Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 makes a great first impression. Last month, I visited Ninja Theory to get my hands on the upcoming Xbox Series X game ahead of its release of May 21 and there's one sequence of events that is still seared into my memory. Towards the end of an early chapter, you infiltrate a rite of fire and blood – an oppressive, cinematic section of play that concludes with Senua stumbling into a massive battle between Viking slavers and victims desperately fighting to escape. What happens next is a whirlwind of clashing blades and burning bodies, evocative visuals and harrowing brutality.
If we put fidelity to one side for a second, combat is undoubtedly where Ninja Theory has exercised the most growth between Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. Where the original game was a little stilted once swords were drawn, the sequel is a far more fluid and responsive affair – sharply reactive, with Senua translating panicked light and heavy attack, dodge and parry, inputs with disarming physicality. I was trying to appreciate all of this in the midst of a truly chaotic fight, an assault where I was never really sure who I would face next.
