SauRoNZA
Honorary Master
I am going to speak for what appears to be the minority.
I didn't enjoy the first hell blade at all. Bought it on steam when it was on special years ago. Played a big chunk of it. Had enough of the dull gameplay and sometimes frustrating puzzles.
Got my Xbox and gamepass and heard that the second one was being developed, so I started again. It felt like a tedious walking simulator, and walking simulators are my jam.
When people praised the first game as the best thing since sliced bread, I always think to myself "wtf, what am I missing".
Let's be honest here. It had good audio design, and it was a tech demo for faces. They really milked the face stuff because almost every demo or showcase had Melina (the senua chick) doing some form of facial expression tech demo. Even for the second game.
That is simply not enough to make a game.
When I sub to gamepass again (waiting for Indiana yo), I will give it a go, because digital foundry had lots of praise for it looks wise.
But yeah, that first game was bad. And I will stand on that hill alone LOL. And I will go into the second game with VERY low expectations.
I would argue you are the defacto mainstream majority and this is the case for most people who didn’t get it.
I think it’s one of the best games of all time.
It’s a simple, short, to the point experience that knocks it out of the park for everything it does do and simply doesn’t bother with anything it can’t.
Out of interest what did you think of Death Stranding?

