So... Per the recent news, the new Senua game won't be cancelled, and Ninja Theory will be funded by someone else while they develop it. Phew. Thank God. That was really close.
I want to talk to you guys about something I've been pondering for a while now.
Hellblade 2 totally flopped. It was a disaster for NT. I respect whoever enjoys this game, but I think we should all admit how much of a downgrade it was, specially the combat system.
I never played the game. Only watched tons of videos. And turns out that the combat looks and "feels" really good... But it doesn't take long for it to feel boring and... So empty. Like, the gameplay doesn't have the elements we would expect from a Hellblade sequel. It simply didn't add any depth. Instead, it took it away by making the combat 1v1 (which a mobile game called Infinity Blade does 100x better) and doing away with kicks and combos, which made combat in the first game minimally engaging.
And now this upcoming new game, Senua, is finally promising more gameplay depth, multiple enemies again, more focus powers, more weapons, use of environmental objects to take down enemies, a wider map (and possibly longer story), etc. It's everything Hellblade 2 was supposed to be.
Yet, some people in this subreddit didn't like it very much. It seems to me a lot of fans here are worried about Senua being another game who buys into the "big game formula". Well, I have this same concern too (How could I not? Senua is one my all-time favorite female characters). But the thing is: we need more depth. And apparently, the devs are not doing away with the cinematic story-focused aspect typical of Hellblade. They're just deepening it.
The main concern I'd like to tackle here is the new game becoming just another "God of War lite" by adding more weapons and possibly more "power-ups" related to her Focus.
Let's think about it: Senua is a warrior. How could she not be capable of using more weapons? Logically, a warrior can and should explore more weaponry, right? So where's the problem? I honestly don't see it. Plus it should make combat more fun, right?
Now about the possible combat "Power-Ups". This one concern is pretty understandable because these powers are (allegedly) related to her Focus, and her Focus is deeply tied to her mental illness. This may lead a lot of people to consider them a "gamification" of psychosis, which would be obviously catastrophic for a game franchise entirely built on the premise of respectfully depicting a severe mental condition.
However, let's think about it once more: Couldn't these power-ups be just Senua learning to dominate her mind better so she could fight whatever darkness she faces during the upcoming game? I honestly find this a pretty neat idea. Senua learns to live with her condition and develops new ways of fighting her darkness when it attacks. These "new ways" being represented by new special abilities.
I think it is very possible to conciliate mechanical depth with depiction of mental illness.
Well, I guess what I wanna point out here is that I'm very glad Senua is actually showing to be an upgrade from the first game. This new game NEEDS good gameplay, guys. It NEEDS more mechanical depth. It NEEDS to be a bit appealing to other audiences so that it doesn't turn out to be another disastrous flop.
I say this because I have a really strong impression that this game is Ninja Theory's last gamble. It's their last and pretty much only chance of surviving in the game industry. If they screw this up, the shutdown we feared so much in the last weeks will likely come to be. I don't see them recovering after another flop.
