Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II offers a fourth flavor of difficulty in addition to the Neopolitan of Easy, Medium, and Hard. Dynamic Difficulty is designed to work with the player, and deliver the optimal combat experience based on their skill level. Here’s how it works.
The Goldilocks Difficulty
Dynamic Difficulty adjusts the difficulty of combat (without touching puzzles) based on the performance of the player. Essentially, if you’re obliterating foes with ease and not getting hit all that much, the difficulty will increase. Conversely, if you’re being treated like a punching bag, the difficulty will scale down until that isn’t the case.
Due to how this operates, the game should feel sufficiently difficult without being rage-inducing and easy enough to enjoy without becoming a passive experience. In the time I’ve spent with Hellblade II, I’ve found this to be exactly the case. As I get better at blocking, dodging, and counterattacking, enemies get better at fighting back. When they get a little too good and I beef it, I’m able to get back into it with a more toned-down experience.
To adjust the combat difficulty in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, open the Settings Menu and select Gameplay. The Difficulty options will be right under Accessibility and offer four choices: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Dynamic.
Additionally, under the Accessibility menu will be options for Offensive and Defensive Actions. Default is your standard with you controlling Senua in combat. Simplified allows players to hit whatever button they like and the game will use the optimal move, regardless of what button was pressed. Self-Play essentially turns the game into a movie during combat as players aren’t required to press anything.
Ninja Theory is a studio that puts a lot of emphasis on accessibility and it’s incredibly refreshing to see. For those who want to sit back and experience Senua’s second out as a more theatrical experience absolutely can. Those who want to test their skills can dive into the harder difficulties. For those like me who simply want to enjoy the ride, there’s Dynamic Mode.
