Hades II

[h3] So, I've 100% this game, what can I say [/h3] It's kinda crazy to me, that the first game I've properly finished 100% and made a review on, was Hades 1. That game was the reason I've started doing these, so I think it's only fair I'll write this review straight from the heart, without segments and just how I [i] feel [/i] it. This game man. This ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game. I've had such high expectations from the first one, I mean, Hades 1 was literally my favorite game for multiple years. And it was specifically dethroned by its sequel. I am completely baffled at how amazing it is. I expected more of the same, with a couple of new things, BUT NO. They went absolutely Fcking wild with this one. It really should be called Hades 2.5, since they practically said ''Game content? Double it and give it to the next person''. They could've just given me more Zagreus shenanigans and I would've been happy. But they gave us a whole new protagonist, whole new areas, switched up the roster of Gods (and brought back some of the old), new assortment of weapons and basically revamped and upgraded already present systems. I HIGHLY advise you to first play through the first game. You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you played this first and then went back to Hades 1. Not only because of the lore, but also because you'll be missing a lot of things present here, that weren't in the initial First game. Once again, everybody in this game is hot AF. I am literally fawning over every damn character. You just kinda have to forget how absolutely horrible Gods in this pantheon are, because in this game, they are all very likable. I was very hesitant whether I'm going to like the new protagonist, but man, I just love Melinoe. Zagreus is my boy, I see myself in him still, but his sister is just such a well written character and protagonist. To Hell with it (literally), ALL characters are well written. I just love the gradual growth these characters go through and the pacing is [i] Just Perfect. [/i] Every run you learn juuuuust enough to keep you going, but not too much, to the point that you can speedrun the game in a few days. I've challenged myself to win as many runs as possible and finish the whole 100% in as little runs as possible. It took me exactly [b] 98 nights [/b] (runs) to complete. Out of those, I've lost about 13 (with 4 of those being unavoidable scripted deaths). But I'm a complete nutjob and a roguelike veteran, so I approximate that a normal mortal would need around 150-200 runs to completely finish the game. Enough general rambling, how's the game apart from the amazing story? The gameplay is a FCKING blast, in many aspects [b] Better [/b] than the first game. Personally I've preferred some weapons from the first game, but I've grown to love the new weapons. I don't even have a favorite, I have multiple favorite aspects of multiple weapons (since each of the 6 weapons has like 4 aspects). There are new enemies, new COOL AF bosses, new depths of relationships with characters (it's literally a dating sim sometimes), but most importantly, new ways to play your runs. They went so out of the box with some weapons and boon upgrades, that it kinda redefined how I play these games. I won't go into painstaking details, just know that I went from a long distance sniper type player, to a literaly suicidal maniac that goes RIGHT up to my enemies without flinching. They also reintroduced the [i] Heat [/i] systems as [i] Fear [/i] , which if you don't know, is a very interesting way to make your runs harder. You can give you enemies the standard of more health, more damage, but you can also give them extra shields, extra perks, possibility to respawn, bigger spawn rates, higher animation speed. You can add a timer, make pricier items in shops, limit the number of choices of boons, etc. etc., but my most favorite [u] literally upgrade bosses one by one. [/u] I cannot stress enough, how cool, amazing, refreshing and downright scary that is. You can go from easy no problem run to ''I am literally pissing my pants. Yes, as we speak'' type of mood. Supergiant devs are just masters at adding additional difficulty for skilled players. Gameplay might be the closest thing to a 10 as an aspect, easily 9.8/10 When it comes to artstyle and music, I couldn't be happier. They kept the charm of the first game and EXPANDED upon it. Some of the artistic direction is borderline gooning material. Did I mention the characters are HOT AF? Well, I'll mention it again I DON'T CARE. You're giving me a hot goddess protagonist? SIGN ME TF IN. Hotness level of these characters is out of this world, as it should. And the music? 5 songs went straight into the playlist. I'm literally continuing the trend from the first game, where in private, I would sing these beautiful songs in high notes sounding awful, but again, I DON'T CARE. The songs are.... UGGHH I CAN'T GET OVER THEM. Imagine someone approaches you to sing a song as a God of Music and you... FCKING NAIL IT?! Because now I want to nail Darren Korb for singing Fated Glory. That's how good the music is. When it comes to both art and music, they are both unreasonably good for a roguelike. What a damn treat. Music and Artstyle is an easy 9/10 I'll circle back to the story, because I want to emphasize how well written it is. I was very skeptical when I found out about the time proponent and time travel and how they would handle it. But they handled it MASTERCLASS. I also loooove the nuggets of wisdom and lessons this game has. It has the soul of old movies and fairytales that always had profound lessons tied to our lives. This game has Plethora of them. Not one or two, but going into double digits. About the importance of comradery, relationships with depth. Lessons about not wallowing in the past, about the folly of us mortals, about causes worth fighting for, about self respect and being example to others. About passion, hope, love and grief. I could go on and on about all the profound moments the game presents. Couple that with all of the resolutions that tie up both games and things you relive from the first game and you get an absolute gem of a game. I was literally sobbing as the credits rolled. How can you even top this writing now? 9.5/10 All in all bro, I've waited literal years (five of those) for this sequel and I have not been disappointed in the slightest. It completely exceeded my expectations, I couldn't have been more satisfied. If you haven't played the first entry, I highly advise you to do so, before diving into this one. Also, when it comes to 100%, it was almost completely seamless and not hard at all. There is like 1 fairly difficult one and I did it first try. How's a 100% achievement hunting even a challenge here? 9/10 This became my new absolute favorite. This is a must play when you like roguelikes. Hell, I'll say, it should be mandatory to play this Since I still don't give games a 10 (because a perfect game doesn't exist), this is easily [u] 9.7/10 [/u]

Hades 2 gave my Steam Deck controller stick drift, that's how you know it’s a good game. My wife’s boyfriend asked, "is that the game where you die a whole bunch?" ;( yeap “I’ll be up soon honey - just entertain yourself with your boyfriend and let me do one more run that’s all, I promise.” This game is Crack/Cocaine. It’s like Hades 1, but better. Jokes aside, Hades 2 is the only game I played that was so good in early access, I forced myself to stop playing. It took basically everything that made Hades good and made it better then added extra stuff for fun, as sequels go this is absolutely peak. There’s a reason this is the studio's first sequel. The original Hades was iconic and beloved, and the sequel still has that signature charm while just adding so much more. Every part of this game justifies its existence and every part of it is perfectly balanced and detailed, all while creating an entirely unique personality that separates it from the first. It’s an action pack, fast paced roguelite which also allows you to either have a semi-manual build or a randomized build throughout the run. It's so addicting and each run still brings something new, Supergiant really hit it out of the park. I love the way it fits in with my life, because I can just pick it up for a half-hour run a couple of times during a day and feel totally satisfied with that whereas a couple of half-hour sessions with most AAA action-adventures wouldn't feel satisfying at all. Gameplay is SO GOOD, so many options and variations on how to play and become strong it feels REALLY REALLY GOOD. Animal companions are nice little additions and all the weapons feel like they have a place and builds that make them feel positively busted. While I think some of the story beats have been a bit of a letdown in some degree the characters, writing, worldbuilding all feel positively great. Art is beautiful, character designs are at their peak once again (even better than the OG), gameplay is smooth as butter, and voice acting and music are phenomenal. Seriously as someone who loves some voicework, VA work here is ASTOUNDING. The cast does such a good job, Hecate especially just embodies the character. Old cast is also still great and it was a blast from start to finish. I'm probably gonna hit 100+ hours by the time I finish and that's fine, Supergiant killed it again even with the few gripes I have this game is still worth your time and money. If you're starting from Hades 1 you should keep in mind that you are coming from a game where you built up to being incredibly powerful to, functionally, starting all over here. Go try and play Hades 1 again with a fresh save and see if it feels like the same kind of obstacle. Hades 2 is, admittedly, a bit harder than I found Hades 1. Most significantly the dash, but learning how to use the Sprint is key, here. The starting weapon, is definitely meant to try to train you into using Omega attacks early on to get a feel for how to weave them into your combat and utilize them later in the game. Admittedly, I abused the hell out of the stun-lock by spamming the hell out of Special and staying as far away from whatever was trapped in my Cast as I could. But I genuinely think most people’s biggest obstacle with the combat (especially based on complaints from other reviewers like "enemies having too much health" or "I feel I do no damage") is because of the comparative factor of how far they’ve gotten in Hades 1. Take your time, be patient, and remember that these games are all about that gradual growth. Dying, while frustrating, is always the best teacher. Eventually, once you've got certain things unlocked, you'll start to feel that powerful feeling again and it'll all make sense. Honestly I had a blast with H2. I would not say it's overall better than H1, but there is more of it for sure. I miss some things about H1, and there are some things about H2 that are better. Overall I'm very satisfied, it is a great iteration on Hades 1 and does a ton of QoL to smooth the experience. If you enjoyed the gameplay loop of the 1st then this is a pretty easy recommendation. Go buy this freaking game, you won’t regret it. 9/10

The game is great, with fantastic character art and the storylines are amazing. Really gripping and worth every penny. The looping is smooth and very addictive, the mystery feels surreal, the voice acting is great and all the little mini games you can do are fun. Progress feels linear and rewarding, making the gameplay loop amazing. Only gripe is the storyline. Melinoe is too perfect, too goodie-two shoes and lacks some of the grit Zagreus had which made him fun. You hardly relate to Melinoe. Sure she can be naive at times and endearing but for a protagonist we live through so long, she is tiresome. Especially the end made me not root for her anymore. Spoiler re story beats I highly disliked: [spoiler]The ending story-line falls short. We do not even see Hades and Persephone in the House, we hardly see Zagreus, she is not reunited with her family at all. It is just fighting and war, ever-ongoing for her. It is so unsatisfying. I wish we visually saw the accomplishments we fought to achieve: a safe Olympus and a restored House of Hades. I wish we saw more of the Olympus drama as a reward for beating the last Olympus boss, I wish we saw more of the House of Hades cast as a lil reward for beating Chronos. But nope. I feel like they could have come up with a different solution as to why we can keep playing the game, like she needs to continue training or something. The found family of the Crossroads feels really flat. Why can't they all go to the House of Hades? Replacing that as your starter area after the epilogue could've been cool. Or having Hades/Zag/whoever else from her family visit from time to time at least. The fact that our protagonist, after her whole story, is rewarded with continuous "work" instead of being surrounded by the people she fought to save is lame. No one from the Crossroads -feels- like found family. Just war comrades and unserious romantic interests. [/spoiler]