj Bhatnagar is a gaming writer at FandomWire who aims to be one of the greats. When he’s not hunched over on his laptop typing out copy, he can be found lapping circuits in Gran Turismo or slaying draugr in God of War.
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