Fairy Tale Spotlight: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

So way back in 2008, a game came out called Too Human. It took Norse mythology and and did an amazing job at making it all look high tech. The story was interesting and engaging. I kept wanting to see what would happen next. The sad thing is was that I never finished it. Why? Because the game was terrible. Just... teeeeerrrible. Awful. Just a chore to play. Boring. Horribly boring. I tried to replay it recently. I got a little bit further. Nope. I'm out. The story, as wonderful as it is, isn't worth the trouble of actually playing it.

Too Human actually got me into Norse mythology to some degree. I loved learning about their petty gods and I even liked how the game used their famous runes to help your character out in fights. (Not that it will matter. The game sucks.)

I gave up hope late last year that I was ever going to be bothered with Norse mythology in video games ever again. Then came a game called Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. And I think I speak for everyone who played it when I say, "Hell yeah!"

Damn, but I enjoyed this game. I loved this game so much that I nearly got annoyed with people interrupting me when I was playing it. "What funeral?! Can't you see I am slaying demons down in Niflheim?!"

Hellblade is is about a Pict warrior from Orkney named Senua who travels to Hell to barter for the soul of her lover, Dillion, from the goddess Hela. (She isn't nice. In fact, she is really quite horrible. I didn't like her one bit.) On top of having to actually just walk into Hell, Senua is suffering from an extreme case of mental psychosis. She's nuts. And since you have to play someone who is nuts, you have to be nuts too.

The game takes you through the fever dream that is Niflheim. It is not a good place. It is not a safe place. It is 100% horrible on every level. Everything is nasty and hateful. But in all its nastiness, it is somehow beautiful in its presentation. And here I was learning again about Norse mythology. I saw the runes again. I heard the stories again. I had come back to this wonderful fairy tale... but this time... IT WAS FUN! And freaking intense too. You ever wanna know what it's like to be inside a crazy person's head while she fights the forces of evil? Play this game.

Apparently the game was developed by an actual psychologist and even brought a focus group of former psychosis patients in so that they made sure the experience was accurate, specifically, to what the psychosis patients experienced. So it wasn't so much about just making things weird when she was going crazy. It was more about giving you the perspective of someone who has this diagnosis so that you believe what she believes. You end up role playing as mad... not just observing someone who is. Even the voices in your head become your companions along the way. It's extremely immersive.

Every single fight in this game feels like the one that will kill you. Every puzzle in the game feels like it uses some sort of "dream sense." Like it makes sense in a dream but it wouldn't make sense in real life. Symbols are everywhere. What do they mean? They must mean something. Figure it out. The whole experience was personal and honest, and on top of it all... a brilliant depiction of Norse mythology. Damn good game. Really a damn good game.

Also, look at the screenshots below. These are actual shots from the game. It actually looked that good.

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