By Rachel Anderson, Sophia Byl
The first ever sequel developed by Supergiant Games since the studio’s creation in 2009, Hades II has taken the gaming world by storm. The hack-and-slash, Greek mythology-based roguelite was first announced at the Game Awards in December of 2022 and met with cheers from onlookers worldwide. Since then, Supergiant has periodically been leaving small crumb trails of content for eager gamers to follow, but nothing huge – until the release of the game into Early Access on May 8th, which came as a surprise to the community, since the release was not announced until the day of.
Hades II has since seen a massive surge in its player base. According to IGN, 79,276 concurrent players signed up for the Hades II Early Access on its first day alone. That’s more than double the original Hades, which received 37,749 concurrent players in total during its Early Access. Furthermore, Hades II has been met with a multitude of reviews, with over 98% of them being positive ones. They certainly have the crowd’s attention now.
To understand the excitement behind this god-like roguelite, we must first discuss its predecessor: Hades. The game was first released into Early Access in December of 2018, receiving periodic updates over the course of two years until its full release in September of 2020. From the beginning, it secured its legacy as one of the most successful indie games of all time, winning Best Indie Game at the Game Awards in 2020, and even being counted among the nominees for Game of the Year as well. With action-packed, ever changing gameplay, an intricate story, a beautiful artstyle, and a cast of many lovable characters, Hades covers all of the bases with ease. What’s not to like?
Hades doesn’t actually feature the Greek god of the dead as its protagonist–rather, it focuses on Hades’ son, Zagreus, and his journey to escape the underworld and his father. Zagreus progresses through the levels of the Underworld, unlocking new weapons and skills, while also meeting Olympian gods and other iconic characters of Greek mythology that gift him upgrades and new abilities. The vast number of power-ups available means that, although you make a similar journey each time, no two Hades runs will be identical.
It is this fact that has kept so many players engaged with the game, even years after its release. Want to create the most powerful builds the game has ever seen, striking down your enemies with divine wrath? Go right ahead! Or is surfing around to your heart’s content thanks to some help from Poseidon more your style? If so, you can do that too! The possibilities are quite literally endless.
Hades II differs from its predecessor in that its protagonist is Melinoë, a powerful witch of dark magick and a student of the legendary goddess of magic, Hecate. Melinoë is Zagreus’ sister, but rather than her mission being to escape their father and the underworld, she aims to climb downwards to the Underworld and defeat the Titan of Time, Chronos, in order to save her family. All the while, players will interact with a host of monsters, both friendly and less than friendly, and listen to an amazing soundtrack. It checks off all of the boxes in our book.
Now, we’ve been going on and on about these games, but the question you are probably asking is: “Why should I play them?” The reasons are different for all players, and that’s what makes both Hades II and its predecessor so enjoyable. They have something for everyone, giving you the ability to experience their content however you’d like. The best part for Hades II is that there is still so much more to come to the game, with Supergiant Games planning to roll out new updates and content over the next year or so, in order to gear up for the game’s full release. If this is what is available out of the gate, the idea of a fully polished Hades II is enough to excite fans new and old for their next journey into the Underworld.
Hades II is now available in Early Access on PC via Steam, and is expected to also be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch once the game is fully released.
