Hades (40/25$)
this drawing is eh
I wish every game had the synergies of this game. It should be regarded as a model of game design, and puts most AAA games to shame.
Hades is one of the tightest games I have ever played. Developer Supergiant games has found the perfect form factor for it’s signature combat and story skills by making Hades a rougelite. It has been increasingly common for game developers to treat death as a game mechanic, and Hades takes it a step further by making it a key story mechanic. You are the son of Hades and you are trying to break your way out of the underworld and make it to mount Olympus to live as your godly right. Your father forbids this for a reason unknown to the player. They take control of a young god on his first break out of the underworld, but as the player fights through the dangerous halls of the underworld they will be killed. Which sends them back to their father and his staff of spirits and monsters that help him manage the underworld. Rinse and repeat.
Where the game gets genius is how the story builds around the number of times you try to escape. Each time your underworld home there is new, incredibly well acted, dailog to listen to. Not an overwhelming amount, but enough to make you want to check in with the characters that make up the underworlds staff. The spirit of Achilles, Nyx the embodiment of night, Cerberus the incredibly cute yet vicious three headed dog, and the fury sisters. But the list goes on to hit on an incredibly large amount of greek myths that increased my interest in learning about these greek figures, much like the God of War series does. Where Hades sets itself apart is in the tone of the game, and how silly it can be. There are fourth wall breaks, witty banter between rival gods, conversations with non speaking entities like Cerburs or Charon that are still so well written you’ll want to listen to them. And all Charion does is groan.. Built into all these characters are rep systems that change based on who many gifts are given each character, who then give items to the player, which helps the player power up between escape attempts. This is crucial to Hades enjoyment because dying doesn’t feel pointless. In games like Enter the Gungeon, Risk of Rain 2, Dead Cells, etc. there is no real forward progression between runs and the result is feeling like you wasted time playing. Sure there are characters to unlock and maybe some skills, but nearly all of Hades systems are improved upon the more runs you do and the systems synergize together so well. It removes the tedium of rouglites, and makes Hades easy to pick back up after a failed run. The runs themselves always feel fresh through the large amount of powers granted by the gods of Olympus. There are so many combinations that work differently with each of the weapons that it feels great to use. Plus these powers have visible effects.
Hades is missing multiplayer. Which is a small complaint to have, because it’s merely a wish. If Hades offered co-op then everyone I know should buy it. They still should buy but it's a slightly harder sell when compared to the similarly stunning Risk of Rain 2 that features all the greatness of Hades, notable lack of progression/content to keep single player as fresh as Hades.
That fresh feeling never fades. There is such a large amount of post game content that makes beating the game again, fun. Not to mention there is always the possibility of additional DLC or updates like Supergiant games have gotten in the past. But you don’t need another reason to buy this game. It took me 15 hours to beat once, yet the true ending has you beat the game 9 times and I can’t wait to get after it.
