Hades - Basically My Game Of The Year (Jimpressions)
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Channel: Jim Sterling
Views: 431,420
Rating: 4.9317303 out of 5
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Length: 15min 38sec (938 seconds)
Published: Sat Oct 03 2020
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I absolutely loved everything Supergiant's ever put out to date. Hades is no different, just as great as their previous games but way, way bigger.
he described it perfectly the game as 'RPG with roguelite gameplay' (or something along those lines). I think that's why it's even fun for people who ususally dont like roguelite games.
It's great to see Hades get so much love lately. I've been a big fan of Supergiant Games ever since playing Bastion way back when on the old Xbox live Summer of Arcade, and I've loved every one of their titles since.
Hades may not be my favorite story of their line-up, that's probably Pyre, but the gameplay is easily their most polished and addictive gameplay loop yet. I don't usually play rogue-likes, but the blend of death-based narrative progression, weapon variety, and replayability in experimenting with different upgrades has been a real blast. There's still repetition in terms of environments and boss battles, but I feel like there's always more to see beyond that.
The only issue I have is some of the weapon progression and character side stories feels very RNG to progress. Okay invest 5 titans blood and talk to this person, gotcha. Okay they spawn but only talk about main story that just happen. Then again, okay now third time but now they aren't there at all. Still haven't gotten any final aspect because of this. Same for just progressing their own stories, dumping nectar over and over and talking trying to get some of the character sidequests done feels inconsistent.
Beyond that, the story feels really made for taking like 20+ runs for your first win. If you win very quickly, so much information afterwards will seem out of place like your meant to die 20 times before winning and get told all these character backstories or interactions.
Just when I thought 2020 couldn’t get any weirder - a Jimpression that I can agree with.
I started playing this yesterday so I’m not near as deep into it as many players are, but this game is excellent. I couldn’t ever get into Bastion and didn’t try Supergiant’s other games as a result, but this game just does something special for me. It’s done something extremely rare in roguelikes for me: every power-up I’ve encountered is legitimately helpful, and all of the weapons are a blast to use. The combat is so satisfying and while it is challenging, it never feels unfairly stacked against the player in any way. I’m also really enjoying the pacing of introducing new branches and abilities; just when I feel like I’ve seen everything there is to experience in the early portions of a run, it throws something new at me that keeps me engaged in the combat and exploration. And it all works so well in concert with the presentation - the writing, voice work, and visuals all just ooze a sense of style and identity that many of its forebears have been lacking. It is just as fun to watch as it is to play. Truly excellent game, can’t wait to play more of it.
how long do you think you should play this type of game before you say confidently whether its for you or not? I put in a few hours and I just felt apathetic about it.
I am playing the game and I love it. But people are saying stuff such as "I hate roguelike but I love this" or "sets a new bar to roguelikes" and I believe that its missing the point.
I will sound kind pretentious here (and gatekeeping maybe?), but Hades is like the hardcore metal band who released a album that is way softer, pop, accessible, and got instant success. And everyone is now saying "wow, they are the new standard of the heavy metal genre".
In my opinion, Hades is not a crazy good game for its incredible gameplay loop. It is because the meta progression, infinite voice lines, charismatic characters, story, graphics, music, etc. So it is a great game as package, but I do not agree that bring Roguelikes (or lites, whatever) to a new level. The runs are pretty repetitive, upgrades are rarely very impactful, there is no crazy synergy or moments. It it a mild roguelike with superb story elements, which is a new thing to the genre.
In any case, still one of the best games of 2020.
I know I'm about to be strung up for disagreeing with the zeitgeist here, but please bear with me. Before I start, let me say I consider this game quite good: it's a solid 8.5 or 9 for me. I do not, however, consider it the apex of all roguelite games.
I've cleared Hades around 85 times or so at this point and while I got my money's worth, I'm just not agreeing with others who hyperbolize its stature. It's high on the echelon of roguelite/roguelikes, sure, but the gameplay gets really repetitive (and not in the sense that every game does) and lacks in a few places the best in the genre don't.
Roguelite and roguelike games live and die on their variety in combat, bosses, perk combinations, etc., and Hades falls flat there. It's something that's easily missed in how polished the game is and how many additional engagement systems are in place. When you're unlocking things and first you're learning the interlocking combat systems, it doesn't get too noticeable, but if you play enough, you see it. I've beaten the game, epilogue, cleared every minor prophecy, gotten every Skelly statue, etc., but I stopped playing for fun after the first clear. That was fine, because there was still story and hidden aspects to unlock, but it was a bit weird to realize. To me, the intrinsic motivators matter more in a game than extrinsic; I was hoping more would open up later, that heat would change things (and extreme measures definitely did, as did a few other pacts) but the plot was very telegraphed (and, truth be told, just didn't hook me) and the gameplay didn't change much.
When I think back to the roguelites I really adore, I will go back to Dead Cells or Enter the Gungeon where runs vary drastically and there's a ton more variety. Once I figured out how each god worked, what synergies combined well with certain weapons and boons, etc., it became simple to force a run (via keepsakes and rerolls) to have the sort of build I knew would be best. There was no real risk involved nor having to think on the fly; even when I tried to just roll with whatever was given to me, there weren't any truly awful skills. Even bad combos were usually workable without much effort, which sounds good on paper but is boring in practice.
For people that don't like roguelite games or don't play them the way I (and many others) do, I grasp why this game is so amazing for them. To me, it's a polished game that is quite good, but it is not excellent in the ways I most care for a game like this to be.
I've got a few qualms about the story and the enemy/boss variety, but they really pale in comparison to how fantastic the rest of the game is. I think it nails basically every aspect. The art design is excellent, there's so much dialogue and it's well written and voice acted, the music is fan-fucking-tastic. The combat is, in my opinion, the best roguelike combat out there. I've been playing some Dead Cells this weekend and man I really just think Hades comes out ahead. But I think Hades does two things that make it truly special. The first is that it's gotta be the most accessible and accommodating roguelike out there. Every time you die, you've got new dialogue from practically every character, choices to make on how to become stronger, a chance to try out a new weapon/aspect. You never come out of a run feeling like you're no closer than you were 15 minutes ago. The difficulty curve of the game is tuned such that you'll find yourself making progress fairly quickly to make sure you don't hit a wall and quit, but the heat system allows you to challenge yourself and prove that your winning not because of permanent progression, but straight up skill. It manages to feel totally accessible to players new to the genre without dumping the "get further by improving your play" aspect that feels crucial to roguelikes. The other thing I think that makes it feel truly special is how much it makes you want that second win after the first. I won't spoil anything, but damn did I need to keep winning after that first one.
Hades fucking rules.