Sequels are always difficult, I imagine. How to capture the core brilliance of a thing and build on it? What to add, what to remove? I’ve always loved Sid Meier’s rule of thirds for Civilisation games: one third remains the same, one third is improved, one third is totally new. But not every game is Civilisation.
Sequels for roguelikes, though? Cor. Difficulty cubed. This is because roguelikes, with campaigns composed of endlessly repeated runs, all with their own fine chances for variation? Roguelikes are games that already carry an infinite number of sequels within them. I have Spelunky runs even now which feel like sequels to the first game, where something unprecedented happens, and where I feel like I see the whole challenge in a new way, completely reframed. If Spelunky struggles with this, what hope for everyone else?
Hades 2 seems very happy being a sequel, even a sequel to a roguelike. Everything from the swift-pen art style and the evocative, pensive soundtrack, down to the menus and the fonts and the UI choices speak of a desire for continuity. After years of racing through baddy-filled rooms packed with classical horrors as Zagreus, there was almost no period of reorientation needed before I started racing through baddy-filled rooms packed with classical horrors as Melinoë. I’ve spoken to a few people about this, actually, and it’s almost perverse: the sense of being right at home from the off is almost the most confusing thing about Hades 2.
About Author
