Greg Lobanov

Hey, it looks like Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is 25% off on Steam for the Winter Sale right now: http://store.steampowered.com/app/414340/Hellblade_Senuas_Sacrifice/ …

It's one of my favourite games of this year, lemme tell you why you should buy it.

It's a game about the Norse folklore. Except unlike so many games, it is *actually* about Norse stories, not just the thin trappings of Thor's hammer and horn-helmed vikings. It captures the grim determination to struggle even when that is not your fate.

The Norse gods are damned. They know it. Ragnarok is coming, it can't be turned away or prevented. The jötnar *will* come to Asgard. Many Aesir will be killed.

But the gods fight, drink, lust and live anyway. Their fate may be written, but it doesn't get to dictate how they will feel and act.

Hellblade gets THAT is what the Norse stories are actually about and crafts an entire game around it, even though the Norse stories are experienced from the perspective of an outsider.

It's a game where the protagonist suffers from mental illness, but it's not some curse to be undone. Nor is it some Cassandra-esque blessing that marks her as chosen. It's simply a part of who she is, no more and no less.

Presentationally, the game is stunning. It's at times menacing, bleak, cold, alien, overwhelming, solitary, distressing. But it is always tangible, solid and striking. And the audio is incredible and when the game opens saying you should be playing it with headphones, do it.