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Hades II (Switch 2): COMPLETED!

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Remember that other Hades II? The one with turtles in it? That was a great game, wasn’t it? I bought that because it was so much like Hades and there wasn’t really any other Hades-likes around that had good reviews. Oh, except for actual Hades II. Which I finally got round to buying.

Set a number of years after the first game, after Hades himself stopped being a Bad Dad And Husband and Zagreus brought the family back together, Hades II stars new addition to the family – Melinoë. She’s Zagreus’ younger sister, born after the first game and squirrelled away by Hecate, a witch in Hades’ employ, for her own protection when Hades’ own dad Chronos escapes from his prison and enacts revenge on his family.

Hecate has been training Melinoë for years, and the time has come for her to journey (repeatedly) back to Tartarus, defeat Grandad, retake the House of Hades and free everyone. And it plays just like the original game, really. Each run, you might progress a bit further, unlock something new, or gain enough of certain resources to enable permanent upgrades. Or luck might not be on your side and you fail horribly.

You see, like Hades and Teenage Mutant Hades Turtles, you get frequent temporary (for the duration of the run, or for a set number of rooms) upgrades and boons, but they’re generally random. You can stack the cards in your favour a little, to make it more likely certain upgrades will come your way, but it’s very possible you’ll end up with rubbish, a wealth of coin but not power, or several boons which don’t really work well together. But that doesn’t matter! Every failed run nets you something, so there’s always a sense of improving, even when you don’t.

Different to the first Hades is a choice – a few hours in, at least – of two paths. It turns out you’re actually needed to fight the war on two fronts, both on the way to Chronos, but also Mount Olympus is in jeopardy because Chronos has unleashed Typhon on the Gods, and he’s a bit big and nasty. That means you’ve two routes, with different levels, baddies, stories and goals, but the plot of the game explains why you need to do both. And complete both. Multiple times.

Other than that, and some tweaks to how certain rooms “work”, Hades II is “just” more Hades. The slick fighting and the massively varied builds you can create are well crafted. The seemingly endless, and rarely-repeated dialogue between you, your friends, foes, Gods and even mumbling to yourself, is incredible – as it was in the original game. Every character is well fleshed out and the voice acting is fantastic.

So, don’t expect anything too radically different if you’ve played Hades, but if you enjoyed that even just a little bit, Hades II is up your street. It certainly was up mine and I loved it from start to end.

Hades (Switch): COMPLETED!

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I thought I’d actually completed this about a month ago, except it seems that just reaching the end isn’t enough. You have to reach the end ten times. Anyway, I’ve done that now.

Hades is a roguelite action game, where you, as Zagreus, Hades’ son, must escape from hell and find your mother on the surface. You die a lot along the way, which takes you back to the start, but slowly your skills improve both by getting permanent buffs and by just getting better at the game, so gradually you get closer and closer to the end.

Each “room” is a short fight, after which you get an item. These range from a choice of Boons, provided by Olympians, which offer skills such as elemental attacks or additional dashes, to money (which can only be spent that “run” on temporary upgrades) and gems (which can be spent in your bedroom between runs for permanent upgrades). Success on a run is largely down to your choices as well as a little luck as to which you’re offered, since some upgrades stack really well and others are mostly useless – your fighting style dependant, of course.

You also get a choice of different weapons to take with you – a sword, a bow, enchanted gauntlets, what is essentially a gun, etc. – but I mostly stuck to the sword as I found it easiest. Some Boons are better suited to different weapons too.

It’s an addictive game, and even though each run can easily be half and hour or more long the urge for “one more run” is strong. If you fail, it’s rarely a waste because of what you gain, but also you feel that you’d get a bit further if you just had better luck. There’s a lot of interesting and humorous dialogue between Zagreus and the other residents of the various levels of hell, with much reference to Greek mythology, and almost every run provides new chat with very little repetition.

I “beat” my first run on about the 18th attempt, but it was nearly 50 tries before I’d beaten it the requisite ten times, with something like 40 hours play in total. I regret sleeping on buying this earlier, which I’d done because although I’d loved Bastion (by the same devs), Transistor which followed it left me cold and I was put off this being a “difficult roguelite”. Thankfully, it’s nothing like Transistor and also isn’t that difficult, or at least, not difficult indefinitely. It’s truly a fantastic game.

Hades (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on Written by

I thought I’d actually completed this about a month ago, except it seems that just reaching the end isn’t enough. You have to reach the end ten times. Anyway, I’ve done that now.

Hades is a roguelite action game, where you, as Zagreus, Hades’ son, must escape from hell and find your mother on the surface. You die a lot along the way, which takes you back to the start, but slowly your skills improve both by getting permanent buffs and by just getting better at the game, so gradually you get closer and closer to the end.

Each “room” is a short fight, after which you get an item. These range from a choice of Boons, provided by Olympians, which offer skills such as elemental attacks or additional dashes, to money (which can only be spent that “run” on temporary upgrades) and gems (which can be spent in your bedroom between runs for permanent upgrades). Success on a run is largely down to your choices as well as a little luck as to which you’re offered, since some upgrades stack really well and others are mostly useless – your fighting style dependant, of course.

You also get a choice of different weapons to take with you – a sword, a bow, enchanted gauntlets, what is essentially a gun, etc. – but I mostly stuck to the sword as I found it easiest. Some Boons are better suited to different weapons too.

It’s an addictive game, and even though each run can easily be half and hour or more long the urge for “one more run” is strong. If you fail, it’s rarely a waste because of what you gain, but also you feel that you’d get a bit further if you just had better luck. There’s a lot of interesting and humorous dialogue between Zagreus and the other residents of the various levels of hell, with much reference to Greek mythology, and almost every run provides new chat with very little repetition.

I “beat” my first run on about the 18th attempt, but it was nearly 50 tries before I’d beaten it the requisite ten times, with something like 40 hours play in total. I regret sleeping on buying this earlier, which I’d done because although I’d loved Bastion (by the same devs), Transistor which followed it left me cold and I was put off this being a “difficult roguelite”. Thankfully, it’s nothing like Transistor and also isn’t that difficult, or at least, not difficult indefinitely. It’s truly a fantastic game.