Over the last decade, roguelite games have gone from living in relative obscurity to standing alongside some of the biggest titles in the industry. What started as a relatively small genre with few entries, such as Spelunky, has slowly evolved and produced award-winning hits like Returnal, Vampire Survivors, Balatro, and Dead Cells, among others. That said, by far the biggest game of the genre, which has successfully managed to break through to the mainstream, is Hades.
Hades builds on the foundation set by Greek mythology and uses it to create a fantastic narrative, a lovable cast of characters, and a deeply engaging gameplay loop. In a genre where you’re constantly forced to start to run through its difficult gauntlet over and over again, you often need a compelling reason to continue. Thankfully, Hades excels at that, and you can’t help but say to yourself over and over again, “Just one more run!” Considering Hades‘ worldwide success and acclaim, it seemed only natural that Supergiant Games would break its rule of no sequels and reveal Hades II.
Hades II first released in early access early last year. Ever since the first time I played it, the game has gone through a lot of changes via major patches released on PC via Steam. However, I wanted to wait until the game released on version 1.0 for PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. Finally, not that long ago, Hades II was fully released to the public, and I am thrilled to say that it has managed to meet and surpass all of my high expectations.
“Death to Chronos”
Hades II begins, not with the titular God of the Underworld, Hades, and his son Zagreus, but instead with Zagreus’ sister, Melinoë. The story starts in the midst of the first attempt of Melinoë to get to the bottom of the Underworld and defeat her grandfather, Chronos, who imprisoned her family at a young age. Along the way, she must utilize the help of the many Gods of Olympus, as well as other mysterious allies who are all committed to the same cause.
The premise differs drastically from its predecessor in all the right ways. Whereas the first Hades was all about reconnecting a family, the sequel is a more fierce revenge story about building a family based on common goals, rather than one specifically built through blood connections. Melinoë is Chronos’ granddaughter, yet she is far more focused on defeating him and getting closer to people she isn’t related to via family, whether it’s other Gods/Goddesses, humans, or something else entirely.
The characters of Hades 2 are fantastic. This is partly due to its art style, which has evolved magnificently since the very first game. Every character portrait is rendered beautifully, managing to strike the right balance between looking aesthetically pleasing while paying the right amount of respect to the original mythology. It certainly helps that there are far more new characters than returning characters, plus no portraits from the original game have been reused.
The other key to the success of Hades 2‘s story is the pacing. The story doesn’t just progress every time you finish a run; it is constantly moving forward the further you get, the more you die, the more upgrades you invest in, and so on. None of the characters feel stagnant: they’re constantly developing and growing, and you learn more from them at every step.
Take a character like Nemesis, for instance. Nemesis is one of the many confidants you encounter in the game’s central hub, who will occasionally show up during runs to serve her own desires. She starts as being extremely aggressive towards Melinoë, envious of the fact that she was chosen to hunt down Chronos, rather than Nemesis herself. However, as you interact with her more, presenting her with gifts and inviting her to fish or take a dip in the hot springs, you learn more about her motivations and the warmth she feels deep down towards Melinoë.
This applies to every character in the game, from Icarus, the airborne and inventive son of Daedalus, who seems to have a past with Melinoë, to Hecate, Melinoë’s mentor with an ambiguous past that shows nothing but love and care for her mentee. Each character is realized beautifully thanks to the fantastic writing, which truly captures the complexity and unique personalities of the game’s many characters. Not only that, but several of the NPCs can be romanced, much like the previous game, which allows you to further build connections in this rich and wonderful world.
Melinoë herself is also deeply compelling. Judy Alice Lee does a great job in bringing the voice of Melinoë, who is a character shaped by the trauma of losing her family at a young age. Despite her grief, she is kind in ways that Zagreus never was and manages to show a remarkable amount of compassion towards the people in her life. In fact, I think I actually preferred her as a character to Zagreus, due to the voice acting, writing, and the game’s wonderful art direction.
No story is complete without a great antagonist, and thankfully, Chronos excels in that part as well. He is far more menacing than Hades, and often appears to taunt you in between progressing through layers of the underworld. Amazingly, Logan Cunningham does the voice of both Chronos and Hades, as well as the voices of Poseidon, the narrator, and certain other characters. When you finally confront him, he takes your patience to its limits, making him a character that you both hate and love in equal measure.
Hades 2 has come a long way since its debut in early access, and a huge majority of the updates and additions are fantastic. I say the majority, because there is one major problem with both the story and the overall game: the ending. To avoid spoilers, the ending of Hades II trivializes the development and arc of Melinoë and her other supporting characters in favor of a bizarre callback to the previous game. It completely ruins the game’s themes and narrative, which had been so carefully set up throughout the story, and was almost enough to make me view the rest of the game in a bad light.
Thankfully, the rest of Hades II‘s narrative is so strong that the finale doesn’t entirely destroy everything it has built. Furthermore, there is one other key piece of Hades II‘s identity that makes it one of the best entries in the roguelite genre: the fantastic gameplay mechanics. If you can believe it, Hades II takes the gameplay of its predecessor and builds upon it in ways that make it even better.
Killing Time
If you’re jumping into Hades II as a newcomer to the genre, or as someone who has only played the game’s predecessor, this new title takes no effort at all to pick up and play. The premise is simple: the goal is to try and get to the bottom of the Underworld through four different layers. As you continue, you accumulate more upgrades bestowed by the Gods/Goddesses of Olympus, as well as your many other allies, all while the difficulty escalates more and more.
Much like with any other rogue, however, once you die, you are sent right back to the hub and robbed of all the upgrades you have gathered. That said, Hades fits into the roguelite genre. This means that, unlike a roguelike, you can unlock permanent upgrades that will carry over into your subsequent runs. The premise and general gameplay foundation are very similar to the original Hades. With that said, Supergiant Games has built on that foundation for Hades II to create something new and exciting that pushes the genre forward once again.
For starters, there are countless new upgrades you can get throughout the game, as well as new Gods and Goddesses that you encounter along your journey. One of the many new editions is Selene, a Titan just like Chronos. Instead of offering you a specific perk, like a faster dash or the ability to generate ice with each attack, she offers one of three abilities for you to pick. These can vary from being able to heal yourself or briefly stopping time during combat. Whichever ability you pick can be consistently upgraded throughout your run.
This is just one example of the further emphasis on strategy that Hades II has introduced. Each ability has far more depth behind it, and unlike with the original Hades, there weren’t any particular abilities that I believed were significantly overpowered or were key to a successful run. I constantly found myself changing strategies on the fly as I tried to adapt to each situation and new challenge.
Speaking of upgrades, the other major part of Hades II‘s progression is the permanent upgrades you can unlock between each run. There are far more opportunities to make yourself stronger after your progress is reset. These vary from being able to upgrade your weapons or investing in tarot cards. Tarot cards, in particular, add perks such as more health, magic, and spare lives in case you die multiple times in a run. Although you can’t just activate each tarot card all at once, you need to balance them appropriately using limits that can be upgraded with currency.
Easily the most novel upgrade system is through the cauldrons. These allow you to either progress the story by summoning important characters, adding new features to the hub, or allowing further progression. This feature is what introduces players to the biggest new addition in Hades II: an entirely separate route to take beyond the Underworld.
After a few runs, Hermes approaches Melinoë and informs her that Chronos is attacking Olympus. As such, you need to make your way to the surface, from Ephyra all the way to the summit of Mount Olympus. Only one problem: the Hades bloodline is still cursed to never be able to make their way to the surface. Thankfully, Melinoë can use the cauldron to move past that limit, and before you know it, you have an entire new area that doubles the length of the original game.
This is what truly separates Hades II from its predecessor: the sheer amount of content. There is so much more to do in this game compared to the original Hades: from the addition of the new Olympus area, to new bosses and characters, to characters to romance and build connections with, and so on. By the time I completed both runs for the first time, I had doubled the amount of time I put into the original game.
Not only that, but thanks to the thrill of the moment-to-moment combat, subsequent runs never feel exhausting. Unlike the original Hades, there were no weapons that I found lacking compared to others, and I had a blast trying them all out as I found my ideal build for each run. Further, thanks to the return of different aspects, you can customize the abilities of each weapon as you gather more resources.
That said, if you’re like me, you may find yourself struggling with the difficulty spikes you encounter as you get closer and closer to the end of a run. There is no greater pain than reaching the final boss and dying a few hits before the end of the fight. Thankfully, I never felt like the gameplay was particularly unfair, unlike other games that emphasize difficulty above all else. Plus, if you are struggling with the difficulty, there is the ability to enable a “God Mode,” which adds a percentage of damage resistance every time you die.
Everything about Hades II‘s gameplay is far superior to its predecessor. From the mechanics, satisfaction of progression, the combat, and everything between each run, I never found myself frustrated or bored or burnt out from the constant battle to get to the finale of Olympus or the Underworld. In general, I can confidently say that Hades II is a far better game than the original.
A Remarkable Game
When I initially played Hades II in Steam Early Access, I called it a “masterpiece in the making.” I could already tell that Supergiant Games was going above and beyond to make a game that didn’t just surpass its predecessor, but to make something that once again redefined the roguelite genre. After more than a year and finally being able to play the full game, I can confidently stand by that claim.
Hades II is a brilliant work of art. The story is fantastic and filled with characters that will stay with you for a long time. Furthermore, the writing and art direction are sublime and immediately help to establish the game’s beautiful identity. Additionally, the new gameplay mechanics, areas, upgrades, and features of Hades II more than double the amount of content in the original game. This means that you could spend anywhere between 25 hours and 100 hours simply diving deep into everything the game has to offer.
This doesn’t even cover the sheer level of extra things you can do in the post-game. Whether you want to add new challenges to your run with the returning Oath of the Unseen, employ animal familiars as your allies, or go fishing in the quiet moments after each combat encounter, you will never find yourself running out of features to indulge in. Plus, if you happen to own the game on both Nintendo Switch 2 and PC, you can even enable cross-play to take the game anywhere and everywhere you go without losing a second of progress.
Even though the ending of Hades II‘s story was extremely disappointing, Hades II is still one of the best games in the genre. I was addicted within moments of starting the game for the first time, and I guarantee that whether you’ve played the previous game, have a history with the entire roguelite genre, or have never played anything like Hades before, I guarantee you’ll have a blast with Hades II. Just try not to get too addicted: the last thing you want is to let time run away from you.
Disclaimer: Hades II was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.
