Ninja Theory, the skilful developer of DMC, Heavenly Sword, and the under-appreciated (by my wacky estimate) Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (which is leagues better than the film inspired by the same novel), has been busting its talented, brawny buttocks working on what it describes as an “independent AAA” game, Hellblade, for the PS4. Today, they’ve released a developer diary describing the evolution of their protagonist, Senua, from her original concept art to her look in the most recent teaser trailer.
Inspired by an article about the discovery of a 1,600 year old Celtic shrine, and the offerings within that referenced a goddess of the same name, Senua is a lean, hardened warrior who, like her Celtic influence, fights with and often leads men into battle. When composing his first notes for the character, Chief Creative Lead Tameem Antoniades described Senua as the following:
“…a character of intense realism, beauty, anger and history. A mystery that drives the action and story forward revealing more and more seductive details as she descends deeper into a vision of hell. She is a challenging female form: not sexy, not skimpy, not young, not skinny, yet stunning, compelling, and believable.”
Naturally, Senua’s appearance is a work-in-progress that’s likely to change as her personality, motivations, and actions in relation to the story are further refined. Judging by how incredible (again, by my wacky estimate) female Ninja Theory characters Trip (Enslaved) and Nariko (Heavenly Sword) turned out, I think we can expect the final build of Senua to be a sturdy yet appealing powerhouse.
-Jedediah H.
News Editor
Send me a compelling, believable message at: jedh@digitallydownloaded.net
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