Hades II

Genre: Action / Roguelike

Players: 1

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

When the original Hades released in 2020, I don’t think that many were surprised that it was good – developer Supergiant Games is pretty consistent in the quality of the games it releases. However, I think it surprised many just how good it was. The excellent, finely-crafted action, the beautiful stylized visuals, the phenomenal writing and voice acting, the superb soundtrack, and Roguelike elements that pushed the boundaries of what the genre had to offer. Now five years later, we’re seeing the game’s long-awaited sequel release on PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2, and of course the question is exactly what has remained the same and what has changed in this sequel.

Well, for one thing, Hades II has us playing as a new protagonist, Melinoë, daughter of Hades and sister of the first game’s protagonist, Zagreus. And in the time since the plot of the first game, it seems that a lot has changed – the titan Chronos has captured Hades, Zagreus, and Melinoë’s mother Persephone and is waging war on Olympus, with Melinoë being trained as a witch by Hecate with the aim of becoming powerful to take down the titan.

Where the first game’s plot largely centered on Zagreus’ strained relationship with Hades and the Olypic gods meddling in their father-son squabbles, Hades II focuses on Melinoë’s student-mentor relationship with Hecate, her hatred against Chronos for robbing her of a family she never got to know, and war between these godly forces that’s currently at a stalemate but that Melinoë hopes she can be the force to tip the scales. And because of this very different dynamic, you get quite a different tone in this game than the first one.

While the Greek gods you’ll briefly converse with are as flippant as ever, Zagreus’s snark has been replaced with Melinoë’s naive respect and deference. And while Melinoë is just as witty as her brother, her admiration for the gods Zagreus often saw as a mere means to an end means that the cattiness the gods displayed in the first game is somewhat toned down here. However, in its place is more of a focus on the intrigue of the story, because the game throws you into this story in medias res, and it’s not clear why Chronos is warring with Olympus, what his plan is, or how Melinoë fits into everything, and slowly getting pieces of this story to fill in the player is one of the great motivating forces that will drive players to keep playing this game one run after another.

This is once again assisted by some excellent voice acting for all the game’s characters, but Melinoë and Hecate are particularly well-acted, bolstering another of the game’s great mysteries – what are Hecate’s motivations here? Does she see Melinoë as a student? An adoptive daughter? Or just a tool to accomplish her own goals.

This game once again uses a really great 3D cel-shaded visual style with detailed and lightly-animated character portraits to match that gives it a truly excellent style that truly seems like an evolution of what the first game had to offer. On Nintendo Switch, this does mean the performance is limited, though. While the framerates run at a smooth 60FPS, the resolution is only 720p both docked and in handheld mode, and you can definitely see the blurriness in the details, and I even noticed some artifacing. It doesn’t really affect the gameplay, but it does make the Nintendo Switch version of the game the ugliest version to play.

Also, while this game’s soundtrack fits the style of the original game, I can’t say I find it quite as catchy as the original Hades, though a few of the songs here are still quite good, such as The Silver Sisters and Song of the Sirens.’

As for the gameplay, Hades II is both better and worse than its predecessor, and it’s the same and different. The overall gameplay and game structure is still much the same – fight through room after room of enemies while empowering yourself with godly “boon” abilities as prizes for defeating each room, getting farther and farther through the game’s randomized dungeons until you inevitably die and spend some of the resources you gained on permanent power-ups and unlocks that can enable you to do even better next time. And once again, each run feels very different, with both friendly characters and major enemies commenting on your past encounters when you meet them again.

Hades II does much the same, but expands on each element. The boons you get can eventually lead to dual boons where a pair of gods whose boons you possess join up to offer you a unique boon that combines both characters’ specialties, giving players even more potential builds to work with. This is on top of the additional upgrades you’ll come across, such as unique (but fragile) dresses spun by Arachne, which each impart armor but also have additional abilities as long as you can keep the dress from breaking.

You’ll also be able to unlock a second route in the game’s campaign – where the first one takes you deeper down to fight Chronos, the second will lead you up to Olympus where your help is needed to break the standoff with Chronos’ forces. What’s more, as you progress you’ll find various unique events that will do something different or even bring you a bit of nostalgia from the first game.

There are plenty of other changes here, but probably the most important difference here is the combat system. In short, Melinoë plays somewhat differently from Zagreus. Where Zagreus’s combat tended to be very focused on using his dash move to avoid damage, Melinoë’s dash is slower to recharge and not quite as overpowered. In its place, Melinoë has a “cast” move that allows her to lay down trapping fields of energy on the floor using her magic. In fact, managing your magic in this game is one of the more important gameplay mechanics, and because of this you’ll have to be more strategic with combat here than in the original Hades.

This is a deeper and more complex combat system than what the original game had, and truth be told I don’t personally like it quite as much, though there’s so much variety here and build customization in each run that it wouldn’t surprise me if maybe I just haven’t hit on the perfect synergistic build just yet.

Oh, also, I don’t really have another spot to mention this, but all versions of the game released thus far feature cross-save, meaning that if you have this game on the PC and want to move your save over to the Nintendo Switch to play it on the go, you can do so.

So now, for the big question… is this game better than the original Hades? And to that I once again say… yes and no. It does some things better, some things worse, and whether you enjoy this game more than the original will probably be down to your own individual tastes. However, this game has been absolutely loaded with tons of content and options, well beyond what was in the original, and it’s different enough that it definitely doesn’t just feel like “more of the same”. That said, I believe that if you enjoyed the first game, or enjoy Action games overall, this one’s a no-brainer regardless of whether or not it’s better than the original, because even if you don’t like it as much, you’ll still probably like it quite a lot.

tl;dr – Hades II is an excellent follow-up to its predecessor, a fine Action Roguelike with an absolute ton of content, and that follows in the footsteps of its predecessor while changing things enough that this feels like a very different sort of game while still fitting in with the original. The Nintendo Switch version is visually the ugliest way to play the game, but it still plays perfectly fine, and if you’re looking to play a truly excellent Action game on the go, this is well worth picking up.

Grade: A

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

Hades II – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Genre: Action / Roguelike

Players: 1

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Review:

When Nintendo Switch 2 was first fully unveiled with its initial lineup of games, Hades II was right there with it, and a timed console exclusive no less (along with the Nintendo Switch version of the game). We later found out that this game would receive a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, with a free upgrade for those who own the Nintendo Switch version. So, with no cost to bump up the game to Nintendo Switch 2, what does that entail, exactly?

Well, the two versions have feature parity, so it’s all about performance. Let’s start with loading times. On Nintendo Switch, the game takes 25 seconds to load the game to the main title screen, and another 11 to get into the game. On Nintendo Switch 2, that’s been shortened to 8 and 5, a huge improvement.

Then of course there’s the resolution and framerates. Where the Nintendo Switch version only played in 60FPS with a 720p resolution (both handheld and docked), on Nintendo Switch 2, you can choose between 4K 60FPS or 1080p 120FPS in docked mode, with the game playing in 1080p 60FPS in handheld mode. In both gameplay modes the improved resolution over Nintendo Switch is a huge improvement and very welcome, and while I was skeptical I would notice a different in the 120FPS framerate, going back and forth in my comparisons I did notice a difference. Either way, you’ll get a game that looks much smoother than the Nintendo Switch version.

This version of the game also seems to clean up the artifacing I noticed in the Nintendo Switch version, making this overall a much more polished presentation.

If you have a Nintendo Switch 2 and a copy of Hades II on Nintendo Switch, upgrading to the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game is a no-brainer, since not only is it free but the improvement to the presentation and loading times are definitely noticeable. This is a fantastic way to play this game on the go.

tl;dr – Hades II is an excellent follow-up to its predecessor, a fine Action Roguelike with an absolute ton of content, and that follows in the footsteps of its predecessor while changing things enough that this feels like a very different sort of game while still fitting in with the original. The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game is a free upgrade if you own the Nintendo Switch version, and the improvements to graphics and performance are absolutely noticeable. If you’re looking to play a truly excellent Action game on the go, this is well worth picking up.

Grade: A

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