Hades II

If you like Hades you'll like this. Obviously Hades set the bar very high and it's basically untouchable. I've noticed this trend that sequels often fall short of the original at times. And this is one of those cases. Yet it doesn't mean the game is bad. It's enjoyable, and the quality of life is 100% fine. I'd say play Hades before this, or wait for it on a discount sale. But it won't be a waste of money

Hades 2 does many things better, and many things worse. My views after having completed the original with 100% achievements. This game is a lot richer than its predecessor and has many more fun mechanics and items to play around with. I also appreciate that there are two different paths, as it breaks the monotony and can be refreshing. The same goes for the open-field area in the underground. However, the top side is unfortunately very bad, in my opinion, for multiple reasons. Specifically, the Mount and Summit. The first two regions are great, especially the first one. Once you start the mountain climb, though, it falls apart. Yes, the difficulty is ridiculously dialed up, but that is not my main issue. My main issue is the boss and level design. Since it is essentially two regions in one, it becomes very monotonous, and that is made considerably worse by the fact that almost every encounter has the same enemies and takes place in the same kind of boxed-in room. It is tight and creates an absolute mess of visual clutter and enemy numbers without giving you much freedom of movement, which seriously hampers any kind of strategy beyond spraying and praying for the most part. The bosses are also very lame. Prometheus will literally stop the fight to play a memory game with you, which is both concentration and immersion-breaking, while also being far too punishing if you miss one, or god forbid, multiple sequences. It can burn through a bunch of your revives. That sequence should automatically end if you trigger a Death Defiance. The Summit throws multiple hard-hitting bosses at you without giving you any real chance to recuperate or heal before going into the final boss. And that final boss is atrocious. The fight itself is long and boring. It is essentially a damage sponge where you find yourself running up, throwing a cast and getting a few hits in, then running around, and repeating that ad infinitum. It is so lame that after beating him the first few times, I was reluctant and dreading having to redo that fight. It is simply not fun. There is challenging difficulty, and then there is cheap difficulty. In a lot of cases, the Summit falls into the latter. That is especially disappointing because the vast majority of the rest of the game is fantastic. There is so much I want to love about this sequel, but that Mount + Summit section really puts a sour taste in my mouth. Unrelated side note: I kind of wish all the small talk you have with the gods and companions would actually result in something definitive. It can be fun from a lore perspective, but at the end of the day, you know nothing will come out of all the talking. It is just talk for the sake of talking. It is interesting at first, but gets annoying as you go on. This was somewhat of a pet peeve of mine since the first game, to be fair. I end up skipping most of it after a couple dozen hours. They speak of solutions and make promises, but you know it will lead to nothing because it cannot. There is no closure, and therefore it gradually loses its value. If they ever make a third one, I really hope those conversations occasionally lead to something concrete and actionable.

Good game! Although I got slightly confused with the story by the end overall a good sequel for HADES ---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☑ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☑ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ☐ Long ☑ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☐ 9 ☑ 10