Hades (2020)

Good game, but the grind is quite ridiculous. I played it with a mod that basically 5X all rewards. I'm 22 hours in and still didn't get the true ending, and I'm not even close to getting many of the tiny bits of lore and extra stuff that you can unlock. You literally have to play this game over and over and over for dozens of hours in the hopes of getting a tiny bit of story more each time. I have no idea how can someone invest so much time in this... but to each their own.

My recommendation. Play the game, beat it a few times, maybe use a mod to increase rewards and then move on... watch the full ending on youtube or something. It's fun and has some great story and voice acting, but it's absolutelly not worth playing it over and over like it was meant to.

There are two parts in this game: pre-challenge and post-challenge. If I could, I would score each separately. Alas, I can't, so I'll explain what I mean.

Pre-challenge basically (for me) means the stage where everything that happens during the loop is difficult. Where you can't reliably beat the game and are still figuring out how everything works. Basically, when you die a lot. The game revolves around death so when death has a meaning - the game gives you reasons to die, everything clicks. There is no loop (or I never felt it), the story progresses at your pace and there are never reasons to question many of the game decisions. Game mechanics are on point, weapons are quite different to each other and suit different playstyles, boons are pretty different, there some random elements but you can mitigate some depending on the keepsakes you use. There is also enough content to keep every run feeling different to each other. Probably my only worry during this stage was "what if I'm too bad at this and I start recycle dialogues before I actually beat it?" Well, I was quite wrong. This stage is a really good game, I'd say close to 5*.

But after the challenge goes away and you can actually beat the game consistently, be it with or without the fire skulls that-I-forgot-their-name (post-challenge), the game just drags. Talk to this person 5 times to trigger the second part of the quest but you can talk to someone once per run and wait, they are talking to someone else this time so it's time to do another pointless run. Do you want to unlock another weapon aspect? Well, you have to talk to someone after talking to other tree persons but what if that person had a more important line to tell you so another run is wasted? There is just too much content for the post-game and in this case, it might even be an issue. The only way to experience it all is by setting yourself pointless challenges, be these from the fire-skull thingies or self imposed, like "ha I'll beat it now by not using the attack button". It's not a surprise that there's a decent community around speedruns, high skull-fire runs and meme builds of this game: you need to like making up challenges to enjoy this game in the long run.

The general aspects?: Music is great (first time hearing Good Riddance, I just stayed there for three minutes. Same with the lament of Orpheus). Artwork is great, characters sound and seem unique. I loved Dusa's voice work, for instance.

But still, I decided that after 90 runs and beating Redacted in their final form, I will not boot the game again. This was my personal challenge, the one I had to make up to enjoy the game. And now I prefer playing a game that's fun than making a game inside a game just so I can pretend I'm having fun.

I can't believe I'm still playing this game. Not because it's not good but because I haven't reached the end of the story even after like 90 runs. I even had to start increasing the heat (something that I didn't want to do in the first place) just to make it a bit more of a challenge. Randomise the chances of advancing through the story is a decision that definitely doesn't go with me.

The definition of overstaying.

Everyone around me was talking about this game. I was in a bit of denial, saying that I would try it. I didn't think I'd be interested in a rogue-like game. Well, I LOVE this one.

It's the game that keeps on giving - there is so much to it.

With randomized rooms you're never sure what you'll get in a run, so it's always interesting. You can switch up your equipment and strategy too to keep things interesting.

Definitely love the characters and their designs. There's the tiniest sprinkle of RPG elements in there, which I'm always a huge fan of. There's also a larger overarching plot that unfolds as you continue. The concept and the way some Greek mythology is interpreted is very well done. The graphics and art overall are very cool and engaging.

I think that almost anyone can enjoy this game, there's something for everyone to love.

Supergiant Games are as much storytellers as they are game developers, and that's a very good thing for people who enjoy immersive experiences. In the case of their masterpiece Hades, their penchant for fantastic, funny and heartfelt writing is what ultimately flipped the rogue-like genre on its head and made this most gamers' Game of the Year.

The story is the game

Don't let that subhead fool you. The combat in this game is frenetic and addictive, but the story is what makes this game shine. You play as Zagreus, a lesser-known Greek god, who--in Supergiant's telling--is the rebellious son of Hades and Persephone, trying to break free from the clutches of the underworld and reunite with his estranged mother. Father dearest--Hades himself--can't allow this to happen. On the surface, that's a decent enough motive to try and break out--to defy your curmudgeonly father--but of course there's far more to it than meets the eye. Why is Hades hellbent on stopping you? Why are the other gods of Olympus intent on helping you? Why does no one speak of what happened between Hades and Persephone? The rest of the very colourful cast of characters that populate the underworld vary from Achilles to Ceberus to Maegera to the house-cleaning gorgon maid, but each of them have their own stories to tell and motivations for either helping or hindering Zagreus' progress. The best part? These stories are told through snippets that trickle into evolving expansion with every death you suffer outside the gates of Hades, trying to claw your way to the surface. It's the mechanic that helps cement the game's addictive loop alongside the combat. Not only do you get stronger by unlocking abilities and uncovering weapons, but each run also allows you to unearth more secrets about the underworld and everyone's situation. It's like a choose your own adventure but with fantastic writing, voice-acting and an addictive gameplay loop!

But the combat is no slouch, either

While I could gush about the story for this entire review, the combat obviously needs some spotlight. The variety of enemies are plentiful, spread out across 4 underworld zones. You'll die a lot as you learn their attack patterns and movement sets, but once you have an area conquered you can feel like a god as you mow them down and progress to the next zone. You get 6 different weapons to choose from to dole out your beatings, from close range fists to a long-range bow, an all-rounder sword to defensive-minded shield. Learning the ropes with these weapons is as fun as learning the enemy tells and you'll need to best their mechanics to progress from one zone to the next. Of course, then you'll die a bunch again as you need to learn new enemies and your upgraded weapon. And while this might be frustrating in other rogue-likes, since you only have mild upgrades to look forward to, the unfolding story makes it more than worthwhile to die during each run. Even still, if that were it, the game could get boring after a handful of hours, right? Never fear, the gods are here! Each run, you come across boons spread throughout the dungeon rooms, which are abilities bestowed upon you by the gods of Olympus, intent on having their cousin/nephew back in their fold. Not only do these upgrades really flesh out the customization options for each of the weapon/build varieties, further improving the immediate diversity in each replay, but they provide rich interactions with the gods, adding further layers to the stories and relationships between them, their brethren and their family member Hades.

Want a quick pick up and play or an immersive fantasy story? Hades is both!

I'm not really a fan of rogue-likes. Dead Cells held my attention enough for me to beat the boss once, but even though I knew that wasn't the "real" end of the game, I had no interest in going back. Hades is so much more than just a typical rogue-like, that I think it might destroy my likelihood of playing any other rogue-like. Actually, if there is any bad thing about Hades, it's probably that: it's a rogue-like killer! It does everything so damn well, that I can't see another type of game like this coming along any time soon. And honestly--with how long you can spend in Hades, dishing out punishments and learning intricate histories of the underworld--who cares? Don't miss this gem!

I thought I beat this game after beating Hades, but I clearly didn't. I loved everything up until that moment, but I don't think I want to grind and do the rest of the work to get to the real ending. It would probably make me like the game less, so I'll simply leave it now. I just watched the true ending on YouTube and love it. I'm very glad I'm not one of the many gamers who feel the urge to finish a game they have started, but still get to appreciate this game.

Every run is entirely unique, and not only a simple run, but it's filled with constantly fresh dialogue. Nothing repeats! It's crazy how well this is designed. It's also beautifully animated. And the soundtrack can be a banger:

Sometimes you just have to listen to your friends (who tell you that even if you don't like roguelites, you will like this one so very special roguelite).

Final verdict:

It's a game that sparks off the screen that a lot of love has been put into it's creation. The detail and the smoothnes of the game is absolutely top notch. However, to me it felt like the game is also very limited at the same time; There's a few areas that slightly change each run, the bosses vary a bit and you can pick and upgrade different weapons, but ultimately this game is just an endless repeat of the same grind.

I've beat it a few times, and played a bit with the difficulty tweaks you get after your first completion, but ultimately i couldn't bring myself to do yet another run of the same thing. The story, while very well written, wasn't captivatign enough, at least for me, to get that 'one more round' drive.

I think the base of the game is very good, but what would make me play the game longer and rate it higher, would be more variety; More different areas and actual different bosses instead of the same bosses but tweaked. Perhaps even different orders in which you go through the areas. I'd gladly shell out money for a DLC that would add these things, as i understand a lot of work would have to go into making more content this polished.

For context, I've sunk about 150 hours into this, completed every quest on the Fated List of Minor Prophecies, maxed almost every relationship, artifact, companion, and many of the weapons. I haven't fully upgraded the house or caught every fish, but if I felt so inclined I could probably achieve that within another dozen hours or so.

The perfect example of "tough but fair" gameplay. That feeling of satisfaction from beating the game didn't get old, even after the 20th time. Relationships that got me falling in love with EACH FREAKING CHARACTER. Complex, multi-dimensional, beautiful people. Queer representation! Yeeeeeeeeees! Love the art style.

Minor frustration with the RNG sometimes - I'd have all the prerequisites met but a conversation wouldn't trigger, so I'd just have to do run after run hoping it would progress the story/relationship.

Overall, one of my favourite games ever.

First off, Hades is an excellent roguelike. Secondly, I don't think I actually like roguelikes. Despite these two clashing pieces of info, I dumped over 44 hours into the game and was finally able to see the credits roll.

I've never played a Supergiant game before this, and Dead Cells is the only other "rogue"-ey game under my belt. Some quick observations:

• The music is superb.
• The writing is fun and ridiculously extensive. In over 40hrs, I think I only saw one repeated conversation (between Sisyphus & Thanatos) take place. They do an amazing job of crafting a story around you replaying the same 4 levels over & over.
• The voice acting behind all of that writing is great.
• The art style -- while not mindblowing -- is pretty darn cool.
• I'd totally get drunk with Dionysus.

If you're not a rogue-head, you really need to grind for a long time before you can make any effective progress beyond the 3rd boss without God Mode (Translation: Swallow your pride, save yourself some grief, and turn on God Mode if you get stuck. Don't flail on the 3rd boss for 15hrs like I did. Also, ignore the allure of that mirror ability to revive once per encounter. For the stage 3 boss onward, Death Defiance x3 (for me, at least) was a must-have that I passed up for far too long.)

I didn't get my first full-clear on Hades until I'd played the same 30min loop over & over & over for well over 30 hours -- and by that time, I had nearly a 50% Defense handicap through God Mode.

My main complaint about Hades is that a lot of content is walled behind that first successful playthrough. And for me, once I'd played that much Hades, I was just too exhausted with the game to really take advantage of that new stuff.

• Of the roughly half-dozen currencies you need to buy various upgrades, 2-3 of them are extremely hard to come by until you've beaten the game at least once.
• Many of the fun gags ("Lernie", messing with Orpheus, etc) and relationships between characters don't start to come to the surface until you beat the game at least once.
• Apparently there's a Companion System? Despite seeing the credits roll, I haven't seen any sign of it, except for a mention in the Security Log.

I didn't dislike my experience with Hades, but I think it's time to turn in my Infernal Arms. (Maybe after one more runthrough, just to see how everything plays out now that the credits have rolled)

I hated Roguelikes. Describing a game as a Roguelike is the quickest way to get me to skip over it. I hate having to clear rooms over and over and over again, only to die to some cheap trick and having to restart the entire game with nothing but memories of what I did and maybe an increase in my own skill.

Hades is different from typical roguelikes. What makes it different? I think it's the actual sense of progression, outside of runs. That includes the story, as well as mechanical upgrades to Zagreus' arsenal. I guess that makes it a Roguelite? Idk but I definitely don't hate Roguelikes anymore.

Hades tells the tale of the son of Hades, Zagreus, and his quest to escape from Hades (the realm). In doing so he will die. A lot. And have to start back in his house. But on the way he'll meet an incredibly colorful (and gorgeously drawn) cast of characters and form bonds along the way.

Combat is from an isometric perspective in real time. Players have the option of using 1 of 6 different unlockable weapons during a run (attempt at breaking free of Hades). Play is divided into levels and chambers. Levels are the overarching area you are in, such as Tartarus, and chambers are the individual rooms. The chambers are randomized every single time players start a run. Every chamber has its own reward and one or multiple ways to progress. Every room you enter will bring you closer to the boss chamber, where players will collect a unique reward. Along the way they will collect several other rewards. Some are a permanent currency that can be used to upgrade weapons and skills in between runs. Others are powerful boons that last as long as the run, meaning it will disappear upon death or clearing a run. There is also a currency that lasts the length of the run as well. Still others are temporary and will last only a certain number of combat encounters.

Each weapon is unique and players will quickly find their comfort zone and stick to it. To encourage experimentation with the other weapons, the unique reward gained upon clearing a boss room is only accessable once per weapon, with some other modifiers in the late game runs. Also, one randomly selected weapon will give the player 20% more of one of the permanent currencies during their next run.

Between runs is where the game truly steps above the rest, in my (admittedly uneducated) opinion. Here is where players can visit with many of the characters Zagreus meets upon his journeys, as well as upgrade his weapons and skills. Wonderfully drawn character art, and beautiful ambience make dying almost its own reward.

The art style, as I've said before is amazing. Everyone is hot. All the characters are unique and have their own stuff that they are going through. It really helps to flesh out the world and make it more believable than just having gameplay happen in a void.

The music is a bop. Its strong when it needs to be, and soft when it is called for. Its never overbearing, and it loops wonderfully, setting the tone for the game from the moment you start with no upgrades and a sword to the moment you finally triumph. The sound effects are satisfying and thwapy.

The story is very much a personal journey for Zag. I can't go too much into it to avoid spoilers, but it is very character driven and is about uncovering answers to questions the main character has.

Overall, I think this is one of the most rewarding and brightest spots of the shitshow that was 2020, and I absolutely encourage anyone and everyone to play it. Its a hard game, but it does have options to make the game easier. It also has options to make the game harder, if you're into that.

This is my GOTY 2020 for sure.

So, I want to start this off by saying I’m back! Have been around the country so Merry Christmas to you all!

Anyway, this is the start of "The Indie Quest". Indies are something that I’ve always been looking forward to, but never tried to look for and actively seek them out. Luckily, @bmo and @cruise332 helpfully recommended some. For now, I’ll be covering ones that I’ve already played, since I need time to get and play the ones they recommended.

The Indie Quest [01]

Hades is a game that I was always looking forward to since the Game Awards 2018. I had never played Supergiant’s previous titles except for Bastion, but I had really high hopes and played the early access. But Hades fully transcends the meaning of the indie formula, and reshapes it using an excellent narrative and fun gameplay.

PROS:

• As a person who knows a lot of Greek Gods and myths, Hades’s cast is a delight. Each of them are fun designs which accompany you in your journey through Hell. Meeting people like Orpheus can change some of the perspectives of their respective stories, hell, even Sisyphus, the guy who has to roll a boulder for eternity has a personality that can unlock side quests and items. The gods, who are total dicks in a ton of stories, have personalities and some of the interactions with them change the way one of their Trials goes.

• Zagreus’s assortment of weapons allows for a ton of replayibility due to each weapon having a different playstyle from ranged to melee combat. Sometimes, you have to change playstyles for specific parts and you might be better than the weapon that you previously held.

• Dying isn’t a burden in this game. It’s a chance for you to build relationships with different people and look for resources and abilities to help defeat the enemies.

• The conversations create a really weird tone for a game (but not really in a bad way), Zagreus has a very common arc, but it’s handled in a really charming way, with kind of fourth-wall breaking conversations.

• The soundtrack compliments the story and creates a killer mood if you’re doing things, and there isn’t really a problem with any of the tracks. Personally, I don’t think it’s that strong as Bastion’s, but if you’re competing with one of the best soundtracks of all time, that’s not a fair comparison.

• The art style is unique, the angle that it uses truly diversifies the gameplay and the sharp character designs with Zag and the Gods and the heroes create a fresh inspired design for each of these Gods.

CONS

• I think the biggest problem is that it might get tiring. Replaying the same bosses even with new abilities can get boring if you’re only comfortable with one type of style of combat. Personally, I try to switch it up, but even then grinding can be a big pain.

• OK, personally, this is what my friend thinks, but the RNG can be a bit harsh? Not for me, but he says that some fights and combos can be a bit random and irritating. Not a problem for me, but sure.

Hades deserves the nominations and respect it’s gotten in these past few months, and since Supergiant’s other games Transistor and Lyre were recommended to me, I’m very excited for playing them. Personally, yes, it is my Game of the Year, oh, and if you were wondering:

GOTY 2020 Nominees Ranking:

1. Hades
2. Ghost of Tsushima
3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
4. Doom Eternal
5. Final Fantasy VII Remake
6. The Last of Us Part II (fuck you, why did you win)