The "Set Design" of Hellblade

[Originally posted to r/Hellblade in September 2020]

I have a bit of a theatre background, and something that consistently blew me away when I played this game (and still does) is, to put it theatrically, the set design. The Valravn section is where I first noticed how amazing it was, but that feeling never subsided throughout the entire game. So here I'm going to talk about some of the things that I loved about it!

This isn't going to talk about the lighting or movement at all, because even though those are also integral to the visual aspect of the game, trying to fit that into all one post would be a monumental undertaking. I highly encourage everyone to watch the development diaries though, because they're all awesome and give great insights about every aspect of the game, especially those! Here I'm just focusing on the physical objects that frame Senua's journey, the "set."

To start off, game map design is a little different than theatrical set design in a couple ways. In a theoretical sense, it requires a different approach because games are meant to be entire, self-contained worlds- there's very little room for abstraction or empty space. You don't have a "stage" to work on top of, so you need to construct everything yourself. Theatrical set design, on the other hand, can get away with being more abstract because it's all still framed within the context of the physical stage. There's also the practical consideration that in theatre you're limited by physical materials and budgets, whereas in game design you have much more freedom to make almost anything you want.

But there's also lots of similarities, and those are what we're going to look at today!

One of the first things we see in the game is the gate to Helheim, which has some awesome design and symbolism. u/kelina19 already did an awesome analysis of the gate, so I'm not going to repeat all of that here. I highly reccomend reading it!

Just after that is the map that inspired this whole thing, the Valravn section. In this section (and to a lesser extent, the Surtr section), I was blown away with how they could make a natural landscape seem so, menacing. The developers clearly knew how to exploit every deep brainstem psychological trigger we have, to put us constantly on fight or flight mode throughout this section. The fact that some trees are alive but some are dead, the ropes and crimson cloth, the constant presence of cheval de frise and unexplained deer skulls, and most of all the Valvravn effigies that seem to watch your every move. I found myself constantly on edge every time I saw two sticks leaned up against each other, thinking, "Is this Valravn? Is this Valravn?" The set perfectly embodies the theme of the section, exemplified by the quote near the end: "We picture fear and we think of a shadow in the woods, a creature in the night. If only it were that simple. The worst kind comes without warning, a deep and primal signal from within. A reminder that just because you cannot see the threat, it doesn’t mean that it’s not already here." Great atmosphere building in every way, and the set is no excpetion.

The next section I'm going to talk about is the shipwreck shore. In games as in theatre, you should always assume that every decision is intentional, and that begs the question- after Senua went to the darkest place she's been so far, beaten by Hela, attempting suicide, why does she come out in a scene of other people's tragedies? The shore is literred with the shipwrecks of often massive Viking longboats, through which she chases Dillion. My theory is that since for the most part Dillion represents her inner happiness and well-being, this set represents all the people she thinks she's hurt on her search for that. She chases Dillion through the empty husks of death and destruction, which she clearly didn't cause yet for which she feels responsible. This ends in the cutscene that reveals how she met Dillion, only to pan back to the burning tree with the bodies swaying back and forth, and the voice in her head screaming, "You did this."

There's so much I want to talk about, but for the sake of this post not legally qualifying as a novella, the last section I'm going to discuss is Hela's hall. After the scene with the mirror and the runestones, Senua finds herself in the most interesting battlefield yet- a series of circular platforms, suspended by silver chains. This is my favorite set in the game, for many reasons. I don't have time to go into all of the intracacies of what's happening in the background as you fight, but one small thing caught my eye- if you look closely at the surroundings, you'll see that the art style here is more Insular and less Norse than the rest of the game. Senua being from Orkney in Scotland, this is a subtle visual representation of this final battle being in Senua's mind, and Hela and Senua being one and the same. A level of detail that gives me so much repsect for this game and everybody at Ninja Theory.

Before I wrap up, one final comment about the game as a whole- there's a super interesting duality throughout the entire game between the valknut and the treskelion. The valknut symbol appears lots of places- Surtr's land, the bridge, Helheim, just about everywhere Senua goes on her journey. And then there's the treskelion, which the game sort of treats interchangibly with the triquetra, being very similar symbols. They were both used by Celtic peoples, and being more or less the "logo" of the game, they represent Senua. There's actually a mathematical relationship between the valknut and the triquetra, but I'm not about to get too detailed into that here. Topologically, they're the same symbol. The valknut is associated with death, Hel, and all things Hela, while the triquetra is associated with all things Senua. But when all is said and done, they are the same, just as Hela and Senua are. Something I wanted to share.