You go through the same experiences as the character, being directly involved in the events that occur, and you come out the other side changed. Games require interaction from the player to work and that’s what makes them different from other media. I played through Hellblade in a single play through and by the end I was emotionally drained and mentally exhausted, and I consider this to be the point.
There are several game play sequences that were downright unsettling to the core and others that were terrifying on a deeply personal level. This is one of parts of the game that really hit close to home for me. Even when the voices are at a normal speaking level, they are an unsettling and confusing mix of instructions, mocking insults, questions, warnings, incorrect information, platitudes, doubts of your abilities, and compliments. The other non-stop voices range from barely audible whispers to disconcerting, rages at times. The narrator is one of the kinder voices that are present throughout the game, and one which grounded me. I felt like I was joining the game as one of the voices in Senu’s mind, I immediately felt invested in her and intrigued in what lay ahead. The other voices in her head then make their presence known and are present for the entire game. During the introduction one of the voices, the narrator welcomes you to the game and introduces you to Senua’s and the world. Senua struggles with psychosis in a time where mental illness is believed to be a curse. What drew me into the game from the outset was the slow introduction to the main character, Senua and her world.
The game is more than the sum of its parts, the entire experience is a must. The puzzles are well done, and they too serve a narrative purpose, although most are perhaps a little basic. The combat has a narrative function and I found the mechanics challenging enough for me, although generally I don’t seek out melee combat games. For those expecting a deep and complex melee combat system, I don’t think you’ll find it here, that’s not the focus here. There’s fantastic audio design, great music, and excellent performance capture and voice acting from the entire cast, which I think is it’s stand out achievement. The world and design of the characters are so detailed and high fidelity. This isn’t intended to be a review, but as it’s still relatively new I’ll say this: I like Hell blade a lot. I occasionally take a chance on a game, and in this case I’m glad I did. I usually get to games late these days as I’m busy with work, this blog, and my personal life. Initially I’d heard about the title and been interested in the story, but the death mechanic left me thinking it would be too difficult for me to want to tackle at the time, and I put it on the back burner. It’s a third person action adventure game, with melee combat and puzzles and making up the core game play.
#Firewatch background talk windows
The game that provoked this blog post was Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, an independent triple-A title by UK based Ninja Theory, released for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows in 2017, and then for Xbox One earlier this year. The games I talk about are Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Spec Ops: The Line, and Firewatch. Although I’m not going out of my way to spoil the plots of these games, I’m going to assume that by reading this post you have either played them or don’t care about spoilers. I tend not to write personal blog posts, but I want to share some of my thoughts on these games as they made me think about interactive storytelling and mental illness, at a time where I’m currently reflecting on a lot on my own life. Recently I’ve had time to catch up and reflect on a few games that all touch on aspects of mental illness.
0 kommentar(er)
