Some people like story games, while others like combat focused games. Hades is a perfect mix of the both. Recently, Hades II, the sequel to Hades, was released in early access, which means you can play the game as it develops before the full game releases.
Both games are based on Greek mythology, which probably was obvious based on their titles. The hype for the games are coming back with the release of the sequel, bringing new players to the games and old players, like myself, back. I played Hades around when it was released and it is still one of my favorite games.
While I still haven’t had the chance to buy and play Hades II yet, Hades was an amazing game with great art and story, along with being able to play it continuously.
In the game, you play as Zagreus, the son of Hades, who is trying to escape from The Underworld.. In order to escape, players traverse through 4 realms of The Underworld, Tartarus, Asphodel, Elysium, and the Temple of Styx. All the realms have different levels that you progress through. In order to progress, players will usually have to fight your way through. After beating a level, there will be spots where you can choose the next level to go to. Above each entrance, it shows the rewards you get from completing that chamber. These rewards can consist of coins that can purchase items at shop levels, darkness to level your skills, titan blood to level your weapons, keys to unlock weapons along with more skills, hearts to increase your health, and more.
But the most important things you can get would be the boons from the Gods of Olympus. Long story short, the gods want to help you escape, so they give you buffs which will assist greatly. Some increase attack, some help shield you, some completely change abilities to make them better, you get the idea. Each god gives different buffs, so it is fun to try and see what they all do. You unfortunately don’t get to keep all of these items. When you die, which will happen a lot, all coins and boons are taken away, but you get to keep keys, darkness, titans blood, etc. The items you keep will help Zagreus become stronger for his next escape attempts, providing permanent buffs, better weapons.
One of the main reasons people love Hades is how there is literally no end to the game and each time you play is different. The boons you get each time are random making each run completely different. Different weapons also do different things, providing a unique experience depending on the weapon you use. Trying different combinations of things is what makes the game fun.
Besides boss enemies, the enemies on floors are randomized, so you will almost never know what you will encounter next. Even after beating the game storywise, you can still go and try to escape. To add, after you beat the final boss of the game, players unlock something called Heat, which are basically debuffs players can apply to themselves, making the game harder. Attempting to beat the game on high Heat levels can provide hours upon hours of content to complete.
People also enjoy this game because of the art and story. All of the characters in the game have very unique designs with references to their stories in Greek Mythology. The artstyle is also very unique, combining 2D drawings and 3D models. The story is also great too. Even if you die 100 times while playing, everytime you die will fit in with the story. The characters you interact with provide details about what is going on, along with their own stories. Speaking of the characters, the voice acting for all of them is amazing. There are also tons of these dialogues that are all voice acted. I don’t think I’ve skipped any dialogues. They just sound great and are genuinely funny. Each of these characters have a distinct personality and watching them interact is very entertaining.
While this is an awesome game, it may not be for everyone. Even though you can get buffs and such, it could just be too difficult for some people. You need to fight, dodge, manage some of your abilities, all while having very limited healing. People who aren’t skilled with these may have a bit of a less enjoyable time compared to those who are better. People also may not not like this type of game.
Though there is a great story, Hades is definitely focused around combat. People who hate a lot of fighting will not have the best time playing this game. But if you are interested in any of the things listed, I highly recommend playing this game for an amazing experience.
