The decision to play the game was introduced by a member of a game research group who said that many elements of the Hellblade series came from interviews with mentally ill people, so it could be thought of as an exploration of psychosis. Before that, my impression of the game came from empty labels on the internet, such as "good-looking, not fun". And when I spent three days beating the game on and off, what impressed me the most was the performance of the "monsters" in the game and the related explanations. Since I happened to be paying attention to the topic of "monsters" recently, I took this opportunity to talk about the game. So, this isn't a game review (including spoilers), or rather, the game is a "monster", and I'm borrowing its eyes to talk about monsters and things related to monsters.
When it comes to monsters, the first thing that comes to my mind is "old cats". I don't know what it is, but I used to be scared of it, because my mother, in order to prevent me from going out at night when I was a child, told me that there were "old cats" out there and that they ate children. The "old cat" can eat children, naturally it is not too small, it must be much larger than the domestic cat, it likes to ambush in the grass that cannot be seen clearly at night, and there is a hint of mystery. At that time, there were no mobile phones, and I had to bring a flashlight at night, sometimes I didn't, although the moonlight was clear, but I always felt that there was some monster hidden in some invisible corner, and I didn't feel at ease until I walked to the street lamp.
Many elements of this childhood memory have become classic designs of the current game, such as "monsters", "unknowns", and "light". Nowhere is this more evident than in "Alan Wake", where the light of the flashlight is what the characters rely on to survive. Light is also important in Hellblade, as in the search for Huldufólk, the light from the torches can be used to illuminate the way ahead and to dispel whispering spirits in the water. At this point, it seems that we can say that in addition to some of its own characteristics, monsters also pose a potential threat to people.
In many adventure games, this also means that monsters are meant to be destroyed. They can be misshapen, scaly, or hordes of mobs or bosses with a (statical) sense of oppression. However, the characters in these games are not monsters, at least not the monsters of novels or legends that preceded the advent of video games. They are experience, equipment, and moral immunity. In other words, the game allows the player to defeat something to become stronger, and the image of "monsters" (and aliens) could not be more appropriate. I think Senua's Saga: Hellblade II ("Senua's Saga") put a lot of effort into restoring the nature of the "monster", even sacrificing so-called gameplay, like the aborigines in the game, performing a ritual to summon giants.
Let's start by counting the monsters in the game: first, the completely instrumental Dragul, then the Tröll, who have different story settings, then the hidden races, and of course Senna himself, and the tyrant in the cold snow, who is behind the giants, ah, so human, reminds me of the parents of many families.
I'm not going to put monsters in the sociological category so quickly, as mentioned earlier, the game is trying to recreate "monsters", which comes largely from parodies of Icelandic lore. For Icelanders, monsters, ogres and supernatural beings have always been part of the Icelandic landscape, the ancient and natural connection between Icelanders and the land, and even the essence of "Icelandic-ness". In a harsh, barren and strange natural geography, Icelandic monsters are more natural than social. It is also because of this that I think that in The Legend of Senna, the first giant, the one who lost his child due to a volcanic eruption, was the best portrayal. It looks like the legendary Tröll in Iceland, unfortunate, rude and violent, but at the same time (in the game) born in this cruel land.
The second type of monster is the Hidden Race, which Icelanders call Huldufólk, which means The Hidden People/Elves. There is a bit of an extension of the game here, because the game has too few descriptions of this type of existence, but fortunately, it basically corresponds to Icelandic customs. The natives in the game don't know much about hidden races, except that even giants are afraid of them. Senna also found a way to defeat the giants by hiding his tribe, but in the process of finding them, Senna was hindered.
Real-world Icelanders love hidden groups, and many claim to have been helped by them. Four festivals of the year commemorate these mysterious beings with bonfires, dancing and singing, and even now more than half of the population still believes that hidden communities are real (see Reference [5]).
Hidden tribes exist in the wilderness, rocks, and hills, and their dwelling places are forbidden to human culture. In 2011, Icelandic news reported an accident at a tunnel site, which was perceived by the residents as revenge for the destruction of the territory of the Hidden Communities, which eventually forced the town council and the developer to hold a ceremony to publicly apologize to the Hidden Communities and finally shut down the machines. Judging from the many events in the game and reality, the hidden groups can be seen as the primitive religious imagination of Icelanders in this land, and they are the most "Icelandic" beings.
The third type of monster is the protagonist we manipulate, Senna, who is a monster, not a psychopath. While the game does reference a number of psychic cases in the portrayal of Senna, it seems to me that the corresponding appellation greatly diminishes the power that the character is supposed to contain. She was banished, doubted because of banishment, and sought because of doubt. In this process, she does not deviate from some kind of norm as a carrier of disease, but as a monster to affirm herself. She accepted herself as a monster only to find an echo from the giants who were also monsters; She has power because she is a monster, and she expends her power in the search and confirmation of herself. I think that's the fascinating thing about Senna. Through this image, I pull the concept of "monster" back from its natural attributes to its social side, and also throw the question to the reader of this article, from the perspective of a human, a hairless biped, what exactly is a monster?
The monster is unsettling, not because we can't kill it, but because we have difficulty explaining it, which makes even the most knowledgeable philosopher find it tricky. Aristotle was the first philosopher to confront the "monster", and in the Four Chapters of Animals, especially in the volume of Reproduction, the "monster" and "freak" appear frequently and become important themes. HE LISTS VARIOUS FORMS OF MONSTERS, SUCH AS "CRIPPLED FREAKS", "CONGENIAL FREAKS", "FREAKS", "MALE AND FEMALE SHEEP", AND SO ON, AMONG WHICH THE TWO BASIC AND MIXED TERMS RELATED TO MONSTERS ARE ΤΕ' ΡΑΣ (VISION, MONSTER) AND ΠΗΡΟ'Σ (DISABLED, CRIPPLED). Here, the monster is reduced to a deformed and mutilated symptom, so the monster has a place to be born, a reason, and therefore a direction of "correction". The evolution from zoology to Aristotle's politics corresponds to the game's second giant, the traitor who fell to the bottom of the sea. The deformity of this traitor lies in his heart and deeds – he has fallen into the community and eventually becomes a monster – and forgiveness, admitting guilt is the way to "correct" his monstrous state.
But let's not forget that in many works (including, of course, The Legend of Senna), it is precisely the monster, or rather the deviation from normalcy, that constitutes the strongest driving force of the entire narrative machine. Perhaps we have always avoided acknowledging the power of monsters, which is why in word-of-mouth stories, they are always placed in the depths of invisible darkness.
In the book "Monsters and Weirdness", Kangielam begins by saying: "If we insist on reducing monsters to deformities, it is to understand the essence of life as a relatively stable order and structure, and the understanding of the phenomenon of mutation and "deviation" of monsters must fundamentally refer to this order and structure, and then use it as a "standard" (Norme) for "correction" and treatment." However, "the strange power does not come from the outside, but from life itself, and even from the original power of life; Secondly, weirdness is not just a negative and destructive 'negative value', on the contrary, it is actually a positive creative energy that reveals the origin of life...... The corresponding value of life (Contre-Valeur) is monster and not death".
The monster side is not so much a deviation from the normal state as the natural reaction of the unregulated life instinct to a strange world, which can manifest itself as a long, low wail, or as powerful and terrifying destruction, as well as a completely new creation. And ordinary people, while fearing monsters that they can't explain, have mastered the skill of "monsterization" over and over again. This is the fourth monster, the last character to appear in "The Legend of Senna" - the tyrant, or Leviathan, and his counterpart is the protagonist Senna. It is also in this antagonistic relationship that I believe that the tyrant is not the aforementioned monster, and Senna is not just a schizophrenic.
That's it, and let's stop for now. Originally, there was a longer writing plan, which was a bit of a dissatisfaction with the game, but I don't think it's necessary to criticize the game, and it would be further away from the game if I used this to extend the conversation. As for what I want to talk about, how the development team sacrifices "gameplay", I'll wait until I have the opportunity to write about it later.
Main references (because this is not an academic paper, it is not marked one by one in the text, but quotation marks are used, and if you are interested, you can find it according to the prompts):
[1] Jiang Yuhui, Liu Meijuan. Monsters, deformities and ghosts: a triple variant of the concept of "monster"[J].Exploration and Controversy,2018.
[2] Onnudottir, Helena. "The workingsof monsters: of monsters and humans in Icelandic society." MonsterAnthropology in Australasia and Beyond. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, 2014.179-193.
[3] Aristotle, Four Essays on Animals, trans. Wu Shoupeng, The Commercial Press, 2010.
[4] Kang Jilem, Normal and Sick, translated by Li Chun, Northwest University Press, 2015.
[5] Gunnell, T. 2007. "How Elvish Were the Álfar."
* This article is submitted by a user and does not necessarily reflect the views of Indienova.