I have to do more read-throughs on the novel, the chapbook, and the RPG supplement, which is largely what I was doing today. I’m sorry to say this is not a week where I can really be creative; it’s a week where I’m trying to pare down wordcount and typo-hunt. I’m starting to see deadlines from here.
2 thoughts on “Book infrastructure week here at MoeLane.com!”
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After hearing so much about it, I finally played Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.
Not a fan.
The good:
Norse myth, mostly played absolutely straight with all the horror and gore that implies.
Level design (with a couple of exceptions) is excellent, and will tend to nudge you through the puzzles without instruction or hand holding. (Exceptions for the blindness shard, and Garmr.)
Control scheme fits the theme*.
There’s a lot of good mindscrew for most of the game.
The bad:
In the final two segments, it falls apart under the weight of its pretentiousness. It’s not Narm, but it kicked my willing suspension of disbelief in the balls.
*The control scheme is rather inscrutable. A lot of that is intentional, but I would have really loved the opportunity to practice the combat moves without actually being in combat. (Or especially a nice little explanation of the nifty little feature the sword Gram gives you to hit incorporeal foes. I didn’t find out about it, or how to activate it, until nearly two chapters without using it. It would have been helpful to know.)
Camera angles, and the camera getting caught behind terrain. (It’s a third-person game with lots of close quarters, and dodge as a primary mechanic. Go figure.)
Political correctness contradicting lore. Surt is properly described as completely black and charred, but when you actually have to fight him, he’s the whitest Scandinavian you’ve ever seen. Hel isn’t much better.
Hagraven is one of the coolest bosses and levels, but I spent way too much time trying to figure out why I couldn’t remember anything about him. (Then I looked it up online, and was not impressed.)
I guess I should also mention the “schizophrenia is a blessing, and trying to treat it is evil“ message.
I’m pretty sure it was intended to be more nuanced than that, but any subtlety got lost in the shadow of the giant monsters.