Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a dark fantasy action-adventure game developed and published by the British video game development studio Ninja Theory. Inspired by Norse mythology and Celtic culture, the game follows Senua, a Pict warrior who must make her way to Helheimr by defeating otherworldly entities and facing their challenges, in order to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in August 2017, Xbox One in April 2018, and Nintendo Switch in April 2019.

Plot
Set in the late 8th century, the game starts with Senua, a Pict warrior from Orkney arriving at the border of Helheim in a quest to save the soul of her dead lover, Dillion, from the goddess Hela. Senua believes she suffers from a curse and hears "Furies", voices in her head commenting her every action, notably one, the Narrator, who is aware of the player's presence and talks to them. She is followed by the Darkness, a dark entity at the core of the curse. She carries Dillion's severed head to use it as a vessel to his soul and is guided by her memories of the stories of Druth, a former slave of the Norsemen well-versed in their legends, now deceased, who became her friend and mentor during a year-long self-imposed exile. To enter Helheim, Senua defeats both the fire giant Surt and the spirit of illusions Valravn, but as she crosses the bridge to Helheim, she is attacked by Hela, who defeats her with a single blow, shattering her sword. Barely surviving the encounter, she follows visions of Druth and a man-shaped light she believes to be Dillion to a great tree where she faces four challenges linked to her past and is rewarded with the legendary sword Gramr, strong enough to kill gods.

Meanwhile, Senua's backstory is unveiled through her hallucinations, revealing that her mother Galena suffered the same curse she did but did not believe it to be dreadful. However, Senua's devoutly religious father, Zynbel, did and burned Galena alive. Senua witnessed the event at age five, which caused her psychosis to worsen significantly and led her to convince herself her mother died willingly. Her father, convincing her that her condition was a curse, abused Senua emotionally and physically and isolated her from the rest of the world until she met Dillion when he visited her village. The two fell in love, and Senua left her father to be with him, as he saw her as different and misunderstood instead of cursed. However, after a plague killed many in Dillion's village, Senua, believing the fault to be hers, left in exile. When she returned a year later, having hopefully left the Darkness behind, she found everyone killed by Norsemen, who had invaded, sacrificing Dillion in a blood eagle to their gods. Remembering the stories of Druth, Senua departed on her journey to save Dillion's soul from the gods of the Norsemen.

Ultimately, Senua fights against the influence of the Darkness and defeats the beast Garm. She realizes the Darkness is a representation of her father's abuse and beliefs and frees herself from the Furies. Soon after, she faces a legion of Hela's warriors in a hopeless fight and is killed. In her final moments, she recalls Dillion telling her of the importance of the acceptance of loss. As the imagery of Helheim fades away, Hela drops Dillion's head into the abyss, but as the camera returns to her, Senua is standing in her place, with a dead Hela in place of Senua's body. Having accepted that it was never possible to bring her lover back and that she is not responsible for his death or anyone else's, Senua frees herself from the Darkness' influence and accepts the Furies not as a curse, but a part of who she is. She invites the player to follow her, while the Narrator says her goodbyes to the player.