Hades

Genre: Action / Roguelike

Players: 1

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Review:

Hades is an Action-heavy Roguelike released for Nintendo Switch and PC in 2020 that puts players in the role of Zagreus, the son of Greek god Hades, who is fighting through hordes of his father’s minions to try to escape the underworld, aided by the other gods in the Greek pantheon.

Visually, Hades looks good, featuring striking 2D backgrounds with a lot of detail and subtly cel-shaded characters that fit in perfectly with them. I will say that at least on the Nintendo Switch, the framerates can struggle a bit when you have a lot of enemies and visual effects on-screen at once, but this doesn’t interfere with the gameplay too much.

The game also has exceptionally well-designed character portraits that accompany the conversations the game’s characters have. These conversations are fully voiced, and they are one of the greatest joys of the game, because they are exceptionally well-written and well-acted.

The soundtrack here is quite good too, mixing traditional string instruments with some great adrenaline-pumping beats, some otherworldly vibes, and even a few good vocal pieces. In particular, the songs The Painful Way and Good Riddance really stand out for me.

The story here is one of the game’s main draws, even if it doesn’t initially seem like there’s much to it. Zagreus wants to get out of hell, Hades would much rather he focus on getting on with things in the underworld, and various other parties are interested in helping one or the other. However, the twist here is that this simple premise takes on multiple layers. Firstly, it’s presented as a coming-of-age story of sorts, with Zagreus playing the role of the rebelling youth, Hades playing the role of the overbearing dad, Nyx playing the role of the beleaguered mother who’s doing what she can to help her son without suffering the wrath of her abusive husband, the other Greek gods playing the role of meddling extended family… which is an amusing approach to things.

However, the story goes even beyond that by making seemingly every character both extraordinarily witty in a sardonic way (Zagreus in particular) while still retaining the personality characteristics befitting their Greek legends. Aphrodite is not-so-subtly hitting on Zagreus, Dionysus is all about having a good time, Zeus is pompous and blustering, and every one of them is particularly snippy the moment they feel they’ve been snubbed.

The really interesting thing is the way the interactions of these characters evolve as you play. See, when Zagreus dies in his quest to leave the underworld, he lives through the truth in the words of South Park’s Saddam Hussein, “where did you think I was gonna’ go, Detroit?” and returning to the underworld. However, these failed attempts are something all of the game’s characters remember and comment on – Hades greets his son as he clomps back through the front gate, giving a weary and annoyed comment about how Zagreus should just give up already. Bosses you fought will comment on your prior victories and defeats (amusingly, when a boss beats you, their picture will be displayed in the lounge in an “employee of the month” fashion). And throughout the game, you’ll constantly be getting new interactions between these various characters, Zagreus, and even the narrator, all of them cleverly written, and a reward in and of themselves.

And all of that is on top of some really good action-focused Roguelike gameplay, where players take their choice of weapon into the fray, and gradually power themselves up with a selection of boons gifted to them from various gods, powering up their attack, dash, special attack, and a ranged attack, as well as gaining passive bonuses, and there are a wealth of possibilities for mixing and matching these.

I found myself gravitating towards Athena’s enhanced dodge which turns the evasive move into an attack reflector, and Dionysus’ enhancement to the special attack, which gives a poison (er, sorry… “hangover”) effect to that weapon’s ranged throw, which stacks with each hit. The two combined meant I could keep my distance and whittle away enemies’ health from afar while still having close-range options… however, another player may opt to stick with the close-range sword, the long-range bow, or one of the other available weapons, perhaps opting to boost its power with Ares’ boon, its speed with a boon from Hermes, or create chain combos with Zeus’s lightning bolts.

There are plenty of possibilities here, and the way the game gives players a somewhat random selection of options means they’ll often be forced to try new things, but they’ll always have some degree of control over what they’ll be upgrading to, a combination that makes for a lot of variety without sacrificing utility.

The game is constantly evolving and presenting new surprises too. Every time I thought I saw everything it had to offer, it seemed to throw some new twist into things – a new gameplay element to mix things up, a new character upgrade to help my quest, a new twist in the story… even the bosses, which initially repeat in each run, evolve and change over time to add new challenges.

To sum it up, Hades is a game that takes the fast, skill-based Roguelike combat of a game like Dead Cells, brings it to a top-down isometric perspective, and adds in some absolutely superb story elements that make it a joy to play not just to fight through the game’s amazing randomized battles, but to see what snarky comment what mythological figure has to say next. And this game brings enough fun twists and turns to keep things interesting even after multiple play-throughs. For fans of Action games and especially Roguelikes, Hades is an absolute must-play.

tl;dr – Hades is an Action-packed isometric Roguelike that has you fighting through hordes of enemies with mix-and-match enhancements gifted to you by a cast of Greek gods, with this game’s mythological cast all superbly written and impeccably voice-acted. This game’s marriage of great storytelling, great action, and great mix of Roguelike elements that all tie into each other makes for a phenomenal game. Do not miss it.

Grade: A

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Winner:

Game of the Year: Silver Award (Second Place) – I have not previously been the biggest fan of developer Supergiant’s games. I thought Bastion was overrated, I liked Transistor a lot but it didn’t truly grab me, and I didn’t care for Pyre at all. So imagine my surprise when Hades absolutely blew me away with its excellent combat, its superb writing and voice acting, and brilliant reimagining of the relationship between Roguelike gameplay mechanics and story, transforming death from a frustrating element of the genre into a joyous part of the experience. If you enjoy games with great action, this is the one game in 2020 you absolutely needed to add to your Nintendo Switch library.

Best Action Game – There are some strong contenders in this category this year. Still, while every game in this list is fantastic, there was really no contest here. Hades’ combat is so smooth, so varied, so enjoyable, and so endlessly replayable that it is easily the one game in this list I most want to keep diving back into over and over again.

Best Voice Acting – Hades comes to life in part thanks to its excellent writing delivered with absolutely fantastic voice acting that really gives a new layer of dimension to the petty gods and myths of Greek lore, with everyone delivering the witty lines with a dry and sardonic wit that makes everything here feel just a bit classy, even as you’re thrashing hordes of monsters. Special credit here goes to Darren Korb, Hades’ composer who doubles as the voice actor for the game’s protagonist Zagreus (as well as supporting character Skelly, interestingly enough). Korb, you’re clearly skilled as a composer, but you may want to consider taking up voice acting as a side-gig, because you’re a natural at it.

Best Story – Plenty of games in 2020 told an excellent story, but few told them with the level of charm and wit as Hades. What’s more, despite Hades being a game with the focus largely on the action, the story nevertheless became a powerful component driving players forward, thanks in part due to how cleverly it is integrated with the gameplay, constantly changing and adapting to respond to what’s been going on in the game. It’s thrilling to see characters commenting on battles won or lost in prior runs, and this elevates the Roguelike genre to be something transcendent, something that gives a greater meaning to each death. As much as I loved the story in the other nominees this year, Hades was my clear choice for the winner in this category, by far.

Runner-Up: The “Wow, this game was way better than I expected!” Award, Best Song – The Painful Way by Darren Korb

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