Hades II celebrates its release. We’ve already spent several dozen hours diving in and we’ll tell you what makes the game so great.
The gaming year 2025 has already brought us an unexpected number of hits, but at least one hot candidate for “Game of the Year” is still outstanding: Hades II. The predecessor is counted among the few games on Steam that have ascended to the “God Tier” and accordingly, the expectations for the sequel were high.
After a long early access phase, Hades II is finally about to release. The developers provided us with the release version in advance, allowing Underworld demon Cortyn to lose himself in it for over 28 hours (over the course of 2 days, don’t ask). The current conclusion: Hades II improves everything while being just like part 1.
What is the story about? The story of Hades II directly continues from the first part – but don’t worry, you don’t have to have played it. There are a few references to the first part and many characters appear again, but it’s not necessary for understanding the plot.
The short version: The underworld has fallen. Hades, the god of the underworld, has been captured or erased along with his family by the Titan Chronos. Hades’ daughter, Melinoë, was saved and has since been raised by Hekate, the goddess of magic, and her coven.
Now is the time to set out and descend from the witches’ refuge to defeat Chronos and restore order to the underworld.
Unlike in Hades I, you are not trying to escape the underworld – the opposite is true: You want to delve into the deepest depths to reach Hades’ throne and defeat Chronos before he can annihilate all the gods.
The Gameplay – Familiar in a New Outfit
The gameplay can easily be described as “just like in Hades I” and those who are already familiar can skip this section.
Your descent mainly depends on two factors: Your chosen weapon (with modifications) and the blessings you receive on your way down. There are 6 weapons with 3 subcategories (aspects
), so a total of 18 variants. From melee blades to ranged magic wands or even a slow but devastating axe, everything is there.
After Melinoë chooses a weapon in the refuge, your descent begins. Each level has enemies or a special event – and following the battle, a reward.
The various gods of Olympus send you messages that not only advance the story a bit but also grant Melinoë blessings:
- Zeus enhances your attacks with strong lightning strikes or chain lightning that jumps between enemies.
- Hermes increases your running speed or allows you to dodge more frequently.
- Demeter grants you a frost aura that slows enemies and even reduces projectile speed.
- Aphrodite weakens enemies nearby.
These are just a few examples. There are hundreds of potential bonuses with countless combinations.
As in the predecessor, the hook is to create the most devastating combination possible. Because each time, you have the choice of 3 different blessings, whose effects do not always mesh well together. This can turn your descent into a true torture or ensure that you plow through enemies like Dionysus through a bedroom full of willing wine lovers.
Mana and Magic – with a Hair in the Soup
I found the introduction of Mana as a new resource interesting. Because the particularly devastating attacks consume Mana, which you can regenerate in various ways.
Many blessings of the gods also have a Mana component. There are blessings that permanently block part of your mana reserve (thus reducing the maximum available), but grant other advantages – such as a few points of armor at each level or faster attack combos.
At the same time, there are also blessings that drastically increase your mana consumption, for example, to empower your charge attack with +300% strength – for the additional cost of many mana points.
As interesting as Mana is as a new resource, the use of the “magic ability” is one of the few but clear points of criticism I have about Hades II. Melinoë can place a spell circle on the ground. A quasi spontaneous one that costs no mana, and a longer casting time one that consumes mana:
- The spontaneous circle holds enemies for a few seconds so you can keep them at bay.
- The enhanced circle holds enemies and explodes at the end of its lifespan for very high damage.
While the circle is extremely useful, it’s precisely here that the blessings of the gods feel a bit uninspired. Each god can also enhance this spell circle with a blessing. And yes, each effect applies the corresponding debuff (such as frost from Demeter or lightning from Zeus), but ultimately they all do the same thing: Enemies trapped in the circle take automatic damage over time.
It’s a bit of a shame. Because this spell circle is the ability that Melinoë retains in every run, regardless of the weapon. It is basically her “signature ability”. It would have been nice if the effects of the god’s blessings would have a stronger impact here, rather than just being different colorings of “It ticks multiple damage”.
No Frustration, as Even Losers Get Story
What makes Hades II, similar to its predecessor, so incredibly good is its avoidance of frustration. Because – do not be alarmed! – you will die. And often. On your way to Chronos or the top of Olympus, you will encounter bosses that will ram you unceremoniously into the ground and beat you back to the refuge of the witches’ circle.
However, because you still take some resources with you even in defeat and can invest them in permanent upgrades (as is known in rogue-lites), the frustration is kept in check. Because for a very long time, you can buy small upgrades each time. You might start with 10 more health points, have a little gold in your pocket, or deal more damage when certain conditions are met.
The upgrade system is multifaceted and allows a lot of freedom without being overloaded or unnecessarily complex.
This is also due (and especially) to the fact that you gain new story details even in defeat. Depending on which enemy defeats you, the characters in the refuge will react to you, tell anecdotes about your enemies, or give you tips on how to possibly overcome them next time. Some reactions even occur exclusively when you fail at specific points.
High Difficulty, More Power Gain
What I’ve noticed: Either I’m starting to rust slowly or the initial difficulty of Hades II is a bit higher than in its predecessor. Whether it’s the new “trash mobs” or the bosses, they all seem significantly tougher than in the predecessor.
While in Hades I, you could relatively well overwhelm bosses through pure “memorization”, in Hades II you noticeably need faster reactions and often have to dodge multiple effects simultaneously. Especially the level 2 boss, Scylla with her band of sirens (who, by the way, already composed a diss track after the first fight, which she sings during the subsequent encounters), was quite demanding at the beginning.
Later, there is also the option to enhance the bosses to get better loot – this is already known from Hades I. But it is clear to me that the bosses in Hades II are already significantly stronger in their base form than their counterparts from the predecessor. The abilities are more numerous, the reaction times shorter.
However, I have the impression that there are significantly more ways to enhance Melinoë than there were for Zagreus. The pure power gain from upgrades seems to be greater in the long term. Therefore, the increased difficulty might balance itself out a bit more later.
I managed to defeat the boss on my 21st night. But that is far from the end of the story; it is only the beginning. Because chaos reigns not only in the underworld, but also on Olympus, and they need your help …
If all of this sounds too harsh – don’t worry. There is again a “God Mode” if you get stuck. Then Melinoë will get stronger on her own until she overcomes her enemies. This is basically a drastic reduction of the difficulty level (i.e., an easy mode) for anyone primarily interested in the story and who doesn’t like the challenge. However, whether Hades II is the right game for someone is something I would dare to doubt.
Attention to Detail, Unmatched
I love details. Small quirks. I adore it when I want to try something out and then realize: The developer thought exactly about this situation and acknowledged it.
Hades II is full of them. Small details that contribute to the game world, bring it to life, and show how much love has gone into the development. A few examples:
If you take your house frog on the journey and encounter the spider Arachne, she panics in fear during the first encounter.
You can learn a spell that lets you resurrect the last defeated enemy and have them fight on your side. I wondered: “Does this also work in boss fights?” In the next battle against “Scylla & The Sirens”, I killed one of the sirens and tried it – and yes, it works. Suddenly you have a third of the devastating area spells on your side and can watch the rest of the boss melt away. Scylla will remember that you “caused a band feud” and “such scandals are not good for the fans”.
With Charon, the ferryman, you can buy upgrades. Sometimes, however, you are not the only customer and see, for example, “Nemesis” or “Heracles” checking out the inventory. If you don’t make quick decisions, they might buy an upgrade right before your eyes – or grumble if you do the same.
In the witches’ refuge, Artemis sometimes visits and sings a song. You can just join in and sing along. This has no gameplay utility but is simply a nice moment that cements the sisterhood of the witch circle.
These are just a few examples: Hades II is full of them. Whenever I thought, “Did the developers also consider when I take X with Y?”, the answer has so far been “Yes”.
Play the Same Song Again, Scylla
In the end, it can be said that Hades II is mainly “more of the same”. More of all the things that the original Hades already did well. That is also – aside from the above-mentioned criticism of the spell – perhaps my only real point of critique. And even that is already a desperate search for a hair in the soup. Because often you think, “Ah, so this is just like in part 1”. But it’s just good.
Hades II is all that made Hades I a huge success – just much, much more of it. Anyone who has fond memories of the first part can confidently dive into the sequel. At least if you can live with sacrificing your social life, work, regular nutrition, and a healthy sleep cycle over the next few weeks. Because Hades II is a game that’s hard to set aside once you start it.
My expectations for the successor of one of the best games on Steam of all time were extremely high, and that is actually a dangerous thing. But Hades II meets those expectations, and anyone with even the slightest interest in roguelite games will not be able to pass it up. Hades II will launch as one of the biggest games of 2025. I’m sure of that.
