If you’re anything like me, you probably only started playing the first Hades when it received its full 1.0 launch towards the end of 2020. I’d seen it around, sure, and was generally aware of Supergiant Games‘ works given how praised titles like Transistor were, but my first experience with the studio’s games was with Hades. Like everyone else under the sun, I was immediately hooked – hot gods, tight rogue-lite combat, a killer soundtrack, a compelling narrative/ gameplay loop, did I mention some really hot gods? It had it all!
Then, when Hades 2 was announced in 2022, once again promising an early access release, I found a bit of a dilemma on my hands. You see, I’m not always the biggest fan of early access games. I completely get why they exist, it can be a great way to build up an audience, as well as tinker with complicated systems so that the broader player base doesn’t end up having too easy or difficult a time. But personally, I like to play the full thing, if only so I don’t lose focus on it and end up never going back to it. Hades, though, is one of my favourite games, so I didn’t know if I could resist the temptation of picking up its sequel when it surprise dropped earlier this week. Spoiler alert: I couldn’t.
Yeah, OK, fine, I succumbed to my desires (don’t judge me) and dived right back into hell again, so to speak anyway. But there’s a but. But! I’ll only play a little bit, just get a taste, and that’ll be enough to keep me going until Supergiant manages to finish things up. Sorry, hang on, I can hear something… “Just one more run…” Ah. Balls. Alright, fine, just one more! And then one more. And then, well, you get the point.