Hellblade
 

Ho there, ho there. Spotted this just recently, coming game from Ninja Theory ( british developer who did work on a couple of titles…Heavenly Sword, DmC and very overlooked Enslaved, etc).
Long story short, they're publishing and developing this game as in between Indie-AAA space project, "experiment" if they can pull technical qualities of the latter, with lower budget/small team ( around 23 or so), relying on more invention.
Hack'n' lash 3d person rooted in hell realm, Celtic/Nordic mythology, with an interesting psychology behind main character who is also suffering from (a form of) schizophrenia.
Plenty of short length dev diaries here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42wG…BG-RoUOQ6BJRXp

This one was great to watch in particular( their video editor who is also modeling and providing mo-cap):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFhzVtHwJjA

Watched the whole deal, seems pretty interesting. Art, ambiance, visuals, sounds, mo cap performance and acting… really outstanding not just for a team of their size.
Story, in bare bones, seems fairly simple…girl goes to hell(heim) to save her lover( Eh? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Damn Viking feminism. : grumbles)
More interesting is her response to the world she's in, her descent into madness. Reminds for some reason of that Robin Williams movie, whatsitcalled?, plus the demon hacking.
Combat so far pretty simple, nice impact. They seem to be focusing of "immersive" aspect of it…her face shows visible pain, visual and audio tailored to each action, zero Hud cues of any kind.
Overall very good impressions and quite unique game of this form.

I played some of both Heavenly Sword and Enslaved, but never completed either. I'd like to return to those at some point. This game definitely has potential considering the developers history.

I'd recommend finishing Heavenly Sword for ending alone ( Enslaved is a bit weaker there and kind of drags on.
Nariko is incredible character, unlike any other in video games.

The game seems in early alpha, recent video:

And a new video, seems pretty not too far now:

Definitely one of my most anticipated games. I like how they seemingly blend theme/story, audiovisuals and gameplay in an organic way - e.g. the symbol based puzzles, binaural audio and (sometimes) distorted graphics all inspired by psychosis, and how everything blends with the story of a viking warrior suffering from PTSD and schizophrenia.

Not a dev diary, but eh?

Does it run on the PC ?

It is coming soon on GoG (DRM Free!):

https://www.gog.com/game/hellblade_senuas_sacrifice

PS3 exclusive unfortunately.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/41…uas_Sacrifice/

Oh ,its coming to PC. Watched a bunch of videos and it has jumped to the top of the list of my most anticipated games

Release is on 8th of August

$29.99/£24.99/€29.99

Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/41…uas_Sacrifice/
GOG: https://www.gog.com/game/hellblade_senuas_sacrifice
PlayStation Store: https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-…LLB2017NT002EN

Those pre-ordering for PlayStation 4 will receive an exclusive Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Dynamic Theme that depicts the iconic burning tree scene from the game. Those pre-ordering on PC will receive an exclusive digital comic short, Hellblade: Senua’s Song. With words by Hellblade creative director Tameem Antoniades and art from multiple Eisner Award nominee Ben Templesmith, the comic comes from a creative collaboration between Ninja Theory and award-winning comic book publisher Valiant Entertainment

I'm also excited for it. It jumped on my list right after I saw how they were planning on having the experience. It doesn't seem to be the classic button-mashy gameplay we usually see in these sorts of games. And I love the mix of Celtic/Norse themes and the idea of the vision-quest embarked upon by the protagonist. I love the whole dream-like feel of the encounters. I'm excited.

I like the combat as there seems to be more control given to the player with good freedom of movement for chaining attacks.

Also the main character animations are very impressive and full of personality.

My main worry is that the game will be 3 to 4 hours long with many cut scenes (hence the 30GB and relatively low price) with little replay value.

Will be short, but think it's a good thing…they're aiming for a more intense (psychological) experience here and honestly, their previous games had issues with dragging on more than they should.
Combat it seems will be a support feature…this seems more suited for end- of-the-level, thematic, boss fights, with little trash mobs in the way.

Really great peformance of main actress( complete rookie, their actual video editor):

https://youtu.be/OMENy0ptoyM?t=553

Either they're handpicking best scenes or this will be something else:

One of the very few game I bought months before release :) Very very anticipated ..

looks good for a walking simulator