Game #1106: Hades

  Defeat Hades to escape Hades.... over and over again.

 I was ready to hate Hades, the first time it was revealed I thought it looked incredibly bland. And then people started praising it to high heavens, and we all know how biased and out-of-touch critics are. And then, Darksyde Phil, the worst streamer on the planet also liked it. I was ready to hate Hades, and yet.... It's really darn good.

 It's an isometrical rogue-like in which you must destroy every enemy in a room before being allowed to proceed to the next one. Every room is randomly generated, not that it really makes a difference. One thing I really liked is that every room nets you a reward. It could be a God Boon, which is an enhancement to your abilities, like adding effects to your attacks(Like a damage over time effect, turn your projectile into a grenade, make your dash invulnerable, make your dash deal damage and push enemies away, etc), money to buy stuff during the run, gems to buy permanent perks to your runs, Darkness to purchase permanent buffs to Zagreus', the protagonist, abilities, etc. In many games I always feel like combat ends up feeling meaningless, in this game it never does, as you are always building towards something, be it enhancing your abilities for this run or getting the means to get permanent upgrades. Plenty of times, after clearing a room, you'll be able to pick from different types of reward, so you've got some leeway on which random rewards you want.

 Zagreous can equip 6 different weapons: A sword, a lance, a shield, a bow, gauntlets and a rail gun. Each weapon handless very differently, and Zagreus gets a basic attack and a special attack with each one. Once you unlock every weapon you can unlock and upgrade different 'aspects'. Some change the properties of the weapon, for instance, Zagreus' Zagreus Sword Aspect makes his basic attack faster, but another aspect makes it so that using your special attack increases your critical chance for a short while, or it can be a bit more game-changing, for instance, the basic shield special attack sends it ricocheting a-la Captain America, but one of the aspects turn the throw into a slow, bounce-less shredding direct push in whichever direction you threw it. Eventually, you can unlock a fourth aspect for each weapon that changes their moveset completely. The game does a good job at promoting you to try different weapons, as before each run the game will randomly endow one of them with a bonus to the received Darkness and gems.

 Further more, Zagreus has two other techniques under his belt independent of the equipped weapon: A dash that serves as a dodge, and a cast/projectile attack. The basic cast attack is fairly useless, but you can get permanent upgrades so that you deal bonus damage to enemies hit by the cast or make your cast more useful if you are lucky enough to get a good God Boon for it. All in all, Zagreus' moveset is pretty simple, but effective. The random elements, namely how every room has a random reward, and which 3 buffs you can pick from each god boon is also random, means there's a lot of variety. Sometimes you might get stuck with buffs you don't like, you might even get to try buffs you didn't think you'd like or you just might discover interesting and effective combinations. Regardless, combat in Hades is super fun, and I'm surprised at how much mileage they got out of it.

 Beating the game for the first time unlocks the ability to add challenges to the game, such as more monsters per room, having enemies withstand the first X amount of hits before taking damage and the such, and this allows you to refresh the boss rewards from every floor and with every weapon. One thing I didn't like was that the game's 'true ending' is hidden behind 10 game clears. The game is really fun, and if it gets too hard you can turn on God Mode which makes you stronger and every time you die you grow stronger still, but I still felt like it was kinda lame. Just give me the ending and then I'll replay the game if I feel like it. Which I did. Multiple times, 'cause it was really fun.

 The game got a lot of praise for its story, and how the 'multiple runs' is integrated into the lore, as characters comment on Zagreus' achievements and losses, even Zagreus doesn't forget about his attempts. And every time you die and return to your home characters will have a new small interaction for you to read, if you want. And I didn't care one bit. I found the story uninteresting, and the way it's told, through boring character stills and lifeless text boxes was... well, rather lame. Honestly, the story, the game's most praised element, was the thing I liked the least about it.... and even so, I loved the gameplay, which speaks volumes about the game's quality.

 It's not the best roguelike I ever played, but it was a really great one. Easy to understand mechanics and a very rewarding gameplay means that every attempt at escaping Hades doesn't grow old. It's also very accessible, so it's an easy recommendation for people who'd like to try a rogue like.

 8.5