If you weren't already excited for Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, Ninja Theory has now released a new development diary showcasing the insane "level of realism" and attention to detail that's going into this second entry.
This video focuses on how the team has gone about crafting the protagonist Senua in the next game, with a mention towards the end of how these same techniques are being applied to the rest of the cast.
"By capturing the likeness of real actors and handcrafting costumes using traditional techniques, we’ll achieve a level of realism that will further immerse you in our story. In our latest Development Diary we explore how we achieved this with Senua."
Interestingly, when the team was scanning Senua's actress Melina Juergens just a few years ago, it was only about a "gigabyte or so of data" to build her digital replica, whereas leading up to the sequel, there are now "terabytes of data" for every minute of a recording.
You can get the full rundown about the whole process in the 4K video above. Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 will be launching on Xbox Series X|S at some point in 2024.
Are you looking forward to Senua's Saga: Hellblade II? Tell us in the comments.
Comments 24
No wonder its taking so long when they are making a Film essentially with full Costumes, hair, make-up etc that's filmed and turned into a game. The difference between this and most movies appears to be that Movies don't tend to replace the Actors, just the green screen with CGI but then you can't control the Actors in Action. This seems to be a Movie production more than a game so far...
I think it also has to do with Unreals new RealityCapture and Metahumans technogies. they can now scan complete models and refine them or use optimized assets from the scans to use in their handmade character model creations.
When I see some proper mixed up gameplay etc I will start to get excited.
But I’m hoping for big AAA that Xbox needs, you know TOTK, GOWR.
Oh and some advertising to go with it not just on the internet.
Wel hopefully it’s an actual game and not boring puzzle …see how quickly scorn was forgotten
@OldGamer999 I keep hearing this about lack of advertising. But Starfield was advertised massively here in London, as was Halo infinite. TV ads, internet banners, YouTube ads, magazines, public transport (train stations, tube stations, buses, bus stops, etc). Couldn’t walk 5 minutes in town without seeing it again. I saw it when I was up North too. Guess it depends where you are.
@TheSimulator Scorn is a terrible game in many ways, but I can’t forget it. Memorable
Hope they change thing up from the first one. Was really enjoying it but quickly got bored of having to find symbols in the environment every 10 minutes to progress.
Someone said it before they are throwing resources having the trip of their life into northern europe
Do we actually think this game is coming 2024? Development for like 700 years and we’ve yet to see some solid gameplay.
@Kaloudz
I don’t think there is like a true Xbox stigma.
I just think there are more PlayStation and Nintendo owners/ fans so just by odds if everyone was having ago against everyone the more with majority seem to be attacking more.
So like one Xbox fan having ago against 3 PlayStation or Nintendo fans. Which I think is roughly the fan base odds 3:1 in favour of Sony or Nintendo.
@Kaloudz The Game-play 'loop' itself wasn't necessarily what garnered Critical Acclaim. Tackling Mental Health in such a way and deliver a game that really punched above its 'budget' and made by a 'small' independant Studio factored in far more.
It was a 'remarkable' game that really did punch above its budget and tackled the sensitive subject of Mental Health in a superb way - hence Critical Acclaim. The Soundscape they created in this too was another aspect that impressed critics.
People will have different expectations now too. Not only is this a much bigger Budget game, its also now a First Party game with a much bigger team involved so we will see if they can repeat the success and critical reception with much greater expectations.
The 1st one was a classic game and so emotional as well I Hope this game lives up to the hype and its needs to release next year as well
If not a date, I'd like them to show us at least some gameplay by the end of this year.
@Kaloudz it met critical acclaim because of its themes ,not its lacklustre gameplay.
Im betting on a gameplay reveal at the game awards.
If we ever see real gameplay and something the player genuinely controls I might get excited. Right now Im seeing a digital movie which is technically interesting and a great flex, but doesnt look involving or satisfying from a gameplay perspective.
I fell off the first one pretty hard due to the disconnect between decent combat and obtuse puzzles. The constant psychosis whispering was tired af after 30 minutes.
I really enjoyed this studios heavenly sword, and Im hoping that maybe this game will be that earlier feel of game, but obviously a seriously upgraded experience.
Hopefull, but more questions than answers so far on this...
@Kaloudz It is true that the first Hellblade very much focussed on the protagonists MH and psychosis. It was one of the earlier titles that would tackle these issues openly and started shifting awareness to mainstream media, which was still a little more hidden 6 years back.
As such, a duscussion of the way the game handles depictions of these conditions did dominate many reviews - its interesting to read them now. You are completely correct that this should not affect an evaluation of a game, but I do feel it gave an OK game an extra point in some reviewers appraisals at the time.
Its sound design was excellent in that regard.
Nice to know you evaluate just the game with your own reviews.
Were you published or working for an outlet, when you reviwed or was it for your own site or buisness? Sorry to be nosy, but if you are willing to share, Id be interested 😊
@Kaloudz its just my opinion, great intentions ,boring game ,talent was there ,hopefully with a bigger budget they can make a better game,I just hope all this costume making and face painting wasn't a waste
I think they have a legit gameplay trailer with combat n stuff in it, but are holding it until they give a legit release date. Then when the game is roughly 1-2 months out, they will start breaking down the gameplay mechanics. They have legitimate plans about exactly how they are going to market a game n what bullet points to include when.
By the way Ninja Theory has been consistently putting these dev diaries, I'm sure they will have some excellent marketing the closer the release date actually is.
That "insane level of realism" needs to be in the game. It can't be like that now, and then the game comes out and it's completely different.
Just some more advanced LA noire face capture, obviously because that game came out over a decade ago.
I don’t want to hear anything else about this game other than a release date.
Let's hope that gameplay will be interesting unlike the first time.
Ninja Theory are an absolutely incredible studio. cant wait to experience The Hellblade 2 Journey. Just to note the Number of Xbox studios who expertise in Motion capture and are capable of it have been increasing significantly
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