The gaming community is very excited about the release of Ninja Theory’s latest game, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. Compared to its sequel, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (2017), the second game is a massive upgrade. A lot of elements have been improved or added but there is something that Ninja Theory primarily focused on since day one: the combat.
In a recent interview, Ninja Theory Studio Head Dom Matthews explained how combat plays a key role in storytelling, making combat a part of the narrative. With this, the fighting sequences are expected to be much more engaging. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is coming to Windows and Xbox Series X/S on 21 May 2024.
Ninja Theory focused on combat for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Ninja Theory Studio Head Dom Matthews recently appeared for an interview with Kinda Funny Games to talk about Ninja Theory’s upcoming game, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. During the conversation, Matthews was asked what fans can expect from the gameplay in terms of combat. He replied,
The big thing with combat in Hellblade 2 is that right at the beginning of the project we wanted to focus on how can we make each of the combat encounters, each of the battles, feel like part of the overall story and part of the narrative. Every time you face an enemy it’s part of her Journey, part of the narrative. The other big change I think – In pursuit of making it feel as immersive and as visceral and as brutal as possible.
Matthews further compared the time it took to capture the combat of Hellblade 2 to Hellblade 1. For Hellblade 1, they only took 2 days while for Hellblade 2, they took 69 days.
This just highlights how much focus Ninja Theory has put on combat this time, making sure that they don’t repeat the same mistakes they made in the past.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will be released on 21 May 2024
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II properly utilizes modern resources such as Unreal Engine 5, with Matthews agreeing that working with the game engine has been a great experience as it brings out more creativity,
Unreal 5 is a great engine we’ve worked with Unreal for a long time and with our friends at Epic. It’s been really good – what Unreal does is [that it] allows creative people to be creative and that’s the coolest thing – We’re using technology like nanite now in our environment, it just allows our artists to do so much more.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will be Ninja Theory’s first Hellblade game after Microsoft’s acquisition, so naturally, the expectations are quite high. Unfortunately, PlayStation 5 players will not get to experience the game as Hellblade II is scheduled to be released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S on 21 May 2024. The game will be available fay one with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.
