9.7/10 – 22 hours for first clear, 50 hours for 10 clears and credit roll
Review as written on 11/5/2022
The closest I’d consider a game as perfect since classic Minecraft, and the fastest I’ve ever been hooked to a game. Bravo, Supergiant, you got me to fall in love with a roguelike.
Hades knocks it out of the park in every aspect, with almost no undesirable traits. The music, artstyle, isometric camera, combat, is all masterclass and extremely well thought out. The game locks a lot of content behind progression, but it seems to never stop flowing. There always seems to be an upgrade, item, or storyline to find, and its refreshing and exciting every time. The dungeon crawling is strategic, and endlessly satisfying; beating up goons and crafting a cool build on the fly never gets boring, and the gameplay loop itself demands skill and thought without wearing you out. No two runs are the same, and you get to adapt and strategize on the fly.
There’s always a way to grow powerful, always something new to discover, always a new aspect of the game’s phenomenal characters and lore to learn about. Each clear is not the end, but a new beginning.
Applause to the extreme attention towards the player via the myriad of dialog conversations. Even beyond my first clear, there has not been a single line that I have heard multiple times. No matter how well I did on each run, I’d uncover more about the characters and be pleasantly surprised with the interactions.
This game is also a must have on switch or steam deck, it’s extremely convenient and comfortable on handheld, and runs smooth like butter.
My main gripe with the game is what most unanimously agree is the biggest flaw: the third boss. Theseus and Asterius are consistently a huge pain in the ass to fight, and its never fun, not one time. The game acknowledges this, but if they were able to point this out, why couldn’t they just…not make it annoying? The dingus enemies in the 4th area aren’t too fun either, eating up death defiances if you’re not too careful.
Totally don’t love Megaera, Aphrodite, Nyx (<3)
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