Hades 2 is an unbelievable triumph for more reasons than a pair of human hands can count. Supergiant Games’ sequel is a bold evolution of the original that flawlessly executes new ideas to deliver the best roguelike of this generation.
In many ways, Hades 2 feels much like a redux of its predecessor, but this familiarity is a positive. Rubbing shoulders with the clique-like Greek Pantheon for a second time could have felt repetitive, but every encounter with new and recurring characters alike feels like an anticipated homecoming rather than a reluctant reunion.
Much of what makes this work is Melinoe. My primary concern heading back to the Underworld was that Supergiant wouldn’t be able to recapture the lightning in a bottle that made her brother, Zagreus, such a triumphant lead, but Mel, as she’ll be called going forward, is superbly written and acted.
Within hours of exploring Hades 2’s gorgeous and brutally unforgiving Underworld as Mel, I was sold. The one-more-go effect had already taken hold, and I was locked in on marathon sessions of yet another Game of the Year contender.
Hades 2 screenshots
What is Hades 2 about?
Not best pleased about Zeus, Hades, and the rest of his progeny overthrowing his rule, Chronos – the Titan of Time – begins his crusade of vengeance by overthrowing the House of Hades and taking Mel’s entire family prisoner.
Escaping the coup and taken into hiding by her mentor and guardian, Hecate, Mel is raised with the singular purpose of delivering a well-deserved beatdown to Chronos, liberating the Underworld, and rescuing her family.
To do that, Mel, much like her brother, has to brave her way through Hades’ domain to reach Chronos, defeating (and making friends with) locals along the way. Unlike Zag, haphazardly taking on his father’s underlings, Mel has come prepared with an entire armory of tricks.
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With that said, an almighty challenge still awaits once you leave The Crossroads. Just like the original Hades, you’ll be navigating multi-choice pathways to tailor your upgrade choices in the run-up to an end-of-level boss fight, but to tiptoe around spoilers, Supergiant has shaken up the status quo with Hades 2’s level design.
See you at The Crossroads
The Crossroads, Mel’s home from home, is a sprawling hub area, dressed wall to wall with witch memorabilia and lived in by numerous mythical Greek icons. They’re all here to help (even the prickly Nemesis) Mel achieve her goal, and, as you’d expect, they’ll talk your ear off at every opportunity.
Excellent world-building aside, listening to their musings is generally a good idea, especially early on, as they explain the importance of The Crossroads’ facilities, not least the Arcana system – easily Hades 2’s best addition.
Presented in a tarot card format, Arcana are equipable modifiers that apply to Mel across an entire run. Besides weapon choice, they’re the core of your build, providing extra lives, bonuses to health, damage, and other resources. Functionally, it serves a similar purpose to the original Hades’ Mirror of Night, but vastly more customizable and fun to tinker with.
Lavishing so much praise on a hub world may seem odd, but The Crossroads, weirdly, is one of the best parts of Hades 2. It’s a conveyor belt of attractions for you to visit after each run to explore what’s new.
Not once did I feel like I’d wasted my time after a failed run. Win or lose, something new had transpired back home to improve my odds of inching deeper into the Underworld on the next round. If anything, repeated early-game deaths expedited the speed at which I came to love Hades 2’s overhauled combat.
Build-a-god
Perhaps my time with Hades 2, coming immediately off the back of Team Cherry’s hyper-responsive Silksong, led to unfair comparisons, but Mel initially felt sluggish to me. Her inability to infinitely dash (Mel gets a sprint as a trade-off) got me killed more times than I care to mention, and her initial choice of weapons similarly didn’t inspire excitement.
I also wasn’t sold on Hades 2’s biggest change – the introduction of mana, used to cast stronger versions of existing skills, felt more like a liability than an improvement. Once I dug deeper and readjusted my strategy, though, everything started to click. The Moonstone Axe, in particular, designed to synergize with mana consumption, immediately justified the system’s addition, providing the dopamine and fluidity I was expecting.
Combined with a massively expanded Boon system, the potential for different builds is staggering. On one run, I was wiping entire rooms of goons just by triggering lightning storms with my sprint. Thanks, Zeus, you were always my favorite.
The most impressive achievement of Hades 2’s combat is that no single upgrade feels useless. Everything has its place – satisfaction comes from finding where it belongs.
Verdict
Hades 2 comes damn-near close to being an infinitely replayable roguelike. Supergiant has utterly one-upped itself with a sequel that improves on Hades in almost every aspect.
The most memorable Hall of Famers in the genre succeed in staving off familiarity for as long as possible. Hades 2 passes that bar with flying colors, even more so than heavyweights like The Binding of Isaac and Balatro, neither of which benefits from rich storytelling.
I may have put Chronos in his place countless hours ago, but I’m not done. Hades 2 still hides more than I’ve managed to uncover. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to pay boss lady Scylla another visit to indulge in another listen of her sisters’ musical talents.
Review of Hades 2
Outstanding
Hades 2 is an unbelievable triumph for more reasons than a pair of human hands can count. Supergiant Games' sequel is a bold evolution of the original that flawlessly executes new ideas to deliver the best roguelike of this generation.