Angsty Icelandic hiking simulator will get an enhanced edition in August, adding yet more graphics to Ninja Theory's visually stunning, mechanically wanting sequel. But it also brings back one of the more controversial features from the first game, namely, the icky black rot that crawled up Senua's arm each time she died.
"The Dark Rot from Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice has returned and offers an additional challenge for Senua on her quest to Iceland in this optional game mode," Ninja theory wrote in an. "The Dark Rot will grow each time you [[link]] fail, and if it reaches Senua’s head, her quest is over and all progress will be lost."
As for that visual update coming to the enhanced edition, Ninja Theory doesn't specify what graphical extras it will add, only that it will take the form of a new "very high" graphics setting the developer claims will "push the visuals even further". Expect all those volcanic rocks to look even more detailed, in any case.
Ninja Theory also confirms Hellblade 2 will be Steam Deck Verified once the enhanced edition arrives. I've no idea what it'll look like on Steam Deck, but Ninja Theory does have a knack for technical wizardry.
Alongside this, the enhanced edition will also bundle in improvements to photo mode and a developer commentary. All of [[link]] which is welcome, but personally, I would prefer it if Hellblade 2 was "enhanced" by making it more of a game. The original wasn't exactly a work of systemic genius, but the sequel pares things back even further so that you're barely in control, even in combat.
It's also a sequel that struggles to justify its existence more generally, as Robin Valentine explained in his." [[link]] Senua simply feels out of place in her own sequel," he wrote last year. "Where the first game was deeply personal to her character, in this story she feels like she's wandered into a sidequest in a setting she has no connection to."
Hellblade 2's enhanced edition arrives on August 12.