Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice 2017

 Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice


“The hardest battles are fought in the mind. That is what Dillian taught her.”

“For every battle won a greater battle takes its place, and so it goes until we fall.”

“Be ready to face horror in the eye like I have. To find your answers.”

“You're not a monster.”

“How can the gods understand us if they refuse to die themselves?”

“You found your own way back, all you needed was a little help. A little hope.”

“Because a life without loss is one without love.”

Words at this point seem hollow, pointless. They would accomplish nothing, because they cannot accurately illustrate the psychological journey necessary to accurately convey the nuances and poignancy contained in a single frame of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Maybe that is the point. Maybe that is why Senua's story is embodied in the interactive medium it calls home.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is an interactive touch tone of the highest order. A vehicle for understanding and empathy that defines not only its young medium but also conveys the importance of understanding and compassion when it comes to psychological trauma. It is difficult to call this experience a video game because the phrase lacks the nuance of its interactive endeavors.
As I am writing this I realize how difficult it is to describe this experience without sounding cheap or flippant. Though there is only one real way to mitigate that feeling, and it is to move forward. To attempt to describe the indescribable.
Empathy is a delicate and powerful tool, one that is hard to evoke in the best of circumstances. It requires a connection that is hard to achieve yet, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice does achieve this seemingly impossible task. Here, participant and protagonist become one. Developer Ninja Theory deals with the difficulties of building empathy by tearing down the separation of player and narrative. We become connected to Senua's psyche through the use of 3-D audio. In essence we are placed right in the middle of Senua's psychological battle.
There are no staples of video game interfaces here. There is no life bar, no objective indicator. There is no heads up display to speak of of any kind. The only aids, (if that is what they can be called) are the voices inside your head. They tell you what to do and where to go. Though that does not mean they are always telling you the truth. Only time reveals that. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, as Senua’s story begins you are strongly encouraged to wear headphones. So the voices inside her head very much take up residence inside yours as well.
Audio tactics like that often come across like gimmicks. That is not the case here, They are voyeurs tools, taking advantage of psychological trauma for entertainment purposes. instead, these tactics are an attempt to elicit compassion and understanding of those who struggle with mental illness and trauma. They are vehicles. Allowing us to see what it may take to overcome the darkness inside ourselves, when we have been betrayed by our own minds.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a literal and figurative journey through the Norse mythological conception of hell. It is a harrowing climb out of a traumatized, and suffering mind. The experience is certainly not for everyone, especially if you have mental struggles of your own. Senua's stoy asks a lot of you. But, if you're able and willing to journey through hell and back, it is worth taking on the quest.
With Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice developer Ninja Theory asks us to face Senua’s demons. In turn we may face our own. Hopefully we come out the other side of that battle better than we were before.

As a follow-up, in reality, we should never face these mental battles alone. I would guess that Ninja Theory knows this, because Senua's story was constructed with the help of several mental
health professionals.

Remember, you are worthy and you are loved. There is always help out there no matter how alone you may feel.

Rated M 17+ for Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language

I found Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice to be thought-provoking, empathetically powerful and emotionally engaging. I hope in some way you will too.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Top 5 Films of 2024

Image
5.  Twisters 2024 “Nature's masterpiece.” If you feel it, chase it” “You don't face your fears you ride them” All right, I'll just say it, Twisters is an exhilarating experience. It is one of the most well orchestrated summer blockbusters that I have seen in years. Yet, it is also a film that never forgets the vehicles of utter power and destruction that it illustrates on-screen. Perhaps that is the film's strength: it is able, in a real tangible way, to convey these acts of God with respect and reverence for their awesome power. It does this, without losing, for one second the thrill and wonder of the chase. Twisters is a roller coaster ride in the best sense of the phrase. It has heart, meaning and poignancy in every inch of its special effects filled plunge, into the thrills and difficulties of storm chasing. On that note it is a movie that uses all of the available filmic and auditory tools to the greatest effect. At least to my ears Twisters is an exh...
Read more

Who Made Man's Mouth: Recontextualizing Disability as an Ordinary, Every Day, Purpose Driven Life

Image
Michelangelo's Moses c.1513-1515 Who Made Man's Mouth:   Recontextualizing Disability as an Ordinary, Every Day, Purpose Driven Life     "I want to live in a world where we value genuine achievement for disabled people, and I want to live in a world where a kid in year 11 at a Melbourne high school is not one bit surprised that his new teacher is a wheelchair user. Disability does not make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does." -Stella Young, TEDxSidney 2014      When you realize that perhaps you've been misunderstanding a core tenant of  yourself for a better part of your life, you begin to deconstruct the factors that brought you to that realization. Now, before we start this journey I want to say that I am not a theologian nor am I trying to be one. This endeavor is as much a journey of discovery for me as it is for you. It is a recontextualization of ...
Read more

The Boys in the Boat 2023

Image
 " It's called Swing, when all eight are rowing in such perfect unison that no single action is out of sync with the rest of the boat. Then you aren't fighting each other, you're moving less effort. Each one of your strokes is worth one and a half of the other boats. Most groups never find it, but when they do, rowing is more poetry than sport.” What does it take to be one? How do we overcome our innate desire to be loners, to fend for ourselves? These are questions that The Boys in the Boat attempts to answer. As a film the story of the 1936 Washington State Crew team brings us back to essentials. What is Sport? Is it a singular endeavor or does it require a team? The truth is, even when a singular person is on the field, their skills are still being honed by many hands. This is the essential aspect of Sport that we are asked to recall in thls engaging journey of the Washington Crew team, as they seek for Olympic Gold. It may seem like you've seen ever...
Read more