It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussionRelease: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice(159 posts)(159 posts)
(159 posts)
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
This is my favourite topic
Posted August 08, 2017
Journey into psychosis.

<span class="bold">Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice</span>, a narrative adventure into a shattered mind, is now available, DRM-free, on GOG.com.

From Ninja Theory, the creators of DmC: Devil May Cry, Heavenly Sword, and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, comes the haunting tale of Senua, a celtic warrior struggling with trauma and psychosis. Exploring the challenges of delivering an AAA experience using independent means, the visionary studio is set to deliver a captivating narrative of stunning beauty.

Watch the trailer.

To learn more about Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice see our pre-release review roundup , catch up on Q&amp;As with the devs, and learn more about the unique way Hellblade is being created in these dev diaries.
Post edited August 22, 2017 by maladr0Id
Posted August 11, 2017
avatar
i_ni: On par with your reference is this end-of-2014 article http://www.pcgamer.com/researchers-find-that-female-pc-gamers-outnumber-males/ based on a servey in US. To my surprise females dominate the US RPG market with ~ 54% share! So roughly every second reader or poster of this thread could be a female. (Why is it only you who speak up?)
Well, the research the article is referring to is not accessible (at least I can't seem to find it), so as far as I'm concerned, that's smoke and mirrors (if the source is a dud, every argument based on that source is null and void afaic) - what statistics I have seen that alleged a 1:1 split always took into consideration casual and mobile games. Not that I wouldn't want to be convinced otherwise...

As for "why females don't speak up more" - that might be because it's mostly a wasted effort, when that energy could be spend elsewhere. It's very hard to change people's perception or opinion on things, I'd say it's night impossible while having an argument online - and the likelihood of that happening are inversely proportional to the silliness of the argument itself ;)
If games with female protagonists sell well (pandering or otherwise), developers will continue to produce them, such are the laws of the free market. Personally, I find it quite annoying when people go on and on about how much they dislike having a female lead, but it just doesn't seem worth the effort to even engage in such a discussion. Just my 2c.
Posted August 11, 2017
avatar
i_ni: You're the first fellow female gamer I well met :-) Nice to meet you!
So we're in the same train of difficutlies then... Did you give the game a try?

On par with your reference is this end-of-2014 article http://www.pcgamer.com/researchers-find-that-female-pc-gamers-outnumber-males/ based on a servey in US. To my surprise females dominate the US RPG market with ~ 54% share! So roughly every second reader or poster of this thread could be a female. (Why is it only you who speak up?)
Wait... "fellow female gamer" ?
Didn't you just say you find it difficult to roleplay as a female character, because you have difficulties playing as the opposite sex?

A bit of clarification, please? O_o
Posted August 11, 2017
avatar
i_ni: You're the first fellow female gamer I well met :-) Nice to meet you!
So we're in the same train of difficutlies then... Did you give the game a try?

On par with your reference is this end-of-2014 article http://www.pcgamer.com/researchers-find-that-female-pc-gamers-outnumber-males/ based on a servey in US. To my surprise females dominate the US RPG market with ~ 54% share! So roughly every second reader or poster of this thread could be a female. (Why is it only you who speak up?)
avatar
AgentBirdnest: Wait... "fellow female gamer" ?
Didn't you just say you find it difficult to roleplay as a female character, because you have difficulties playing as the opposite sex?

A bit of clarification, please? O_o
From my personal experience, women don't generally just throw the word "female" around as liberally as that person did. In fact, a lot of my friends (admittedly those more "active" in feminist matters) downright shun the liberal overuse of the "female" term, something which sounds particularly annoying in gaming/nerd culture ("female gamer", "the next Doctor will be a female", etc).

Of course, this is just speculation on my part. Plus, the person is apparently from Bulgaria, so some cultural and social differences may apply -- not even taking into account their level of "mastery" and understanding of English, for all intents and purposes the language we're using to communicate, in here. For instance, just for illustration purposes, in Portuguese, calling someone a "fêmea" (lit. female) is, very simply put, derogatory, offensive and rude, unless you're using the term in a strictly scientific or biological context (and, even in those cases, it must be used with care). I don't know how Bulgarian works, maybe female is more akin to the French "femme" in usage.
Posted August 11, 2017
avatar
AgentBirdnest: Wait... "fellow female gamer" ?
Didn't you just say you find it difficult to roleplay as a female character, because you have difficulties playing as the opposite sex?

A bit of clarification, please? O_o
avatar
groze: From my personal experience, women don't generally just throw the word "female" around as liberally as that person did. In fact, a lot of my friends (admittedly those more "active" in feminist matters) downright shun the liberal overuse of the "female" term, something which sounds particularly annoying in gaming/nerd culture ("female gamer", "the next Doctor will be a female", etc).

Of course, this is just speculation on my part. Plus, the person is apparently from Bulgaria, so some cultural and social differences may apply -- not even taking into account their level of "mastery" and understanding of English, for all intents and purposes the language we're using to communicate, in here. For instance, just for illustration purposes, in Portuguese, calling someone a "fêmea" (lit. female) is, very simply put, derogatory, offensive and rude, unless you're using the term in a strictly scientific or biological context (and, even in those cases, it must be used with care). I don't know how Bulgarian works, maybe female is more akin to the French "femme" in usage.
Not only that, maybe with "fellow" he was referring the gamer part, not the person's gender.
Posted August 11, 2017
avatar
richlind33: Anyone finding this game enjoyable with mouse and keyboard?
So far so good on that front (a few hours in).
It hasn't hit me with the "this is ported from a controler native design" thing that many games have.
My biggest issue with the controls so far was my own failure to look at which keys did what in combat >.<
But a few seconds looking at the controls list fixed that when I actually bothered to do so.
avatar
Kaesemeister: Intel i7 7700 with 16GB ram
radeon rx 480

Don't know, maybe i tinkered too much with the settings.
avatar
CharlesGrey: Strange, that seems like a beefy system. Would be nice to hear back from more people, with a wider range of PC specs. The only reviewer which mentioned the system specs so far ( as far as I've seen ) has a 1080 ti, so it's no miracle that the game ran smoothly for them.
Haven't really had trouble with performence myself, specs are;

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K CPU @ 3.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
GPU: GeForce GTX 970 DDR5
Post edited August 11, 2017 by RoseLegion
Posted August 11, 2017
avatar
WildHobgoblin: So, since the thread's still trickling along nicely and somebody here might be in the know...
I set combat difficulty to "auto". Does anyone know what exactly that does?
Also, blocking doesn't seem to actually block (it's more like, hurling yourself at the opponent) and seems a fairly risky move since you open yourself up to a counterattack (the thing I'd actually try to avoid by the act of "blocking").
Combat's been a bit sparse so far (which I'm fine with), but it feels like there's not enough time to just fiddle around with the controls to get used to them.

Other than that, what little I've played has been great. I like left-clear'n-close voice. She seems nice and supportive :)
I would double check your control bindings and also be aware of what else you're pressing when you wish to block.
The movement you describe - hurling yourself at the attacker - is for me bound to the 'strong' attack when combined with sprint aimed at an opponent at a distance.

Block on the other hand shifts the sword into a visibly defenseive pose and will deflect incoming attacks (though the heavy attacks will still knock you down when blocked so it's often better to evade those rather than block them).

It took me a bit to get used to the controls as well, in part because I didn't read my key mapping before diving in, but it feels pretty inuitive now. Hope it reaches that point for you as well :)
Posted August 11, 2017
avatar
RoseLegion: Haven't really had trouble with performence myself, specs are;

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K CPU @ 3.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
GPU: GeForce GTX 970 DDR5
The same hardware as I.
Posted August 12, 2017
avatar
AgentBirdnest: Wait... "fellow female gamer" ?
Didn't you just say you find it difficult to roleplay as a female character, because you have difficulties playing as the opposite sex?

A bit of clarification, please? O_o
avatar
groze: From my personal experience, women don't generally just throw the word "female" around as liberally as that person did. In fact, a lot of my friends (admittedly those more "active" in feminist matters) downright shun the liberal overuse of the "female" term, something which sounds particularly annoying in gaming/nerd culture ("female gamer", "the next Doctor will be a female", etc).

Of course, this is just speculation on my part. Plus, the person is apparently from Bulgaria, so some cultural and social differences may apply -- not even taking into account their level of "mastery" and understanding of English, for all intents and purposes the language we're using to communicate, in here. For instance, just for illustration purposes, in Portuguese, calling someone a "fêmea" (lit. female) is, very simply put, derogatory, offensive and rude, unless you're using the term in a strictly scientific or biological context (and, even in those cases, it must be used with care). I don't know how Bulgarian works, maybe female is more akin to the French "femme" in usage.
I used "fellow female gamer" in the most positive way. What is the right way to refer to "a gamer you have a high respect for, belonging to the feminine gender"?

You made me check the definitions of the words (en.wiktionary.org):
a) fellow, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fellow:
1. (obsolete) A colleague or partner. // this is what I meant
2. (archaic) A companion; a comrade. // similarly
3. A man without good breeding or worth; an ignoble or mean man. // this completely oposite to what I meant. Rather opposite to the rest of the definitions too?
...
4. An equal in power, rank, character, etc. // similarly
b) female, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/female:
1. Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs and/or, in mammals, has XX chromosomes. // too scientific
2. Belonging to the feminine gender (social category). // this is what I meant.
...

What is the most correct way to call a human being of feminine gender? (I'm surprised by your comments that female doesn't fit)

No question about the game here - my last activity in the discussion, unless somebody asks me sth.

Edit: typos
Edit: Also, let me state I have no bias towards women. For example, I find Ann Leckie's "Ancillary Justice" the best Sci-fi of the century.
Post edited August 12, 2017 by i_ni
Posted August 12, 2017
Opinion: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Disrespects Scotland and all Celts

Don't get me wrong, I was originally intrigued by the premise of this game and was eager to try it but after viewing some of the videos I was dismayed by the portrayal of the protagonist.

I won't be able to play this game due to the protagonists accent. It completely breaks immersion for me, it's not credible.

Senua is a member of a Celtic tribe from northern Scotland known as the Picts. This game is set around the time of the Viking raids on the island of Orkney. So why would this Celtic warrior from the north of Scotland sound like a school teacher from the South East of England? Why would she sound like the very English, very posh and very privileged Lara Croft? They took a Pictish warrior and made her sound like bloody Lara Croft.

I have to question the intentions, ethics and motives of this game and developer. They are perfectly happy to exploit Celtic culture and imagery right down to the blue face paint but are unwilling to use an actual Celt to portray the character. They are using a Celtic face but giving it an Anglo-Saxon voice.

For centuries Celtic culture was suppressed, persecuted, dismissed and marginalised in the UK and Ireland. The people of the indigenous Celtic nations of the UK and Ireland have frequently faced discrimination, bigotry and harrassment throughout this period. So for the Pictish protagonist to actually use the accent of the aggressor culture that repressed Celtic culture and nations for the best part of a millenium is particularly offensive. Worse still it uses the dialect/accent of the British establishment, the architects of this repression.

Now this wouldn't have been a problem if they had made the character Anglo-Saxon. At this time in history this is a perfectly viable alternative. They could easily have made the character an Anglo-Saxon from the Kingdom of Northumbria (modern day Northern England) at the time of the Viking attack on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in 793.

No, they chose to make the character a Celt. If they really wanted the character to speak as an English-person they
should have made them an Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon not a Pict. They think it's appropriate that an 8-10th century Pictish warrior should have a generic, anonymous, middle class, English accent that uses received pronunciation.

This raises a number of questions. Why would an English developer not tell an English story? Why would they appropriate somebody else's culture when their own cultural history would allow them to tell the same story, in the same timeline in the same general vicinity?

Could it possibly be that the term "Anglo-Saxon" has become tainted and conjures up images of racists and white supremacists and reminds people of the term WASP? Are they so ashamed of their own identity and history that they feel the need to steal somebody else's?

Is Celtic culture seen as a more benign, inclusive, sympathetic, socially acceptable culture and therefore more commercially exploitable and lucrative?

I find the game design choices made by the developers highly questionable, distasteful and unethical. Their expedient cultural compromises make me suspect their motives for using Celtic culture. This is no noble enterprise, this is the tawdry exploitation, abuse and misrepresentation of other peoples cultural heritage.

This anglification is not only an insult to Scots but to all people of Celtic heritage/identity everywhere. Not only is it not credible, it's pretty damned offensive. I shouldn't be surprised by any of this given that the developers are from Cambridge, England.
Post edited August 12, 2017 by WeaselWords
Posted August 12, 2017
avatar
i_ni: I used "fellow female gamer" in the most positive way. What is the right way to refer to "a gamer you have a high respect for, belonging to the feminine gender"?

You made me check the definitions of the words (en.wiktionary.org):
a) fellow, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fellow:
1. (obsolete) A colleague or partner. // this is what I meant
2. (archaic) A companion; a comrade. // similarly
3. A man without good breeding or worth; an ignoble or mean man. // this completely oposite to what I meant. Rather opposite to the rest of the definitions too?
...
4. An equal in power, rank, character, etc. // similarly
b) female, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/female:
1. Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs and/or, in mammals, has XX chromosomes. // too scientific
2. Belonging to the feminine gender (social category). // this is what I meant.
...

What is the most correct way to call a human being of feminine gender? (I'm surprised by your comments that female doesn't fit)

No question about the game here - my last activity in the discussion, unless somebody asks me sth.

Edit: typos
Edit: Also, let me state I have no bias towards women. For example, I find Ann Leckie's "Ancillary Justice" the best Sci-fi of the century.
The thing is, when you say "fellow female gamer" you're basically saying you and the person you're addressing are both women (check the fourth definition of 'fellow' you posted: *an equal* in power, rank, character, etc. -- *gender* is part of this 'etc.'). That's what got AgentBirdnest confused, you gave mixed signals, parts of what you said implied you are a man, but the "fellow female gamer", on the other hand, meant you are a woman. And I found that odd, and indicative that you are, in fact, a man, because women just don't call each other "females". If I see someone calling a woman a "female", I'm pretty sure that person is a man. A gamer or a nerd man, even. And I know you meant well, but it's still very cringe-inducing when a guy calls a woman a freaking "female".

As for the most correct way to call "a human being of feminine gender": woman. Or lady. Or girl. Definitely not "female" (which they are, yes, but it's not the best word to address them by, unless you're within a very specific scientific or biological context, and you were just socially greeting a person, not making a scientific remark about their gender).

If I somehow wasn't clear enough, feel free to PM me in here, so we don't keep derailing this thread.
Posted August 12, 2017
avatar
groze: ...
I have no idea what drugs you are on, but "girl" gamer could be an insult, and "lady" gamer sounds odd, so fellow female gamer sounds quite right when the speaker wants to put emphasis on the "gamer" part with the word fellow and at the same time wants to signal that he welcomes females in gaming as they can be girls or women or ladies as these three words also have different connotations.
.
Post edited August 12, 2017 by MaGo72
Posted August 12, 2017
avatar
WeaselWords: Opinion: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Disrespects Scotland and all Celts

Don't get me wrong, I was originally intrigued by the premise of this game and was eager to try it but after viewing some of the videos I was dismayed by the portrayal of the protagonist.

I won't be able to play this game due to the protagonists accent. It completely breaks immersion for me, it's not credible.

Senua is a member of a Celtic tribe from northern Scotland known as the Picts. This game is set around the time of the Viking raids on the island of Orkney. So why would this Celtic warrior from the north of Scotland sound like a school teacher from the South East of England? Why would she sound like the very English, very posh and very privileged Lara Croft? They took a Pictish warrior and made her sound like bloody Lara Croft.

I have to question the intentions, ethics and motives of this game and developer. They are perfectly happy to exploit Celtic culture and imagery right down to the blue face paint but are unwilling to use an actual Celt to portray the character. They are using a Celtic face but giving it an Anglo-Saxon voice.

For centuries Celtic culture was suppressed, persecuted, dismissed and marginalised in the UK and Ireland. The people of the indigenous Celtic nations of the UK and Ireland have frequently faced discrimination, bigotry and harrassment throughout this period. So for the Pictish protagonist to actually use the accent of the aggressor culture that repressed Celtic culture and nations for the best part of a millenium is particularly offensive. Worse still it uses the dialect/accent of the British establishment, the architects of this repression.

Now this wouldn't have been a problem if they had made the character Anglo-Saxon. At this time in history this is a perfectly viable alternative. They could easily have made the character an Anglo-Saxon from the Kingdom of Northumbria (modern day Northern England) at the time of the Viking attack on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in 793.

No, they chose to make the character a Celt. If they really wanted the character to speak as an English-person they
should have made them an Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon not a Pict. They think it's appropriate that an 8-10th century Pictish warrior should have a generic, anonymous, middle class, English accent that uses received pronunciation.

This raises a number of questions. Why would an English developer not tell an English story? Why would they appropriate somebody else's culture when their own cultural history would allow them to tell the same story, in the same timeline in the same general vicinity?

Could it possibly be that the term "Anglo-Saxon" has become tainted and conjures up images of racists and white supremacists and reminds people of the term WASP? Are they so ashamed of their own identity and history that they feel the need to steal somebody else's?

Is Celtic culture seen as a more benign, inclusive, sympathetic, socially acceptable culture and therefore more commercially exploitable and lucrative?

I find the game design choices made by the developers highly questionable, distasteful and unethical. Their expedient cultural compromises make me suspect their motives for using Celtic culture. This is no noble enterprise, this is the tawdry exploitation, abuse and misrepresentation of other peoples cultural heritage.

This anglification is not only an insult to Scots but to all people of Celtic heritage/identity everywhere. Not only is it not credible, it's pretty damned offensive. I shouldn't be surprised by any of this given that the developers are from Cambridge, England.
uuuuhhhh...Its a game about someone who sees demons and talks to a head that she keeps in a sack, and your complaning about historical accuracy? The accents of the picts will be hard to replicate as any accent from that time period would be (language changes over time). As for me the "posh english" is easier for me to understand due to my hearing loss,
Post edited August 12, 2017 by Jacob_1994
Posted August 12, 2017
avatar
WeaselWords: Opinion: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Disrespects Scotland and all Celts

Don't get me wrong, I was originally intrigued by the premise of this game and was eager to try it but after viewing some of the videos I was dismayed by the portrayal of the protagonist.

I won't be able to play this game due to the protagonists accent. It completely breaks immersion for me, it's not credible.

Senua is a member of a Celtic tribe from northern Scotland known as the Picts. This game is set around the time of the Viking raids on the island of Orkney. So why would this Celtic warrior from the north of Scotland sound like a school teacher from the South East of England? Why would she sound like the very English, very posh and very privileged Lara Croft? They took a Pictish warrior and made her sound like bloody Lara Croft.
Well, you do realize this game does not have localized audio, right?
While it may be more historically and politically correct to choose a more appropriate accent, I dare say a fair share of non-native English speakers would have quite the trouble understanding what is said (it's already difficult enough as is, and I can only use German subs to the English audio, which is very annoying to me, who prefers an Eng/Eng setup).
So, rather than alleging any sort of conspiracy or dubious motives, I'd go with the simplest reason for that choice - maximum accessibility for an international market.
Posted August 12, 2017
avatar
WeaselWords: Opinion: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Disrespects Scotland and all Celts

...
This anglification is not only an insult to Scots but to all people of Celtic heritage/identity everywhere. Not only is it not credible, it's pretty damned offensive. I shouldn't be surprised by any of this given that the developers are from Cambridge, England.
avatar
Jacob_1994: uuuuhhhh...Its a game about someone who sees demons and talks to a head that she keeps in a sack, and your complaning about historical accuracy? The accents of the picts will be hard to replicate as any accent from that time period would be (language changes over time). As for me the "posh english" is easier for me to understand due to my hearing loss,
Not sure what your point is... What does superstition or mental disease have to do with historical accuracy? If anything, that's probably very accurate, since people in ancient times were a lot more likely to believe in demons and all sorts of supernatural beings and phenomena.

Anyhow, I think a game's atmosphere and immersion can be greatly enhanced with voice acting that suits the game's setting. But I can also see WildHobgoblin's point, about keeping the game accessible to an international audience. An alternate version of the voice acting would have been nice, but few games offer that.
Posted August 12, 2017
avatar
WildHobgoblin: (it's already difficult enough as is, and I can only use German subs to the English audio, which is very annoying to me, who prefers an Eng/Eng setup).
There are no English subtitles? Why do companies keep neglecting this? I also prefer my games, movies and TV shows with English audio and English subs (my problem is not the meaning of the sentences, but understanding actors with a strong accent or who speak very fast). More ofen than not, finding media with this option becomes hard or just plain impossible.

And if we assumed my particular case were not worth the implementation... What about the hearing impaired? Can't they play this game unless they know a non-English language?
Post edited August 12, 2017 by Caesar.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionRelease: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice(159 posts)(159 posts)
(159 posts)