Imagine having such an unsupportive, manipulative, lying father that you would go through literal hell to escape his tyranny. Hades, Game of the Year, Indie super hit has come to Gamepass and I have finally been able to get my grubby hands on the game. With so many accolades it could fill a dump truck and the highest recommendation from the person I trust the most with video games. Was it all hype? I had to know. So when I loaded up the game, on the night of release, I get dropped into my first run and got my ass handed to me immediately. It was the first run and by no means is a new player suppose to be able to beat a game first run, but I just got rocked. Then the more I played I just kept getting rocked and killed, slightly making it further each run.
Hard as Hell
In video games you have to be specific when it comes to classifying a game as hard. It can be unfairly hard like games like Back 4 Blood where the harder difficulties increase the amount of friendly fire you cause, that’s just not a good way to up the difficulty in my opinion. Then you have Hades where you have a fair game that implements difficulty on an amazing level. Every enemy, boss or mob has it’s unique attacks that get progressively harder the further you get, as it should be. You have to learn and you must adapt otherwise you are doomed to die. For the record I have completed a run, as a matter of fact I’ve completed four runs at the time of writing so I know what it takes. The final boss [Redacted] is seriously hard, really hard, like you’ll die more than you live. You might be some gaming god who reads this and laughs at us puny noobs. They’ll say ” this is easy, you just suck”. NO. It’s hard, and I like the challenge. Focus, find those god combos, and you can overcome the challenge of fighting through hell, and when you do, it feels oh so good.
To Be a God
In case you’re unaware of the story here’s a recap. You play as Zagreus, son of Hades, who is fed up with his father, and he doesn’t feel like he fits in as the Prince of the Underworld. He decides, against Hades will, to attempt to battle his way through hell, however because this trek is long, hard and what some say is impossible, he asks his godly relatives for assistance. They oblige and these gods powers are what act as the upgrades for Zagreus as he makes his way through hell. Each God has unique powers to help you out, Artemis for criticals, Hermes for speed, Athena for shields, etc. Every god has their uses and I know that if you were to take a poll of peoples favorite god in Hades, everyone would get a bit of love. All the god powers interact differently with one another and it’s truly a blast trying out what works best.
I’ve completed over 30 runs and I have yet to see repeated dialog. Every run, win or loss, I’ve talked with everyone I could, and not once have they repeated themselves. The way you die, if you win, or what weapon your using, it is so impressive how the world feels alive. There are five weapons to choose from, all feel unique, and all feel amazing when in combat. Each of the weapons has a name, but to simplify we will just go by what the weapon actually is. A sword, a spear, a shield, fists, and a gun like thing. Each has a light attack and each has a heavy attack which can be modified if you find a hammer along your run. I love them all and I use them all. The way I decide is based on what weapon has a bonus before you start the run, but you might differ and I’m sure you’ll find you’re favorite.
Conclusion
So does Hades live up to the hype? Yes, yes, absolutely yes. I’m addicted and I just can’t get enough. This game has taken a hold of me like very few games have before. I haven’t played in a couple of days and I feel like I’m going through drug withdrawals. Ok not that bad, but I just want to put it out there that all the hype, accolades and Game of the Year awards is so well deserved. If you haven’t played it yet give it a try, you might find it weirdly addictive.
Rating: The Paddington 2 of Video Games
We rate things on a scale based on how close something is in quality to Paddington 2. To learn more please read this post
Rongo 