The long-awaited sequel to Senua's Sacrifice is here, but not everyone is happy about it. Sequels usually come with very high expectations from the fanbase, and Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 doesn't seem to be working for everyone.
The game lasts around eight hours, give or take. Or, if you're like me and forget to switch it off when going to sleep, it's around 20 hours. Jokes aside, one of the main complaints I see about the game is how short it is, and I don't really understand that.
Not every game can be a 40+ quintuple-A experience with more content than imaginable. Those games are great, but you shouldn't expect so many hours out of every single game. Senua's story is well-rounded and has a good conclusion in both the first and second games; I don't see the point in dragging it out. As someone who has had the chance to play through Hellblade 2 and 100% it, eight hours work perfectly fine for this story.
If the complaint is that the length doesn't justify the price, keep in mind that you also get a higher quality production compared to the first one, especially when it comes to graphics and sound. There is rarely a game with such good motion capture as Senua's Saga. It looks incredibly realistic without leaning into the uncanny.
I recently played Indika, an indie game with around four hours of gameplay, various puzzles, and a great cinematic story. That game is priced at $25, and if we do the math, Senua, with double the length, should be double the cost (which it is).
Then you have games like Skull and Bones, the Ubisoft pirate game that has a lot of content but feels extremely incomplete even as you explore the large map. That game had the price of $70 tacked onto it originally, and now it's reduced to $60 after so many people complained.
As @_TheImpureKing_ on X (formerly Twitter) mentions, Rift Apart, which is around 10 hours long, costs $70 as well. I admit the prices of games have gone way up, and in the current state of the economy, it can be too expensive to get every game you want to play.
It boils down to preferences, and for me, the price tag of $50 isn't too much for an amazing experience like playing Senua's Saga has been.
If your complaint is that it's too similar to Hellblade 1, with more of the same old, I think that shouldn't come as a surprise in a sequel of a game. While Senua's Saga does base itself on a lot of similar mechanics of the first game (like puzzles, for example), they are improved with new aspects that you didn't have in the first game, like the Hiddenfolk puzzles.
There have also been complaints about combat, and that puzzles me even more. Combat in the first game wasn't great either, but time makes the heart grow fonder, it seems. My biggest issue with combat In Hellblade 2 is the lack of enemy variety (Firebreather can go away, though; I hate that guy). But fighting felt more real and immersive, especially when you had to struggle to get back up and avoid getting killed.
Hellblade 2 has similar flaws to Hellblade 1, which can be easily overlooked in both games if you're in it for the things they do well. If you liked the first one, you're going to like the second one. At the end of the day, sales (and GamePass) will be there if you're unsure about it or don't feel it's worth full price.
If you want to know our thoughts on the continuation of Senua's story, check out our Senua's Saga: Hellblade II Review here on Pro Game Guides.
