I’ve been a fan of Supergiant Games for a long time, from the very beginning, in fact. I got to try Bastion at PAX East 2010, and from then on I was hooked. Bastion was fantastic, Transistor is one of my all-time favorite games, Pyre was utterly beautiful (gameplay aside), and Hades was an absolute banger of a game. So, even if it was (slightly) disappointing that they were immediately following up Hades instead of continuing their trend of new gameplay styles, I was confident that Hades II would be great as well. However, I wasn’t prepared for just how good. Seriously, if Hades was a homerun, then Hades II is full-on grand slam!

Now, I’m only few hours in so this isn’t my attempt at a review or anything, but rather my impressions after spending some time in Hades II. And, so far, I can boil my impressions of the game as compared to Hades down to one word; “more.” More characters with more character and more chances to interact with them. More locations to see; more enemies to fight with more ways to fight them. More ways to gain power; more upgrades and more items; More music and art work that’s even more stunning and beautiful. That is, in a nutshell, pretty much it.

This might not be a surprise if you’ve read any of my past posts, but what’s really striking me the most in Hades II are the art and music. While the music in Hades was good, I can’t say that any of it stuck with me in the way tracks from Bastion, Transistor and Pyre did. Hades II doesn’t have this problem; a huge chunk of the soundtrack has a dreamy and haunting quality to it. The siren song are particularly catchy, making their fight a highlight of each run. The real star of the game is, well, kinda everyone, specifically their character portraits. The amount of, detail crammed into them is just insane!

Zeus’ hair is a literal storm cloud. Selene (the moon) is covered in silver and shines with a pale glow. Hermes has a speed blur applied to his outline, and Aphrodite is, uh…wow! There’s so much care put into each portrait that it’s almost astonishing! The glows, shines, animations and character details all come together to make characters that I just cannot help but stare at every time they appear on screen.

Combat is expanded rather than fundamentally changed. Melinoe’s base moveset is roughly the same as Zagreus’ except that she casts an AoE spell instead of that little crystal thing Zag had. Her armory is different too, with each weapon offering something very different from Zagreus’ kit. Overall, I’d say more of her stuff favors range over close-quarters, but both strategies work equally well. Actually, I’d say I like her options better overall, since each feels good to use right away. This is a big improvement over Hades, where there were only 2 weapons that felt viable towards the end.

So yes, Hades II has impressed me quite thoroughly. I’m really looking forward to playing more and then coming back here to give you my final thoughts!

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What’s a game they impressed you a lot more than you thought it would? How so?

Image from the Steam page