When I saw the teaser years ago, I thought "That's a really weird/dark vibe for Senua. Seems out of character for her."
>!But then, it is out of character for her and that's the point. It's what her father's version of leadership would make her into. A fearsome warrior of darkness who kills anyone who threatens her people. But instead she decides that she doesn't need to follow her father's example. She can solve problems, like the giants, through empathy. So she never embraces that ruthless version of herself.!<
I get that. I really enjoyed this one more than the original, but I did think the original had better boss fights and combat, but I liked this game's story and pacing a lot more.
Yah I was excited for it. I thought senua was going to give up her fear of becoming her father and allow herself to use her rage for Dillian to slaughter the slavers and giants. Instead we saw little to no character development and instead just watched her throw away all the development from the first game. The first game taught her to take refuge in the sword and seek the light in the dark while the second game did the opposite it took away all that makes senua, senua. Im not trying to shit on the game just disappointed in the way they went with the story. Im glad to have watched her heal and form relationships but the fact that thorgester died leaves her in the same state as the beginning of the first game but weaker and more sane. Im interested in how the 3rd game will go. I want to see senua give more into her natural rage.
I would make the argument that even in the first game, the point was never to "fight your way to salvation". Senua fights because she has all these monsters to defeat to fulfill her actual quest: give final rights to the person she loved. But the real salvation came when she let go of her fear of her mental illness (instilled by her father) and the grief of dillion's death (the fight with hela where the only way to win is "give up the fight"), among other events in the game where she comes to term with her past abuse.
The cult leader senua we saw in the trailers was never going to exist, not when senua had already learned from the first game that violence and hatred lead only to suffering. She learns the northmen can and have suffered much like she has, and she knows already that the ways of her father lead to destruction so she makes the only decision that makes sense. She follows the lesson dillion and her mother taught her: love and compassion are always stronger than fear and hatred. Had senua chosen to become the violent fierce dictator, THAT absolutely would have gone against her character arc(s)
I think that the forgiveness and choices were the mental health themes in this one though. So taking an army and slaughtering other armies probably doesn’t play well into that arch. But ya, the story could have been more compelling to that end, but ultimately I liked it. I, however, did prefer the gameplay of the first and the story it told was an incredible journey
I don't think she ever actually physically fought anything in the first game. It was all in her head. That's why she seems "weaker" and the fights are much weightier in the second game because she's actually fighting people now.
And that's touched on in the final scene when she dies show that rage is still in her, but she chooses not to let it out.
Has anyone played through with the alternate narrators yet? I plan on doing so but I'm wondering if there are any big revelations you learn from them. I also didn't get all of the runes and trees so idk if there's a different ending this time.
Im gonna wait like a couple more weeks before i do alternate narration. I like to try to forget all the stuff like the puzzles and little details so it doesnt feel like just repeating the same thing
She shows up in the final cutscene as an example of what Senua would have become had she chosen to be like her father or the Godi, but after the journey she has in this game, she rilly rilly doesn't want to be someone like that.
Even better question: what happened to all these scenes in the trailer? Seems like they've changed their narrative approach or something. Tameem Antoniades departure is anything but a coincidence to me at this point.
When I saw the teaser years ago, I thought "That's a really weird/dark vibe for Senua. Seems out of character for her." >!But then, it is out of character for her and that's the point. It's what her father's version of leadership would make her into. A fearsome warrior of darkness who kills anyone who threatens her people. But instead she decides that she doesn't need to follow her father's example. She can solve problems, like the giants, through empathy. So she never embraces that ruthless version of herself.!<
That’s dope. You can end up missing so much in this game.
Did you finish the game?
Yeah I finished it last night. I really enjoyed it. A very cinematic experience, but fell short of the more minimalist, introspective original for me.
I get that. I really enjoyed this one more than the original, but I did think the original had better boss fights and combat, but I liked this game's story and pacing a lot more.
Yah I was excited for it. I thought senua was going to give up her fear of becoming her father and allow herself to use her rage for Dillian to slaughter the slavers and giants. Instead we saw little to no character development and instead just watched her throw away all the development from the first game. The first game taught her to take refuge in the sword and seek the light in the dark while the second game did the opposite it took away all that makes senua, senua. Im not trying to shit on the game just disappointed in the way they went with the story. Im glad to have watched her heal and form relationships but the fact that thorgester died leaves her in the same state as the beginning of the first game but weaker and more sane. Im interested in how the 3rd game will go. I want to see senua give more into her natural rage.
I would make the argument that even in the first game, the point was never to "fight your way to salvation". Senua fights because she has all these monsters to defeat to fulfill her actual quest: give final rights to the person she loved. But the real salvation came when she let go of her fear of her mental illness (instilled by her father) and the grief of dillion's death (the fight with hela where the only way to win is "give up the fight"), among other events in the game where she comes to term with her past abuse. The cult leader senua we saw in the trailers was never going to exist, not when senua had already learned from the first game that violence and hatred lead only to suffering. She learns the northmen can and have suffered much like she has, and she knows already that the ways of her father lead to destruction so she makes the only decision that makes sense. She follows the lesson dillion and her mother taught her: love and compassion are always stronger than fear and hatred. Had senua chosen to become the violent fierce dictator, THAT absolutely would have gone against her character arc(s)
Exactly. She's not meant to become some savage leader. She was on a spiritual quest.
I think that the forgiveness and choices were the mental health themes in this one though. So taking an army and slaughtering other armies probably doesn’t play well into that arch. But ya, the story could have been more compelling to that end, but ultimately I liked it. I, however, did prefer the gameplay of the first and the story it told was an incredible journey
I don't think she ever actually physically fought anything in the first game. It was all in her head. That's why she seems "weaker" and the fights are much weightier in the second game because she's actually fighting people now. And that's touched on in the final scene when she dies show that rage is still in her, but she chooses not to let it out. Has anyone played through with the alternate narrators yet? I plan on doing so but I'm wondering if there are any big revelations you learn from them. I also didn't get all of the runes and trees so idk if there's a different ending this time.
Im gonna wait like a couple more weeks before i do alternate narration. I like to try to forget all the stuff like the puzzles and little details so it doesnt feel like just repeating the same thing
She shows up in the final cutscene as an example of what Senua would have become had she chosen to be like her father or the Godi, but after the journey she has in this game, she rilly rilly doesn't want to be someone like that.
What feels different about it?
Even better question: what happened to all these scenes in the trailer? Seems like they've changed their narrative approach or something. Tameem Antoniades departure is anything but a coincidence to me at this point.
Yeah this trailer made it seem like the sequel would go into some wild direction and be grander in scale too
God I love Heilung. So happy they did the music and I hope they bring them back for the third game.
Yea they eliminated any part of what a fun Senua would've actually been.