TLDR; if you liked Hades 1 just play this game
As a hardcore fan of Supergiant Games, roguelikes, and ambitious indie games in general (if we can even call it that at this point) Hades 2 might be might favorite game of all those categories hands down. But, it kinda worries me in a way. Don't get me wrong, this is an amazing sequel to an amazing game. It has a nearly completely new cast of characters, music, story, and tons of new ideas but still retaining all of the quality (maybe even a bit more) of the original. Hades 2 doubles the amount of routes, game mechanics, and even romance options, adding to the world of Hades in a way that is really fun and satisfying. Hades 2 expands on the ideas that made the first game so cool (meaning characters, art/music, fun roguelike elements that further a single storyline) and just adds MORE. It really is just Hades...2, as in Hades again but +1 everything. Although, I feel weird about unilaterally declaring Hades 2 as my favorite Supergiant Games...game...I think might obscure the other projects that they have created.
Going into detail about what I like about the game really comes from its contrast to the first game. Melinoe contrasts really well with Zagreus who has a much more laid-back and casual attitude coming from the fact he and his family are not currently in danger from an eminent threat like Melinoe. Melinoe, trained from birth to be bloodthirsty and hungry for death to Chronos makes it clear that she is not merely a reprisal going beat for beat with her brother. Both aesthetically and practically, her nature as a witch in the Crossroads makes her (I think) more intriguing and fascinating than a lounging prince of Hades. Additionally, just like Hades 1, Hades 2 continues to have fun and amazing interactions both with characters at your base hub area and also abroad in the runs themselves. I was surprised by the sheer amount of references to the Odyssey, but as someone who has read it a few times, I very much appreciate it! Hades 2 also features many gods that are alluded to and their weapons (Nemesis and her Sword, Eris with the Adamant rail even with its Lucifer mode) and that is really fun! Same with new Olympians and such. My only complaint with the characters in Hades 2 is that we couldn't see more of the og Hades 1 characters, despite them having logbook entries :( but I know this isn't Smash Ultimate so it's whatever.
Moving onto new misc gameplay mechanics, they were certainly eager to add more! Things like the time progressing time/night system that includes farming mechanics, cooking things in your pot, and whether certain characters will make their appearance is really cool! There's also resource gathering to contend to, more than just fishing, which adds some dimension. As mentioned before, Hades 2 kinda doubles everything. The existence of two alternate routes makes each run pretty fun, deciding to go either onto the surface or underneath for some gameplay variation. I also much prefer Hades 2's Vow of Night to the Pacts of Punishment from a lesser gamer's perspective. In Hades 1, you had to complete a run with all your difficulty modifiers to gain the benefits, but Hades 2, at least early on, only requires beating a certain boss. Although this never affected me much personally, I do like that inclusion for people with less time on their hands to grind out achievements.
When it comes to combat, Hades 2 certainly has the first game beat. The introduction of Magick as well as the new variation of casts and how they interact makes the game a lot more variable. The introduction of different Omega moves for each weapon as well as the removal of things like Companions in favor of a mechanic like Hexes, something that is to be gained and then upgraded mid run through the path of stars, was definitely the way to go to create way more variation in gameplay which is the fun part! To that effect, I also much preferred the different gameplay styles of the different aspects in this game a loooot more. Maybe I'm just dumb, but my Hades loadouts were usually pretty repetitive, not that I minded much, but I found myself experimenting a lot more in this game! There are lots of little tweaks here and there that just add so much more fun playstyles compared to the original game. Things like removing the binary 1 or the other option of the Mirror of Night in favor of the Arcana cards, the existence of the Chaos Trials to ensure that you would at least try every weapon/aspect once, some Hexes could be godsent causing you to not rely on the same one each time it showed up (still really never used the morph one though lol) and also the animal familiars! OH MY GOSH I LOVE THE FAMILIARS! What a great idea! There are some changes like shifting around what certain Olympian boons do that I'm sure miffed some people (Aphrodite's attacks don't inflict weak, Ares' new wound system, etc) but I think they were mostly all good changes. Sorry, I'm rambling because I'm not very good at articulating why I like it, but the gameplay rocks!
I also think that the bosses are really big improvements both in big and small ways. Big ways like how I really enjoy their attack patterns, the start of fight dialogues I tend to like more, and the characters themselves I think are really cool! Personally, I always really looked forward to things like Scylla's and Eris' fights sometimes solely because I like their start-of-fight interactions! But then there's also little things like Hecate's attacks being all of Selene's hexes, Eris using the Adamant Rail in ways you could in Hades 1, and how when you knock out a member of Scylla and the Sirens their instrument cuts out in the song. Not only are the boss fights really hard and cool, but they're fun to learn and clearly were made with a lot of thought. Especially with the Vow of Rivals, these bosses have some great potential.
One of my main points of being "meh" about this game, and one of the only, has to be the hub world. Now, now, I love saying hi to Frinos after every run, seeing my tent, and even eventually collecting my Funko pops of all the characters, but I never felt that decorating the Crossroads was as cool as decorating the House of Hades. Maybe it's just my sense of aesthetics, but I already thought the Crossroads was pretty cool, and I didn't feel a huge difference in upgrading the place. Although, I will concede that I really do like the Kudos system, currency to decorate being recycling old, unneeded items, and I think that's brilliant.
Just to end it off on a high note (hehehe) the art and music are of course absolutely stunning. It's such a given for Supergiant that I often forget to mention it, but Darren Korb and Ashley Barnett once again knock it out of the park with the soundtrack. I gave that little detail about Scylla and the Sirens before, and I just want to say I do love their whole vibe. One thing I love the OST is that, even despite having to hear it over and over and over again due to m runs, I never got tired of it! And the art...
And here we get into why this game makes me worry a bit. I love Hades, and I hope you can tell that I love Hades 2 a lot a lot a lot, but it makes me think about how hard this game is to follow up with. As a devout fan of Supergiant Games' NOT roguelike games, it feels like they're moving more and more in being marketed in this direction, despite their best attempts to remind their audience that they used to make short, linear indie games instead of these massive projects like Hades. This leads into a dilemma. Do they go back to their roots and risk alienating the vast majority of their fanbase? Or do they try to create a Hades 3, if not in name then perhaps a similar roguelike experience, and then have the entire expectations of Hades 1 and 2 behind them? I don't know, but I'm at least here for the ride! They haven't made a bad game yet.
Anyways you can invite your favorite characters to have a bath with you 10/10
