The beauty in Hellblade was its ambiguity and how Ninja Theory mixed combat and inventive puzzle design to tell a tension-filled story. For the sequel, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, the developer had to chart a different course. — Photos: Ninja Theory
Ninja Theory pushed creative boundaries with Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice by focusing on an unconventional hero. Senua is a Pictish warrior who suffers from psychosis. She hears voices and has hallucinations, and her struggle with mental illness is at the heart of the original.
The team crafted a cult classic because of how developers dealt with the issue and used it to place players in an unfamiliar situation. The protagonist wasn’t a fearless do-gooder but a vulnerable, tortured warrior whose sole purpose was to save the soul of her lover, Dillion, after he had been tortured and killed by the Northmen.
