Should you play Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice before Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2?

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 follows the unique perspective of Senua while she navigates a dangerous world full of Giants and Duergar. Here’s whether you need to play Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice to understand the new story.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was released in 2017, and it introduced the story of Senua, a warrior who seeks to save the soul of her dead lover from the Norse goddess Hela.

Now that Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 has released, some players are wondering if you need to play the first game before you try the second. So, here are all the answers you need.

Do you need to play Senua’s Sacrifice before Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2?

No, you don’t have to play Senua’s Sacrifice before you dive into Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.

However, it is important to note that playing Senua’s Sacrifice first will enhance your experience of the second game.

The first game deals a lot with Senua’s personal journey, her struggle with her “curse,” as the game puts it, and how she learns to accept herself through the trials she faces. Hellblade 2 sets you on a new journey, with a new Senua, and her story becomes a lot more personal if you have the context from the first game.

If you’re only worried about the story itself, though, you don’t need to play Senua’s Sacrifice before Hellblade 2. They’re completely separate and don’t really run off each other, the first game just gives you a little more context to some characters mentioned in Hellblade 2.

What happened in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice? Plot recap

In Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, players follow Senua as she arrives at the border of Helheim, the Norse mythology version of the underworld. Set in the late 8th century, Senua is a Pict warrior who believes that she’s cursed by the Darkness, an obscure entity that causes her to hear the voices of spirits that she calls “Furies.”

Senua’s objective is to save the soul of her dead lover, Dillion, from the Norse goddess Hela, who is the ruler of the underworld. She’s guided by the words of her old mentor, Druth, which allows her to find the path to cross Helheim.

While the warrior wanders around the underworld, players get to know her origin story. It’s revealed that Senua witnessed how her father, Zynbel, burned her mother alive for having the same “curse” as her. Convinced that her daughter was also tainted, Zynbel physically abused Senua and isolated her from the rest of the village.

When she grew older, she met Dillion and left her village to be with him. Sadly, a plague ravaged Dillion’s town, and Senua blamed her curse for this. She chose to exile herself, leaving her lover behind. When she came back after a year, she found that the Norsemen raiders killed everybody and that Dillion was sacrificed to their gods.

Senua swears to save Dillion’s soul from the gods and looks to bargain with Hela. On her path, she discovers that the Darkness is a psychosis produced by her father’s abuse and that her journey through Helheim is the way she’s trying to face Dillion’s loss. After accepting her mourning process, she gets to banish the Darkness and accept the voices she hears as part of her talents.

That’s everything you need to know about Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice before playing Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. If you want to know more about Hellblade 2, be sure to check out our guides below.

How to find the Hiddenfolk in Hellblade 2 | How to complete village puzzle in Hellblade 2 | Where to find all Hidden Faces in Hellblade 2 | Where to find all Lorestones in Hellblade 2