When Hades II first launched in early access, I had to force myself to stop playing after around 30 hours. I didn’t want to burn out on what was already an excellent, jam-packed Hades sequel before it hit 1.0, when the final polish and story would be in place. I made the right choice; the 1.0 milestone is now here, and after more than a week with it on my Steam Deck and Switch 2, I’m obsessed with Hades II once again.
Hades II is a roguelike with flashy battles, hot and chatty Greek gods, and exquisitely paced progression that makes you feel like you’re getting better nearly every single run. (If you’ve played the first Hades, you know the drill.) Like a lot of Greek mythology, Hades II revolves around some very complex family drama: you play as Melinoë, the daughter of the Underworld god Hades and the younger sister of Hades protagonist Zagreus, and her goal is to kill Chronos, a Titan who is Hades’ dad (so technically her grandpa) and has attacked and taken over the Underworld.
Getting to Chronos involves descending into the Underworld. In each run, your goal is to clear out rooms of enemies, which typically takes a minute or two. When you do, you’ll get rewards like new “boons” (perks of some kind) from various gods you can use to build out a playstyle, or you can pick from upgrades like more health, more magic power, or improvements to your weapons. Eventually, you’ll reach a tough boss for a zone, and if you take them down, you’ll head to a new zone with new baddies. Rinse and repeat until you get to Chronos, and eventually, you’ll be able to take on a second, entirely separate route of zones with a new final boss.
Fights in Hades II are still action-packed skirmishes that usually pit you against a bunch of enemies at once. I tend to design builds that let me take on enemies at a distance, which pairs well with Melinoë’s witchy weapons, like a staff or torches that can toss fireballs, and her ability to cast a large, magical ring onto the battlefield. The new weapons and abilities feel a little different than the first Hades, but still cut from the same cloth.
If you’ve already poured time into Hades II during early access, I recommend starting a fresh file to experience everything with a clean slate. That’s what I did, and it’s been a blast to start from scratch, while also relying on what I already know about the game to overcome some things a bit more easily. I’ve been playing on my Switch 2 and Steam Deck, using cloud saves to easily bounce between the platforms (underrated feature!), and the game plays great on both.
All of the touches that made Hades so gripping are here in Hades II, including quippy conversations with fully voiced characters, gorgeous artwork, incredible music, and lots of little ways to upgrade your abilities and equipment between runs. The 1.0 version of Hades II seems huge, with two separate routes, a massive well of upgrades you can grind for, difficulty modifiers for runs, and, like the first game, many reasons to keep playing even after you get your first win. (I’m particularly surprised how much I want to move the main story forward.)
It all adds up to an experience that makes Hades II the most gripping roguelike I’ve played since the first Hades. Every time I jump in for one more run, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Hades II launches on September 25th on Nintendo Switch and PC.
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