Gideon’s Perspective
Hades 2 is undoubtedly a great game and one I’ve definitely enjoyed playing. At the same time, it somewhat feels like it’s trying to catch lightning twice, which almost never happens. What I mean by that is, Hades 2 is simply more Hades, it’s a very safe sequel.
You can find a video version of this review on YouTube!
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sequels should largely resemble their predecessors while improving on them. However, the entire schtick of the series is to continuously do more of the same by going after the same bosses run after run. I’ve already done plenty of that in Hades 1, and despite how great the game was, it was definitely wearing on me in the later hours.
Hades 2 asks me to do it again, with new enemies and bosses, and while it still features the same type of story progression as its predecessor, where the story advances after each success or failure. It’s not new anymore. I’ve done this all before. It’s a one-trick pony, the pony may be new, but the trick is the same.
This doesn’t make Hades 2 a bad game by any means. It’s an improvement over Hades 1 in many ways. Yet, the fact remains that I still found myself fatiguing from the sequel much more quickly.
| Gideon’s Bias | Hades 2 Information |
|---|---|
| Review Copy Used: No | Publisher: Super Giant Games |
| Hours Played: 25+ | Type: Full Game |
| Reviewed On: PC | Platforms: PC, Switch 2 |
| Fan of Genre: Yes | Genre: Action Rogue-lite |
| Mode Played: Variety | Price: $29.99 |
Killing Time
The first game was about a rebel runaway that climaxed in a heartfelt story about family. The stakes are a bit higher in Hades 2. Chronos, the Titan of Time, has usurped the house of Hades, taking most of the cast from the first game hostage, including the original game’s protagonist, Zagreus. However, Chronos also has his sights set on Olympus, and the Olympian pantheon is on the back foot.
With the help of the Titaness Hecate, Hades’ infant daughter and younger sister to Zagreus escaped the clutches of Chronos, and was henceforth trained onwards to one day bring him down. Her name is Melinoe, a name I have a terrible time trying to pronounce, and her grand task is to kill time.
As a massive mythology buff, this is all sweet candy to me, just like it was in the first game. As much as Hades 2 repeats the pathways of the first game, its story, and by extension, its characters are largely new. Familiar faces do return, but they are accompanied by fresh ones that all slide and twist their Greek mythology origins in interesting ways. I loved coming across them all.
The voice actors behind these characters really bring them to life and make them memorable with accents and personality quirks that really stick the landing on how they are presented in Hades 2. There are very few games where I genuinely enjoy listening to someone talk, but characters such as Scylla or Polythemus deliver their lines so well that I can’t help but look forward to their dialogue.
Melinoe herself is an extremely likable protagonist, too likable actually. She is a bit too perfect a character, given the circumstances of her upbringing. She’s confident, yet humble, fierce yet caring, and shoulders the weight of her burden almost effortlessly. There isn’t a character flaw in sight. Zagreus had at least a few rough edges, considering deceit was the reason the Olympians aided him in the first place. But Melinoe? Written a bit too perfectly, likeable as she is.
Her story and where it takes her, however, is an interesting one. Especially if you’re a Greek Mythology buff like me.
Twitchy Witchy Combat
The combat in Hades 2 is very similar to the first game, with a couple of important differences. First off, Melinoe may be the princess of the underworld, but she’s also a witch trained by Hecate. She can charge up omega versions of her attacks and specials that consume a mana-like resource.
Where Zagreus threw his infernal blood, Melinoe casts a magic circle that can slow or hold enemies, helping her control the flow of battle. Instead of double-dashing, she can dash once and then start sprinting.
Her weapons are also more deliberate in their attacks with specific arcs and animations that can leave her vulnerable, if only for a moment. The end result is a version of Hades that is actually a bit slower and more methodical than the original. That’s quite an achievement considering that the combat in the first game was already an intricate waltz of fast-paced decision-making.
For the most part, button spamming isn’t the way to go. You have to think on the fly about how to effectively manage the various enemy types with the weapon you have and the boons empowering it. It’s a brilliant combat system that looks fast as hell, but is far from mindless, and the overall design of the combat system in Hades 2 emphasizes that moment-to-moment decision making even more.
I initially bounced off the weapons in Hades 2 because I preferred the simplicity of knowing what the weapons did at a glance in Hades 1. However, the eccentric nature of Melinoe’s arsenal grants her weapons more overall personality that’s wholly distinct from her brothers. She can use a long-range magic staff, a heavy, hard-hitting axe, a backpack missile launcher (Yes, I’m serious), a magical skull, and more. The way the various boons you receive integrate with these weapons makes for a wide variety of playstyles.
Several Olympians offer you aid, from Zeus to Hestia, and each has a specific gameplay focus. You’re free to mix and match whenever possible. Some Gods and Goddesses show up in person now, such as Artemis or Dionysus, however, their appearances are much more rare than standard boon offerings, so you can’t really focus a build around them. They are more of a happy surprise bonus.
The boon system, just like the first game, offers you an ever-changing way to tailor your playstyle, making each run at least slightly different. Furthermore, the enemy types seem to further incentivize you to think on your feet and take advantage of Melinoe’s strengths, such as her casting circle, in order to keep yourself from being overwhelmed.
The boss fights are incredible. Every single boss in the game has an excellent move set that’s both learnable and fun to fight. One standout boss battle in particular is against Scylla, who quite literally sings incredibly catchy songs while you fight. There’s nothing quite like humming the lyrics “I’m going to claw out your eyes, and drown you to death” while doing the dishes hours after you shut the game down.
That said, the best runs I’ve had weren’t always the most fun. Most of my victories against the endgame bosses had little to do with how I played and more to do with some broken combo I found.
The first time I defeated Chronos, I couldn’t even tell what was going on as I had so many effects filling the screen at once. I then failed the next several tries because, despite beating him once, I didn’t learn anything about how to fight him the first time. I prefer when the things you gain in a rogue-lite amplify your skill rather than replace them altogether, and while that’s mostly the case in Hades 2, the former is also present to a degree.
Progressive Brew
Another large improvement over the original Hades is the progression system. In Hades 2, you almost always have something to look forward to after a run. The game is rife with progression systems. You unlock arcana cards that are a more customizable version of the Mirror of Night. Customizable weapons, a ton of cauldron brews that unlock new things, familiars, a gifting system, and more.
The thing is, Hades 2 puts the agency of how to unlock these things into your hands. In addition to each run having multiple paths for you to choose from that harbor different rewards, there are now two distinct level paths, the underworld and the surface. Each level path has its own environments, enemies, and bosses, but also exclusive resources, allowing you to hunt down what’s most important to you.
Finally, there are night vows allowing you to add difficulty modifiers on a run where a specific boss is a bounty target, granting you weapon-enhancing materials if you win. There’s so much in front of you that it can actually be overwhelming at times. However, it’s a very well-implemented carrot on a stick incentive system where the carrots actually have a meaningful impact on your game.
The whole thing is definitely a step up, and it takes some of the sting out of failure, as you’re always unlocking more and more features and subsystems.
Rinse & Repeat
Both Hades games get away with something other rogue-lites wouldn’t. Each run isn’t actually all that varied. Sure, you can tailor your builds differently, but the zones, waves of enemies, and bosses don’t meaningfully change for the most part. It wore thin in Hades 1, but not until I was almost done with the game. In Hades 2 it wore thin much quicker for me, likely because the experience is pretty similar to the first game.
Funny enough, however, it nearly doubles the content of the first game. Since there are two unique paths, the surface and the underworld, each with separate enemies and bosses. There’s actually far more variety in Hades 2. However, while dying and repeating is a staple of any rogue-lite game, the win-and-repeat aspect was much less appealing this time around.
Essentially, to get to the story’s conclusion, you must defeat both endgame bosses several times. It makes perfect sense in the context of the story. However, in practice, my motivation fell off a cliff after beating both of them once. Most rogue-lite games do a lot to shake things up between runs, and Hades 2 simply doesn’t do enough for me.
While your boons may change, every run feels more or less the same. Each region has the same enemies and the same bosses as it had last time, with very little to spice things. As much as I love hearing Scylla sing, I can only tolerate her boss fight so many times, and I recall having the same complaint in Hades 1.
Maybe it’s because I fail so often, or maybe it’s just the nature of Hade’s particular brand of action, but it just didn’t have the staying power for me this time around, and I tend to be pretty resistant to repetition, as many of my favorite games are pretty repetitive by nature.
Verdict
As critical as I may be, Hades 2 is still a great game, especially at its price point. I’m seeing more and more indie games absolutely embarrass the AAA industry for less than half the price they would charge, and Hades 2 is definitely one such game.
Hades 2 is also an upgrade compared to the first game in nearly every aspect. The repetitive nature just didn’t hook me in as deeply this go around, and it’s likely because of how much Hades 2 still feels like the first game, not just in gameplay but in concept. It’s not shiny and new like the original game was at the time.
That said, Hades 2 is more than worth the price of admission, and your mileage may vary greatly from mine. Why? Well, to put it simply, I don’t play or enjoy all that many top-down action games. Hades is somewhat of a special case for me, and maybe a second course of it was just a bit too much for me to digest. I still enjoyed the time I spent with it, however.
Ultimately, despite its repetitive nature, Hades 2 is simply more Hades, and that’s not a bad thing. The story is compelling, the characters, dialogue, and line delivery are fantastic, the combat is more thoughtful than the first game, and there’s twice as much level and boss variety compared to Hades 1. It’s an excellent sequel, even if being more of the same didn’t always strike the right chords for me.
