Exceptional binaural sound design
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 positive reviews
“Playing this game with a good pair of headphones creates an experience that is difficult to describe.”
Steam review · 10.2 h played ↗
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 90%Very Positive · 90%Ninja Theory2017Horror · Adventure · Action
The verdict
A short, linear, deeply atmospheric portrayal of psychosis with standout headphone audio and acting, but thin gameplay. Skip it if you want deep combat or active play.
Great for
Story-driven players who want an immersive, headphone-based psychological experience
Main risk
Repetitive rune puzzles, slow walking and basic combat feel like a chore
What changed in the last 30 days
83 recent reviews
Recent negative reviews mostly mention stuck-character glitches, poor optimization and repetitive puzzles/combat. No single patch is clearly identified, so confidence is moderate.
83 recent reviews
What players love
Respectful, immersive portrayal of psychosis
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“It invites you to truly experience what it’s like to live as someone with psychosis.”
Steam review · 8.7 h played ↗
Stunning visuals and facial animation
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“somehow the motion capture and the expressions look f*cking amazing. Looks better than most AAA games.”
Steam review · 6.3 h played ↗
Emotional, powerful story
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“it is certainly the first game in my long gaming career to make me cry.”
Steam review · 15.3 h played ↗
Satisfying, cinematic combat
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“Parry into counterattack was very satisfying to execute and the game rewards counterattacks with stunlocking the enemies”
Steam review · 7.7 h played ↗
Norse mythology and lore
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“if you are a big fan of norse mythology like me than this game right up your alley as well.”
Steam review · 6.9 h played ↗
What players complain about
Repetitive rune-hunting puzzles
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“Every time I seen a 3 rune door I audibly groaned, running around a massive area, (while Senua is quite slow) looking for the runes to progress is torture.”
Steam review · 7.8 h played ↗
Shallow, clunky or repetitive combat
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“I played on the easiest difficulty and still died repeatedly—not because it was challenging, but because the character often felt unresponsive.”
Steam review · 3.1 h played ↗
Walking-simulator pacing, slow movement
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“It's a walking simulator. Looks great. Writing is really good. But if you want to PLAY a GAME look elsewhere.”
Steam review · 2.7 h played ↗
Game-breaking bugs and getting stuck
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“Senua frequently ran in place instead of moving forward until I restarted the checkpoint or got hardstuck on obstacles, fell through the map etc.”
Steam review · 6.8 h played ↗
Poor PC optimization and fps drops
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“This is awful optimization, not a hardware issue.”
Steam review · 2.7 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: VerifiedController support30 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 7, 8, 10
ProcessorIntel i5 3570K / AMD FX-8350
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsGTX 770 with 2GB VRAM / Radeon R9 280X 3GB
Storage30 GB available space
OSWindows 7, 8, 10
ProcessorIntel i5 3570K / AMD FX-8350
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsGTX 770 with 2GB VRAM / Radeon R9 280X 3GB
Storage30 GB available space
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