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The hype around Hellblade II is massive, and growing.

a week from now:
an unforgettable, incredibly accurate, highly detailed reproduction of a small, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, section of iceland. provocative, thrilling, & so intensely immersive' it'll make you periodically shake your head & wonder 'what the fuck am I doing freezing my ass off somewhere out in the sticks in fucking iceland?'...
 

ZoukGalaxy

Gold Member
Already heard this thread title for... Starfield.

Big Mouth Lol GIF by MOODMAN
 
I'm seeing on Twitter that the review embargo is on the day of release? WTF is going on? It should get good reviews based on previews, but the game has zero hype. HB2's one saving grace is that it is an art house game that should review well. I now firmly believe Microsoft wants this game to die so they can shut down the studio easier. Nothing else makes sense
 
$50 retail price, relatively short game, 30fps, widescreen presentation, studio head was randomly already gone for a while, weird marketing rollout, late embargo... all this after being the first game announced for Series X, 4 1/2 years ago. None of this instills confidence in the game from Xbox, IMO. I was positive about this game for a long time as I enjoyed the first, but I think it's clear what we're in for now.
 

Jaybe

Member
$50 retail price, relatively short game, 30fps, widescreen presentation, studio head was randomly already gone for a while, weird marketing rollout, late embargo... all this after being the first game announced for Series X, 4 1/2 years ago. None of this instills confidence in the game from Xbox, IMO. I was positive about this game for a long time as I enjoyed the first, but I think it's clear what we're in for now.

Probably coming in either hot (e.g. poor console or PC performance) and/or its average versus what expectations were. We have this from our insider:

Hard to justify a ton of marketing budget when your internal assessment of its reception ain't so hot.

They don't believe its gonna be a HFR or Forza Horizon in terms of reception, or even a Starfield.

I have no context on what reviewers are expecting from this thing, but I have yet to hear anything 'glowing' or even close to it about it.

Folks forget but this is the 2nd game from NT for MS. Bleeding Edge was the first. Bleeding Edge is also one of the few games whose servers MS actually shutdown in the wake of its reception and engagement, and this is during the GP era. Let that sink in.
 

Humdinger

Gold Member
$50 retail price, relatively short game, 30fps, widescreen presentation, studio head was randomly already gone for a while, weird marketing rollout, late embargo... all this after being the first game announced for Series X, 4 1/2 years ago. None of this instills confidence in the game from Xbox, IMO. I was positive about this game for a long time as I enjoyed the first, but I think it's clear what we're in for now.

I don't think it'll be a bad game. The first had a metacritic average of 81. I expect this one will land in that same territory. And like with the first game, reviews will be mixed, with some people loving it and others not.

I don't mean that it'll be a financial success. It's on GP, so that will suck most of its potential sales down the drain. But I don't think it'll be a bad game.
 

Kurotri

Member
Probably coming in either hot (e.g. poor console or PC performance) and/or its average versus what expectations were. We have this from our insider:
Goddamn, I wasn't aware of his comments. The same internal review department that thought Redfall was gonna deliver is thinking HB2 will have bad reception? Damn.
 

clarky

Gold Member
I don't think it'll be a bad game. The first had a metacritic average of 81. I expect this one will land in that same territory. And like with the first game, reviews will be mixed, with some people loving it and others not.

I don't mean that it'll be a financial success. It's on GP, so that will suck most of its potential sales down the drain. But I don't think it'll be a bad game.
Fair assessment of the situation and about where im at.

Anything less than this would be a disaster for the studio though.

Clearly this game is aiming up its own arse for a bafta. Gameplay be damned.
This is either an Edge 8 or a 4 depending on if the reviewer at the time has a mental illness.
 
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Just a couple of more days left, the animation quality is insanely good.



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Everyone can do cool finishers since there's basically no input on the controller. I'm more excited to see what the rest of it feels like, and if they manage to make the encounter design feel unique from fight to fight since they mentioned that in the dev direct. It's going to look sick though, no doubt the visuals are pretty crazy.
 
Everyone can do cool finishers since there's basically no input on the controller. I'm more excited to see what the rest of it feels like, and if they manage to make the encounter design feel unique from fight to fight since they mentioned that in the dev direct. It's going to look sick though, no doubt the visuals are pretty crazy.
For me the first one was too scripted and one dimensional. Given there is far more attacks and counters in this one it should feel more unpredictable, if you get what I mean.
 

King Dazzar

Member
Due to a highly successful marketing campaign. I have to ask. When is this landing again? Are we close to guess the MC score yet? My feeling is somewhere in the high 70's.
 
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