You don’t need me to tell you the vast majority of players already loves Hades II. After all, Supergiant Games just needs to copy the first Hades to create a potential Game of the Year title. Of course, folks wouldn’t really be satisfied with that; Supergiant Games must innovate, carefully making sure not to stray too far from Hades’ blueprint. This ensures success for Hades II, and maintains the spotless reputation Supergiant Games has so carefully nurtured since creating their first masterpiece: Bastion.
No matter what innovations the developers throw at Hades II, its identity remains. Hades II is a fast-paced, frenetic action RPG roguelite where players meet Greek gods to power up, collect resources, and battle room after room of creative baddies until they beat the big baddie. The expected furnishings are here with an aesthetic that meets or exceeds the first title, a stellar soundtrack couples the adrenaline-infused bedlam, and voice acting is on par with the outstanding talent from the first game. While ostensibly serious, enough cute pets and humorous dialogue couple the adventure to take the edge off, putting on display a mountain worth climbing without emotionally draining players.
Chronos has kidnapped Melinoë’s family. Hades and Persephone’s daughter (and sister to Zagreus), baby Melinoë, was saved after Chronos infiltrated the underworld to exact revenge on the gods that tore him asunder long ago. Having grown up in the Crossroads, a sort of rebel hideout Chronos can’t seem to locate, Melinoë has trained for the day she can rescue her family and exact her own revenge against Chronos.
Players learn about the world not just through conversations with friends in the Crossroads, but by observation. Little comments are bandied about during each run, but understanding where Melinoë lives and what the road on the way to Chronos looks like contributes to the storytelling—as well it should. Without spoiling too much, she encounters all sorts of layers of the underworld, though always taking the same path across runs. The game also hints at—and delivers on—the ability to venture to the surface where the gods live.
Being a roguelite, don’t expect to have any prayer of beating or even seeing Chronos on the first run. Finding resources to boost Melinoë’s stats is a necessary evil—or boon, depending on your love of roguelites. In this way, Supergiant Games risks Hades II feeling like a grind, which was one of the few complaints folks could make about the first game. That said, it doesn’t usually feel like a grind. The studio has done a phenomenal job of pacing introductions to new mechanics, crafting opportunities, weapons, and characters.
This is the key to Hades II’s success, even in Early Access. Creating a fun, action-packed RPG isn’t enough in this saturated age of gaming. Players expect more. To meet that expectation, they have created the illusion of customization and growth. Arcana cards exist to enhance players, and while choosing what cards to use seems like choice, limited resources will force many players into a similar trajectory. At the same time, players “discover” more of the world at the pace Supergiant Games has carefully designed. In this way, Hades II is linear without feeling linear. Surprises happen across almost every run, adding seasoning to the already tasty offering that is attack-dodge-attack gameplay.
Make no mistake, I’m not criticizing Supergiant Games; the illusion is beautiful and I respect their ability to dole out the goods in a steady fashion without overwhelming players, not giving everything away immediately, and crafting surprises that don’t feel one-note. For instance, players will meet a new god here and there, earn a weapon, take further advantage of the environment, and gain new ways to bond with friends—all in a different order. This further enhances each introduction, which wouldn’t be the case if they offered all of the weapons straight away, for instance.
On that note, players may fall in love with the new weapon choices. The first Hades boasted a variety of weapons that all felt distinct from one another, and the same can be said here. I haven’t quite taken to all of the weapons in Hades II. Of the five I’ve used, only three have caught my interest, while I dislike the other two. In the first Hades, only one of the six didn’t impress me, and even that one wasn’t terrible (spear). Regardless of taste, the weapons certainly have a unique feel from one another, except for the first two available, which handle similarly to each other.
Players don’t get to call the gods for super powerful activatable abilities but get more opportunities to cast all sorts of enhanced weapon techniques using magic points that refill every room. Gods’ powers synergize these techniques and a new moon god offers a variety of spells players can trigger after spending enough mana. As of now, I feel like Supergiant Games is still figuring out the new elements. If I’m brutally honest, I’d say the new stuff—arcana cards, weapons, and god abilities—feel a bit vanilla or clunky. Not terribly so: the game is still enjoyable, though with a full release not anticipated until next year, I trust that they’ll iron out the kinks and find the right feel, as they have with every other title they’ve created.
Finally, if you’re a hardened Hades player who had sick win streaks and 100% of the achievements (like me!), don’t expect those skills to translate to this game. Hades II has a different balance with the gods; the returning gods have new abilities, and after putting in twenty hours, I still haven’t found anything quite broken, though some abilities certainly feel better than others. Also, the combat definitely feels harder, with more thrown at players and fewer opportunities to work the environment to my advantage. I don’t know if this is my fuzzy memory, but Zagreus felt more fluid than Melinoë.
Criticisms and praises don’t really count right now, though. Hades II isn’t done, but what’s available to play is certainly worth the price of entry. Most Early Access games for the same price don’t feel nearly as complete as Hades II, and if you absolutely can’t wait for the full release, this will scratch that itch. All that said, a patch has already been introduced with some fine-tuning controls and rebalancing. Expect more of that. As tempted as I might be to keep playing, I will likely wait until we get closer to release because I’d rather enjoy the full release. Don’t let me stop you, though: Hades II is oodles of fun, and you can pet the dog.
