Hades 2 Early access impresses with its plentiful content and promising story

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No spoilers 

When Hades 2 was originally announced at the Game Awards in 2022, I was only tangentially interested in playing it. Its version of isometric rogue-like action was not my cup of tea back in 2022 but its versions of Greek gods and mythology interested me. I grew up reading the Percy Jackson books and during that time learned to love the mythology and conflicts made by having younger heroes clash with mythical gods and monsters. 

I was heavily reminded of this when I first booted up the original Hades this year to play one of 2020’s best games. Most people I had spoken to loved the game and my experience echoed many of those I had heard. Hades is a great mash of well-designed systems, that interweave interesting replayable combat design and great storytelling. Hades was the first roguelike that I had spent a lot of time playing and it remains the favorite game I have beaten this year for sure. 


The week after I had beaten Hades, Hades 2 appeared like a miracle. I had seen most of the content that the original had to offer and was ready to see how the second innovated the Hades formula. Super Giant Games are not disappointed. 


More is More


Hades 2 is a direct sequel to the original and features a story and gameplay that plays on the original isometric rogue-likes formula. The game is still only in early access but has much more content than you might expect for a game with the label early access. This is most likely due to Developer Super Giant Game’s previous experience with early access and the game being built with a similar style as the original, non the less the content offering can not be understated. Your enjoyment of the game predicates your enjoyment of isometric rogue-like gameplay. 


“A roguelike is a game structured around failing and restarting, in which no two play-throughs are exactly alike due to a design that randomizes various aspects of the experience,” said Greg Kasavin, the creative director of Supergiant Games in a quote to the New York Times. 

One of the many randomized choices in upgrades that you make ever run


The original Hades featured one route with randomized perks, rooms, and encounters, and had the same 4 bosses that you could beat every playthrough. You can use different persistent weapons and perks throughout all of your playthroughs and you can normally choose which reward you want when you enter a room. The reward is asymmetrical perks and items that differ during each playthrough. Hades 2 multiplies that by having an original route at the beginning of the game and adding another route you can take every run.

Super Giant Games have given that part of the game a similar amount of work and effort and feature new enemy types not seen elsewhere. Both routes complement each other in how they compare and give the player different options for playing the game not featured in the original. The new route also gives the story a bigger scope as our main character can meet even more characters and tell an even bigger story than the original managed. It all feels grander in the sequel even with the game still in early access. 

Facing off against the first boss

A new odyssey

One of the best-returning aspects of Hades 2 is the amazing story, characters and voice acting. A strong story is not normally what you would associate with a rogue-like yet Super Giant seems to always deliver just that. They do this by building up characters through reward screens and other small character interactions in the game's main hub the crossroads.


Hades 2 features many new characters while including some returning ones from the original. Many of them react to the game's events differently than the last and show a different side to the godly families that both games talk about. The new characters put a direct emphasis on how desperate the situation is in the game and give the main character Melinoë more supporters than those she met in the hub.


While praiseworthy for its increased scope, the early access period has put an emphasis on the story being unfinished. While you can experience the beginning of Melinoë's story, you might have to wait another 6 months to a year for that story to come to a close.


Early preview

The game features a lot of content but is still in early access. Many of the game’s art assets are in early production and are work in progress. This includes many of the game's character and item portraits that feature prominently in the game as well as some of the content planned for the second route. Both have some content that is missing but as stated before, it does not take away from the large content package that the game features and replayability of the main first route which is finished.  


The message you see when you boot up the game

Super Giant Games promises to deliver more content and communication in the coming months that will bring new perks, and bosses, and finish the game’s art and story.  Patches have been delivered fairly often and they add new content while also balancing existing content. While it might seem counterintuitive to play a highly anticipated game before its story and content are done, Hades 2’s roguelike gameplay holds up remarkably well on replay and allows for interesting gameplay despite the state. 

I look forward to covering the game as it comes closer to release in the coming year. 










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