Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - Rescue the stranger from the Draugar Ritual

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a 2024 action-adventure game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game serves as the sequel to Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (2017) and is set in 9th century Iceland, drawing inspiration from Norse mythology and culture.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II was created with a higher budget and a larger team when compared with its predecessor. The gameplay is similar; it features combo-based combat, as well as puzzles. The gameplay and visuals have been revamped: faster-paced combat, and improved visuals built on a new Unreal Engine, while retaining the psychological horror and focus on Senua's struggle with psychosis

Plot
In the 9th century, the Orcadian warrior Senua is willingly captured by Northmen slavers and taken across the sea from Orkney to Iceland, hoping to free her enslaved people. A storm destroys the slave ships and Senua washes up on shore. As she navigates along the coast, Senua experiences vivid hallucinations and is haunted by voices only she can hear that encourage or intimidate her, including the Shadow, the memory of her abusive father. Senua defeats the slave master, Thórgestr, taking him prisoner so he can lead her to his settlement of Borgarviki.

Along the way, they encounter a razed settlement, which Thórgestr fearfully blames on the draugar, a legion of feral and cannibalistic barbarians. Senua follows the devastation to a Draugar camp and frees the captive Fargrímr, sensing his importance to her journey. The draugar are alerted and summon the giant Illtauga, who causes a rockslide which buries the camp. Senua and Fargrímr escape and return to the restrained Thórgestr, whom she decides to free because she senses good in him. The trio travel to Fargrímr's settlement which is on the brink of ruin due to Illtauga's attacks.

Fargrímr explains that the Askja volcano eruption broke the walls between Midgard and Jötunheimr, allowing the giants into their world, and Borgarviki sacrifices slaves to appease the giants. Believing Senua is a seer because she hears voices, Fargrímr sends her to find the Hiddenfolk, god-like beings who live underground, who may know the giants' weakness. After passing tests to prove her worth, the Hiddenfolk tell Senua that Askja blackened the sky and blighted the land, causing famine, conflict, and the emergence of new, crueller gods. A desperate woman, Ingunn, left her infant in the Hiddenfolk's caves, hoping they would protect it and, in her anger, sought power from Asjka to survive, turning her into Illtauga. Senua confronts Illtauga with her true name and returns the bones of her infant, turning Illtauga to stone. Seeing her victory, Thórgestr resolves to join Senua's journey.

Senua, Fargrímr, and Thórgestr travel to Baroarvik for resources, where their leader Ástríðr asks them to kill Sjávarrisi, the giant devastating their shores. The Hiddenfolk tell Senua that Sjávarrisi was a good man but, overcome by fear following Askja's eruption, he secured his safety by betraying Ástríðr's father into a fatal ambush. The settlers exiled Sjávarrisi and he was swallowed by the sea, becoming a giant. Draugar attack Baroarvik and although they are defeated, Senua blames herself for their arrival and the ensuing deaths. Senua and her allies lure Sjávarrisi from his cave, where Senua absolves him, turning him to stone.

While traveling through the haunted Járnviðr forest on route to Borgarviki, Fargrímr, Thórgestr, and Ástríðr are stricken with fear and doubt, but Senua supports and leads them to safety. At Borgarviki, Ástríðr and Fargrímr free the restrained slave sacrifices left outside while Senua and Thórgestr confront his father and Borgarviki's leader, the goði. He refuses to listen to Thórgestr, and Senua deduces that the goði needs the giants because their threat allows him to maintain control over his people. Learning the slaves were freed, and with the giant Tyrant approaching, the goði captures Senua and attempts to sacrifice her, but Thórgestr confronts him. Senua is drawn away by the Hiddenfolk who reveal that Tyrant was a noble leader dedicated to protecting his followers following Askja's eruption. However, he was corrupted by the power they instilled in him and, when things improved, he gave them something new to fear by creating the giants and blaming them for natural disasters.

Returned to reality, Senua witnesses the goði mortally wound Thórgestr. Before dying, Thórgestr warns Senua that if she kills the goði someone else will take his place. Senua defeats the goði, revealing his lies about the giants to his followers and turning them against him. She is tempted to kill the goði and take his place, becoming like her father and controlling her people to keep them safe at any cost, in turn receiving power, love, and fear. She relents, however, embracing the supportive memories of those she has saved and the realization that she is not bound by