Hades
The Combat
Hades’s combat is fast paced and satisfying—though it really makes my hands hurt! There 6 weapons all with 4 different aspects each. The aspects change the way the weapons are played and provide even more variety—you could say the game has 24 weapons in fact and it wouldn’t be wrong.
My favorite of these being the bow, specifically with the aspect of Hera. I’m generally a sucker for bows so any game with a bow gets extra points from me. The aspect of Hera allows you to load your casts into your bow and deal a FUCKTON and a TRUCKLOAD of burst damage which is super duper fun.
The number 2 spot has to go to the sword with Zagreus’ aspect, it’s basic but a lot of fun especially with the right build. It’s also the weapon I got my first and only sub 10 speedrun time with! I would’ve done more speedruns but the game really hurts my hands to play and I had moved on to other games after getting that run. Either way I’m very proud of it.
The Story
It’s been a while since I played the game so I don’t remember every detail but the story in this game is great! It takes place over the course of multiple runs. It takes 10 completed runs to get to the credits but it could take well over 100+ runs to get to the final epilogue, which I did as I have platinumed the game and have done basically everything there is to do.
You play as Zagreus, the not so well known son of Hades as he tries to escape the Hades underworld with the help of his relatives, the other gods.
Roguelite Gameplay
In order to get stronger in each run, you will collect boons from the gods which have various effects and stuff. The boons will for the most part affect one part of your kit and once a boon from a god is chosen it’s pretty difficult to get rid of as it will fill the slot of it’s type and you will only be able to replace it with another god’s boon of the same time if you get lucky. You can have boons from at most 4 gods in a single run.
Runs can actually be seeded, if you play a run and use the “give up” option in the menu then the run is not actually reset and if you start again it will give you the same RNG as the previous run. That’s why in speedruns you see runners dying before their attempts as dying does not have this effect and you get a completely new run.
Even though this is a roguelite, you can actually make builds somewhat effectively as you do get a choice between 3 boon and also a choice between which gods you choose, at least somewhat. The game has keepsakes—if you equip a god’s keepsake before starting the run that god will appear in the starting room and you can reset until you get the boon you desire. Builds center around 1 or 2 powerful boons and everything else you take will usually be to support those.
During runs you will also find hammers that change your weapon’s moveset and mechanics—and so that adds yet even more playstyles! You are guaranteed to see 2 hammers during your playthrough, though whether you choose to take them is up to you usually.