Hellblade is frigging amazing. Honestly, I remember quite a few games with good soundtrack or good sound design, but to use it this way? Even that game where you play blind girl in a haunted house was not able to use stereo sound not as a mandatory addition, but as an actual part of the experience.
Some say fighting is dull and simple, but, they need to remember, that this is not Devil May Cry. It makes sense. You can feel the impact of each blow through each animation, even though it is repetitive to a point. And the fact, that you do NOT see that there is someone behind you and the only indication of that are the voices in Senua's head... Again, that makes sense.
It feels close to Condemned: Criminal Origins, which was a very gritty and brutal experience. And visually while it's not photorealistic or anything, it's still good. Playing with lights and effects... Only one game comes to my mind to compare it, but it was a Far Cry from what Hellblade provides. And this is from just 1 hour of playtime so far. This is what fuels my passion, my desire to be able to make a game by the time I die.
Ninja Theory, thank you for another great experience.
A bit about technical stuff: 4k, very high, on GTX1070 - 30 FPS stable (remember, that it's not FPS that makes it smooth!). In terms of sound, I have Creative Labs Gigaworks T40 Seris II and it plays good, but I need to turn it up a bit more than usual. It's also fine with Sony MDR-ZX770BN. Sound differs, of course, but equally good in both cases. Definitely not recommended with integrated speakers or monitor speakers or whatever.
