Hellblade II should worry you now Xbox too | TierraGamer: news and entertainment about anime, series, video games and technology

We are just a few days away from the premiere of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade IIone of Xbox’s big bets for this year. For a long time it has been announced as one of the experiences that will most take advantage of all the power of the Xbox Series X in several aspects.

However, it seems that he is not very interested in his own company, because despite how close he is, his advertising is practically non-existent. Outside of a few images and trailers with the same scenes that we have seen several times, there is nothing more. Which worries us.

The advances so far focus on its visual aspect but where is the gameplay of Hellblade II

Since your announcement Hellblade II has made some progress. From the first one that showed us the protagonist fighting a kind of giant to the most recent ones that focus on her mental state. However, in terms of gameplay we have seen very little.

Most of these advances focus on its visuals, which honestly look pretty good. YesAlthough we have had a few glimpses of what its gameplay looks like, there is none that fully immerses us in what is new. Did your combat improve? How is new technology used when playing? These questions remain unanswered since its announcement in 2019

We know that like its previous one, Hellblade II will focus more on the narrative aspect. Even so, we consider it necessary to show the gameplay that awaits us in this sequel. Curiously, it seems that they are avoiding showing it at all costs. Will it just be a walking simulator?

Even its most recent trailer, which released on Xbox just this May 16, focuses again on the story. Also not even in the story of the sequel, but in the previous one with a summary of what happened. As if that were not enough, it does so by showing some wooden reliefs instead of the protagonist in action. Why is there so much secrecy? Don’t you have faith in him?

Lack of publicity for one of its biggest games could indicate low confidence

Now back to the point of advertising. There is very little, especially considering that its launch is practically around the corner. In addition to the fact that Xbox always put it as one of its heavyweights for 2024. This lack of ads, trailers, and commercials makes it seem like they don’t care if it sells or not.

Although we can say that this is common lately on Xbox, we consider that it is worse here. In fact, Starfield also had relatively little publicity leading up to its release. Even so, Xbox had already dedicated an extensive look of more than 6 minutes to its gameplay and everything players could expect from it.

In the case of Hellblade IIoutside of its trailers it only had a small behind-the-scenes look at a showcase this year. But this one again focused on its technological advances, showing the motion capture process for the Senua actress and talking about the benefits of binaural audio. We know practically nothing about history and gameplay.

Additionally, Xbox should take into account that the previous game is not exactly the best known in history. While it has its fans, we doubt it will be an immediately recognized IP, especially by the more casual audience. It would benefit Xbox greatly to reveal more of what players can expect and why they should be excited. After all, graphics aren’t the only thing players look for when purchasing new experiences.

Hellblade II already had a very difficult battle ahead of it since it was announced

We will now shift the focus of our concern to the possible financial performance of Hellblade II. As we already mentioned, It really is a more niche game like its predecessor. We don’t expect it to have a big, complex combat system or be action-packed to bring in the masses and their credit cards.

In addition to this, we must remember that it will be a day one title for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, which is already a brake on its sales. TAlso, according to comments on social networks, the system where it would be most popular would be PC. This is because the FPS will not be blocked like the Xbox consoles and you will also get more out of its graphics section.

Even so, a look at Steam statistics shows us that it is not even close to being one of the most sought-after games by players a week after its release. In fact, it is currently in position 173 of the best sellers and in position 60 of those most added to the wish list.

We do not doubt the quality that Ninja Theory is capable of and that they could have with Hellblade II a gem that critics will love. But if the recent closure of Tango Gameworks, creators of Hi-Fi Rush, tells us anything, it’s that criticism doesn’t matter to Xbox. For them, the most important thing is sales and so far it seems that this new Senua adventure will not break financial records. Although in this life anything can happen.

Since Xbox does not give it publicity, perhaps its salvation will be that when it comes out it will have a good reception and many word-of-mouth recommendations will arrive. We’ll see when it comes out if it achieves a must-see game status that helps it stand out.

Could it do better with a release on PS5?

As we well know, Xbox seems ready to follow a new strategy of making several of its games multiplatform. Even when rumors of other titles that will reach the competition began to spread, precisely Hellblade II was among them.

Due to its graphic quality it is evident that it could only reach PS5 and not the Nintendo Switch. But we are not sure that the release on this platform would be much better than its release on Xbox. Unless in that version they do use more aggressive advertising. Although this port would also have the advantage that the game would have already been released on Xbox and the reception could generate interest among users of the Sony console.

In addition to that there we would also know other details, such as its gameplay and its exact duration. After all, Ninja Theory has only said that it will be just as long as the original. Perhaps these factors will work in your favor when selling on PlayStation. Even if there could be hope in PS5, we consider that it is still very little.

For our part we hope that Hellblade II achieve what Xbox expects of it both financially and critically. Otherwise, due to recent decisions, we are worried that another highly talented studio like Ninja Theory will disappear, all due to not having the proper support. How do you think its launch will go?

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