Back in the dim and distant days of the pandemic, I was deep in the pits of hell. Not the metaphorical hell we all lived through in those years but the hell of ancient Greek legend. As Zagreus, son of Hades himself, I attempted to escape again and again through Tartarus, Elysium, and more. Foes were brutal, the roguelike nate of powers compelling, and the action swift and fun.
Now we return to the Underworld in Hades 2 from publisher Supergiant Games, following Melinoe, the secret daughter of Hades, sister to Zagreus, and witch. She has her own set of problems as the titan Chronos has take over Hades and is trying to bring down the Gods themselves.
The formula is still very much Hades. Choose a weapon, dive into the depths, tackling monsters and bosses. Receive boons from the gods that power you up, combine them with upgrades to your weapon, and various other bonuses along the way. Become a servant of death, wreak vengeance however you see fit. Death to Chronos.
Melinoe’s combat is a different beast to that of Zagreus’. Where Zagreus felt ‘balletic but chunky’ to quote myself, Melinoe feels faster and lighter. This does change based on the weapon you choose, but her core movement feels agile and quick. Choose the axe and your attacks become slower but more powerful. Pick up the twin blades and you’ll be zipping around backstabbing. Each of the six weapons comes with 3 aspects and every choice feels revelatory. The axe becomes faster, the floating orbs of the duel wands weirder and harder to use, but devastating when you get a handle on them. I have not played with all the possible combinations but each one I have used has been a joy. I’ve been letting the bonus bones for wielding a certain weapon guide me, discovering different aspects of play as I go.
As with all roguelikes these upgrades come at a price. You’ll gather resources from the underworld not only to improve your weapons and open options at the vendors, but also to weave the magicks that Melinoe has been trained in. You’ll gather minerals, flowers, bones, and even lost souls as you travel.
Hecate is a goddess of magic, witchcraft, and the moon. They have trained Melinoe over the years, training them in both magic and combat. Many of the story beats, and a lot of the upgrades, are based around the cauldron in the crossroads that Melinoe can add ingredients to.
The crossroads is at once the game hub and its story nexus. Here you will get help from Odysseus, long dead but very useful tactician, and Nemesis, one of Nyx’s daughters and your combat trainer, and more as the plot moves on. I am going to try and avoid spoilers as much as possible but we do need to discuss the largest change to the Hades format.
As the story progresses you learn that Chronos is not only subjectively the underworld but is also laying siege to Mount Olympus. This means that Melinoe must venture onto the surface giving you two routes to choose from every time you start a run.
The splitting of the runs initially feels like too much. In fact if you are coming to Hades 2 without playing the first game you might find the initial experience overwhelming. There are the multiple resources to manage, lots of power combination choices to make, and numerous moments of frustration as you get to grips with the combat only to fail. It is a lot at first and you are very much thrown in at the deep end straight into a run.
The story, and its associated unlocks, push you in different directions. Your initial journeys on the surface are cut short by your genetic incompatibility with living outside the underworld. You are soon able to overcome this restriction and unlock a whole new set of challenges.
The surface is definitely harder than the underworld. The Bosses are more brutal, the enemies more cunning and less predictable, at least initially. It is also more imaginative in its arenas and locations, feeling like a literal and metaphorical breath of fresh air. Alongside the new locations a fresh part of the Greek pantheon opens up, giving you a whole host of new choices above and below.
It is an absolutely gorgeous game from its location design to the beautiful music. Like the first game it has brilliant voice acting. The location design is fantastic and every level drips with setting details and atmosphere.
It is also horny on main. The first Hades had a certain aesthetic amongst its cast that can only be described as sexy. Zagreus and the Pantheon were all portrayed as beautiful. Hades 2 dials that all the way up to 11. Like the first game it includes a sub-game where you can develop various relationships with the cast of characters you encounter along the way. Romance options are initially hinted at, and the choice of who to pursue is very much down to you. With no effect on the main gameplay you can engage with this part of the drama as much as you want.
As with the first Hades you can get to the end of the main story and there are still more objectives to achieve. The pact of punishment is back in a new form, allowing you to dial up the difficulty in multiple ways and giving you goals to aim for. There is more story to uncover, and a whole list of objectives to hit should you want to. I’ve gotten to this stage after about 70 hours of play.
I played the original Hades for about 120 hours but I did start in early access. I have found my time with Hades 2 coming to an end with the wrapping up of the main plot. It feels like a more complete story at this point than Hades was when you completed the main narrative. With Hades I remember feeling compelled to play more, but here I find my interest waning. That is totally fine, and I’ve enjoyed my time immensely.
There is a phenomenon I’ve noticed with early access games which could be called feature bloat. The game is bought by enthusiasts before its full release and those folk will play it to death and some of them will give feedback to the publisher. The publisher may act on some of that feedback but here is where issues start to creep in. Sometimes that feedback is from really hardcore fans and they just want more. More options, more game, more, more, more. Especially in the roguelike genre, I feel like this can ruin games. Suddenly a tight design feels bloated and baggy. I don’t think Hades 2 has this issue as much as other roguelikes I’ve played, but there are hints of it at the peripheral of the experience. I especially felt this as I finished the main plot and just didn’t feel that pull to continue.
Hades 2 feels like a more complete game all that said. Its systems have a little more polish. The combat is slicker and more satisfying with a wider range of styles. The story is well voice acted and written, but does feel a bit more modern fantasy TV show than Greek tragedy like the first game. That they have managed to achieve a second game in this series that is better than the first is a phenomenal achievement.
In evolving, Hades 2 has stepped further away from its inspirations remixing the Greek myths into a riot of action, betrayal, revenge, and romance. This reminds us that stories are meant to be retold, reimagined, and reinterpreted. We give them new meaning by looking at them from our perspective. We take them, turn them over, pull them inside out, looking for new ways to tell old tales. Every time we play a game we tell a new tale of victory, defeat, co-operation, and backstabbing. What tale will you tell with Hades 2?
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