Soapbox: Once a PS4 Console Exclusive, PS5 Players Are Missing a Visual Stunner in Hellblade 2

This soapbox article seems carefully crafted to fuel some fanboy wars and farm engagement.

Aw man, I'm really missing out on that 5 hour disappointment 😥

Starting to play this game 10-15 min at time so it can last a little while

It'll come to ps5 I think. Looks awesome so really hope it does

The game short and shallow.

Do diagonals count on our PushSquare bingo cards? Because I already have "Xbox is going to become a monopoly and ruin gaming", "Xbox is going to exit hardware", "Xbox has no gaemz", and "Gamer Phil", so adding "Xbox stole my former PS exclusive" would give me a BINGO!

Meh be ported to PlayStation eventually

Erm, I don't think anyone would feel missing out on a tech demo.

@ATaco oh come on pushsquare never do this..

@ATaco
Too many games on PS as always, too little time to spend on console wars lmao

This is actually a pretty pathetic article coming from you guys.

A visual stunner isn’t a selling point to me especially when the first games gameplay at its best was OK.

@MegaManX-7
GTA IV on PS3 may look dated graphically, the overall picture of movement, physics, world interaction and immersion still is miles and miles ahead of anything out today.

Games nowadays are so typically pretty, but when you look at the ground, your character doesn't leave footsteps behind in the snow or sand (and the latter is often physicsless. Just a little dust shows up after each step). Too much attention is spent on graphics and fRamERaTeS nowadays

Gotta agree with some of the other guys on here.This is a PlayStation site so why whine about Xbox games that we can't play?

Order 1886 has shown us graphics arent everything, not gonna bother to play a 5 to6 hour game that has weak as hell combat and mostly cinematic walking lol.

I watched some gameplay of the game and yes, the game is visually stunning, but it seems kinda eh in the gameplay department.

It looks fantastic on a meaty pc but less so on Xbox (still damned good though). To achieve this the devs have made some pretty drastic compromises: huge black bars, few characters on screen at any time, little/no interaction with the environment, no physics to speak of, limited combat repertoire with what looks like heavy scripting/set-piecing (it reminds of some of the CQC in TLOU and Uncharted). A lot of the playthru I watched yesterday also reminded me of the Isle of Storms in the PS5 Demon’s Souls complete with ‘visceral’ combat against the skelly dudes. Clearly HB2 has much more individual and close up detail but DS’s environments, combat and gameplay were much richer and diverse. It does make me wonder what the PS5 could achieve if a dev took a similar approach to NT’s.

@Americansamurai1 it wouldn’t surprise me if this stayed exclusive so ms could say “only possible on Xbox”

It’s a four hour game

The game is jaw-droppingly beautiful, and I feel like the binaural audio is even more effective than the first game. The lack of visible pop-in thanks to nanite and the use of lumen (at least on Series X) is incredibly welcome as well.

People have been harping on the look of the water, but I thought it looked pretty good especially when you consider that there is actual fluid simulation being applied - I am guessing it's using Niagra.

It's probably better to call it an experience more than a game - though I do find the slower and more "primal" combat to be incredibly intense and satisfying.

Still, it is odd to see this article here. It's like a review for a game that isn't on PlayStation...but...not an official review because the game is not on PlayStation.

Glad to see a positive article on an Xbox game here.
Fanboy wars are so stupid and silly.

I'm not impressed by graphics anymore and it looks insanely boring. Ninja Theory's best game remains DmC, now that was a banger

Yeah right.a lot of games looks better then hellblade 2.like arnold from different strokes use to say.what are you talking about willis.🤔.word up son

Recent history suggests that this game will be on PS5 in the future, the fact the previous game was on PS4 further cements that idea.

Think we're starting to see the IGN seep through. Solely pointing out the graphics in the headline inherently draws attention away from some of the complaints (mainly, literal style over substance - even more so than the original). From my reading of the initial feedback, game seems to be more of a walking simulator that prioritises "push-forward" design over exploration, with combat that isnt that big an improvement over the original (if anything more basic). Focusing solely on the graphics as a selling g point isn't really logical anymore; I believe there's enough evidence from 2023 to prove that interactive and engaging gameplay trumps "hyper-realistic" graphics.

If this was on PlayStation it would have PS Plus written all over it.

I have stellar blade to keep me company I don't think I am missing out in anyway.

So many salty comments here.

Great game. Absolutely beautiful and the sound is amazing. And despite what others think, the immersiveness is part of the gameplay. It makes it an experience.

Enjoying every minute of it. All that said I don’t think it was necessary to have this article here.

@AdamNovice order 1886 was a good game

A visual stunner that is a pretty average experience under the hood, by all accounts. The Microsoft equivalent of something like The Order: 1886. Even Pure Xbox isn't giving it a particularly high score.

Although, tbh, realistic graphics like this aren't as visually pleasing for me as something more stylized.

It might look amazing or whatever, but you're not really missing much.

Despise the first game with a passion, don't recall another game where I was more bored! my god slowly walking everywhere was ironically a test of my own sanity. This looks like more of the same but with a prettier coat of paint, I wish NT nothing but success but I hope they are done with this franchise.

@trev666 I agree! I really enjoyed it. It was like Gears of War but with werewolves.

The only thing disappointing with The Order: 1886 was that it was only in Stereo.

Graphically, it was a fantastic showpiece for what the PS4 could do!

It was a shame a sequel never saw the light of day because I really enjoyed the game world and story - and they were clearly trying to setup a franchise with it (felt like an origin story to something bigger).

@NEStalgia this killed me haha I needed to read something like this today 🤣

Awesome visuals and sound and nothing else...played for an hour and boy what a snoozefest! I am super disappointed

Game is a 7/10 on PureXbox and an 81 on Metacritic. This take sounds hyperbolic to me, but if I ever want to play it, I'll wait for it on PS5 or play it somewhere else.

I love my Series X but the Hellblade games are basically slightly interactive movies with really slow pacing. They’re technical marvels but not a whole lot of fun imo once you get past the visual wow-factor.

PS5-only owners aren’t really missing out. Stellar Blade, Helldivers 2, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are way more enjoyable games to me.

So its worth turning the series X on and downloading then.

@Ataco My comment got removed so instead I have liked yours as think it’s spot on 👍

Hope the Xbox guys and girls enjoy it though - personally I’d give it a try if it did come to PS5

I'm kind of struggling to see the point of this article without being cynical.... 🤔

Also, if I'm being completely honest, I struggled to finish the first one despite its meager runtime. I just tuned out. And with literally, and embarrassingly, hundreds of games in my backlog, I'll probably survive.

Just find it ironic that the majority of reviews have chosen to focus on visuals yet zoned in on The Order's length back on 'PS4'. Crazy.

I fear the worst if IGN take over the good ship PushSquare

Informative reading a bunch of console bashing comments from people who haven’t even played the game.

Hellblade 2 has an 82 on OpenCritic. For comparison, Ghosts of Tsushima has an 84. But according to readers here, this game is complete trash.

Will be ported next year to PS5 and if it takes advantage of the Pro it will look best on PS5.

Yeah the visuals are stunning and i did see it in action on a SX today round my mates but honestly its visuals are only so good due to how paired back the game is, if this was a bigger game those visuals would be taking a hit and its why i feel Horizon FW, Avatar and Alan Wake 2 are still the best looking games this Gen because they're doing more visually while being far bigger games. Hellblade 2 has to be 30fps, it has to be small and it has to keep everything more simple to achieve its visuals and well that's not impressive to me, i can see it being one of those things blows you away instantly but never achieves that same reaction again unlike AW2 that constantly blew me away with its visuals and how it constantly upped how they were used or Avatar that has such a visually dense open world a density Hellblade can never have with the visuals its aimed for.

@Lolwutz I think all of their games are coming to other platforms eventually. Microsoft is on the road in becoming fully third party

I heard it was beautiful but bland.

I definitely can't say I agree with the whole "Nothing like this on Playstation" statement. Visually impressive narrative focused games like Hellblade have been a staple of Playstation for a while now. I mean have you heard of The Last of Us?

All that said I do want to play Hellblade 2 at some point. I loved the original but I have a feeling Hellblade 2 will be in the next batch of Xbox titles ported over to PS5 so I'm not bothered. I can wait.

I can wait for a port. (And a discount given the state of the reviews.)

Why no article on missing starfield? Redfall? Forza? Etc etc.

There’s 0 need for article here. Apart fron(as others have said) to gain clicks and console war.

Xbox has their stuff, Sony have there’s. It’s not as if HFW isn’t good looking etc

I mean, yeah, when everything in the game is scanned it's going to look good.

Currently playing it on GP and I have to say if you didn't like the first one you won't like this one, is a flashier version of the same. I hated the first game so I'm currently forcing myself to play this one, this is definitely Xbox's The Order 1886 except wayyyy more boring.

I really enjoyed the first one and thought it was a very memorable experience. I was hoping this sequel would take the A Plague Tale route and build and expand on everything the first did, without losing any of what made it special. I have to say I’m a little disappointed by what it sounds like we ended up with.

The game isn't worth $50 in my opinion, it's an art showcase and just over 5 hours long. There's indie games with more value and cost half the price, no wonder why it's scoring worse than the last game as you would think after 7 years it would be more than what it is.

What has happened to Ninja Theory and the good old days of Enslaved Odyssey and Heavenly Sword, from great fun games to boring long tech demos.

Sounds pretty boring from the reviews but it will be one of the few Xbox games I play when it gets ported 😉

There is a reason it has good graphics because there is nothing going on under the hood & it's a very linear game with very little combat (gameplay). It's basically a tech demo. I seen some people compare it to The Order 1886, The Order 1886 is an actual game. Instead of building upon Hellblade they've stripped it back and focus on graphics. Graphics in a game can get you so far, a game still has to have a good story & most importantly gameplay. I haven't even tried it yet on my XSX, I'll probably play it at some point for the achievements.

Although not a system seller, this is the main game that Xbox has that I’m jealous of. I’ll not buy an Xbox for it, but I will buy it right away if it comes to PlayStation. I loved the first game.

@DennisReynolds
HFW on PS5 is still overall when you take everything into account the best looking game on the PS5 and on any console.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner
The group that owns psq got bought by ign, was on yesterday's news, and now a mediocre game exclusive on xbx gets a glowing review here suddenly.
Although to be fair, that group already included xbx site so idk.
But there's an awful lot of 5/10 for this..

@OldGamer999 I think a dark horse for best visuals so far may be The Quarry and for me personally Ghost of Tsushima PS5 version.

For games I haven't played, Alan Wake 2 and Death Stranding 2 look insanely good.

So far after two hours, the sound and graphics are phenomenal. I don’t think anything else looks this good. The gameplay was meh to me at the start but as I keep going I’m enjoying it more. I would say I like this a little more than the first.

The fanboys are out in the comments I see. If this was a time PS exclusive like the first, the white knighting here would be insane. Console wars rot brains and this is coming from a Sony first gamer.

I've just finished Hellblade 2 and I very much enjoyed it (except for the combat as I really struggled with parrying in the game for some reason).

Undoubtedly, the game is the best looking one in existence. It is absolutely beautiful in parts with some stunning vistas. Some of the water and wind effects are incredible too. As a visual spectacle, it is something to behold.

I have absolutely no doubt that it will come to the PlayStation within the next 6 to 12 months...

@Fiendish-Beaver how many hours?

@Jtheripper ah, I remember seeing that but I hadn’t put 2 & 2 together!

Two things
1. An absolutley ridiculous article about a game that’s not on ps5
2. This game is definitely coming to ps5 down the line.

I don't understand what the angle is here? Bigging up a game that has a divided opinion (mostly middling it's fair to say).

"Nowhere on PlayStation can you play a game this detailed and immersive visually"... I understand that you're only 24, and therefore a youngun' in my eyes. But it sounds like you have many, MANY more games to experience if you think this is peak immersion. It's in the eye of the beholder after all; for example, Alan Wake 2 is one of the most visually stunning and immersive games I've experienced recently, and that is available to all.

@OldGamer999 I think Avatar is above it personally but FW is certainly in the top 3.

@DennisReynolds Hopefully once games start using Unreal 5.4, there will be more wiggle room for 30/60fps modes on consoles without seriously compromising the experience to reaching higher framerates.

DF did an analysis of UE 5.4 and found that lower-end hardware had a significant performance boost thanks to the multi-threaded rendering pipeline that was added (and a few other performance enhancing improvements).

I am guessing any game targeting UE 5.4 are years off, though.

@JB_Whiting On PC at least Alan Wake 2 is the best looking game ever made and on PS5 its certainly a contender for best looking console game ever made. Hellblade 2 might look better at first glance but AW2 is doing way more visually then Hellblade 2 ever is.

I am sure the game is decent but 81 on metacritic doesn’t scream people are missing out too much - I think angle for an article like this should be about the sadness in that Microsoft haven’t allowed games like HB2 go multi-platform - considering the original game out on PS4 - that would make sense editorially. But to do a kinda review of a game this audience cannot play (and to say it’s great) is kinda odd? lol do xbox or Nintendo sites review Last of Us? Of course not, it is just not relevant to that audience.

Weird - and I think I’ll be looking elsewhere for gaming news if this the direction pushsquare is going.

@GamingFan4Lyf Honestly i think Hellblade 2 will see a 60fps mode though the visual hit will be big.

@JB_Whiting I’m confused by your “middling” comment. Do we now view 8/10 as middle of the road? What do we consider good? 9-10 only?

Alan Wake 2 does look excellent. It’s definitely close to HB2 but so far I think HB2 is better but that’s just my eyes.

I saw parts of a streamers playthrough yesterday, full game from start to finish took him 5 hours 50 minutes. What I saw looked visually stunning, and I thought the sound mixing and overall audio was phenomenal. That said, had this released on PS5 it would have cost £50, and to me a game you can finish in under 6 hours is not worth that price.

Had this not been on gamepass I think the positive discourse around it would be very different.

@DennisReynolds
If I stand still or move slowly in Avatar I would agree.
But even in performance mode, motion blur off, VRR on and using a Sony X95L TV. I find when panning around at a bit more speed the blur is terrible and it turns into a bit of mess.

@DennisReynolds I could see the Series X version using the Series S settings to do so as I don't think it uses Nanite or Lumen (I could be wrong though).

It'll come to Playstation eventually

@UltimateOtaku91
Yes GOT PS5 is a lovely looking game.
I don’t think until Sony gives some new AAA from their studios we will see better looking games.
And as they are quiet until say April 2025 I hoping for something very special.

@Jtheripper as far as I know PS/PX are staying independent.

But it’s just weird to have it for this one game when there’s all sorts PS don’t get (or Xbox or Nintendo)

@ATaco it exactly was lmao. Since when was a games graphics the most important thing to where a article is crafted trying to sound like it’s some big loss ps players can’t play it nvm the fact this game will be on PlayStation in a years time I bet

Nowhere on PlayStation can you play a game this detailed and immersive visually, set within a narrative that is as brutal as Senua's Saga's is. That is a huge loss for the PlayStation platform

I'm sorry but that's completely wrong, there's plenty of games with stunning visuals both Environmentally and Character wise. Secondly this game isn't a huge loss to the PlayStation platform, it's a 5 hour long tech demo, and the last game was niche and didn't have huge sales and I believe was given away with playstation plus, not many playstation gamers are going to miss this title and the majority of casuals won't have ever heard of the game. Games like Starfield, Indianna Jones or possibly Elders Scrolls 6 are games that you could say are a huge loss but not this. This game has an 81 Metacritic score, that's definitely not a "must have" game score.

Finally I really don't understand this articles point? Why aren't there any articles/borderline reviews on other Xbox exclusives? It's like you're either trying to wind up PlayStation Players or trying to persuade people to buy into the Xbox ecosystem, which doesn't fit well on a Playstation dedicated website.

Honestly, Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice was one of the worst purchases I have ever made in my 30+ years of gaming.

And I got it for 15 Euro.

AAA graphics and sound, but the gameplay was an abysmal slog. I was a huge Ninja Theory fan who loved Enslaved and Heavenly Sword so I was shocked at how bad it was to play.

Hellblade is the gaming equivalent of Hollywood Oscar bait. Technically impressive, centers on a theme critics can hold up as particularly artsy (mental illness in this case), utterly awful for anyone who is looking for an enjoyable time. The fact its sequel is just 5 hours long is very likely a mercy if anything, not that I'd ever bother to play it after the first experience.

The real question is how in the hell did it take 5yrs to make a 5 hour sequel with much of the same elements?

Didn't like the first one so not bothered about missing out. Could get for the Steam deck but just not interested.

Darn, what a shame. Truly, just devastating. How will we survive this travesty?!?

It's a game I definitely want to play at some point, but I can patiently wait for an eventual port. Seems almost inevitable given Xbox's impending collapse as a first party.

The first true masterpiece this generation and a bummer it isn't (yet) on PlayStation but oh well.

It's those incredible rare and almost non existent experiences that make me love this medium so much... The beauty, love and craftsmanship of how everything comes together in this work of art can't be put into words.

Feeling completely empty now and won't be able to play anything else for a while... (which usually only Naughty Dog and gendesign games achieve)

First one didn't.pull me in, this one would have been ignored too. Reviews aren't great, not.missing much.

11 hours, @Cherip-the-Ripper. I ended up playing on easy because I was struggling with parrying. I think the game was the perfect length for the type of game it was. It is a truly stunning game visually. The acting and voice acting is second to none. If you enjoyed the first, I think there is enjoyment to be found here too...

This is console war bait.

So why are we getting this style of article and not others lamenting other console-exclusives we don't have access to on PS4/5? This seems like a supremely odd change of pace for Pushsquare and it has no place here, just like I wouldn't expect quasi-reviews of PS5 exclusives showing up on an Xbox or Switch-enthusiast site.

@yazzika the game is poor man. It’s not saltiness it’s fact

I played the original, but it didn't capture my interest at all, what felt to me like quite clunky combat, walking a bit and lining stuff up to progress. I may have been missing something and no affront intended to people who like this one, but I never finished the game or had much interest in a sequel.

@glennthefrog Cause it didn't take 5 year... more like 3-4 years. The development for the game didn't start till 2020, and it development was probably slow down due to covid, and the fact they had to wait for UE5 which didn't actually launch till 2022.

Hilarious that people are even comparing this game to the The Order because at least that game had some decent gameplay.

Hellblade 2 is just some pretentious tripe that seems to have flopped badly on PC as well with even less of a peak concurrent than Hi-fi and even Redfall lol.

For everyone that keeps asking why this game and not other Xbox or Nintendo exclusives, it is probably because the first game was a PlayStation exclusive and the fan base therefore made up of PlayStation owners. It can’t be a loss for PlayStation if it never existed on the console before. Context.

The first one had great audio design and a nice story but really terrible combat. I bet it will come to PS5 eventually, I can wait, and also wait for a sale.

https://youtu.be/05zNatvdUVo

That's the whole game right there.
Less than 5 and a half hours.

A VERY pretty walking simulator.
Someone 'played' this movie so the rest of us can watch the movie.
If you got the display to go to 4k60, and a decent surround setup or headphones, and more importantly, the inclination, knock yourselves out.

We're missing what now?

@NEStalgia HAHHAHAHA you win the internet today.

All my bingo card has is a spot that says we believe in generations and cancelled live service games. At this rate you better at Bingo then my grandma was! LOL

@Ken_Kaniff It'll come to Playstation eventually

More than likely so, but no one will buy it from the looks of the comments calling it trash……. Oh wait Sea of thieves say’s hold my beer.

Not bothered. I own both systems so I will just buy games on the systems they come out on.

I dont feel like I'm missing out at all. I'm just glad that I wasnt waiting 7 years for what can generously be called a series of interactive cinematics.

@NEStalgia do you ever wonder if all those plastic fake burgers people eat from McDonald’s makes the brain say and do things it normally wouldn’t?

Cause i could have sore i just read on here that HB2 is a walking sim, yet Death Stranding and DS2 are some of the most beloved PS games. I mean for real?

I don’t play either of those games cause i think they are boring but I’ll be here in the comments section for when DS2 comes out.

lol! watched a play through and it's boring af! 4/10 at best. But least it's better than failfield. Zero games on the xflop I want on the PS5. HB2 is a proper "movie" game. Constant talk and cinematics, hardly any gameplay! Nothing like top decent PS games.

It’s shocking that there’s actually different opinions on a game. 7/10 on Pure Xbox but Eurogamer gave it a perfect 5/5?!?

I can’t believe it. Everyone is supposed to have negative opinions on this game. No way it almost has the same average as Ghost of Tsushima on OpenCritic (82 vs 84).

All those bashing the game here on Push Square have to be right! Surely everyone here has an informed opinion from playing the game!

@DennisReynolds AW2 also has incredible presentation which gives it a huge boost overall, but in the graphics department especially. Just a fantastic experience overall.

@HonestHick death stranding is the goat walking sim.

What even is this article?

All this says is the game looks beautiful and thats all there is to it, everything else is below average.

Reads very much like PS5 gamers are missing absolutely nothing 😂

The first game had awesome sound design and mediocre everything else. Maybe I'll check out the second game when it eventually comes to PS+. It certainly is not worth the $50 current asking price and I suspect that will become evident as sales figures are revealed. Game Pass will have its own deleterious effect on the game, too. RIP in peace, Ninja Theory.

I really didn't enjoy hellblade - I thought it was repetitive and boring, which I was gutted about as I loved ninja theory. Enslaved on PS3 was genuinely one of my favourite games from that generation so I was very disapointed. Needless to say I won't be playing hellblade 2, even if it gets ported to PS5 in the future

The funny thing is this article already has 10x more comments than the inevitable review will ever get.

@Fiendish-Beaver thanks, tad longer than what I've seen come up so far.
Will hopefully give it a spin tomorrow, been occupied elsewhere recently.

I didn't know Push Square also wrote rage baiting-console war article lol.

Anyway...I didn't played Hellblade 1 and from some reviews that i've read the second game can be sum up as a "5 hours of beautiful walking movie game". Maybe people who loves Hellblade 1 are missing out. But for me, i don't think i'm missing out anything here when i can just boot up The Order 1886 and shoot some werewolf or human while enjoying Sir Galahad detailed mustache and the beautiful steampunk of London for 5-7 hours. Or, i can boot up Death Stranding, the real "walking game" lel.

Heck. "walking movie games" like Until Dawn or Detroit: Become Human also looks beautiful but they has longer playing time than Hellblade 2.

Ironicly. I remembered The Order 1886 was being panned by the critics and gamers because it looks beautiful but very short like 6-7 hours. The game also got labelled as "a movie game". But now Xbox making a 5 hours walking movie game with very short playing time and they got praised to the heaven lol.

They were an Indie/small team studio about A or AA. I get the PS/Nintendo audiences appreciate different games it's why I think Project Spark made less sense than Dreams or Game Builder Garage or Mario Maker/other making your own levels and creative type games. I get a game being on 1 platform then multiple and fanbases going great can't experience it I totally get that.

So when it's limited it can be annoying.

Also especially if others have a different impression than those given the game to review and part of a sister website.

I care for gameplay first but not hour count. I do for say a Gameboy game and collector prices but PS1-5 nope. Sure I don't in a sense but not to extent of others expecting an open world or a horror/cinematic game. If it has filler the content has to be worth it. To me I've had fun or just enough 'I'm glad this is shorter' with many games.

I buy up PS3/360/Wii games for $5, play the campaign and move on. That and Indies or AAs on modern platforms. It's not Gameboy prices or length anymore. It's not however much tech in an N64 cart so it's similar prices to nowadays but back then and however much content you got. So being a collector, being away of prices, platforms, why they are where they are.

I mean it's like complaining about oh no OG Xbox games like KOTOR or others were there but not on PS2 well yeah because PC to Xbox was easier. We have similar architecture/specs on both PS5/Xbox Series but whether the APIs, or a custom engine/UE or Unity or whatever and the studio's own custom tools, whatever the budget of the game is and how much time they took making changes because games are not perfect they do get set back they aren't all you know what lets be 100% focused because that's not how it works. Designs and directions change a lot. No product/project of art is always the same. Look at prototypes and what gets cut. What old games trailers look like.

Watch New Game the anime or Mythic Quest Raven's Banquet or a game dev documentary/interview.

I just use any consoles but I also do my research on a studio, their past games, their team size especially helps with the budget besides who the publisher is, even if I don't play any of them. I just become knowledgeable for the sake of it and can recommend a game to someone else.

Think about it from the studio's point of view (which most people don't). People can want whatever value they want of 5 hrs+ for this game (and know their past games play time, content and goals of story, gameplay, graphics and more are all very different but similar enough) or to play it but it doesn't matter if the situation is what it is of money, them being alive to make a product, split or anything releasing at all.

Black 2006 has great quality and production value for a shooter with the talent behind the Burnout series yet oh it has no multiplayer but it also was focused, it has the quality of PS3/360 on PS2/OG Xbox of blur and particles and explosions. It has difficulty setting goals kind of but not the same as Perfect Dark. Different games have different priorities.

Not every game is an Uncharted with multiplayer, with speedrunning trophies/modes, or secrets. Hellblade 1 & 2 are very different games.

They got bought by Microsoft like Double Fine (crowdfunding many times) they needed the money, they looked for studios with a mix of offerings of types of games for variety as well as just big live services. The mo cap, the UE5, the direction they wanted to go. If they changed their minds hundreds of times that eats up a budget for sure.

So people can go oh it took this long and it's this much but I mean sometimes it's making changes, sometimes it's well at other studios but either way more a oh it takes that time to model a character, maybe a week. For racing games that's a month to many months for that amount of polygons, photos, sounds, interior view and more. Many details people overlook is time, talent, changes and what tools they are using and have to get used to (which one doing basic tasks taking 2 weeks then shorter look to the old Fallout dev's video on that and also how they did meetings back in the day to nowadays and young staff going wait what but old guard know their stuff and know how to communicate even if it sounds like yelling it's still productive to break down a project).

Who played their older games or knew of them before Hellblade, a certain percentage. Who played Bleeding Edge? Who played their OG Xbox Ninja party game? Disney Infinity 3.0 content? Hmm. Hellblade 2 while it isn't the same as their others because the story and graphics are a particular jump then their others with more gameplay focus on combat or puzzles while this game is about the story with different goals of combat/puzzles it is just different it doesn't make it a lesser game.

But I mean Gamepass exists. It's a team that tried to recreate what made the first so good but it just doesn't reach that. I mean UE5, the mo cap and more are so good but the combat/puzzles/dialogue isn't better than the first.

The length doesn't bother me. I've played their PS3/360 era games. Not Hellblade 1 I know enough about it from a family member and from videos. I know it's quality.

I saw the trailers/articles, I didn't their dev logs on Youtube or any ads Microsoft had maybe presented.

I think the studio may or may not survive but for the studio size they are (which is context), they could do well with it. It's artsy but kind of for a different audience I think with how simpler it is than the first game. I think Microsoft had some influence there for accessibility or they took feedback from the first game too far.

They aren't a 1 person Bright Memory Infinite 2 hr game for $30 but they also aren't a typical Indie either. That's different from other Indies games, or even 3D platformers made by 1 person or other people. I don't think much of Clive n Wrench but it's impressive for 1 person besides the jank. Same with others I hate nostaglic Indies and want them to be more than copy paste (racing are copy paste, 3D platformers more so end up as just too similar and not original enough from their inspirations when the gens they are inspired by had more original third party ideas then the popular they take inspiration from and the Indie games themselves are of actually good ideas being ok but not exciting in the slightest to me compared to the others by talented studios then Indies with inspiration not not as many ideas or know how yes I know I have to consider that but I mean Palworld versus Nightinggale or No Man's Sky very different survival games yet 2 by veteran devs, Palworld being not that but very inspired by other games).

They are like Double Fine they make niche games and are a certain team size. Context is key yet many people miss that and those that do know what's stands.

Ninja Theory are a great studio but the tweet and this game with not the best but still memorable marketing it's hard to know what to say.

@Sifi Gamepass doesn't change the fact it flopped worse than Redfall on Steam.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner This was a title anticipated by many who played the first on PS4. I don't read Xbox sites, so I'm glad to hear word of it now here so I can gauge if I might want to check it out elsewhere or wait for it to hopefully one day come to Playstation. This may not be relevant news to you, but it is to those who played the first on Playstation. There is no console war going on in this article. The first game was on PS. The sequel was going to be, too, until it wasn't. That's a shame because it's a visual stunner. That's all true and that's all this article says.

@PuppetMaster There's nothing rage baiting about this article, lol. If you had played the first on PS and are a fan then you'd understand where this article is coming from, as many of us were anticipating it before it became Xbox only. It's got cutting edge visuals. From a gaming technology standpoint, and for a game that was once going to be on PS and has a fanbase here, this article is entirely relevant to that part of the PS community for which this site serves. It indeed sucks that this game isn't on PS. That's all this article says. Nothing rage bait about it.

@IamJT thats one way to say really boring!

@MFTWrecks Because the first game was on Playstation and it has a fanbase within the PS community. That is why it's being talked about here. Were you not aware that this is a sequel to a game that was on Playstation, and that this sequel was originally supposed to be on Playstation? This is no way shape or form out of the realm of topics to be talked about here.

@kcarnes9051 It's not my problem that you can't see the purpose of this article. I mean, the headline alone is crystal clear of a rage-bait for console war. But hey, whatever makes you sleep well at night i guess...

@Medic_alert Same conclusion a family member who is playing it said and think they are half way through after probably 4 hours.

It looks good but they find it was a step down in other areas in the same ways you did. I can see where they were coming from.

It does happen when some studios get a hit or some particular ideas and sometimes the original was just good enough it didn't need a sequel. Some ideas do go too far to be similar, different, different audience, simpler when the balance before was better or they went too simple than the difficulty or presentation of themes/worlds/other details of the original

Honestly it's probably a good thing all their older games never got sequels they are great one offs as they are and I enjoyed them a lot.

I never played Hellblade it's not for me but I respect what it did whenever I saw people analyse it or the same person who isn't into the 2nd but loved the 1st explained the differences to me.

"Soapbox: Once a PS4 Console Exclusive, PS5 Players Are Missing a Visual Stunner in Hellblade 2"

Truths:

1) It once was a PS4 exclusive.

2) PS5 players are missing out on a visual stunner.

We can argue over what visual stunner means here, but otherwise this is objectively a pretty straightforward truthful headline without spin or inflammatory rhetoric.

The headline doesn't even mention Xbox.

But sure. Console war. Lol.

As someone who played the first game, I read this as a lament from another player who also played the first game who is bummed that this game, which was supposed to be on PS5, isn't playable on PS. That's all this is. And it's nutty ya'll read it any other way.

@kcarnes9051 If you can't see it from the headline then read this line on the article:

Nowhere on PlayStation can you play a game this detailed and immersive visually, set within a narrative that is as brutal as Senua's Saga's is. That is a huge loss for the PlayStation platform

Again. It's not my problem that you can't see the purpose of this article.

Even if it was on PS5, I wouldn't play it. The game looks like absolute trash, it's garbage. The visuals are also not as good as everyone makes them out to be.

@PuppetMaster This game has cutting edge graphics. This has been known about this title literally years. It’s no surprise that it would be leading the pack in graphical fidelity and realism. If that is true, which it likely is, then the author’s statement is 100% accurate. And, again, it sucks we don’t get the visual feast here on PS. That’s true. I’m bummed. The author is bummed. The author wrote this article to express that sentiment. That’s all.

You’re weirdly reactionary about a PS site claiming that an XBox game has better graphics than any PS game. The only ones making this about console wars are the ones telling, “look rage bait console war headline.” Maybe it’s just simply true that this game that happens to be on Xbox has the best console graphics. It’s really nothing to get up in arms about. But it is a bummer we were supposed to get it.

kind of sad that people are still picking on the order:1886 after all these years. some things never change, huh?

the order:1886 was a great game with loads of potential as a long running franchise has it been given a chance. let's not confuse the "value" of the game with the "game" itself. true, the game wasn't worth the full asking price, but very few games are. at $20-30, the order:1886 is absolutely worth the unique experience it offers.

so what are we arguing about really? sounds like we are debating the "value" of the game, not the game itself in many cases. the scathing hellblade reviews are repeating the same nonsense because people cannot accept that some games are designed to be shorter experiences.

the price is ridiculous at launch, but it might be worth picking up for $20-30 in the future if you are into narrative driven games. it is of very high quality for its genre. don't like the genre? that's fine, but to call it garbage is just immature and self entitled behaviour. let's just leave it at that.

it would be far more interesting to discuss the tiers of pricing in the gaming industry and how off base it is. that would actually be productive rather than bashing a game due to it being a short experience.

I didn't play the first one. Not missing anything. 😆
Honestly i played some of ninja theories games before. Enslaved, DmC... they were fun games, but they were nothing amazing. Enslaved was no uncharted, DmC was no god of war.
Which was why i passed on senua. I have much to play and i need to be selective.
Even if this game was on playstation, i wouldn't be buying it. 🤷
It looks nice though and i am sure it will be perfectly serviceable.

Yeah if this article isn't click bait then I'm not sure what the purpose is. Seems the writer of it enjoyed the game a lot more than many of the actual reviewers.
If there was a bit more focus on why it's not on playstation (though we all know that anyway) maybe it'd have a purpose, but it just reads like a glowing review of the game.

The only last good game they made was Heavenly Sword and even that was mediocre at best.

@kcarnes9051 "that this sequel was originally supposed to be on Playstation? "

Do you have anything to confirm that the sequel was supposed to be on Playstation. Cause there was no confirm that a sequel was even in the works post release of the first game... Ninja Theory went straight to work on Bleeding Edge. So how can a non-existed sequel supposed to be on a platform.

I have a gaming pc and a 3060 laptop, but I don't have time to play them.

I for one predict that this game will get a PS5 port next year or so. Since MS' starting to port their smaller games to the PS5 for more revenue then Hellblade II is a perfect candidate. Just to state too that I once again I no dogs left in the console fanboy wars space since I'm back to being PC only now.

Guys, I know that you are proud Playstation owners and would never get an Xbox (because it suck) or a Nintendo Switch (because it's lame old hardware with no horse power)

Right?

The fact is that you probably wish you could afford to own all consoles and a super beefy gaming PC as well.
Not everyone can afford access to all platforms and there will be awesome games then that you can't enjoy.

But that's not a good reason to get upset and act like a teenage fanboy. (Unless you are a teenage fanboy)

Me myself, I am finally at an age and stage of my career that I can afford access to all platforms.
But most of my life there was Nintendo + Playstation (No Sega or Microsoft love)

@AverageGamer Fair enough. You’re correct, full development started after Ninja Theory was bought out. Are we really going to debate the likelihood that it would have come to PS had Microsoft not absorbed the developer? Whether or not it was ever a possibility, which I argue it would have been since the original was a PS timed exclusive, the point here is that many PS players have wanted to play it on PS since it was announced, since, you know, they played the original on PS. That’s the reason why this is relevant to a portion of the PS community. That’s my point.

Its easily the best looking game I've ever played. Absolutely incredible, & its nice to see the Series X flex its muscle finally. I've enjoyed what I've played so far, it's quite an experience.

@DaniPooo think the point is this article is cynically going for the console war types though? Engagement and clicks, in it? If PureXbox reviewed (fake) reviewed PlayStation stuff and lamented it wasn’t available - you would get the same reaction. A better piece might have asked: what are the chances this comes to PS5, or explored how Sony can learn from it? Or added context: 81 on metacritic, only 3k players on steam at the moment (it’s like 200 in the steam charts). Or how it is also evidently inspired by PlayStation exclusives and their technical impact, but kinda misses what makes those games solid: gameplay.

But there is a sad truth here like many Xbox games, HB2 would find a stronger audience if released on PlayStation and it would maybe give the devs a chance to survive.

@kcarnes9051 "I didn’t say the author or myself was bummed to make it your problem. I was using it as an example as to why the article was written."

You can say the author written this article just because he has some free time and i'll still say this article is a rage-bait console war crap and you can't change my opinion. Period.

And again. Whatever you or the author feel about Hellblade 2 exclusivity is not my problem.

"There seems to be some reading comprehension issues going on here, which is maybe why you think this is some kind of console war, lol. It’s not."

You're the one who has reading comprehension issues lol.

Did i mention your name in my first post that you should agreed with my opinion about this article? No.

So why are you here keep replying to me and acting as if your opinion is a fact and my opinion is wrong?
Why you bother so much about what i said?

People who say it's a 5 hours tech demo have no idea. It's an absolute banger, I needed almost 8 hours to beat it and I will be doing a second run to get 100%.

It would be hard to imagine a more toxic group of people that console fanboys after reading all these comments.

Really enjoyed it. Graphics and sound are incredible. Certainly got its limitations but enjoyed it for what it is. This console nonsense in the comments is pathetic, just enjoy the games and stop fighting over a brand ffs

Honestly, I never understood Hellblade 2. The first game was amazing, but it seemed like the story had been told. A sequel was just a weird idea to me.

Then they announced it would be 30fps.

Then they announced they were prioritizing widescreen and most people would have black bars top and bottom.

I was out after the last note. Then some (not all!) reviews confirmed my thoughts. The first game told the story and it was done. A sequel was a stretch.

Jesus there's a lot of angry fake gamers here if you don't like a game that's fine move onto something you do like, but to mock people for liking this or wanting to play it is pathetic.

@PuppetMaster if you post to a public forum, especially making accusations about someone’s intentions negatively, you are fair game for replies and should expect pushback. If you’re questioning why you’re getting replies and don’t want them then don’t engage in online comments. But by all means, keep banging the console war drum and believing that this author is just trying to rage-bait readers.

@kcarnes9051 I'm pretty sure you don't know how public forum works with the way you keeps chasing me and insist that my opinion is wrong.

The problem here is i don't even mention your name or ask you to agreed with my opinion. I keep my opinion only for the article and agreed to disagreed when i replied to you. But you're the one who weirdly keeps chasing me and insist that my opinion is wrong . What are you, the author's BFF that you so eager to die to defend his innocents?

And yes, i will stand with my opinion and i believe i'm not the only one who thinks this article is rage-bait console war bs. So you can keep crying about it for all i care. We're done here.

@PuppetMaster You not mentioning me isn't a problem. There is a reply button under your comment and I'm free to click on it. You tagging me isn't a requirement for me to reply to you. People acting in bad faith are always the first to start complaining about others pushing back on their statements. I like this site and I appreciate this article. I'm not going to let console war ridiculousness drown out the actual intent of this article or allow it to dissuade future articles like this. That is why I'm replying to you. If you're going to come in with an accusatory hot take disparaging content that others appreciate and want to see—expect a reply.

This is a YouTube game for me. Watch it on an iPad. Glad people enjoy it but I can't see this type of game being successful from a financial standpoint.

So all I read is how visually stunning it is and it's stunning visuals and the impressive visuals fidelity that puts you into stun land....annnnd with simple puzzles and some combat.

I'm so sick of games just being graphics now with little to no innovation or use of physics and better ai. Anyone remember Vigilante 8 on PS1 or Red Faction on PS2? I always wanted to see destructible environments like that where you could freely take apart buildings etc. They would have their own "skeletons" like a real structure so you could manipulate them. Well we will never get it because with more power comes more shiny rather than dial back the graphics a gen or 2 but give us something awesome to play with. Games like this are like walking through a still life oil painting, look lovely but nothing bloody moves and interaction is barely possible.

@Kanji-Tatsumi I prefer enslaved

@CrushALL you won't the until dawn, the the dark pictures or any telltale games then. And that's ok. But some people do like them

Ninja Theory were always on point with their story telling but gotta say, after playing Heavenly Blade, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and the first Hellblade - and enjoying them for what they were I might add - their games do lack depth in the gameplay department. Odyssey might be the exception there, I actually really enjoyed that one.

I honestly think the first Hellblade game was too high concept for me. Like there was something really good there that I just couldn't appreciate properly. The mental health angle was never that profound for me because while it was new at the time in games, it's well-trodden ground in books and movies. Sometimes I forget reviewers are different people and they find novelty in things that to me seem iterative, and on the inverse I'm blown away by things sometimes that others don't seem to care for.

Can't be too fussed about graphics in this day and age. I think I have a good read on what this game is from reviews and my past experiences with their games, but I don't want to discount it either as I haven't played it yet myself.

@Stale-Bread

Wow I didn't expect anyone to bring up Vigilante 8 on a PushSquare article today. That's a deep cut right there. Good game. In fact, I think I'd rather play that game than most of what releases today.

One of the few games i really would like to play maybe it will be released on LRG eventually. I would really like to see Heavenly Sword 2. I hope it sells good i heard the steam count playersbase was not to great.

@termiki Who knows maybe on PS5 later on i lovef Heavenly Sword on the PS3.

@DaniPooo I dont have to much money thats true and im to lazy for a PC. A switch would be cool to have but i just dont have enough time to play so its useless to get another console. And a Xbox is not worth its to much like a Playstation with less games i like.

sounds like the article is alluding to poor sales looks woke with that atrocious looking female GL Xbox users!

Although Hellblade 2 certainly looks beautiful, apparently the gameplay lets it down severely.

Or should I say lack of gameplay.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was a masterpiece, with an engaging narrative and a serious point to make about individual struggles with mental health.

This sequel appears to simply be a pale imitation. The fact that this game is not coming onto the PS5 does not seem to be any great loss at all.

Which is a shame. I would have been happier if they had made a much better game. This just seems to be a waste of such terrific potential.

And, just so people understand, this is not me being a PlayStation “fanboy”, I played through the original Hellblade game on my Series X.

"Visual stunner"

Posts one blurry screenshot and another that's too dark to see anything

Just stick to the reviews instead of this BS.

Was short but enjoyed it it, gameplay not as good as the 1st but, story was not bad.

Visually though it's the best looking game I've ever played, the lighting is incredible.

Eh, it'll be on PS5 next year.