Ahh, Hades. The next Supergiant Games masterpiece.

It has all you'd expect from a Supergiant Games entry; a crisp battle system, incidental dialogues numbering by the thousands and Darren Korb's wonderful music.

This newest entry is a Roguelite, or a game with semi-permanent death in the sense that you also have a macrogame to maintain. It makes each subsequent run easier, similar to the Binding of Isaac's unlocks, but not entirely, as it gives you these boosts directly. But more on that later.

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Hades is a hack-and-slash action game roguelite that is actually easy to pick-up-and-play and very fast. You will die in your first few runs, perhaps more if you're not entirely used to this gameplay type.

Each time you die, you return to the House of Hades, where any macro resources such as Gems, Darkness, etc. earned in your run can be spent to get more power and make the game subsequently easier to handle, until you manage to escape.

Combat is very technical, in the sense that unlike its other contemporaries like The Binding of Isaac, rng has relatively little play here and you can win every run if you know what you're doing, without being screwed out of shoddy RNG rolls.

On that note, the game balance here is very tight; all weapons are a joy to use; all powerups (boons) functional right out of the package. Of course, there are a few duds, but the game grants you a choice of three powerups each time you come into contact with an Olympian God, so there is much room to build the skillset of your choice to ensure you win that run.

Conversely, there are also a few choices that are quite overpowered in relative comparison. This does not serve to destroy the game's balance entirely, or minimize enjoyment; you'll need a lot of them, and if we're comparing, the Binding of Isaac pretty much has Brimstone as the quintessential broken choice anyway.

However, due to its very nature, unless you're invested or interested in the way it presents its plot, the game can get rather repetitive at times.


The sound design here is magnificent, and it shows Darren Korb knowing what exactly he needed to do. Some of the voice actors double as other characters in the entire dysfunctional family of the Greek Pantheon are masterfully dubbed, and you get wide voice ranges such as Logan Cunningham's authoritative Hades, Darren Korb himself as playfully sarcastic Zagreus and accented funny skeleton Skelly, among others. This is not mentioning the typical gold standard music of Supergiant Games playing as you go through Hell, creating the soundscape that enhances your play experience.

Art is on point with Jen Lee creating wonderfully-crafted portraits of characters that show what kind of people they are at a glance.

Story is simple, but it makes full use of the Greek Pantheon's Gods and Goddesses, and it amounts to you trying to leave Tartarus, and by extension, all of Hell to get rid of your abusive family, and also find some answers outside of Hell.


The game is a bit on the easy side compared to other entries of the roguelite genre.

However, this is because it does away with the bull of RNG, and crafts a masterful combat experience with it.
In this game, almost every power works even if it's suboptimal, compare and contrast with the Binding of Isaac, which is Build-and-RNG heavy, as you try to locate new items only to find Soy Milk, and hoping you can get Chocolate Milk to pair with it, and eventually getting screwed over with it.

The game is also unfortunately on the repetitive side, with only 4 biomes, and 4 bosses per stage, which while I don't mind too much about it, the bosses only have 1 other variant, each.

I would still recommend this game, as it is worth its price on the market; it offers you a good 20-hour experience at least, perhaps more if you like these kinds of games.

Ahh, Hades. The next Supergiant Games masterpiece. It has all you'd expect from a Supergiant Games entry; a crisp battle system, incidental dialogues numbering by the thousands and Darren Korb's wonderful music. This newest entry is a Roguelite, or a game with semi-permanent death in the sense that you also have a macrogame to maintain. It makes each subsequent run easier, similar to the Binding of Isaac's unlocks, but not entirely, as it gives you these boosts directly. But more on that later. [hr][/hr] [h1] Gameplay and Balance [/h1] Hades is a hack-and-slash action game roguelite that is actually easy to pick-up-and-play and very fast. You will die in your first few runs, perhaps more if you're not entirely used to this gameplay type. Each time you die, you return to the House of Hades, where any macro resources such as Gems, Darkness, etc. earned in your run can be spent to get more power and make the game subsequently easier to handle, until you manage to escape. Combat is very technical, in the sense that unlike its other contemporaries like The Binding of Isaac, rng has relatively little play here and you can win every run if you know what you're doing, without being screwed out of shoddy RNG rolls. On that note, the game balance here is very tight; all weapons are a joy to use; all powerups (boons) functional right out of the package. Of course, there are a few duds, but the game grants you a choice of three powerups each time you come into contact with an Olympian God, so there is much room to build the skillset of your choice to ensure you win that run. Conversely, there are also a few choices that are quite overpowered in relative comparison. This does not serve to destroy the game's balance entirely, or minimize enjoyment; you'll need a lot of them, and if we're comparing, the Binding of Isaac pretty much has Brimstone as the quintessential broken choice anyway. However, due to its very nature, unless you're invested or interested in the way it presents its plot, the game can get rather repetitive at times. [h1] Sound Design, Art and Story[/h1] The sound design here is magnificent, and it shows Darren Korb knowing what exactly he needed to do. Some of the voice actors double as other characters in the entire dysfunctional family of the Greek Pantheon are masterfully dubbed, and you get wide voice ranges such as Logan Cunningham's authoritative Hades, Darren Korb himself as playfully sarcastic Zagreus and accented funny skeleton Skelly, among others. This is not mentioning the typical gold standard music of Supergiant Games playing as you go through Hell, creating the soundscape that enhances your play experience. Art is on point with Jen Lee creating wonderfully-crafted portraits of characters that show what kind of people they are at a glance. Story is simple, but it makes full use of the Greek Pantheon's Gods and Goddesses, and it amounts to you trying to leave Tartarus, and by extension, all of Hell to get rid of your abusive family, and also find some answers outside of Hell. [h1] Quick Verdict [/h1] The game is a bit on the easy side compared to other entries of the roguelite genre. However, this is because it does away with the bull of RNG, and crafts a masterful combat experience with it. In this game, almost every power works even if it's suboptimal, compare and contrast with the Binding of Isaac, which is Build-and-RNG heavy, as you try to locate new items only to find Soy Milk, and hoping you can get Chocolate Milk to pair with it, and eventually getting screwed over with it. The game is also unfortunately on the repetitive side, with only 4 biomes, and 4 bosses per stage, which while I don't mind too much about it, the bosses only have 1 other variant, each. I would still recommend this game, as it is worth its price on the market; it offers you a good 20-hour experience at least, perhaps more if you like these kinds of games.