"The hardest battles are fought in the mind"

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Senua is a Celtic barbarian who lost her lover to the "Northmen", she must travel into Helheim and recover his soul. But from the onset of the game, it is clear her suffering is not only the trials ahead of her. She suffers from a severe form of Psychosis, experienced by 3D Binaural sound of voices throughout the majority of the game. They warn you, laugh at you, mutter foreshadowing, berate, scream at, and constantly tempt Senua to turn back. Senua's mental illness is referred to in many ways, mainly as "The Darkness".

This game has had a massive impression on me. It deals with mental illness, abuse, suicide, and loss. This game deals with so many tangible, painful, and real things in an emotional, testing, gritty way. I've never cried because of a video game. But this story told so painfully, cinematically, and realistically portrayed changed that.

I would highly recommend this game. This game is 30$, and has had more of an impression on me than any 60$ game in recent memory.

 Here is a link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBJ0ifVtK5c

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FP Edit: WOW! Glad this game got shown some love :) I hope some of you get this game and support these developers. Their work is outstanding!!

It is a beautiful game but it forces you constantly to ask the question: Is this real? Or a flashback?

Or an illusion

Or is Senua seeing things that aren't there? Or perhaps all 3

Poem from the trailer:

In this waking nightmare where all dreams come true,
you searched for control. A way to pull through.
When you were in love you left him in tears.
To smother your furies and banish your fears.
But in darkness they came, through stormy black seas
they raided these shores. Do you still hear his screams?
And now that you're home he's so far away.
They've taken his soul. To these gods you cannot pray.
They can break you, but not your promise. Even death wont keep you apart.
Through this darkness you will find him. In your sword still beats a heart.
You fought for love unspoiled. By your darkness within.
You fought for your dreams, now there is no way to win.
In the head of his corpse lies the seat of his soul.
So you must carry his vessel and bring him back home.

The combat is simple and intuitive, but never explained. Light and heavy attacks, as well as a block, parry, and a shield-break attack.

The following are artwork from the feature about the game's creation.

The feature talked about the stories of people with mental illness and their part in the creation of the game. It was a great experience, but would recommend watching after the game, as there are spoilers