The team was 20 people and they made their own mocap studio in a tiny room. The budget was tiny. It literally is low production value, thats what you noticed, its a miracle how they created this game. Check out the sequel, its even more incredible
I'd like to say that the narrative isn't as splintered as it seems. A lot of the story is told during gameplay (tons of mechanics are cut out too), and it's a lot more engaging with all of the exposition that you get through dialogue.
This is one of my all-time favorite narratives in video games. The fact that you have to second guess what you see and hear as you are trying to uncover what is going on...too many positives about this game to list. 10/10 story.
I made a video essay on this game having never done one before simply because of how much it impacted me. Such a gripping, heart wrenching story. And the actress crushed it. I agree with you about it being fragmented, but once you have the story, it won't let you go. Loved your reaction my friend. Hadn't seen a filmmaker's take on it before, super interesting.
At one point, they ended up having to retool the entire story after getting advice from people who've experienced psychosis and schizophrenia. Specifically, they learned that the worst part of such conditions is not the symptoms, but how you get treated by others. Thusly, even while Senua's hallucinations can be as abusive, disorienting and harmful as they are helpful and encouraging, her biggest traumas result from how Zynbel treated her and her mother, and how the tribesmen distrusted and feared her.
1:32:00 Small detail in body language by the player (who's currently playing the game), You can tell they were getting intimidated or scared themselves, they were rolling quite a lot, not fully aware of when the beast was going to attack. We call that panic rolling (In gamer language haha).
Great game. It is supposed to depict schizophrenia, so the point is that you never know what is actually real and what is just a hallucination. The interesting thing about schizophrenia is that the delusions depent on the culture and knowledge of the person. Studies have revealed that people with christian background often get malevolent, demon-like voices while people with budhist background get the helpful voices of their ancestors. The condition is in part shaped by your perception and trauma, subconciously of course. Apply that to Senua and you gain a deeper understanding of her. The way they filmed it, you said it look experimental. That was spot on, they used a new software to put the real actress in the game. Really facinating, I believe there is a Making Of video on youtube somewhere. It's worth checking out, maybe even react to it, idk. A little to the story, so spoilers ahead: Her quest is to safe her lovers Dillons soul. In her folklore, the head is the seat of the soul. If you die in a viking way, you go to valhalla, but he was murdered in a way to deny him that. So spiritually, he is stuck in hel. So she now trys to literally carry his head and thereby his soul to valhalla and safe him. She is lead by the stories of Druth, an old Druid she knew. The journey leads her straight through hel, which is the spiritual and mental part of it. Physically though, that is another story. The way I understand it, she really just went to the clan that killed her lover and massacred them all, took revenge, and everything else was just in her head. I could be wrong though, just the way I understood it.
What they did to Dillion, it's called a blood eagle. I explain it, so stop reading if you are weak of heart. They hang you up, with the arms streched out. Then they cut in your back, two deep slashes that sever the rips from the spine. From the openings they rip the lungs and hang them to your side, still partly attached to you. From afar, this makes it look like you have bloody wings, like an eagle. However, it is up do debate if this was an actual practice. There is very little evidence to support it, but just the image is so bizarre and grotesque that is has inspired a lot of art.
pretty sure Senua is a celt and not a part of any viking settlement. It's been years since my friend and I played this game but wasn't Senua's lover killed BY vikings and her entire village slaughtered and this is why she figths against how she percieves the Nordic religion to be in her own way? I could be wrong tho. Again, it's been YEARS since we played it and I got pretty messed up by the game ngl so I forgot most of what happens in it. An amazing game all trauma aside.
@@Ozraevun I'm not sure about Senuas origins, but she learned about the Viking stuff from Druth, the Druid. It heavily influenced her and was both a source of despair and hope. It meant that Million was in hel, but also offered a way to safe him.
The game's story is a lot more coherent than this video shows, with its oddly timed cuts. I loved learning about the Norse mythology whilst navigating the story. And, yeah, headphones and Dolby Atmos are the way to properly enjoy the game's sound design.
Interesting to see your take on what was a very novel experience. In video games the world building is what happens between cut scenes as you inhabit and explore the world. I think the poor editing and the jumps between scenes exacerbated the fragmented story telling. During play one had time to both digest and look forward to the next cryptic nugget of the story.
Absolutely gorgeous game. They sought advice from real people with psychosis and they approved of the different aspects of how it feels to live with the condition. Unfortunately this video chops around alot and throws you out. They complete game flows beautifully. The combat really is actually the lower point as it can be repetitive.
The binaural audio also adds a lot to the experience, with the voices often guiding you in the direction you need to go depending on where you hear them.
I'd say the combat is good enough, there are things that you discover you can do as you play it which makes the combat flow really good. But as you said, the emphasis was done in sound design, dialogue and visual storytelling to really make a great experience, not just a game.
1:50:27 there is actually an endless battle sequence here, the video cut to after you eventually die. No idea why it got cut, it's actually a relevant section, Senua realizing that it's an endless pointless struggle until she finally lets go (literally)
I think the audio they did was called "binaural audio". I might be misremembering it a bit. But the audio circling the player is to make the player really feel in the world. To show what certain mental health issues are like, because that's how Senua experiences the world. A little detail is that the voices can either support you or talk down to you based on how well you do in combat
I'm not easily scared or unnerved, but I had to wear a soundproofing headset BLASTING loud music because the sound design in the game was so psycotic that it literally made me spiral mentally while my friend was playing this next to me. It was mostly the whispers and the chaos that messed with me but it was terrifying. Because of my ADHD it was even harder to endure since I tend to get really drained in public from hearing people talk all around me, I hear EVERY conversation around me AT THE SAME TIME, and I can't turn that off. This game is amazing but it really deserves the warning it starts with that it's not for a certain group of people dealing with certain issues and struggles, because it IS triggering and can be traumatizing for some.
Quick note on the combat. Personally I really liked it, but I didn't just button mash at enemies, I tried to parry and create openings instead. It played much more fun.
Went into the game thinking I wouldn't like it, but it became one of my favourite games with good combat, I doubted my choices and the ending is something I will remember (just like Infamous Second Son, nothing topped that game for me but Hellblade is close).
It wasn't that they couldn't afford an actor. She was doing the tests as they tested different capture devices. And they liked her, so they gave her a shot.
The budget was so tight they couldn't lock in an actor or she pulled out. I read this from the developers diary. They needed to do tests and used their editor/actor instead. If actors know it's a good pay rate be it day rate or usage fee, they'll hold the date. I'm guessing this team couldn't and the actor went for another project.
@kaizammit had to go rewatch dev diary 25 to make sure I wasn't crazy. Which was no real chore. I enjoy them. There was no mention of budget. She was just a stand-in while they looked for an actress. But that's just her pov. Coulda been a different diary from someone that talked of budget
@kaizammit, regardless, I am enjoying this reaction i really enjoyed the story. But some of the gameplay was just too slow and I never did finish it. So it's nice to revisit it. You should react to the trailers for 1 and 2. They are a treat
No idea what you mean by 'on rails' It's just locked on to the enemies when you enter combat. It's not like Skyrim where you can just run away, its a linear story game, you travel on a journey, explore, puzzle and experience the story, its not an open world. It's a way to experience part of what psychosis is from a game perspective
A Walking simulator, or a game on rails is a game where you press W to go forward and moving the camera does not affect your path. This game isn't that, but it does come close at times. There are some wide parts, and others that keep you locked on track. Think climbing through a tight tunnel ( 1:29:57 ) The way the person who recorded it went straight from point to point didn't help things.
holy shit yes, thank you Mute_Otaku, it's my favourite game too! Couldn't believe it when I saw this upload. I played it in one sitting, fully forgetting the time. There's just nothing else like it (even the 2nd game is significantly different). Unfortunately, as with almost all [ALL CUTSCENES] videos, they cut relevant parts of the story that makes you not quite get what's going on and take you out of the experience a bit. During the gameplay there are Lorestones you can "collect" where Druth tells you norse mythology stories, it's actually amazing if you're interested in that sort of thing. The full game walkthrough would be like ~8 hours, that might be a bit much to ask for as a reaction video :/ Maybe in multiple parts? 🙏 The 2nd game is also only ~6 hours and encompasses the "one take shot" even more, especially throughout the battle sequences. This one seems good ruclips.net/video/05zNatvdUVo/видео.html (5:23h)
I played this game expecting it to be semi-decent (Just seeing the cover) and found out it's amazing, can't wait to see you react to this (Only 2 minutes in on the video).
This game put some hair on my chest haha, had to get use to the voices. I was very paranoid at first playing the game because the voices, but you get use to it as the game progresses; it's very engaging.
@@kaizammit Most certainly am!, I'm an hour and 12 minutes in so far; watching your reaction(s) as well as reviewing is two of a kind on enjoyment and learning. It's like reading a book that also adds in real life information for the reader to learn while being entertained.
It's a great game, if a bit short. I recommend playing it with headphones or at least a system that properly handles spatial audio, because the sound design is something else.
It goes on sale on Steam for like $4 Canadian, and our dollars are cheap. I'm having trouble getting into it as I don't really want to play something so dark and intense, but I've started...
In regards to what you said about not feeling like they're actually playing: Hellblade (both 1 and 2) is definitely much more of an experience than a game. The video here cut out pretty much all the walking, exploring and the puzzles though, so you really have no gameplay at all (besides fights which are intentionally held simple and therefore look repetitive). If you're expecting an action game you'll be disappointed for sure, because that's just not what it is or is meant to be.
This game and the sequel are very, very good. Lots of complaints around them being around 7-9 hours long but for me that was the perfect length. How long do you really want to be experiencing schizophrenia?
Yes, should be recording at the end of the month ready for next. Sorting out a sponsor for it currently. I'm filming Halo 4 Spartan ops today, I'm excited! Thank you for commenting and wanting to see more Halo.
love this game! I feel like the person that put this video together skipped a lot of interesting and or key dialogue bits and left to much redundant combat
![FILMMAKER REACTS: ZERO HOUR | OVERWATCH 2 ANIMATED SHORT + [BREAKDOWN]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jmOBGQ0NEo0/mqdefault.jpg)
![FILMMAKER REACTS: ZERO HOUR | OVERWATCH 2 ANIMATED SHORT + [BREAKDOWN]](/img/tr.png)
![GEEK TIMË [OFFICIAL AUDIO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ry-6RvkH880/mqdefault.jpg)
The team was 20 people and they made their own mocap studio in a tiny room. The budget was tiny. It literally is low production value, thats what you noticed, its a miracle how they created this game. Check out the sequel, its even more incredible
The camera itself is held and used by the director Tameem, thats why it feels organic, it is. The camera was basically mocaped
I really enjoyed how this felt. Epic!
@@kaizammit ...no
I'd like to say that the narrative isn't as splintered as it seems. A lot of the story is told during gameplay (tons of mechanics are cut out too), and it's a lot more engaging with all of the exposition that you get through dialogue.
This is one of my all-time favorite narratives in video games. The fact that you have to second guess what you see and hear as you are trying to uncover what is going on...too many positives about this game to list. 10/10 story.
I made a video essay on this game having never done one before simply because of how much it impacted me. Such a gripping, heart wrenching story. And the actress crushed it. I agree with you about it being fragmented, but once you have the story, it won't let you go. Loved your reaction my friend. Hadn't seen a filmmaker's take on it before, super interesting.
At one point, they ended up having to retool the entire story after getting advice from people who've experienced psychosis and schizophrenia.
Specifically, they learned that the worst part of such conditions is not the symptoms, but how you get treated by others.
Thusly, even while Senua's hallucinations can be as abusive, disorienting and harmful as they are helpful and encouraging, her biggest traumas result from how Zynbel treated her and her mother, and how the tribesmen distrusted and feared her.
1:32:00 Small detail in body language by the player (who's currently playing the game), You can tell they were getting intimidated or scared themselves, they were rolling quite a lot, not fully aware of when the beast was going to attack. We call that panic rolling (In gamer language haha).
Love that!
Great game. It is supposed to depict schizophrenia, so the point is that you never know what is actually real and what is just a hallucination. The interesting thing about schizophrenia is that the delusions depent on the culture and knowledge of the person. Studies have revealed that people with christian background often get malevolent, demon-like voices while people with budhist background get the helpful voices of their ancestors. The condition is in part shaped by your perception and trauma, subconciously of course. Apply that to Senua and you gain a deeper understanding of her.
The way they filmed it, you said it look experimental. That was spot on, they used a new software to put the real actress in the game. Really facinating, I believe there is a Making Of video on youtube somewhere. It's worth checking out, maybe even react to it, idk.
A little to the story, so spoilers ahead:
Her quest is to safe her lovers Dillons soul. In her folklore, the head is the seat of the soul. If you die in a viking way, you go to valhalla, but he was murdered in a way to deny him that. So spiritually, he is stuck in hel. So she now trys to literally carry his head and thereby his soul to valhalla and safe him. She is lead by the stories of Druth, an old Druid she knew. The journey leads her straight through hel, which is the spiritual and mental part of it. Physically though, that is another story. The way I understand it, she really just went to the clan that killed her lover and massacred them all, took revenge, and everything else was just in her head. I could be wrong though, just the way I understood it.
What they did to Dillion, it's called a blood eagle. I explain it, so stop reading if you are weak of heart. They hang you up, with the arms streched out. Then they cut in your back, two deep slashes that sever the rips from the spine. From the openings they rip the lungs and hang them to your side, still partly attached to you. From afar, this makes it look like you have bloody wings, like an eagle. However, it is up do debate if this was an actual practice. There is very little evidence to support it, but just the image is so bizarre and grotesque that is has inspired a lot of art.
pretty sure Senua is a celt and not a part of any viking settlement. It's been years since my friend and I played this game but wasn't Senua's lover killed BY vikings and her entire village slaughtered and this is why she figths against how she percieves the Nordic religion to be in her own way? I could be wrong tho. Again, it's been YEARS since we played it and I got pretty messed up by the game ngl so I forgot most of what happens in it. An amazing game all trauma aside.
@@Ozraevun I'm not sure about Senuas origins, but she learned about the Viking stuff from Druth, the Druid. It heavily influenced her and was both a source of despair and hope. It meant that Million was in hel, but also offered a way to safe him.
The game's story is a lot more coherent than this video shows, with its oddly timed cuts. I loved learning about the Norse mythology whilst navigating the story. And, yeah, headphones and Dolby Atmos are the way to properly enjoy the game's sound design.
Interesting to see your take on what was a very novel experience. In video games the world building is what happens between cut scenes as you inhabit and explore the world. I think the poor editing and the jumps between scenes exacerbated the fragmented story telling. During play one had time to both digest and look forward to the next cryptic nugget of the story.
Love ya kai ! One of my favorite youtubers at the moment thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge !
Absolutely gorgeous game. They sought advice from real people with psychosis and they approved of the different aspects of how it feels to live with the condition. Unfortunately this video chops around alot and throws you out. They complete game flows beautifully. The combat really is actually the lower point as it can be repetitive.
The binaural audio also adds a lot to the experience, with the voices often guiding you in the direction you need to go depending on where you hear them.
The combat is amazing, go away.
I'd say the combat is good enough, there are things that you discover you can do as you play it which makes the combat flow really good. But as you said, the emphasis was done in sound design, dialogue and visual storytelling to really make a great experience, not just a game.
1:50:27 there is actually an endless battle sequence here, the video cut to after you eventually die. No idea why it got cut, it's actually a relevant section, Senua realizing that it's an endless pointless struggle until she finally lets go (literally)
33:24 He looks so real because it's the actor himself, Nicholas Boulton. :)
I think the audio they did was called "binaural audio". I might be misremembering it a bit. But the audio circling the player is to make the player really feel in the world. To show what certain mental health issues are like, because that's how Senua experiences the world. A little detail is that the voices can either support you or talk down to you based on how well you do in combat
I'm not easily scared or unnerved, but I had to wear a soundproofing headset BLASTING loud music because the sound design in the game was so psycotic that it literally made me spiral mentally while my friend was playing this next to me. It was mostly the whispers and the chaos that messed with me but it was terrifying. Because of my ADHD it was even harder to endure since I tend to get really drained in public from hearing people talk all around me, I hear EVERY conversation around me AT THE SAME TIME, and I can't turn that off. This game is amazing but it really deserves the warning it starts with that it's not for a certain group of people dealing with certain issues and struggles, because it IS triggering and can be traumatizing for some.
You think its fragmented cus you arent playing the game, what do you expect. The game is aprox 8 hours long
This game is one of the all time greats
Quick note on the combat. Personally I really liked it, but I didn't just button mash at enemies, I tried to parry and create openings instead. It played much more fun.
Went into the game thinking I wouldn't like it, but it became one of my favourite games with good combat, I doubted my choices and the ending is something I will remember (just like Infamous Second Son, nothing topped that game for me but Hellblade is close).
I can't wait for him to watch the Elden Ring trailers and explain everything. I'm sure it's going to be really good. 🎉
It wasn't that they couldn't afford an actor. She was doing the tests as they tested different capture devices. And they liked her, so they gave her a shot.
The budget was so tight they couldn't lock in an actor or she pulled out. I read this from the developers diary. They needed to do tests and used their editor/actor instead.
If actors know it's a good pay rate be it day rate or usage fee, they'll hold the date. I'm guessing this team couldn't and the actor went for another project.
@kaizammit had to go rewatch dev diary 25 to make sure I wasn't crazy. Which was no real chore. I enjoy them. There was no mention of budget. She was just a stand-in while they looked for an actress. But that's just her pov. Coulda been a different diary from someone that talked of budget
@kaizammit, regardless, I am enjoying this reaction i really enjoyed the story. But some of the gameplay was just too slow and I never did finish it. So it's nice to revisit it. You should react to the trailers for 1 and 2. They are a treat
No idea what you mean by 'on rails' It's just locked on to the enemies when you enter combat. It's not like Skyrim where you can just run away, its a linear story game, you travel on a journey, explore, puzzle and experience the story, its not an open world. It's a way to experience part of what psychosis is from a game perspective
A Walking simulator, or a game on rails is a game where you press W to go forward and moving the camera does not affect your path. This game isn't that, but it does come close at times. There are some wide parts, and others that keep you locked on track. Think climbing through a tight tunnel ( 1:29:57 )
The way the person who recorded it went straight from point to point didn't help things.
holy shit yes, thank you Mute_Otaku, it's my favourite game too! Couldn't believe it when I saw this upload. I played it in one sitting, fully forgetting the time. There's just nothing else like it (even the 2nd game is significantly different).
Unfortunately, as with almost all [ALL CUTSCENES] videos, they cut relevant parts of the story that makes you not quite get what's going on and take you out of the experience a bit. During the gameplay there are Lorestones you can "collect" where Druth tells you norse mythology stories, it's actually amazing if you're interested in that sort of thing.
The full game walkthrough would be like ~8 hours, that might be a bit much to ask for as a reaction video :/ Maybe in multiple parts? 🙏 The 2nd game is also only ~6 hours and encompasses the "one take shot" even more, especially throughout the battle sequences. This one seems good ruclips.net/video/05zNatvdUVo/видео.html (5:23h)
I played this game expecting it to be semi-decent (Just seeing the cover) and found out it's amazing, can't wait to see you react to this (Only 2 minutes in on the video).
This game put some hair on my chest haha, had to get use to the voices. I was very paranoid at first playing the game because the voices, but you get use to it as the game progresses; it's very engaging.
@Hatefour I hope you're enjoying the video!
@@kaizammit Most certainly am!, I'm an hour and 12 minutes in so far; watching your reaction(s) as well as reviewing is two of a kind on enjoyment and learning. It's like reading a book that also adds in real life information for the reader to learn while being entertained.
1:27:40 Condolences to your friend 🙏
Hi bro. Are we waiting for all the cutscenes for part 2?:)))
And yes, thanks for the content!
I always wanted to check this game out. The concept so interesting and there was recently a sequel released too.
It's a great game, if a bit short. I recommend playing it with headphones or at least a system that properly handles spatial audio, because the sound design is something else.
Sequel was hugely disappointing. The first game is SPECTACULAR. Play it, it's well worth your time.
It goes on sale on Steam for like $4 Canadian, and our dollars are cheap. I'm having trouble getting into it as I don't really want to play something so dark and intense, but I've started...
@@juliantn Let us know what you think. For the price (pretty sure it released at like $40) I think it's worth it.
Someday I hope games learn how to accurately portray paddling in water.
Her movements should make her go in a circle, not straight
I've never paddled on water so couldn't comment. Thank you for checking out the video
What makes you think these gamedevs go outside enough to experience physics xD
In regards to what you said about not feeling like they're actually playing: Hellblade (both 1 and 2) is definitely much more of an experience than a game. The video here cut out pretty much all the walking, exploring and the puzzles though, so you really have no gameplay at all (besides fights which are intentionally held simple and therefore look repetitive). If you're expecting an action game you'll be disappointed for sure, because that's just not what it is or is meant to be.
You should react to Senua 2 aswell!
PLEASE do a video on cyberpunk edgerunners I'm begging you, it's a literal masterpiece
This specific player and video are not doing the game any favors
Second one looks far more better.
Wow, that will be a treat for the eyes.
This game and the sequel are very, very good.
Lots of complaints around them being around 7-9 hours long but for me that was the perfect length.
How long do you really want to be experiencing schizophrenia?
Are you planing on reacting to halo infinite cutscenes?
Yes, should be recording at the end of the month ready for next. Sorting out a sponsor for it currently. I'm filming Halo 4 Spartan ops today, I'm excited! Thank you for commenting and wanting to see more Halo.
love this game! I feel like the person that put this video together skipped a lot of interesting and or key dialogue bits and left to much redundant combat
I suggest you react to the MGS V and Death Stranding trailers. Hideo Kojima wants his games to be like films.
react to destiny 2