Hades 2 manages an Olympic feat: improving on Hades

When Supergiant first announced Hades 2 back in 2022, I wasn’t one of the fans who expressed frustration with the game being a sequel. But I understand why some were (mildly) disappointed. Supergiant has made some of the most interesting and beautiful games of the past 15 years, ever since their first game, Bastion, debuted in 2011. [Ed. note: Go play Bastion, that game rules.] And each of those games is different from the last, so I can understand not wanting to see them “constrained.”

Still, I was on the other side of that fence. I really like everything else Supergiant has done, and Hades is not only one of the best roguelites ever made, it’s one of the best games from this century. I devoured it in early access. And I devoured it all over again post-release. So my initial reaction to Hades 2 was, “holy shit, this is never going to measure up to the original, but I can’t wait for more Hades.”

I’ve known I was wrong about Hades 2 since I first put my hands on it in early access (where I’ve put about 50 hours in). And after a weekend with the 1.0 version, where I started a fresh save, I feel extremely confident in something I’ve known since last year: Hades 2 is somehow, impossibly, better than the original. 

The game is, largely, the same as Hades. You play as a minor Greek deity who wields a variety of fantastical weapons as you smash your way through some of that mythology’s most infamous planes of existence. As you run through arenas and bash baddies, you’ll earn economic rewards that will help you power yourself up between runs, and boons from your Olympian relatives, who will lend you a fraction of their power for the rest of the night.

All of that functions like Hades but better. Each weapon has a slightly more varied move set that pairs better with this game’s “Cast” ability. Cast in Hades 2 replaces that weird red dart from the first game with a slowing circle that functionally freezes enemies in place for a bit. That’s because where Zagreus was kind of a hot, goth, bi prince, his sister and protagonist of Hades 2, Melinoë, is a hot, goth, bi … witch. 

Melinoë’s witchiness extends to the rest of the game’s mechanics and improvements as well (it also just makes it such a great fall season game, man). Your permanent upgrades come in the form of incantations, which you brew in a great big pot in the middle of your camp. To further your goals, you’ll need to find a variety of rare materials by mining resource nodes, pulling up plants, or defeating powerful bosses. You’re also able to invoke Tarot cards themed after the Greek pantheon, which will give you powerful upgrades that help improve your chances of survival. 

And survival is the name of the game this time around. The original Hades tells a powerful story of family dysfunction and rebellion, as Zagreus attempts to rip himself away from his father’s house to find his mother, Persephone. In Hades 2, you’re dropped into the middle of a war with Chronos, the Titan of time. Melinoë has never met her father, her mother, or her brother, and is instead under the training of Hecate, the swole witch who raised her.