Hades II review for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, PC

The original Hades by developer Supergiant Games is easily one of my favorite games of all time, and certainly one of the best roguelike games to ever be released. Supergiant as a whole has been a developer that’s really excelled at putting out amazing games, but they’re not particularly known for sequels to their original titles. Perhaps that’s why Hades II was such a surprise to me. Even knowing that the first one was a smash-hit, both critically and commercially, I was still sure that we’d not see another one given Supergiant’s previous track record. But, thankfully, they did immediately start work on a follow-up, and now Hades II has finally hit its full 1.0 version, officially releasing for not only the PC where early-access was previously available, but also for consoles.

I actually avoided the early access version of the game entirely, I wanted to go into Hades II as a full-fledged experience right from the start, and I’m glad I did. It’s a fantastic follow-up to the first game, packed with great storytelling, wonderful characters, outstanding voice-acting, and gameplay that makes it incredibly tough to put down the controller. I’ve spent dozens and dozens of hours with the game prior to release, seen the end credits roll, and continue to play on for the post-game content. I don’t intend to stop after this review goes up either, it’s definitely in my daily rotation of games to play until I’ve exhausted everything that Hades II has to offer, which appears to be quite a lot.

Like the first game, Hades II is an isometric action heavy roguelike set against the backdrop of classic Greek mythology. In this game you take on the role of Melinoë, sister of hero Zagreus from the first Hades. This time around the mad titan Chronos has invaded the realm of Hades, imprisoning much of Melinoë’s family and taking control of Tartarus. All of this happened when Melinoë was just a baby, so while you’re fighting to take back control of Tartarus, Melinoë is also fighting to reconnect with a family she barely knows, and one that barely knows her. It’s a monumental task, but Melinoë has a lot of help along the way.

In the first Hades, Zagreus had the help of various Greek gods and other notable mythological heroes and entities. Much like her brother, Melinoë also has the favor of the gods, with some returning faces along with all-new entries like Demeter, Hestia, Hercules, Hera and more. These characters can bestow boons to Melinoë, which again act in similar fashion to the original Hades, often increasing the strength of different attacks while also adding effects like the ability to freeze enemies in place, or create damage-over-time effects to whittle away their health. There’s a tremendous variety in the boons available, and it’ll take many, many playthroughs in order to see them all.

In Hades II you’ll have not one, but two areas to tackle. Like the first Hades, you’ll delve into the Underworld in order to make your way to the final zone of Tartarus in an effort to defeat Chronos and free your family. However, this time around you’ll also have the ability to move upwards towards Mount Olympus, with 4 new zones, bosses, and a whole lot of unique enemies and mini-bosses to fight. The game does a fantastic job of giving you reasons to switch between these two areas often, as they each offer their own unique set of resources to gather, which in turn allows Melinoë to cast spells that create permanent upgrades as the story progresses, which in turn can increase the size and function of your home base, give out bonuses when collecting resources, and much more.

The addition of a whole new 4 stage area isn’t the only thing that Hades II brings to the table. New attacks called Omega abilities can give you even more options when engaging in combat. Omega abilities are performed by holding down either your attack, special, or cast buttons, in turn performing more powerful versions of those moves that sometimes behave in a completely different manner than the normal attack. It can take a little time to power these moves, and they are reliant on magic points as well, so there is some risk involved. Knowing when to pull these moves off is key to success more often than not, and helps alleviate any concerns that someone might have about the combat feeling too simplistic.

Also, the dash ability is changed up this time around. Instead of just dodging all over the place, Melinoë can dash and then sprint, increasing her speed dramatically as long as the dash button is held down. There are a number of boons that take advantage of this, including one that allows her to lay down a trail of fire behind her as she runs. The Arcana card system is also new, which unlocks additional abilities that you can activate for your runs, provided you have enough Grasp points to do so. Each card has a value between 0 to 5, and certain cards can’t be activated unless other criteria are met. In addition, cards can be further upgraded using special resources. These cards grant Melinoë additional abilities and bonuses, like the ability to heal slightly when moving from room to room, or the ability to speed up the charging for Omega moves. This adds another layer of customization to Hades II that again helps keep the core loop feel fresh and exciting throughout the game.

Finally, Hades II offers a new set of weapons to play with, each of which perform in massively different ways. Weapons can be upgraded over time into different aspects, and each weapon feels balanced this time out, with no one weapon feeling overpowered in comparison to the others. I have a hard time picking a favorite myself, as they all feel fun to play with, and I’ve had successful runs with each weapon in the game.

If you were ever on the fence with trying the original Hades, or thought Supergiant Games couldn’t possibly outdo themselves after the first game, then you owe it to yourself to check out Hades II. This year has been stellar when it comes to great games, and Hades II still manages to stand out from the pack for me. It’s an absolutely fantastic follow-up to the original and one that shouldn’t be missed.

Note: Supergiant Games provided us with a Hades II Switch 2 code for review purposes.