Teasers
Hades was an exceptional title in the roguelite genre and the sequel already shows in early access that the action in the Greek mythical world should be at least as fun as the first time.
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All screenshots and game scenes come from GamersGlobal
Short tests are our format to provide you with compact information about games. In this case, there is less playing time in the report than in a full-blown test.
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The studio Supergiant Games has moved on from the debut title bastion always distinguished by indie gems. But Hades (in the test) proved to be a particular crowd favorite. The title surprisingly combined the repetitive gameplay loop of an action roguelite with a motivating story in the world of Greek mythology. Even long after all the mechanics had been unlocked, NPCs had something new to say when they returned to the base – either they referenced an event or a situation from the last run (for example, which enemy caught you) or they were doing little things Character episodes or the overarching plot about the fragile family bonds in the house of
Hades ahead. The sequel was eagerly awaited (a sequel is new territory for Supergiant Games).
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| Hades 2 is also characterized by a chic, colorful comic style. The environments are now even more detailed. The character images in conversations are very pretty, but the enemy design often doesn't stand out. This screaming ghost with a mouth in its chest is a positive exception. |
Time is against you
Hades 2 continues the story directly, even if developer Supergiant Games tells the story in such a way that you don't have to have played the predecessor. But the reference to recurring characters is part of the charm. If someone is actually reading these lines who is interested in Hades 2 and doesn't know the predecessor: What are you doing here, go play Hades, it's one of the best roguelites ever! A good part of the fascination for me, in addition to the pure gameplay fun, also came from how Supergiant Games managed the impressive feat of spinning the threads of the story in an interesting way with each new run,
In any case, you are no longer playing Zagreus, but another child of Hades: Melinoe. However, your father was defeated by your grandfather, the Titan Kronos. Grandpa now takes over the throne of the underworld and starts a war against Olympus. You now want to take revenge and to do so you dig into the depths of the underworld – that's quite ambitious, to kill the incarnation of time itself. There are also some tongue-in-cheek phrases in the game, such as “killing time” and “time is against us.” By the way: What happened to your mother Persephone and the former protagonist Zagreus is unclear at the start of the game.
I like that the stakes have been raised by the war against Olympus in the sequel, but on the other hand it remains to be seen whether these story ambitions still connect as logically with the endlessly looping gameplay as the first Hades did. So it made sense that Zagreus would fight his way through Hades' realm again and again, even after successfully escaping the underworld. But I definitely have faith in the deserving Supergiant authors Greg Kasavin.
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| As in the predecessor, there is a kind of anteroom to the gate that takes you to the underworld. Here you equip weapons and tools and put together your arcana at the altar. |
Like returning home
The first few runs feel pleasantly familiar: you eliminate all enemies in one room, then decide to move on to another room, always seeing what rewards await you if you win. The comic-style environments are even more detailed without compromising readability in the fights. As with its predecessor, it can be difficult to keep track of the storm of effects.
Even if the basic gameplay is familiar: Melinoe, who is trained by witches, plays differently than Zagreus in detail. His red projectiles, which get stuck in enemies, are replaced by Melinoe's spell circle, which slows down enemies. In the sequel, both the standard attack, special attack and spell circle now have a more powerful Omega variant, which you can unleash by holding down the corresponding button. However, Omega maneuvers use up your magic bar, which fills up completely when you enter a room. On top of that, there are extremely powerful moon spells that can only be used once you have used up enough magic points in the current fight.
As in the predecessor, you receive blessings from Zeus and other residents of Olympus, including some new gods. Since these blessings can also change the effect of Melinoe's spell and introduce special rules for refilling magic points, Melinoe has more blessing slots than her brother – so you can now have even more active blessings at the same time (for example, you get a second blessing for your standard attack, the earlier one is discarded). However, some of these buffs now consume magic points when used or you lower the maximum value of the bar for some passive bonuses. This opens up a number of new, interesting considerations and build options, especially since the movesets of the new weapons such as the magic wand, dagger and sickle, ax and the like feel fresh enough. However, I'm currently missing more creative weapon mechanics like the Aegis shield's ricochet function.
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| Melinoe's friends at the witches' crossroads include the cheeky ghost Dora, who is not good at scaring. The cute ghost reminds me a little of Dusa from the predecessor, but I quickly found myself much fonder of Dusa. |
Coven
If an enemy kills you, you go back to the witches' crossroads. Not only is a cute giant toad waiting for Melinoe in this base, but a whole squad of new characters that you can get to know better with every run, including the legendary Odysseus, who has found his way into the game despite his well-known orientation problems. As in the predecessor, there are many lines of dialogue that refer to experiences from previous runs – that draws me even more into the world. At the crossroads you can also cast spells at a cauldron against looted items, which, for example, add new traders to the base or summon relief for your detours into the underworld; for example, healing wells have a certain chance of spawning on the way.
Permanently buffing Zagreus at the Mirror was a fairly linear affair, this is replaced in the second part with an arcana card system that is cleverly much more flexible. Each unlocked card also reveals neighboring cards that offer additional perks (such as damage bonuses, continues or re-rolling of room rewards) when you unlock them with the appropriate resources. This way you will gradually see how many cards there actually are. However, there is a limit to how many unlocked cards you can actively use at the same time. This offers plenty of scope to put together an interesting hand.
There's a lot in the Early Access version, including the well-known mechanic of improving your connection to characters through gifts – even if the icons of the souvenirs you receive in exchange are just placeholders. Supergiant Games is currently promising a first major update in a few months. Over time, a sixth weapon and a new area with more enemies and NPCs will be added. The feature of redecorating the base like in the predecessor is also still being developed. But you won't be left hanging too abruptly in the story: the plot develops up to the climax of the first act. A second gate then opens, with completely different regions and bosses. However, the goal at the end of these levels in the second act cannot yet be achieved and the story does not progress as it should after later updates or in the full version. Thanks to this second path, the early access version of Hades 2, as announced by the studio, already has more areas and bosses to offer than the full version of its predecessor.
HADES 2 (EARLY ACCESS)
Conclusion: Hagen Gehritz
Overall, Hades 2 seems a bit harder than its predecessor, as Melinoe can't dodge as easily with her sprint as Zagreus can with his sprint jumps. However, this also made unlocking new features a little more difficult at the beginning.
I am particularly skeptical about a decision regarding upgrade resources: Why can I only take one tool with me and therefore only harvest one type of resource per run and why do I have to press the pickaxe several times to dismantle everything? This touch of life simulation occupational therapy doesn't fit in with the rest for me. I also hope that there might be more than just six weapons in the finished game.
The fact that I'm going into so much detail here also shows how round this version already feels. Hades 2 is already a very fun reunion in Early Access with this very own interpretation of the Greek world of gods from Supergiant Games, in which many of the new characters are once again full of charm. If you get in now, you can have many hours of fun with Hades 2. Probably the biggest annoyance: Although you will be rewarded with new regions and bosses after the end of the first act, you also want to know how the events and the characters develop
