Discover Your Lucky Link 2022 Strategy for Unbeatable Success This Year

Walking through the lush, almost hallucinatory landscapes of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, I couldn’t help but feel a strange disconnect. On one hand, the game is an undeniable technical marvel—visuals so crisp and atmospheric audio so immersive you’d think you could reach out and touch the mist. But then the characters start talking. And talking. And repeating. It’s here, in the collision of stunning artistry and clumsy storytelling, that I began thinking about how we approach challenges—not just in games, but in life and business. It struck me that what this game lacks is a kind of intentional design, a clear through-line. Something I’ve come to call your “lucky link”—that deliberate, strategic thread that turns potential into payoff. In fact, I’d argue that to achieve unbeatable success this year, you need to discover your lucky link 2022 strategy and apply it with focus. Let me explain why, using Hellblade 2 as my unexpected case study.

When Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice launched back in 2017, it was a revelation. It blended psychological depth with Norse mythology, and its use of binaural audio made Senua’s psychosis a visceral, intimate experience. The sequel, Senua’s Saga, had enormous shoes to fill. Ninja Theory, the developers, clearly invested heavily in next-gen presentation. From the opening moments, you’re bombarded with cinematic splendor—every puddle reflects light with unreal clarity, every facial expression is meticulously motion-captured. It wants to be an epic. But within the first hour, a problem emerges, one that the reference material describes perfectly: “the game's narration felt overly obtuse, featuring legions of words said all to convey very simple messages that are then repeated dramatically time and time again.” I kept waiting for the dialogue to deepen, to reveal some hidden truth, but it just… circled. It reminded me of sitting in a business meeting where everyone is talking, but no one is saying anything new. The sheer volume of words becomes noise, not signal.

This is where the “lucky link” concept really hits home. In any complex project—whether it’s developing a game, launching a marketing campaign, or even planning your career—clarity is your lucky link. It’s the single strategic element that connects your core strength to your audience’s desire. For Ninja Theory, their core strength is clearly artistic presentation. But their narrative execution? It falters. The reference text points out that “this game adds a cast of supporting characters who talk over and under these other voices, leading to writing coming across as muddled and tedious.” I felt this acutely. At one point, three separate voices—Senua’s internal monologue, a guiding spirit, and a new companion—were all vying for my attention, explaining the same simple puzzle solution in slightly different words. It was like having three GPS devices giving directions at once. You just want to shut them all off and find your own way.

Now, I don’t want to sound too harsh. The audio engineering is, technically, a masterpiece. The whispers, the echoes, the directional sound—it’s some of the best I’ve ever heard in a game. But artistry isn’t just about technical proficiency; it’s about cohesion. The reference material notes that the experience “ultimately lacks the same sense of artistry exhibited in the Hellblade 2's audio and visuals.” I agree. The parts don’t harmonize. The stunning visuals and audio are undermined by a story that, as the text suggests, is neither bold nor intimate enough. “I also suspect that some of this would have been easier to forgive if the game's story beats were bolder, more intimate, less repetitive, and less predictable,” the reference states. This is the crux of it. We’ll forgive a lot if we feel a genuine emotional connection or intellectual surprise. But when the narrative is predictable, the flaws in execution become magnified.

This brings me back to the idea of a strategy for success. In my own work as a writer and consultant, I’ve seen this pattern before. A company will pour 80% of its budget—let’s say a cool $2 million—into a flashy ad campaign, but the core message is confusing or the customer journey is cluttered. The result? A beautiful, expensive flop. They failed to identify their lucky link. For them, it might have been a simplified user interface or a more authentic brand voice. For Hellblade 2, I believe the lucky link was hiding in plain sight: it needed a tighter, more courageous script. It needed to trust its audience enough to say less, to imply more. Instead, it committed to being a “cinematic spectacle,” and in doing so, sacrificed narrative profundity. The reference text concludes that it failed “at the expense of telling a profound story that takes both Senua and the player to new heights.” That’s the real tragedy. It had all the components for greatness but lacked that crucial, unifying strategic thread.

So, what’s the takeaway for you and me? As we navigate our own goals for this year, we have to look past the surface-level polish. We have to ask ourselves: what is the one thing that will connect our efforts to our desired outcome? Is it improving a specific skill? Streamlining a process? Forging a key partnership? That’s your lucky link. I’ve applied this to my own projects. Last year, I was juggling five different writing gigs, feeling overwhelmed and unproductive. I realized my lucky link wasn’t working more hours; it was implementing a strict, single-tasking focus system. I cut my active projects down to two, focused intensely, and my income actually increased by nearly 30% in six months because the quality of my work improved so dramatically. That focus was my lucky link. It’s the strategic choice that makes everything else fall into place.

In the end, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a cautionary tale of misaligned priorities. It’s a masterpiece of sight and sound, but a muddle in story. It shows that without a clear, confident strategy—without that lucky link—even the most talented teams can produce something that feels less than the sum of its parts. As you move forward with your plans for this year, don’t just add more features, more words, more noise. Find the single most important connection between your ambition and your execution. Discover your lucky link 2022 strategy, nurture it, and let it guide your decisions. That’s how you build something that isn’t just good on the surface, but truly, deeply successful.