Hades Review

00:00:00.399oh well i just think you're in a tough

00:00:02.879spot lately prince

00:00:04.080in the ancient greek myth of sisyphus a

00:00:06.000poor soul is doomed to forever push a

00:00:08.080boulder uphill without rest

00:00:10.240each time he'd push it up it'd roll back

00:00:12.400down again and he'd have to start anew

00:00:14.400but what if that herculean climb uphill

00:00:16.560was actually

00:00:17.600awesome combat against a randomized

00:00:19.439variety of enemies

00:00:20.720as you fight your way out of hell with a

00:00:23.039wide range of godly powers

00:00:24.640that grow and combine in interesting

00:00:26.480ways as you progress

00:00:28.000and what if instead of going back to

00:00:29.840zero you got a little bit stronger each

00:00:31.920time with the help from a colorful cast

00:00:33.760of allies

00:00:34.800and enemies who remember each of your

00:00:36.559attempts that's haiti's premise

00:00:38.640and the greek mythology themed roguelite

00:00:40.640that developer supergiant games has

00:00:42.399built around it

00:00:43.360makes going to hell a joy

00:00:45.480[Music]

00:00:56.000you play zagreus the rebellious

00:00:58.320heartthrob son of hades as he takes on

00:01:00.719hordes of colorfully animated undead

00:01:02.800that fill the screen with danger

00:01:04.400in every randomly ordered room you pass

00:01:06.720through on your way to the mortal realm

00:01:09.119fortunately zag is a skilled warrior

00:01:11.520capable of wielding six different

00:01:13.280weapons

00:01:13.920each with four different variants that's

00:01:16.159just one layer of the epic replayability

00:01:18.640hades offers regardless of your weapon

00:01:20.799of choice zag can dash out of trouble or

00:01:23.119get into a more advantageous position

00:01:25.200and let me tell you few things in life

00:01:27.360are as satisfying as a successful last

00:01:29.759second dodge

00:01:30.640that sets you up for stabbing an enemy

00:01:32.479in the back for bonus damage

00:01:34.479the final mechanic in zags move set is

00:01:36.640the cast

00:01:37.520a skill shot based projectile that fires

00:01:39.759a red jewel

00:01:40.640into an enemy for a quick burst of

00:01:42.399damage the jewel embeds itself into a

00:01:44.880target

00:01:45.439disqualifying you from firing another

00:01:47.280cast until you kill the enemy

00:01:49.280and retrieve your ammo so shooting it at

00:01:51.600the biggest meanest enemy in the room

00:01:53.600isn't always the best idea as with each

00:01:56.079of zagreus moves

00:01:57.360using it well involves a delicate

00:01:59.119balance between risk

00:02:00.399and reward

00:02:04.000inevitably you will die a lot

00:02:07.280every death sends zag back home to start

00:02:09.280over from scratch

00:02:10.560well almost you keep some persistent

00:02:13.680currencies used to upgrade overall stats

00:02:16.080and progress in relationships with the

00:02:18.080wonderful cast of characters who inhabit

00:02:19.920the underworld

00:02:20.800from lord hades himself all the way down

00:02:23.040to doosa

00:02:23.920oh my thank you prince i'm looking

00:02:26.480forward

00:02:27.120so get comfy you're going to be spending

00:02:29.360a lot of time getting to know

00:02:31.040everyone and it's time well spent zag's

00:02:33.440sympathetic coming of age story brought

00:02:35.360me in

00:02:36.080but what i fell in love with was his

00:02:37.840tongue-in-cheek musings on the world

00:02:39.519around him

00:02:40.319and snarky back and forth with the

00:02:41.920disembodied voice of the narrator

00:02:43.840who comments on your actions as you go

00:02:46.000that dark and lavishly appointed layer

00:02:48.560of the

00:02:48.959underworld's king is home not just to

00:02:51.840him

00:02:52.640but to his willful proteiny you know i

00:02:56.080can hear you old man

00:02:57.360in fact the heart and soul of hades

00:02:59.840outside of its outstanding combat

00:03:01.840lies in zags interaction with various

00:03:04.000deities and mythic figures like achilles

00:03:06.959orpheus and more turns out that adding a

00:03:09.599dash of dating simulator mechanics to a

00:03:11.440roguelite

00:03:12.239was the secret sauce in making good use

00:03:14.400of a large cast of interesting

00:03:15.840characters

00:03:16.560each personality feels like an authentic

00:03:18.720reinterpretation of a classic greek myth

00:03:21.200and they're all a joy to behold

00:03:23.440investing in zac's relationships with

00:03:25.200each character

00:03:26.159paves the way for interesting backstory

00:03:28.239reveals world building

00:03:30.239new side quests or even items to assist

00:03:33.040on your future escape attempts

00:03:34.720advancing these relationships far enough

00:03:36.879grants you persistent keepsakes and

00:03:38.959companions

00:03:39.680which are both invaluable tools in

00:03:41.760aiding zagreus's quest

00:03:43.200to run away from home of course not all

00:03:45.920keepsakes are as useful as others

00:03:48.000given the choice between the lucky tooth

00:03:50.159that grants you an additional chance at

00:03:51.680life

00:03:52.480or olympic keepsakes that increase your

00:03:54.480chance at better drops

00:03:56.000i'm gonna go with the second life every

00:03:57.680time something that's truly special and

00:04:00.159unusual about hades is that supergiant

00:04:02.560games

00:04:03.120uses these persistent relationships to

00:04:05.519travel the difficult path

00:04:06.959of marrying story to gameplay and in

00:04:09.680doing so

00:04:10.560elevates the simple loop of zags escape

00:04:13.120into something that's

00:04:14.080more than the sum of its parts within

00:04:16.000the world of most roguelites

00:04:17.759a failed run is not typically seen as

00:04:20.000part of the story

00:04:21.040with apologies to rogue legacy of course

00:04:23.759but in

00:04:24.320hades a death leads to zagg returning

00:04:26.800home and being met with probing

00:04:28.400questions about his progress

00:04:29.919and usually some mockery probably from

00:04:32.240dad this

00:04:33.040transforms something as fundamental as

00:04:35.040death from a

00:04:36.160video gamey failure state into in-game

00:04:39.199world building

00:04:40.160characters remember your triumphs and

00:04:42.160failures with a staggering amount of

00:04:44.080incidental dialogue

00:04:45.440that made me feel like i was constantly

00:04:47.680chipping away at new content within

00:04:49.520zac's story

00:04:50.639even when i failed after a while i no

00:04:53.120longer fear

00:04:54.000death in fact i embraced it and used it

00:04:56.960as an opportunity to learn

00:04:58.479and revisit friends back in the house of

00:05:00.320hades to see if they have something new

00:05:02.160to say

00:05:05.600losing that fear of death is important

00:05:07.440because again you're gonna do a lot of

00:05:09.120dying

00:05:09.600i didn't manage a successful escape

00:05:11.280until attempt 31

00:05:12.720which i hear is roughly the average or

00:05:15.199at least i hope it is

00:05:16.479each of those attempts is aided in a

00:05:18.240different way by zags aunts

00:05:20.080uncles and cousins up on olympus who are

00:05:22.720eager to rub lord haiti's nose in it if

00:05:24.880you eventually succeed

00:05:26.160their godly power-ups modify zags

00:05:28.240abilities making every run

00:05:30.160feel new and unique and let me tell you

00:05:32.720that rabbit hole

00:05:33.759runs deep there are a ton of different

00:05:36.400boons and combinations to learn

00:05:38.560and earn and you'll be seeing new ones

00:05:40.800after dozens of runs

00:05:42.240like any good roguelite hades forces you

00:05:44.800to make difficult decisions that either

00:05:46.479complement your current build

00:05:48.000or you could throw caution of the wind

00:05:50.080and attempt a riskier build

00:05:51.759that could pay off four chambers down

00:05:53.440the line if you survive long enough and

00:05:56.000luck into the boon you're hoping for

00:05:57.680all of that feeds into haiti's

00:05:59.440impressive replayability

00:06:01.120which again has many layers for instance

00:06:04.000while you may face the same bosses over

00:06:05.919and over again

00:06:07.039they too will adapt to your increase in

00:06:09.120power level whether it be in the form of

00:06:11.039street fighter style assists from

00:06:12.720siblings

00:06:13.520sprouting new heads or fancy new armor

00:06:16.400repeated encounters with bosses felt

00:06:18.160fresh

00:06:18.639because of these clever modifications to

00:06:20.560how they fight it makes sense within the

00:06:22.240fiction as well

00:06:23.199considering the bosses remember their

00:06:25.120past failures and successes against you

00:06:27.520each fight is like a rematch between

00:06:29.120rivals rather than a repeat

00:06:31.039i rolled credits on hades at

00:06:32.560approximately 48 hours in

00:06:34.479and i'm still met with new story lines

00:06:36.800challenges

00:06:37.759and side stories to tackle and a quick

00:06:40.400look at the achievement list teases an

00:06:42.319epilogue that i haven't even discovered

00:06:44.160yet

00:06:44.530[Music]

00:06:47.600hades is a one-of-a-kind roguelite that

00:06:50.000sets the bar for creatively combining

00:06:52.080wildly different genres together and

00:06:54.000using their strengths to complement each

00:06:55.759other in unexpected ways

00:06:57.280it's blend of satisfying twitch-based

00:06:59.680action with countless modifiers to build

00:07:01.680replayability

00:07:02.639dating simulator s character

00:07:04.319interactions and turning failure into a

00:07:06.400thing you look forward to as a means of

00:07:07.840progressing the story

00:07:09.199all coalesce to an experience that is

00:07:11.360more than the sum of its parts

00:07:12.960i'm over 50 hours in 70 escape attempts

00:07:16.000deep and i can't stop thinking about my

00:07:18.000next trip to hell

00:07:19.120because hades is an experience i never

00:07:21.599want to end

00:07:22.400for more roguelike unpredictability

00:07:24.240check out our review of spelunky2

00:07:26.000and for all things everything else

00:07:28.840ign.com