For having been “the most cunning of Men” (The Iliad, Chapter 6, verse 153), and having succeeded in deceiving Death twice, Sisyphus, son of Aeolus and king of Corinth, was condemned to roll a rock up a hill for eternity. Rock which always returned to its starting point, condemning Sisyphus to an impossible task. The late king ended up becoming an adjective: “Sisyphean”, a term which characterizes a task which can never be accomplished. No doubt this term should have been written in fiery letters in the minds of the 25 employees of Supergiant Games when the desire to give a successor to their cult title imposed itself on them. Want to capitalize on the success ofHades (officially 1 million copiesunofficially between 5.28 and 7.71 million copies sold according to SteamDB), the need for Amir Rao and Gavin Simon (co-founders of Supergiant) to satisfy investors, or the need to embark on a challenge to the limits of the impossible, the choice of creating a sequel on the part of Supergiant poses many questions. By tackling the task of creating Hades 2Supergiant Games seems to have embraced the myth of Sisyphus, faced with the insurmountable challenge of surpassing an already exceptional work.
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The Memoirs of Zeus
The task of developers is reminiscent of the punishment of Sisyphus: each element of the game must be rethought, improved, and each innovation tested, sometimes rejected, then reinvented. Repeating cycles of design, testing, and review could easily discourage less resilient minds. However, like Sisyphus who, according to Camus, learns to savor his eternal effort, the creators of Hades 2 seem to find in this process a form of satisfaction and continuous improvement. Or else, they hide their game particularly well. Whether it is Jen Zee (Character Designer with an incomparable line) or Darren Korb (official composer ofHades), they never stop communicating their joy at pushing this rock. “It’s been a crazy 24+ hours! I'm thrilled with the incredible response to #Hades2 so far. It's an incredible privilege to do what I love, working with some of my favorite humans @SupergiantGames. …I better get back to work on the rest!” declared Darren Korb the day after the launch of early access for Supergiant's latest production.
Hades 2 finds himself with a heavy legacy to bear. The first game was not only a commercial success, but a gaming anomaly that redefined the standards of the genre roguelike, combining fluid gameplay mechanics with rich and innovative storytelling. The pressure of having to do better than such a precedent is immense, and the community of players, while having responded with fervor, is also demanding. Each new iteration, each update and each announcement is scrutinized with careful attention, constantly compared to the original. How to not disappoint? How can we satisfy the public without betraying it, and without betraying YOURSELF? How to get rid of this mythical rock?
Overcoming the insurmountable also means reinventing success. Where Sisyphus finds meaning in perpetual effort, Supergiant Games finds its way in continuous innovation. If Sisyphus' challenge was to defy the absurd, Supergiant Games' challenge is to defy expectations, and prove that even excellence can be surpassed. And it all starts with a fundamental paradigm shift.
American Gods
Zagreus, icon of Hades first opus, was the embodiment of rebellion. Son of Hades with serious daddy issues, his goal was to make his way to ultimate freedom. New heroine for Hades 2, Melinoë (we will use the original typography for the benefit of the French “Mélinoé”), sister of dear Zaggy, and incidentally disciple of Hecate, Goddess of the Moon and Magic, is self-sacrifice made flesh. Each movement, each death of Mél is guided only by his sense of duty, and his desire to kill Chronos, the legendary Titan having sacked Olympus and having seized the House of Hades. The change in focal length caused by this shift profoundly modifies the storyline of the title. Maintaining the same narration system as H1, Hades 2 offers a very different emotional panel, moving from the discourse on Zagreus' post-adolescent revolution to the maturity of Melinoë's notion of duty. It is not very difficult to see a parallel with the evolution of Supergiant Games. From author of niche indie games appealing to a particular audience (Pyre, Bastion, Transistor) to hit makers (Hades 1), the issues change internally. Hades 1 was a snub to the clichés of roguelikeoften criticized for its starving approach to storytelling, and for the repetitiveness inherent to the genre.
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Two years in the 7th circle ofearly access had forged a Hades which dynamited preconceived ideas. If the studio has made the choice of early access again for Hades 2, the issues are completely different. We all know that the craftsmen at Supergiant are perfectly capable of delivering a title at least as good as its predecessor. This time we are no longer dealing with blacksmiths, but with watchmakers. Quite an idea when you think you have to defeat the god of Time, Chronos. Will play H2it is quickly noted that the DNA strands ofHades 1 are there, underlying. The iconography, the conservation of the isometric perspective, the music of Darren Korb, the narration which scrolls and builds as we try it repeatedly, the nervous gameplay, the random system of divine blessings… Everything is there, and in taking all these building blocks identically to adapt them to Melinoë's devoted destiny, Supergiant would have already given birth to a major new piece. However, each element has been reworked, readjusted, redesigned in Swiss watchmaking style to produce an object much greater than the sum of its parts.
To the original soundtrack always rich in plucked strings and big guitar parts that try (Coral Crown this big seafood platter with its unstoppable choirs), Darren Korb added some well-felt distortion effects and sprinkled with electro loops that are both discreet and complex (The Necropolis haunts my nocturnal walks, just like Lost Souls). The composer's touch is there, with the impression that we played with his gimmicks and added a few effects pedals in order to let him express himself even more freely. A philosophy that applies to the entirety ofHades 2. The more time we spend at the Crossroads, in the depths of Tartarus or in search of Olympus, the more we realize that Supergiant has let the horses go.
The Metamorphoses
The gameplay possibility madness of the first Hades is enhanced by additions such as arcane cards, echoes of the Mirror of the Night. These tarot cards offer to boost the heroine's starting abilities (gain of life when leaving a room, increase in damage rate, etc.) in exchange for a few consumables. Here we enter one of the major theoretical changes of the license: Melinoë being a witch, she harvests, concocts, simmers and creates potions, items, and even incantations of new places thanks to the materials she puts in her bag during the course. of his runs. Initially a little sluggish, these crafting mechanics were rebalanced during the deployment of Patch 1 to become softer and smoother, making crafting more delicate and less time-consuming.
The gameplay has also been refined. First of all, we will note the fact that all the weapons are new. Goodbye Malphon, Exagriff, Coronacht and others, these are six new weapons to which Mél will have access. Five are accessible at the moment – the sixth has not been revealed -: the Witch's Scepter, the Sister Blades, the Plutonian Torches, the Selene Ax and the Silver Skull. Each of its weapons will be able to adopt particular “aspects” which modify certain combat parameters for an even wider range of possibilities. However, the best idea in terms of combat was to replace the Throw of Zagreus with the Glyph of Melinoë. No more octahedrons that we throw at enemies, from now on, we will have to deal with a magic circle that we apply to the ground which, in its basic version, will slow down the enemies. This simple element modifies the apprehension of the confrontation zone, requiring solid observation, to better think about its placement and to develop a strategy of spacing solid for maximum efficiency. Knowing that this glyph can be improved, and blessed by the gods for various effects (lightning, fire, weakening and more if affinities). According to the build chosen, the starting weapon and the activated arcana, the management of this simple luminous circle will drive fans of RNG and theorycrafting.
For fans of challenges, the Punishment system allowing the difficulty of runs to be increased is still present, now under the name of Testaments, with the same principle: choose your poison to increase the difficulty of the game, in order to move on from the grain of salt in the cogs of the clock, to the point of attempting to make a Yams while hanging upside down in an Iron Madonna. Here we enter a parameter which was somewhat lacking in the first Hades : it is obvious that Supergiant has thought about speedrunners (the first record times begin to fall, with times less than 6 min 30 to defeat Chronos) and to the obsessive community of challengers, the same one who triumphed over the'impossible Max Heat challengethree years after the official release of version 1.0 of Hades.
Beyond this expert work, these extreme adjustments, these minor and major modifications, the real hammer blow that strikes Hades 2 lies in the density of this early access. If there are still a few small polishes to give, such as finalizing the design of certain NPCs, modeling artifacts, and access to a few areas not yet open, as is Hades 2 is already one of the games of the year. A sublimation of the material Hades 1, transcended by a much more delicate narrative, with more complex issues, and a real maturation, we could even speak of refinement, of the gameplay. Not to mention this beautiful balance between crafting and the compulsion to go and massacre tons of monsters, so difficult to find and here magnificently mastered. The illustrious ancestor was a very pure diamond, this successor recut and remodeled it to set it on a ring of incomparable majesty. We even come to wonder: did it really need Early Access?