Hades (V 1.0) - Video Game Review (Almost)

I'll be honest. I've never finished a story in the two other titles I own by Supergiant Games. There's always been something preventing me from getting over the finish line. Both Bastion and Transistor did captured me with their style and atmosphere but there was always something more appealing on the horizon that suited my efforts a little more.

So they sit incomplete, and I'm not sure that i'll ever return to them. Hades , Supergiant's latest effort will also have to remain unconquered, but not for the same reasons. We here at Beyond the Veil are a small group , so our time is severely limited, and after spending nearly 40 hours with Hades -with the end in sight – I just had to call it quits.

Everyday I didn't manage to finish the game, another review or feature was inevitably postponed. This has led to a hastily scribbled, horrifying backlog list I'll now have to tackle. So when I state that I can't finish Hades it's definitely not because I don't want to.

In fact, it's probably one of the more engaging and interesting titles I've played in a long time. It's the story of Zagreus, who's grown weary of his increasingly troublesome relationship with his father, the lord of the underworld, Hades. Zagreus is bored of hell and the responsibilities he's supposed to fulfil, and after a discovering a revelation about his origins, he decides that this place is no longer his home.

Hades, a being driven by control, order and respect is obviously incensed by the audacity and hubris of Zagreus, and challenges him to try and escape the perils of the underworld, knowing that it's an impossible task. Nobody escapes hell without the permission of Hades, but Zagreus has an interesting advantage, he's immortal.

This rogue-like dungeon crawler has a pretty simple game loop: You tackle all manner of the underworld's inhabitants across the four levels of Hades, and each time you die you've collected resources to make your next adventure a little more manageable.

Technically, this is a short game. Each run-through takes approximately an hour and the objective will be the same each time: escape. Every time you feel death's icy grasp you're transported back to the very beginning and you must begin your quest anew.

It seemed originally, to be a tedious idea. I'm normally driven to a game's conclusion by it's narrative and the idea of resetting the gameplay was initially, incredibly disheartening. But every time you have to restart you see more of the beauty of the game.

Unlike most games of this type where randomness is expected, I don't think I've ever played a title where it's so intrinsic to you're experience. Every run-through you're given the opportunity to receive temporary and permanent upgrades. The permanent ones are pretty standard for dungeon crawlers.

You receive currency and keys to unlock more starting health, continues and increase your exposure to more resources. You can also spend collected items to modify chambers, gain artefacts from characters you encounter and even cosmetically transform Hades itself.

These are some obviously enticing options but I found the 'meat' of the game to be in its temporary ones. The temporary upgrades like Boons and Poms of Power are a there to enhance attacks and provide secondary abilities like lightening or health-sapping area effects, and there's a lot of them.

I don't think I ever had the same setup more than once in my 40 attempts at escape. This can be frustrating, you might finally get that perfect combination that suits your play style only to die, loosing everything. There's definitely a mourning process with each new attempt, but this becomes part of its charm.

Once you begin again you're presented with new opportunities for play. You'll be given a new random selection of boons and powers to use as you progress. You might of preferred the ones you had but these ones are just as effective. This constant introduction of new advantages makes the game experience completely fresh every single time.

You won't be able to use the same tactics. You have to adapt to overcome. Your superbly powerful cast may no longer be your primary weapon, you might have to rely on your dash instead. The moves are the same but your approach to combat has to change.

If you embrace this change and get excited by new experiences, each attempt will be an absolute joy. Every time you restart the loop, you'll be blown away by the wealth of new elements introduced. Not just in the simple things like randomised enemy layout and those temporary upgrades, but with the narrative too.

Familiar characters get new dialogue, the story changes and new encounters appear. It's really impressive how much Supergiant have injected into a seemingly short runtime. Eventually, the content must run out, but in my 40 hours of play I was consistently astonished by the new experiences this game offered.

Although Hades has lots of interesting dungeon crawler mechanics and tropes it's an incredible action game. The combat is real-time. It's slick, impactful, satisfying and one of the reasons it's so addictive to give it another go. Regardless of how you're approaching each combat scenario, there's so much to love about its high-octane action that those boons you might have been pining for are easily forgotten with each new adventure.

There's lots of options here too. Multiple weapons and artefacts give you even more choices, but to be honest, I found one set that I liked and just enjoyed waiting to see what upgrades were tossed my way. For the sake of this review I have to admit that the randomness and number of customisable options is overwhelming, but with repeated attempts it does become clear, and that's how you can easily decide if this game is for you.

Do you want to invest in something that is designed to earn your respect over time or do you want instant gratification? I've mentioned before about how games can sometimes imply value simply by adding content. Padding a game with busy work is not appealing to me as my time is finite.

Hades' randomness and constant introduction of new elements is so intrinsic to its experience and theme that I can't help but wish more games would take this approach. Using a short form but packing it with replay value has been much more rewarding than most of the dungeon crawlers I've played in a long time.