myWebsite.github.io/hellbladeStory.html at main · Najorae/myWebsite.github.io · GitHub

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Story Hellblade</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />

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    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css" />

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    <script src="/script.js" defer></script>
  </head>

  <body>
    <header>
      <div class="container">
        <img
          width="145"
          src="assets/NJ.gif"
          alt="A reocurring gif of my initials, NTK, with a red heard above and a black and blue audio wave below in a grey white-outlined circle. The circle slowly appears in a blue backgrounded square along with purple and pink hearts in each corner."
        />
        <h3 class="textCenter" style="padding-left: 6%; text-shadow: 1px 1px white; font-size: 1.2em;">HELLBLADE</h3>
      </div>
    </header>

    <nav>
      <ul>
        <li>
          <a href="Video Games.html"> <-- Video Games</a>
        </li>
        <li>
          <a href="hellbladeIntro.html">Intro</a>
        </li>
        <li>
          <a href="hellbladeStory.html">Story</a>
        </li>
        <li>
          <a href="hellbladePsychosis.html">Psychosis</a>
        </li>
        <li>
          <a href="hellbladeCombat.html">Combat</a>
        </li>
        <li>
          <a href="hellbladeVisuals.html">Visuals</a>
        </li>
        <li>
          <a href="hellbladeMusic.html">Music</a>
        </li>
        <li>
          <a href="hellbladeFinal.html">Rating</a>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </nav>

    <main>
      <h1 class="textCenter" style="font-size: 25px; padding: 5px;">Story</h1>
      <p>
        The name Senua came from the name of a Celtic goddess that is not well known, who has a lot of mystery behind her. As they first developed Senua’s character, they described wanting to create a character of intense realism, beauty, anger, and history. They wanted her to be a mystery that drove the action and story forward to reveal more details as the player and Senua go deeper into hell. She and the player better understand Senua through her memories as they go further in the game. They wanted Senua’s character to be compelling and believable. She would be a warrior, as many women lead men into battle in Celtic culture. Part of her story involves her fear of darkness, which is called the dark rot in the game. Near the beginning, as Senua fights her first battle, words in big letters appear on the screen saying, “the dark rot will grow each time you fail. If it reaches her head Senua's quest will be over and all progress will be lost.” After this, each time you lose as Senua, dark veins creep up her arm.
      </p>

      <p>
        The actual story in Hellblade is first told by the narrator and then is passed onto different voices Senua hears. In the very beginning, the narrator explains that “this is a journey deep into darkness”, and starts explaining different parts of Senua’s history and present. For example, she begins saying that she never told us of the others, which introduces Senua’s voices/furies. The furies themselves say things like, “she’s doing this for him” and “the goddess Hela holds his soul” as they tell of Senua’s quest to Hel in hopes of saving her lover Dillian. Another important aspect of storytelling in Hellblade is the “lorestones” which have different symbols on each. To activate these stones, the player must focus and in doing so, Senua’s old friend Druth will tell different stories from Norse mythology like about the 9 different realms, or the different gods Senua needs to defeat. The idea with the gods in the story is that Senua needs to defeat both of them to open the gate to Helheim where she needs to complete her quest. The two gods are from Norse mythology: Surtr the god of fire, and Valravn the god of illusion. Senua must go through two doors which hold each god, but must first go through a series of illusion/perception based riddles to move forwards in the story, unlike other games which typically the player may have to find keys or collectibles to get to the next point. These include finding a specific symbol somewhere in the environment like an M in the trees that requires the player to wander about and position the camera in the right angle to see the letter. She also had to open doors by passing through trials of fire or figure a way to get across an area using doors which when looked through, made a bridge appear.
      </p>

      <img class="imgCenter" style="width:60%" src="assets/Hellblade Hela Upclose.jpeg" alt="Hela, a woman with half of her body shrivaling away appearing burt holding a skull in her hand with a structure of wooden planks.">
      <figcaption>Hela with Dillian's skull in her hands</figcaption>

      <p>
        Some criticisms I would give is that the story was a bit hard to follow and I wish they made some aspects of it more clear and cohesive. For example, I was surprised about some of the things they were explaining after I played the game when I watched their development diaries Youtube series. For example, it wasn’t clear how Dillian died or that Senua was talking to her dad. I also didn’t know she was a warrior and was confused about what her quest was as it related to Dilian. The other characters that she talks to or reminises about could have had more development. An interesting suggestion may be a diary, similar to other games, which allows players to understand more about the backgorund. I think for games, the scenes and dialogue are very important to convey the story the first time around. You can replay a section of a movie you missed or reread a paragraph in a book, but you often can’t replay scenes in games, so I just think the story could have come through more. Alternatively, they could have used checkpoints or chapters that the player could come back to. I think these are always great additions to the game as it allows you to fight your favorite boss or watch your favorite scene over again without having to restart the whole game. I also wasn’t satisfied with the ending, not to spoil it, but it didn’t feel finite and it was almost like she went on the quest for nothing.
      </p>

      <h3 style="padding-top: 10px;">CITATIONS & RESOURCES:</h3>
      <p>Mead, Fran. “Ninja Theory Official Site.” Ninja Theory Ltd, <a href="https://ninjatheory.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">ninjatheory.com.</a></p>

      <p>
        “Hellblade Development Diaries.” Edited by Melina Juergens, Youtube Playlist, Ninja Theory, 2017,
        <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbpkF8TRYizaT6GfMcKBG-RoUOQ6BJRXp" target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbpkF8TRYizaT6GfMcKBG.</a>
      </p>

      <p>
        “Professor Paul Fletcher (Hellblade Clinical Consultant) Keynote Address.” Performance by Paul Fletcher, Youtube.com, The International Games Summit, Oct. 2019,
        <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpRMwq4T9gU." target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpRMwq4T9gU.</a>
      </p>

      <p>
        “Hellblade: Senua's Psychosis | Mental Health Feature.” Youtube.com, Ninja Theory, Oct. 2018,
        <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31PbCTS4Sq4." target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">www.youtube.com/watch?v=31PbCTS4Sq4.</a>
      </p>

      <p>“Psychosis.” NHS Choices, NHS, Dec. 2019, <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/psychosis/." target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">www.nhs.uk/conditions/psychosis/.</a></p>

      <p>Community Written. “Northmen.” Hellblade Wiki, <a href="https://thehellblade.fandom.com/wiki/Northmen." target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">thehellblade.fandom.com/wiki/Northmen.3</a></p>

      <p>“Hellblade Official Site.” Hellblade, Ninja Theory, <a href="https://hellblade.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">https://hellblade.com/</a></p>

      <p>Hellblade Soundtrack (headphones recommended for 3D sound): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jZKRPcWLms." target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jZKRPcWLms.</a></p>

      <p>Hellblade Gallery: <a href="https://hellblade.com/gallery" target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">https://www.hellblade.com/pictures/.</a></p>

      <p>Buy the game! <a href="https://hellblade.com/buy" target="_blank" rel="noopener" rel="norefer">https://www.hellblade.com/buy.</a></p>
    </main>
  </body>
</html>