''Senua's Saga: Hellblade II'' is an upcoming

action-adventure game The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

developed by

Ninja Theory Ninja Theory Limited is a first-party British video game development studio based in Cambridge, England. Notable games it has developed include '' Kung Fu Chaos'', ''Heavenly Sword'', '' Enslaved: Odyssey to the West'', '' DmC: Devil May Cry ...

and published by

Xbox Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...

. The game is the sequel to '' Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice''. It is scheduled to release for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...

on 21 May 2024.

Gameplay

''Senua's Saga: Hellblade II'' is a third-person action-adventure game. It carries over the concepts and gameplay elements of its predecessor, including permadeath, utilizing puzzles and runes to advance, and an examination of Senua's mental state. A new fighting system, more dynamic and realistic than the previous one, will also be included in the game. Along with Senua's own background and connections, the game will go deeper into the Norse mythology and history that served as inspiration for the narrative. Combat designer Juan Fernández explained that Ninja Theory is raising the bar with respect to ''Hellblade II'' combat. Juan Fernández pointed out that fewer than 20 people worked on the previous game's development, and Ninja Theory has increased its production efforts for the follow-up. As a result, there is going to be more complex combat and a wider variety of opponents in ''Hellblade II''.

Development

''Senua's Saga: Hellblade II'' takes place in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and Ninja Theory has collaborated with Scandinavian

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

band

Heilung Heilung is an experimental folk music band made up of members from Denmark, Norway, and Germany. Their music is based on texts and runic inscriptions from Germanic peoples of the Iron Age, and Viking Age. Heilung describe their music as "amplifie ...

for the game's soundtrack. Ninja Theory stated that it was "building real costumes and scanning them in" in a June 2021 development update. The company tweeted about their photogrammetry efforts later in September 2021. Ninja Theory offered sneak peek at the cloud generating technology they are utilizing to create the necessary clouds to go with dramatic landscapes and create an ominous atmosphere. Studio director Tameem Antoniades has expressed that the objective with ''Hellblade II'' is not merely perfection but the creation of an experience that is more immersive and refined. The scale of ambition is greater, and he emphasized that ''Hellblade II'' will "make ''Hellblade'' seem like an indie game." Furthermore, he highlighted that ''Senua's Saga: Hellblade II'' is Ninja Theory's biggest video game project in terms of both scope and budget.

Release

In December 2019, at

The Game Awards 2019 The Game Awards 2019 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2019. The event was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator and producer of The Game Awards, and was held to an invited audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los ...

, alongside the

Xbox Series X The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...

console reveal, ''Senua's Saga: Hellblade II'' was announced. At the June 2023 Xbox Showcase, Ninja Theory announced that the game would release in 2024. At the January 2024 Xbox Developer Direct, Ninja Theory announced that the game would release on 21 May 2024. They also revealed that it would cost $49.99, not have a physical edition, and be a similar length to the predecessor.

References

External links

* {{Ninja Theory Upcoming video games scheduled for 2024 Action-adventure games Microsoft games Ninja Theory games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Windows games Xbox Series X and Series S games Video games about mental health Video games set in Iceland Unreal Engine games