Senua"s Saga: Hellblade II is now less than two months away from its release. Developer Ninja Theory has been working on this sequel to the acclaimed single-player action-adventure game for some time. While much of the pre-release promotion for the game has focused on the developer"s attention to detail in terms of visual and historical accuracy for the Iceland-based setting, there"s another aspect of the game that will get some attention on Tuesday.
The Xbox Wire site says that on April 9, Microsoft will hold a live stream starting at 9 am Eastern time (6 am Pacific and 2 pm British Standard time) on its Xbox Twitch channel, along with Ninja Theory"s YouTube and Facebook accounts. The event will showcase how the developer worked with Professor Paul Fletcher of the University of Cambridge and the RCE Wellbeing Hub on how Hellblade II will depict the mental health of the game"s lead character, Senua.
In the first Hellblade game, Senua hears voices in her head, which she calls Furies, in her quest to save the soul of her lover. At the end of the game, she accepts these voices as part of her. The sequel will continue to explore her mental health journey in its storyline.
Microsoft says:
While she has come to a place of acceptance with the voices she hears and the way she perceives the world, she is no longer alone on her quest. She will meet people in Iceland with their own belief systems, who may come to see her unique perspective as a beacon of hope, while others reject it. Just as we did in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice we have once again worked closely with our expert partners to bring Senua’s experience to life in a truthful way.
The livestream will go into more detail on how Ninja Theory incorporated what it learned from its consultants on mental health into the storyline and Senua"s character for the sequel.
Senua"s Saga: Hellblade II would be a digital-only game release, with the standard version priced at $49.99. The game will be released for Xbox Series X and S consoles, along with the PC, on May 21. It will also be a Day One release on PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass.