Everyone Stop What You’re Doing and Play Hades
Let me start this article by being blunt: I do not have anything clever to say about Hades that hasn’t been said before. Which sounds awfully off-putting doesn’t it? But trust me, if you want to hear about how hot everyone is to the point that it’s distracting me from the misery that is 2020… Well, read on!
Hades is yet another masterpiece from Supergiant Games, the game studio behind Pyre and Transistor, that manages to evolve a genre into something special by adding a narrative counterpart that entices you again and again. Hades is a roguelite where you play as Prince Zagreus in his many attempts of trying to escape the Underworld, which is fine by itself. The combat is fun and interesting, but what makes it stand out is that with failure, you still progress narratively. It makes you almost want to fail, just to see what a character will say about it, to see if they’ll act differently the next time around.
What makes Hades so interesting to me is that it pretty much flew under the radar while it was in early access for 2 whole years, but has exploded into popularity the moment it fully released on PC and the Nintendo Switch. It’s almost a shame, considering that Hades early access journey sounds so very entertaining. So, why is everyone suddenly so invested in Supergiant’s newest game?
Supergiant Games have made a name for themselves by making genres stand out in fascinating ways. Take Pyre, a sports game that’s actually about revolution and fighting for what’s right. Hades is no different in that regard, and that makes their games accessible to new players that not many new roguelites have been capable of doing. I’m by no means a fan of roguelites (or roguelikes, roguenites, roguewhateverthehellyoucanthinkof) but it doesn’t matter, Hades story makes me want to try another run, to escape the Underworld one more time, to see how it affects Zagreus and the people around him. It doesn’t matter if it’s 5am in the morning and this is my 58th try – I need to try it again.
Does it help that everyone is like, really hot? I mean, of course it does. Everyone in Hades is a damn snack and frankly, it’s disgusting that Supergiant ticked off all the things that I find hot in a person when it comes to characters like Meg, Athena and Dionysus. Seriously, how did they know? Trust in me when I say that while you’re going to love the story and combat, there’s going to be at least one character that’ll have you saying ‘ooh, I’d let them snap me in two, just like a glowstick.’
Oh, did we mention that there’s a dog? Cerberus, as a matter of fact. You can pet their head and it fills you with serotonin each and every time.
Hades is now available to play on PC and the Nintendo Switch.
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