This review is about <Hades>, a masterpiece in the roguelike genre developed by the American indie studio Supergiant Games. With the recent release of its sequel, the game has gained even more popularity.
✏ Hades
<Hades> is a roguelike game where you play as Zagreus(let's call him Zag), who grew up believing he is the son of Hades, the god of the underworld, and Nyx, the goddes of night. Upon discovering that his real mother is not in the underworld, he sets out to escapt his home (the underworld) to uncover the secrets of his birth.
There's a saying, even a dysfunctional story can become a masterpiece if done well. True to its Greek mythology roots, the game's story is a bit of a family drama with a twist. Hades, who personally tries to kill his son or unleashes more monsters to prevent his escape, and Zag, who asks his father to let him die quickly so they can meet at home🙄 Despite the dysfunctional family dynamics, as the story progresses, you realize how much they care for eath other, turning it into a heartwarming family drama. This engaging narrative significantly helps lower the barrier to entry for roguelike games.
✏ Who try to stop the escape and who try to help
Since the game revolves around escaping from home, there are characters who try to stop the escape and those who try to help it.
The primary character trying to stop Zag is Hades. During battles, he releases more spirits wandering in the underworld and instructs the bosses at each stage to stop his son.
If the stage bosses fail to stop Zag's escape, Hades reprimands them. Sometimes the bosses say things like, "I'd rather be hated by you than be on my boss's (Hades) bad side". This lines help alleviate the boredom that can come from the repetition interent in roguelike games, which often require multiple escape attempts.
On the other hand, those who assist Zag include his foster mother Nyx, various NPCs, and the gods of Olympus. Each has their own reason for helping, all tied to the storyline. Some wish to help Zag meet his biological mother, some are acting out of love or friendship, and others mistakenly believe that Zag's attempts to escape are an effort to meet them rather than his mother.
These characters either enhance Zag's abilities or occasionally join battles to provide assistance. The gods of Olympus, on the other hand, directly aid his escape by bestowing upon him. These boons are skills that enhance or add to his attack, special attack, magic, and ultimate abilities.
Additionally, during your escape attempts, you can meet shop NPCs and supporting NPCs who enhance the protagonist's abilities. What's interesting is that these NPCs don't just give buffs; each one has its own story intertwined with other NPCs. This shows how much effort the developers put into making the escape process more entertaining.
✏ The boons of another chaotic family
As you know, the Olympian gods are know for their chaotic family in Greek mythology, and the game humorously reflects this through the Booms system.
During the game, you may randomly encounter rooms where you can receive boons from two gods, A and B, simultaneously. However, you can only choose one boon at a time. If you choose god A's boon first, god B will express his anger by unleashing monsters and attacking you on the field.
And moreover, combining boons from two gods can create a new skill called a 'Duo'.
Even without duos, you can still successfully escape, but using the duo system, which combines the strengths of two boons, can significantly enhance your power and enable speedruns. The dialogues between the gods, such as one saying, "She always focuses too much on her appearance" are amusingly fitting for the Olympian gods.
✏ I wanna die quickly to see the story
One major barrier to entry in roguelike games is the frustration of losing everything upon death. The idea of starting over from scratch can be discouraging.
Modern roguelite games address this by allowing players to permanently upgrade characters or weapons using resources collected during runs. However, <Hades> overcomes this challenge through its engaging story.
After Zag defeats Hades, he meets his mother, Persephone, but the chains of the underworld drag him back to the River Styx, pulling him back to the underworld. This means that although he meets his mother, he can only exchange a few words before being dragged back home. To clear up misunderstandings, he must repeatedly escape the underworld to meet his mother again.
Clearing up misunderstandings requires long conversations. Through repeated escape attempts, Zag learns that his father, Hades, actually loved his mother more than anyone else and that he genuinely cares for his son (showing how important expressions of feelings are🙄). As Zag makes more escape attempts, NPC dialogues change, and through these repeated conversations, he gradually understands their feelings. This makes "death" in <Hades> less intimidating.
📋Overall Review
<Hades> is a roguelike game where Zag repeatedly tries to escape to uncover the secrets of his birth. The complex nature of the roguelike genre and the solo gameplay might increase the difficulty, but the well-woven dramatic storyline offsets the frustration typically associated with dying in such games. The game's appeal lies not only in its skills and combat mechanics but also in its unique graphics and charming characters. I highly recommend <Hades> not just to fans of the roguelike genre but also to those who have avoided it due to the sense of loss that comes with death. In <Hades>, death is not a failure but another beginning.
* Steam URL : https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145360/Hades/
* Kor Version : https://gamers-tryto-it.tistory.com/94
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