For all it's glory, Hellblade just doesn't live up to its full potential. Three things bother me the most. One, the lousy puzzles. This is an embarrassment, matching imaginary runes with environment objects. What are they even supposed to signify? It's a matter of perspective, I get it, sheesh. LAME. Second, the combat. For a Ninja Theory game this is another embarrassment. Combat is just kind of there, as if forced into the game. Don't get me wrong, enemy and boss design is actually really cool, and the animations even feel fluid, but it's just so basic. LAZY. Last but not least, the moan-ey 4th wall -breaking narrator. I don't mind Senua's other voices, even though they are damn right annoying, and their commentary often dead wrong (combat anyone?) but the constant immersion breaking, thanks to the narrator, is just horrendous. Just imagine how much more atmospheric and immersive this game could have been if the damn narrator didn't keep asking you if you felt or saw something that isn't even there. Her constant is meaningless even tho she keeps her best to instill some sort of emotion by playing with her voice. It just falls flat. What do you think? Am I a heartless bastard?

Edit - I get it that all of the voices are in Senua's head. But, at the end of the day, I'm a dude sitting behind his monitor playing the game. I am not Senua. I see the crazy sights and hear the crazy sounds. But I can't feel her feelings no matter how much the narrator wants me too. If she wasn't there then maybe I could've immersed myself more and get something ot the constant chatters. As it is, I just get annoyed/distracted.

As far as the first two points go, I've not got much to say, I've played a little of the game so far and not fully seen everything there is to see. Personally from what combat I have done, I rather like the simplicity behind it, though I will agree that it does feel like maybe they threw it in there just to say they had combat, because without it I think the game would be fine, though it wouldn't be a game any longer if you just sat back and watched what was happening. And like I said I haven't played too much of the game yet so maybe there is more to it outside of the combat to actually call it a game.

However as far as your third point goes, the narrator I feel is simply there just to help you understand what is going on, I mean without it you wouldn't have any idea as to what was going on far as why Senua was doing what she was doing. Though I would s'pose it would be easy enough to figure it out sooner or later, I personally think it just adds that extra bit to it. Also I think the game itself is supposed to be more story like than actually trying to be the character, as if you yourself are a voice in Senua's head, which gives it an interesting spin to it as well. And you point of where yes we are just dudes behind a screen that are directly controlling the character, however when people with psychosis (which is the main bit of the story I believe) listen to the voices often times the voices are what control them, so it makes some sense there. Also those voices are meant to be distracting, they add to the whole crazy thing of it, one combat as I played (like the first one) the voice said there was something behind me, which made me dodge out of the way, from something that wasn't there, so instead of getting the final swing on the thing I was fighting I instead swirled around to fight the other which wasn't there and got hit by the one that was there. Its the little things like that, that make those voices a large part of the gameplay, even the narrating one, they all have their own roll for it.

Also I think in order to get the full experience of it you kinda just have to clear your mind and listen to the voices a minute, get it to actually feel like they are in your head, its not entirely up to the game to get you to feel like you are actually crazy, being a sane person you know those voices aren't yours, but to be Senua, to actually have reason for those voices, you just have to become a little bit insane. Just my thoughts on it anyway

OP, with all due respect, you completely missed the point of the game. It's not an action game. It's an educational game.

I get that you don't like it and don't understand it, but the things portrayed in this game constitute what I am many other people in the world deal with on a daily basis. Is it batshit crazy like in the game? Not unless I'm suffering a psychotic break, but I have auditory hallucinations on a daily basis similar to what she hears.

I understand you don't like the game, and that is your right, but if you bought it thinking it was going to be Celtic Dark Souls, you didn't do your research on it before making the purchase. That's on you, not Ninja Theory.

Again, I mean no offense, but you should be more careful when purchasing educational games.