Ninja Theory's sequel has a much wider scope

It's no surprise that Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, as a sequel, is bigger and more expansive than the previous game. While this game's scope, length, and subject matter are quite similar to those of the original Hellblade game—it's still, of course, a dark action-adventure fantasy about a warrior woman suffering from psychosis in 8th-century northern Europe—much more effort has been put into it to appear grand and seamlessly cinematic. It's an impeccably composed feature-length film cut to cinematic widescreen. One result of this fervor, however, is that Hellblade 2 lost some of what made the first game – much smaller, more focused and more personal, by comparison – feel unique.

Hellblade-the-first, Senua's Sacrifice, begins and ends with its hero, Senua, grieving her murdered lover, missing her mother, and struggling to break out from under the mountain of guilt and shame handed down by her father. It is a private and individually focused story. Senua spends the vast majority of the first game alone, with little but her delusions to accompany her.

It feels small and cramped as a result. Returning from a self-imposed exile, Senua is devastated after learning of the slaughter of most of her village, and spends the rest of the game battling manifestations of her guilty and traumatized memories. She ends up conquering her personal demons, coming to terms with her own unique way of seeing the world, and vowing to take this newfound understanding with her to new adventures.