As someone with a form of psychosis, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice means a lot more to me than you could imagine.

The dominant voice could very well be Senua's inner voice (however I think it might actually be the game's Narrator, but it can definitely be both), as it is kinda the same with me. The dominant voice can sound like any voice, at least in my case. Sometimes my dominant voice sounds like people from movies or video games, or other people I've met in real life. Depending on the severity of the mental illness, they can be put in the background when necessary, but are still there as it is with me. I can tell them to shush for a while, but they usually don't stay quiet for long and go back to chattering about my surroundings or my life.

The voices (or chatter) can range from random chatter to context-sensitive "analyzing," for lack of better words. For example, just like in the game, there are voices cheering me on, but there are also voices telling me that I'm nothing. That I can't do it. That I should just sit here and rot because I'm no good for anything else. They laugh at me, call me names, and constantly talk down to me. They can sometimes help me analyze my surroundings and help me think about things in ways I otherwise wouldn't. Like maybe I'll see someone on the sidewalk and my voices would... It's so hard to describe... They might be like, "Watch out. He doesn't look friendly. No, he doesn't. Be careful. Keep an eye on your surroundings. Don't forget about your weapon. Pay attention." et cetera. Just constant chatter. Sometimes I'll hallucinate and see auras or information about people. It's not like LSD (which I wouldn't know, but I'm just guessing), but it's so hard to explain...

I've named these separate voices different things based on what they usually say. Because of how difficult it is to "separate" the chatter, as it were, the names I've given are just emotions. Happy, Anger, Hatred, Sorrow, et cetera.

My favorite voice, the one that was always with me, showed me her face and gave me her actual name, after which she left forever. She was always so kind to me and always wanted me to be happy. She left with a smile, and that's the face I remember her by. Then all my other voices left me pretty soon after. I don't know if there are any words in the English language to describe the sense of loneliness after all my voices left me and I was left with silence. The only way I can describe it is imagine you lived in the same house, with the same people, your entire life. Then, all of the sudden, they all died in the blink of an eye. I was so lost without my voices. I cried. I was shattered. Sometimes they come back and talk to me (I guess the more accurate phrase is talk "at" me), but otherwise, they are gone.

I've really tried my best to give you the best reply, so I'm sorry if this might be a little incoherent or all over the place, or if you feel you didn't get the right words. This took me a long time to write out because I just... It's so hard to find all the right words that really convey the emotions I'm trying to get out.

/r/gaming Thread Parent