Hades 2 PS5 Review. I love reviewing games like Hades 2. Not only did I enjoy my time with it, but it also reminded me that even genres I don’t particularly like still provide games worth playing. Playing Hades 2 also hit home the fact that I have put off playing the first Hades game for far, far too long.
Hades 2 Review (PS5) – A Godly Sequel, Another Supergiant Hit
Through Tartarus
Much like in the first Hades game, you take on the role of one of Hades’ children. This time around, though, it’s his daughter, Melinoë. Chronos, the Titan of Time, captured Melinoë’s entire family, including Zagreus, the protagonist of the first Hades games. With Chronos now reigning supreme in Hades’ throne room, Melinoë must find her way down through the Underworld to reach Chronos and defeat him.
The story is told much like a visual novel, where conversations are represented by still images of each participant. While I don’t mind either way, many people will undoubtedly be happy to know that the entire script is voiced. The voice work is wonderful, too. Every character comes through with their individual deliveries, and you get a real feel for each deity and supernatural entity through those deliveries.
As expected, this story is portrayed through conversations you have along the way. Generally, most of these conversations come in threes: The person you encounter says something, you respond to them in kind, and then they mention something else after that.
Succeeding Through Setbacks
Honestly, this is a great way to break up the roguelike gameplay experience without drawing attention away from the gameplay itself. At the same time, this still organically gives you further context and drive to continue. Personally, this helped me stay locked into the experience, even after tens of hours in the gameplay loop. Getting chunks of narrative along the way kept me motivated to play through all of my deaths.
On the topic of deaths, Hades 2 provides a setting to activate God Mode. As you play, the game decreases the amount of damage you take after you repeatedly die. I’m not exactly sure how this mechanic triggers exactly, but it seems to respond to how well you play. If you die at the same place every time or even before then, then the damage reduction goes down.
God Mode doesn’t decrease your damage intake every time either. This is due to the fact that so many aspects of the game revolve around the death cycle. For several hours, you gain access to something new with each run. For instance, you gain access to a massive cauldron that you use to conjure different benefits or unlocks. Then, you gain more conjurations as you gather new resources.
Finding Your Place
Speaking of the cauldron, this sits in your hub world. Here, all of your allies that joined you reside and any allies that you find come to stay. The hub also acts as your command center, where you decide your weapons and what badge you wear into your run.
In particular, badges affect a lot of things but in different ways. Some are as simple as granting you 200 gold to buy things from Charon along the way while some increase different damage types. In fact, one badge increases the damage you deal to the last creature that killed you and another badge grants you a free revival for each run.
For the first few hours of the game, you dedicate your time to practicing and learning the Boons and how to use them with your weapons. Maximizing these Boons plays a key role in your success. If you don’t strategize your Boons, then it’s all on you and your ability to deal with what the game throws at you.
Run Prep
Boons act as your power increases that you gather along the way, and each god provides his or her own unique Boon. These add elements and effects to your attacks and skills. These Boons are also randomized to each run, so you won’t always get the chance to use the same setup every time. In this, the game forces you to experiment naturally with different combinations as you play.
What I love about the formula of this game is that it rewards your efforts while still asking you to hone your skills and learn to optimize the choices you make each run. This is accentuated by the fact that the game includes ways for you to sustain your run without outright carrying you.
The other major preparation comes in the form of Arcana Cards. These establish different perks and tradeoffs that affect how your runs transpire. One grants you health after each encounter, while others increase damage at the cost of mana. There’s even one that upon death gives you ten seconds of immunity to kill the target that killed you. Taking down your slayer then gives you health back and lets you continue.
Beyond Genre
Like I mentioned at the start, I love reviewing games simply because it puts me in situations where I play games I don’t normally play on my own. Hades is one of those games. I’m just not that big into roguelikes. For example, I enjoyed Returnal for what it was, but the stress that came with each run kept me from sticking it out until the end.
Hades 2 manages to maintain the routine of roguelikes without putting all of that stress on you to succeed. Here, you still gain something, even if it sends you back to the beginning. The whole Greek Mythology element probably helps too, but that’s still not automatic. Here, Supergiant Games makes sure to deliver everything in a way that keeps you motivated to continue.
Fans of roguelikes always talk about that need for another go. Before this, I never felt that drive with roguelikes. With Hades 2, I finally understand that need to go again. On a personal note, I hope this helps to open my surroundings to the genre.
Auto Aim Awareness
Finally, one thing that I wish I could change with Hades 2 is how you do directional attacks. Attacks and skills are all activated with the face buttons, and you only use the Left Joystick for moving around AND for aiming certain skills. This means that you can’t aim up while moving down. You just move toward the target you attack. Hades 2 does provide a setting to auto aim, allowing you to move in any direction while the game prioritizes targets for you.
In the vast majority of cases, auto aim works as you would want or you realize that it made a better decision than you would have. However, there are boss fights where the game tends to prioritize the closest target, even if it’s not the target you want to hit.
It’s here where you can feel the inability to choose your own targets. Personally, I felt this the most during the second main boss fight (no spoilers here). Again, the game does a phenomenal job of automatically choosing your target in sticky situations, but it doesn’t always go the way you want it to. Since the consequences of situations like this are much greater, you remember them more readily.
An Ode to A Grecian Game
Honestly, Hades 2 is a great game. It feels wholly like a game while still maintaining a narrative for those of us who need that narrative element. It balances all of the roguelike factors in such a way that you always feel like you are progressing, even during setbacks. The premise is a blast, and so is the gameplay loop. Auto aim works well for what it is, but the lack of aiming could put you in precarious situations. All in all, Hades 2 could easily be in the running for Game of the Year, just like its predecessor was in 2020.
Review code kindly provided by publisher