Product Info

Platform

Switch, PC

Publisher

Supergiant Games

Developer

Supergiant Games

Genre

Action, Adventure, RPG

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

5.6 GB

Release Date (NA)

Sep 17, 2020

Purchase From

eShop

Steam

Epic Games

Indie studio Supergiant Games is known for games such as Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and now Hades, which have all earned high marks. Hades, originally an early access title, was released in December 2018 and more recently came out on Windows, macOS, and Nintendo Switch in September 2020. This rogue-like dungeon crawler has earned several awards and accolades for its gameplay and story. It centers on the son of Hades as he tries to escape from hell.

Born from Blood

The story starts with a character named Zagreus, son of Hades, who desires to escape to Mount Olympus from the Underworld and from his disgruntled, disapproving father. Zagreus is supported by the Olympian gods, such as Aphrodite and Zeus, who grant him special abilities along the way. He is also aided by his adopted mother, Nyx, who provides him with a special mirror that gives him special abilities to help in his quest.

In order to escape the Underworld, Zagreus has to become strong enough to defeat all the monsters that stand in his way across four unique biomes without dying. He will die many times in this attempt, though. In between each run, Zagreus will find himself in the House of Hades, where he can interact with other members of the Underworld, including Cerberus, Hades, and others. Each return to the House of Hades provides a unique narrative and experience, such as new story information, chippy interactions with his father, or even the unlocking of additional features. 

Death is Inevitable

Given the game is a rogue-like, death comes as an absolute certainty. Generally, once his health points reach zero, Zagreus finds himself back at the House of Hades, waking up in a pool of blood and greeted by his father. After each run, there is a unique narrative between Zagreus and the other members of the Underworld. The narrative continues to progress and develop with each unsuccessful run, making it enjoyable to die over and over. 

Each death actually works in Zagreus’s favor, taking the character one step closer to Mount Olympus. He starts his journey as a weakling; however, he finds himself getting stronger and stronger with each run. During runs, there are limited opportunities for healing. Thus, any additional boosts will help in the long haul. Nyx gifts Zagreus a magical mirror which provides an opportunity to get boosts that continue to build between runs. The mirror allows for the expansion of perks that can be mixed and matched in order to find the perfect build. 

Boost of Boons

Each run comes with a clean slate regarding perks outside of the mirror which are both unique and random. These come as a blessing from the Olympian gods which grants unique stat buffs or abilities. These boons are Common, Rare, Epic, or Heroic, and the effects scale, with Heroic granting the highest buffs. Generally, these last the entire run until death, replacement with a different boon, or purged for extra coins. Coins gained are particular to one run and can be used at the shops during that run for extra boosts. These shops carry three items, such as HP recovery, limited effects for a certain number of rooms (e.g., increase damage to undead by 50% for next three encounters), new boons, and rewards to use after a run.

At first, the boons and rewards are overwhelming and come with limited explanation. However, it begins to make better sense after a couple runs. Part of the joy of the game comes with testing and combining different boons to find destructive combinations. For example, Zeus’s boon can imbue your special attack with lighting or release lightning bolts after hitting a foe. At the start and after clearing rooms, Zagreus gets to select one of three buffs per boon. After completing rooms, he will sometimes have the option between doors, each of which carries its own reward as depicted by the image on the door. 

In addition to boons, there are other rewards for completing rooms, such as keys for unlocking weapons and skills, coins and purple tears, or a Daedalus Hammer (a rare boost for the run). So Zagreus can tailor his rewards based upon his needs, balancing the rewards with boons and boosts to aid in his current run. For example, a Daedalus Hammer can change how the weapon works for Zagreus and may allow, for example, the shield to hit more enemies per throw, shield travel faster, etc.

Weapons of Death

Zagreus starts the game with his featured weapon: a sword. The sword is great for close range and dash attacking, and inflicts damage to the surrounding area with its special attack. Other weapons are available, but they need to be unlocked with keys acquired during runs. Only one weapon can be selected for a run; however, prior to starting a run, the weapon can be swapped out for a different one. One of the more unique and fun weapons is the shield, which can be used for a Captain America-esque style of combat. The shield can smash foes at close range, be used in a bull rush with a dash, and even thrown, only to have it hit other foes on the way back to you. There is also a spear and bow, each with their own style, specials, and attacks. If players are unfamiliar with a particular weapon, a skeleton dummy is available for testing out weapon attacks. Thankfully, the learning curve is short, and with trial and error, it becomes much easier to manage and utilize weapons at their full potential.

Dash and Destroy

One of the key elements to surviving battles is dashing. Dashing is a short burst movement which can be utilized for multiple roles. It can be used for attacking, as it can inflict damage and/or provide temporary boosts afterwards. More importantly, it can be used to evade attacks, escape hordes of enemies, and even create an opportunity to attack them from behind. While it has many uses, it can only be used a limited number of times in succession unless expanded and utilizing a skill from the mirror in Zagreus’s bedroom.

Combining dashing with attacks will create space and a window of opportunity to pulverize the monsters of the Underworld. The movement itself is rather smooth from a graphics standpoint and adds more layers to combat. In addition to dashing, Zagreus utilizes a standard attack, a special attack and a spell-based attack called casting. Combat seems simplistic in nature, but the combination of boons and buffs during the run adds more dimensions. Special attacks vary per weapon, such as unleashing a barrage of arrows for the bow or throwing the shield. Casting is a single-use spell limited to a number of crystals, which can be useful and unleash a powerful spell. Once the monster drops the crystal via tossing or death, it can be cast again once the red crystal is picked up. Combat is very smooth and responsive, making hacking and slashing through countless monsters rather enjoyable.

Monsters of the Underworld

Each run provides both familiar and unique combinations of monsters. They range from a Wretched Lout, an orange blob creature, to a Wretched Pest, a triple-cannon barrel that launches exploding bombs. In each room, waves of monsters will attack, with new ones spawning once each wave is defeated, until the room is completed. Sometimes certain combinations of different monster types or larger quantities of monsters can make dodging attacks and defeating them challenging. Thankfully, the game runs quite smoothly, even with the mobs and all the attacks and effects, making it easier to focus on combat. 

Additionally, monsters come as multiple forms of the same type, indicated by the monster’s HP bar: yellow for a large HP pool (harder) versus red for simple monsters. There are mini-boss battles part way through each biome, such as two ghoulish monsters jumping around and throwing explosive devices. Needless to say, these creatures have more HP and deal more damage than other monsters. 

Boss battles appear at the end of each biome, such as Megaera, a one-winged, whip-carrying ex-lover of Zagreus. Completing these boss battles are no easy feat, as the boss follows a cadence of various attacks alongside mobs. Upon reaching certain HP thresholds, the speed of their attacks increases, escalating the intensity, and sometimes new attacks are added to the battle, such as Megaera unleashing a circular barrage of purple blasts to dodge. Victory brings Zagreus ever closer to escape, but defeat takes him back to the House of Hades to begin anew.

Décor Down Under

Beyond the endless but unique run experiences, there is the opportunity to cultivate the House of Hades and its rooms. With its unique gem currency, Zagreus can meet with a contractor to add furniture, change out curtains or stones, and even expand the options within the runs themselves. For example, the “Urns of Wealth, Minor” grants 5 coins in certain urns from the rooms of the run, making it easier to purchase a boon earlier in the run for 150 coins. Meanwhile, “Fountain Chamber, Tartarus” adds the opportunity to gain additional health points in the Tartarus biome in potentially one of the runs.

Hell’s Artwork

The more unique aspect of the game is the vibrant and unique artwork designs of each area of the game. The darker themes of the Underworld filled with variations of gray, red, orange, and greens shape the mood for the game. In addition, when speaking with a character, a large and remarkably detailed image of them accompanies the text. 

Even the House of Hades is full of intricacies and details which are smooth, comic book-esque, and full of vibrant colors. Each of the biomes (Tartarus, Asphodel, Elysium, and the Temple of Styx) has its own art style. For example, Tartarus is a dungeon full of grey stonework with pools of green and red poisons around it, whereas Asphodel features lava pools full of reds and oranges, candles, and brown dirt/broken bridges. 

The music and sounds complement the darker themes as well, from a slow whistling wind and Hades’s booming voice in the House of Hades to punk-rock style percussion and guitar songs for boss battles. Each of the characters has unique voice stylings, from Hades’s booming voice to Zagreus’s nonchalant, cool-guy canter. Hell is other people and they sound great.

Enjoyable Experience in Hell

Overall, Hades slays expectations, providing an immersive, rogue-like experience filled with endless hours of gameplay. While dungeon crawling may not be for everyone, it is a well-designed and well-polished game for those who love it. Each run offers a unique experience, and the progression from meek to a godly warrior is enjoyable. Between the unique narrative, the vibrant colors and artwork, and the smooth gameplay, dying repeatedly has never felt so good.

A Nintendo Switch code was supplied by Supergiant Games for this review.