MyMMO demon Cortyn just wanted to kill a few hours – suddenly two weeks were gone and filled with lots of fun.
Sometimes it just doesn’t go well in the current “main game.” The raid in World of Warcraft didn’t go satisfactorily, the role-playing appointment was spontaneously canceled, or in the favorite MOBA, one is facing defeat after defeat.
I had just such a day when I thought: Cortyn, you need something new. Look what Steam suggests to you and just risk it.
I did that to distract myself for a few hours one evening. That was at least my original plan. But after two weeks, I have sunk over 100 hours into this game and must say: I regret nothing. It was pure fun.
We are talking about Hades. The game originally came out in 2020, so it’s already a few years old. I was repeatedly suggested this game on Steam, but somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to it. Something I now regret – because I would have liked to play this masterpiece earlier.
What is Hades? Those who (like me) have lived behind the moon for a long time and have not looked properly at Hades get a little summary here: In Hades, you play as Zagreus, the son of the Greek god Hades. Zagreus wants to escape from the underworld to meet the Olympian gods while fulfilling some personal goals.
But escaping from the underworld is not that easy. There are several levels and plenty of Hades’ henchmen ensuring that no soul ever escapes the underworld.
With every conquered level, you become stronger and receive blessings from the Olympian gods. For instance, Zeus can make your attacks also cast lightning bolts, Aphrodite makes your enemies lovesick and dazed, or Athena ensures that when you dodge, you can even reflect projectiles and fling them back with increased damage.
Finding the “perfect” combination here is the great appeal of the game.
As in most rogue-like games, failure and dying are an integral part of the player experience. Every once in a while, your ascent is abruptly interrupted, and you start over. However, some of the resources can be secured each time, allowing you to start a little stronger, have more options, or even wield a new weapon next time.
A spiral with no escape
This loop is incredibly addictive. For a good half-hour, you hack and fight your way through the underworld, then spend about 10 minutes talking, buying upgrades, or uncovering small secrets. And every time you think to yourself: “Oh, just one more run. Then that’s really enough for tonight.”
And before you know it, you find yourself wondering why the sun is just rising and your colleagues from the editorial office mention appreciatively how you’ve actually come to work quite early today. *Cough.*
Meanwhile, I find that most trailers or gameplay videos actually do more harm to the game. Because when you watch the trailers, Hades looks incredibly frantic. Colorful colors are flying everywhere, dozens of enemies are hopping over the screen at the same time, and everything just seems chaotic.
But that’s not the case. This apparent chaos is largely controlled. As a player, you have a massive influence on how everything behaves in the game. After playing two or three rounds, the behavior of all enemies is absolutely logical and (in most cases) predictable. While it still looks colorful on the screen, you are riding more of a wave of cool abilities rather than fighting against a stream of enemies and losing track.
Those who think, “This is all too wild for me. It’s too frantic. I’m too old for this.” should just take the risk. Because the trailers simply do not convey a good impression of what the actual game feeling is.
So much story, so much to unlock
What surprised me the most was the sheer extent of the game. Again and again, I thought: “Ah, now surely the ‘end’ of the game is coming and then the story is through.” But that was never the case. There were always new dialogues to unlock, new bonuses to earn, and many of the most interesting details of the story are revealed long after the official credits.
In addition, the characters in the game are simply entertaining and wonderful. The somewhat shy, yet extremely diligent Dusa captivated me from the start, and even enemies like Megaera are just great, making you want to hear more from them.
Sure – the story isn’t exactly brand new. After all, all the characters are taken from Greek mythology, so their personalities are generally known. Nevertheless, I felt that their portrayals in Hades were so fresh and entertaining that you looked forward to every little conversation.
Even now, after over 120 hours of playtime, I am still not “finished.” I still have a number of achievements and dialogues that I want to see.
Currently, I am eagerly waiting for the release of Hades 2. The game is already available, but only in early access – although the ratings here are already extremely positive. But I fear if I dive into the sequel now, I won’t be able to do anything else…
