It’s getting close to the end of the year, so I had to play Hades II. I had forgotten that it was released into 1.0 in September. I kept seeing that it is just more Hades, which is fine, but could that be bad?

I’ve already invested 12 hours into Hades II, so let’s discuss it.

PROS:

• It’s more Hades. Supergiant Games is just the best at making roguelikes/lites.
  • Boons are incredibly varied, and I really like how polished they are, so every ability matters, as opposed to always trying to look for the “broken one.”
  • The systems inside the hub area are great. The Scrolls of Fate really help when resources are running low, and the merchant helps when I ALWAYS forget to grab an ambrosia to forward talking points.
  • There are a lot of arcana cards.
    • which is good, but sometimes I just want to go in and not meditate for 15 minutes before a run to review that plethora of cards and maximize my run.
• Combat is great.
  • The only weapon that I don’t have is the coat.
  • The Sister Blades are my favorite. The least favorite is the Witch’s Staff.
  • I haven’t acquired many keepsakes, but they seem to be on par with those from the first game.
• I like the option to go up and down
  • I concocted a way to stay alive when I go up, but I have been dedicating myself to going down.
    • It appears that enemies hit hard, and I am under a stricter time limit, which makes utilizing the cards even more important.
• It looks great
  • Everyone is always so hot.
• It sounds great.
  • That arena music really just gets you pumped up.
  • Yet again, the voice acting is top-tier.
• The story so far is pretty good, too.
  • It initially lost me, but it picked up just over an hour ago, and I am now wholly invested in it.

CONS:

• It’s more Hades.
  • What I mean is that it is more of the same, just tweaked a little, which puts me off a little.
    • Sometimes it gets a little exhausting doing the same thing over nd over and over.
• Hub world is just ass.
  • There is no direction, just a vast area with little to do.
• Mourning fields is ass.
  • Lots of space to explore, but the zone-specific fights make the stupid area just annoying to traverse through.

So far, so great. Supergiant Games really nailed the formula with this game, and I can see why it is in the running for Game of the Year 2025. When I am playing Hades II, I am having a blast, and when I am not playing, I want to be playing it. The story is starting to catch up, and I am invested in what is happening in the underworld and in Olympus. Always a fan of how great everything looks and how polished the overall game is. I’ve barely had any issues with the game.

Also, some say that Hades II is not a Steam Deck game, but I actively enjoy playing it on there. However, having an Xbox controller and a bigger screen certainly makes the experience better.

9/10