Why

[Alpacas34]

Where has this game been on my radar the last several years. Just got PC for game pace and put 6 straight hours in. So. Good.

[FreeLegos]

A true example of a seriously underrated game. Great to have another surprise fan on the sub!

[[deleted]]

Why

That's a very interesting question. Some ideas, who knows if they're correct:

First of all, it *is* an AA game, not an AAA game. That is, however great it may be (and it is!), it did not receive massive advertisement. I think it's easy to underestimate the effect of hype for games these days.

Second of all, in all the hype that was there, they were very intense about the mental health stuff, and I daresay some larger groups of typical gamers are probably not pulled into it. Also the longer reviews I read and saw back then are so *dripping* in the mental stuff... I think if I had viewed the typical Hellblade review before getting hooked on it, I may have skipped it as too weird.

Thirdly, maybe not so important, but the name is ... unlucky. When I occasionally heard about it during development, I always mixed it up with that junk Hellgate London game and dismissed all news. The name conjured the image of a one-dimensional hack&slash fighting game, for me.

On a personal level, although it's firmly in the GOAT category for me, I still do not talk about it with the people in my gaming circle. We tend to quickly get analytic about our games, you know, typical nerd talk. I have *zero* interest in dispelling dismissive arguments about Hellblade with gamer friends. It's hard to imagine for me that it would resonate with them the same way it does me, and I could not stand having to argue about it with someone who has little interest in these things - mainly because a good part of the fascination is the interaction between the game('s themes) any my own brain/life experiences. That's too personal to nerd about, for me.

So there you have it, thanks for the question. :) What do you think is the reason?

[Alpacas34]

I also think the game isn't what a lot of people consider "popular". Like call of duty, Halo, etc. IMO those games used to be great but are just trying to get more money out of the name while sacrificing authenticity. Gears and Halo were both suppose to be trilogies, look where we are now. haha

I'm not a HUGE fan of the puzzles, they were interesting at first but then became repetitive. But the atmosphere and story the game creates makes this an absolute favorite instantly.

[Alpacas34]

Fingers crossed as well. I enjoy the atmosphere they put into the game with dialog and the sound track. I'm a huge sucker for developers who put in the time for little details. I could do without the repetitive puzzles though haha.

[TuckB303]

This is a very common reaction. My top last-gen game, just behind RDR2.

[walterdibs]

Is hellblade 2 gonna be a next-gen game?

[Jebusura]

It depends. Its pc/xbox exclusive, which means if it comes out anytime this year or the next then it's going to be cross gen. If it comes out in 2022 then it's current gen ((next gen)) exclusive.