10 Recent Video Games We Were Way Too Harsh On
7. Senua's Sacrifice: Hellblade II
Like Resident Evil 3 Remake, Senua's Sacrifice: Hellblade II is a solid sequel that didn't match its predecessor, which was disappointing for many. However, several critical outlets like PC Gamer went too far, referring to this instalment as a pointless and limp follow-up.
Weirdly, many of Hellblade II's criticisms were applicable to the first instalment of Ninja Theory's Viking saga. The sequel was lambasted for its primitive and infrequent combat. Though this critique is spot-on, the battle system was the worst aspect of the first entry as well.
The sequel doubles-down on the first game's best qualities, including the immersive atmosphere, cinematic storytelling, intricate puzzles, exquisite use of binaural sound, and highlighting the lead's psychological torment.
Annoyingly, emphasising these elements has branded the sequel as a slow walking simulator. This is ridiculous, since the first Hellblade also took its time and focused on character development and story.
But it seems the masses have spoken, since Hellblade II only had 3982 concurrent players on Steam at its peak, while the original capped off at 5619. Even though Senua's Sacrifice: Hellblade is nearly a decade old, more people are playing it on Steam than the follow-up.
It doesn't push the boundaries like the first, but that doesn't make Hellblade II a bad sequel.