my problems with Hades II

Hades was the game that led me to my current obsession with roguelite games, so I had a lot of expectations for Hades II.

and I wasn’t let down, at least in terms of gameplay and game mechanics. The introduction of Ω moves adds a whole new layer to the combat depth. The Casts and Specials now actually can be the main source of damage, instead of just some filler and chip dmg like in the first game. The weapons/aspects and the boons are playing so well together, allowing a lot of different builds (what the hell was they thinking with Circe staff lol ).

overall, it’s a great game, and I have definitely spent more time playing it than I have in the first game (comparatively within a similar timeframe).

but well, being a sequel to an excellent game means the bar is now higher.

here comes the rant about its problems.

the first problem I have is rather personal: it’s about the humour and wittiness of the game. I think this is one of the best things in Hades I. A lot of characters are clever and funny in their own way: Zagreus, Skelly, Homer, Asterius, Theseus, Dionysus, and even Hades himself. That kinda doesn’t exist in Hades II?

I understand that Mel is not Zag, and the context in the second game is way more serious than the first, but there are obviously many places for some gags. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Homer is boring, the chemistry between Mel and Skelly is not there, the surrounding characters are simply not funny. I can see they try with Odysseus and Eris, but yeah, they are bad and forgettable.

the next problem is the boss fights, specifically the rivals ones. Imho, half of the boss fights are mediocre at best, or if I’m being honest – borderline dogsh*t. C’mon guys, what the hell were they thinking with that rival Scylla fight? Or with rival Cerberus, where you have to chase the doggo for 10,000 miles every 3-4 times in a game where you do not have a spammable dash. And don’t let me start talking about the Eris fights – ugh. Why did you give us a god-tier Origination just to make Eris fly away and reset that every 5 seconds?

The other fight I think is bad, but not as much, is rival Typhon. I just think the phase where he spawns in the tentacles is a bit too much, and the final phase is just a gimmick. Just as a contrary, I think rival Hecate and Chronos fights are the best in the game. Very fun and very hard. Nothing’s gonna top the rival Furies fights in Hades I tho, sorry guys.

and now is the biggest, most popular, and most annoying problem: the ending. If you don’t know, when the game was first released, the ending was different. It made the fanbase so angry that in the end, Supergiant Games had to rewrite the entire ending. Idk, it’s hard to explain so let me just tell you the whole thing. SPOILER ALERT.

So basically after Melinoë beats Chronos and Typhon back-to-back many many times, she and Zagreus (in the past) can finally find a solution for all of this: they will track down past Chronos, when he is chained under Tartarus, and kill him right at that moment, before he has time to strengthen up which will lead to current events.

A nice plan, and a very nice resolution for what seems to be unsolvable to Mel. But, here comes the plot: Zag decided that instead of killing Chronos for good, he will convince the old grouch to forget and forgive and become a loving grandfather.

And Chronos is actually convinced, thus developing a detached reality where the family of 5, including Mel, lives happily together.

And you know what’s worse? Mel knows nothing about this, and she possesses no such happy memory. Her parents didn’t believe her story. Suddenly, Mel has become an outsider in her own hero arc, witnessing her family living happily with her arch-nemesis, and being denied her tragic past and her life mission. What the absolute insanity is this???

well obviously after this came out in early access, Supergiant Games had to change the ending, such that Mel is the one making the decision of helping Chronos and re-living the alternative life. But for me, and prolly for other fans that have experienced the first ending, this still feels like a cheat, a mere patch on a broken glass. Until now, I still cannot believe that was actually what happened.

Hades II is still an excellent game, but I really feel the need to pour all my problems with it here. I think for a roguelite game, only the second problem does matter much, because after all, the core quality of the game is its replayability. Still, for a fan of the franchise, there are many things that would let them down. I hope the studio can learn from this experience and improve for their next game.