Hades II (2025)

Loved the first one, and was very happy to see the strengths being reiterated on hwith.

Combat felt good, but didnt find myself ever fully engaging with the ground ward mechanics. Unfortunate, because it was one of the big combat changes, but just never felt right.

Writing still amazing. Always exciting to come back home and get little tastes of the writing teams wit.

Didn't do much post game, but thats just because it was a stacked year! Might be dipping back in the future.

I enjoyed this one more than Hades 1. Having both the underworld and the surface to play was a nice addition that helped keep things fresh when you got tired of playing one.

There is a nice variety of weapons and abilities which each play differently, and the randomness of the boons kept thing fresh.

The story progression between runs with all the different characters was great. I liked how there was a different short conversation with every boss before you fought. Though I found the number of times you had to beat each final boss a bit too much and felt it dragged on a little.

Obviously, this game is amazing. I'm not "completed" with the game yet but I've been addicted to it for the past couple weeks.

The gameplay has been improved from the first in just about every possible way. The different weapons and version of weapons, and daedelus hammer upgrades, boons, etc, really can make every run feel quite different in terms of how you are playing. Though the first game was excellent I did feel I had a similar strategy every time. This one feels like there's a lot more variety and a lot more content. I mean, there's even 2 paths to take, to the underworld or to Olympus.

The additional crafting materials really engaged me more, making each run feel very rewarding no matter how far you get. There are just so many little systems and stuff to unlock that seems to just keep coming and never get boring.

The characters and story in this are also just as engaging as the first one to me. I am in love with Nemesis, but anyway. I love the game so much. So addicting.

This game takes everything that was fun about the first and cranks it up to 1 Hadillion. More build and playstyle variety, more ways to progress & stuff to collect, more characters to meet and fall in love with... My only minor complaints are that some of the character portraits are less visually interesting than their predecessors, and the main story doesn't fully stick the landing. Other than that, Hades II is awesome and deserves all the praise it gets and more.

unfortunately, this game barely features Hypnos at all, so therefore everything i said is a lie and this game gets a 0 star rating from me.

fortunately, this game features Dora, so therefore my previous statement is a lie and this game gets a 5 star rating from me.

tl;dr johnny you are so STUPID this weapon is BROKEN u just wouldnt GET IIIITTT

Es que es mi cosa, mi cosa 2. Sigue siendo increible, le he metido todas las horas, he hecho todo, me he enrollado con medio Olimpo y podría seguir jugando. Es el clásico mas y mejor, el combate es mas sesudo, con mas decisiones, mas combos, pero menos roto esta vez (o mas dificil de romper). Cuando lo saquen para PS5 lo volveré a jugar y platinar seguramente. Death to Cronos.

4/5

Played about 25 hours on steam. Excellent. Really satisfying gameplay and great roguelike trappings. Interesting characters and banging music. Beat Chronos once. I will revisit this when it hits 1.0 and finish this review then.

ADDIT 31/10/25 5/5

Played 56 hours total on Steam.

Got to the true ending. The process of doing so is just a little bit repetitive but the variety in weapons, keepsakes, boon combinations and the satisfaction of synergising things just right hits way too good. Fantastic game, liked it more than the first. Story was fun all the way through. Totally get criticism of the ending as it's quite abrupt but it's ultimately not what I was here for. Good stuff.

You know, I'm pretty good at staying off hype trains, and tend to manage my own expectations and excitement for things I'm looking forward to, but the Technical test and current coverage of the game is getting me all hot and bothered (and not just for thirsty reasons, lol). I didn't expect I'd want to play this as badly as I do, but I really want to play this game.