Should I get it?

[kiadony]

So it's pretty cheap and I'm seeing all the positive reviews but I'm a fairly casual player when it comes to hack-and-slash games (I like Torchlight II and Grim Dawn quite a lot, but they aren't very fast-paced; played a bit of Bastion and I found the combat enjoyable, quit cause the narration wasn't my thing; but games like Hyper Light Drifter that are heavily reaction-based are too much for me, I can't react to them). Now I know that death isn't a big deal in Hades apparently but does one have to be a more or less seasoned gamer to enjoy the combat without getting frustrated? Thanks!

[BassChamber]

Combat is engaging, fast, and fierce, but at the end it depends on your stats and build.

There is an easy mode if you have problems, game is well balanced.

[Suzaku]

There is a mode that reduces damage taken each time you die, so you could probably make it through the game eventually, but fast reactions are pretty essential. Otherwise you'll just find yourself in a world of hurt and walking out of the Styx for the hundredth time with almost nothing to show for it.

I love the game and would give it a very high score, but I can't recommend it to people that don't consider themselves to be at least above-average skill.

[Nibbie]

Between a mode that makes you take less damage which increases its effect each time you die (you can turn it on and off at any time) to permanent character upgrades, you should be able to get through in time, which is what the game is built around, death is just one step closer to success. It is faster than Bastion, but I'd say similar enough, especially to the harder parts of Bastion, that you should be fine.

[BIG SHAQ 👑]

In my opinion wait until there will be price discount. The game has only 4 big bosses for 69 chambers.

I played this game for 2 hours and it's in fact a repetitive game yes. They said the game is very story driven so if you like that then you can get it. Me on the other hand, I like to have more content that just to have 4 bosses to beat.

It has a overwhelming positive comments for sure because the game is beautiful, but after 2 hours I got bored :D

[Darth Bokeh]

If you're the type of gamer that plays mainly to beat the boss or finish the game, so you feel frustrated when you don't, then this might be frustrating for you. I've read it takes on average 30 runs or more before people to beat the final boss the first time.

If you like the experience of growing stronger, unlocking and upgrading things like weapons, interactions with NPCs, and aren't attached what happens in a run (because during runs you collect currencies that let you make progress in the above things), then you'll probably enjoy this a lot.

If you don't mind being spoiled a little, you could look at some videos on youtube to get a feel for what it's like.

Here's an example of someone playing the game for the first time. I purposely looked for a video of someone who didn't get too far before dying, since a highly skilled player in this genre is less likely to reflect your experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYQ3N_btpGw

Edit:
The above video is from Early Access, so some things will look a bit different, but the gameplay is the same.

[Specific Beef]

You definitely don't have to be elite to play this. Admittedly, I do like a bit of bullethell and there's a little bit in a couple of chambers in this game, but for the most part I'm probably pretty average (only Platinum in Rocket League, so squarely in the middle of the world's player ability, for example).

It's going to be a bit punishing at first, but the reward for not giving up is earning a deliciously exhilarating expertise over time, and then the game ramps its difficulty under your direction (play to see how that's implemented, but basically you get to pick and choose aspects of difficulty to set your own hurdles, win power for success, and then ramp it up to earn yet more power). Don't play it and think, "This just isn't for me": keep going, and you will find your feet. It's very well designed that way.

Dexterity will make the game much easier, but it's not essential. It's more about rhythm and flow, but before all that is management. You'll be picking and rejecting power buffs as you go through each run, finding combinations that produce ever greater damage and spectacle. When you get experienced with this, you'll often be such a death merchant that you only need a couple of button presses to destroy entire chambers in the last zone before the final boss. So you could be a gaming ninja and beat the game with virtually nothing, or an okay gamer who's good at management: both can beat the game.

The game's charm leans heavily on the great characters and script, but it's incomparable to the narration in Bastion: Supergiant have become masters of this. So, while Bastion's story is no yardstick, I guess it still depends how much you love story in games in general. If it doesn't matter to you, that could be a problem for you in Hades since the desire to meet each character again and expand the story with each of them is a major piece of bait in this game.

[bshock]

Without a doubt, give it a try! If it proves too difficult, there is always the god mode to allow even the most casual to have a chance of seeing the story through.

[it's love]

Don't worry about it, it's no spelunky or anything. I think pretty much anyone can play this game.

[Mr. No_Effs_Given]

Just get it already, amazing game.

[Dorok]

Originally posted by kiadony:

So it's pretty cheap and I'm seeing all the positive reviews but I'm a fairly casual player when it comes to hack-and-slash games (I like Torchlight II and Grim Dawn quite a lot, but they aren't very fast-paced; played a bit of Bastion and I found the combat enjoyable, quit cause the narration wasn't my thing; but games like Hyper Light Drifter that are heavily reaction-based are too much for me, I can't react to them). Now I know that death isn't a big deal in Hades apparently but does one have to be a more or less seasoned gamer to enjoy the combat without getting frustrated? Thanks!

Your profile seems be rather similar to mine. If it is, posts above I read quickly are irrelevant.

Torchlight II and Grim Dawn are (great) Diablo like, Hades isn't that at all a similar game.

The action is fast, and unlike in Diablo like, you don't have have full builds to really change the pace. Also if you aren't used to such type of controls with K+M, it's rather hard during hours, Gamepad is certainly a better way to approach the game, but if like me you don't play much with a Gamepad, it will probably help nothing.

First hours in the game are harsh, beat first boss is rude. Watch let's play with players playing at high speed won't help you.

But:
- It's still from far the best game of this genre (which isn't Diablo like) that I played.
- It's still from far the more playable game of this genre that I played.
- After hours and reading some advices I started realize I had often opportunity to slow down the pace.
- After hours I realized K+M was in fact rather well adapted to the game. The dash focus of the design was fitting well less precise movements than with a gamepad, and K+M superior aiming has some advantages that could be exploited even without much skills.
- Despite it took me many hours to beat first boss, I didn't get bored. There's many weapons to try, there's a complex build system with many drops along a run which generate different builds one play after another, even if the procedural generation of areas isn't top notch for diversity, it doesn't make the plays repetitive, weapons and build variations do add a lot of diversity.
- The more you play the more you collect persistent bonus, it's not fast but it's steady.
- If first steps in the game feel really too hard you can activate a god mode. The game will still be difficult but it will help and the damage reduction bonus slowly increase at each death, so it will help progress and not be stuck, that and the persistent upgrades you cumulate and there's a ton of them.
- After many hours I achieved reach last boss of a run but still not beat it. And the game is still a very good fun.

So at end despite it's a very harsh game during first steps, for a weak player, even with god mode. It's still a great game to play like 30mn or more if you want, pause and next day play again, and so on and play very often even if not very long sessions. But it would be for the fun to play the game, not to see the end of the story. The game is perfect for such usage because after each room emptied it saves and you can quit and continue when you want. Knowing that a room isn't that long, it's a high flexibility to adapt your play rime.

[Dorok]

Originally posted by Zak-Del:

Just get it already, amazing game.

Agree, but probably you are a much better player than me. :-) Ha wel it was fun to make a long rant, obviously don't read now you have discovered the game. :-)

[Mr. No_Effs_Given]

Originally posted by Dorok:

Originally posted by Zak-Del:

Just get it already, amazing game.

Agree, but probably you are a much better player than me. :-) Ha wel it was fun to make a long rant, obviously don't read now you have discovered the game. :-)

Well, im pretty experienced with roguelikes, and this one is by far the most forgiving (much, much easier than Dead Cells for example), got my first victory on my 9th run. Also there's an easier mode available.

[Dorok]

Originally posted by Zak-Del:

Originally posted by Dorok:

Agree, but probably you are a much better player than me. :-) Ha wel it was fun to make a long rant, obviously don't read now you have discovered the game. :-)

Well, im pretty experienced with roguelikes, and this one is by far the most forgiving (much, much easier than Dead Cells for example), got my first victory on my 9th run. Also there's an easier mode available.

Ooops my bad. You wrote "Just get it" and I read "I'm OP and just get it.". :-)

The only other game more or less in this genre that I achieve really play was UTOPIA 9 - A Volatile Vacation. It took me a while to beat it once, past that you unlock a character more tricky to play, but I gave up. It has a ton of weapons and I had a very good fun with it, but it is no match with Hades, but probably somehow easier. In coop it seems even easy, but single player not that much easy.

[Robin]

There's no rpg elements like in Torchlight or Grim Dawn. If you didn't get into Hyper Light Drifter, this game will be way too fast paced for you too, I think. (Don't get me wrong, I love this game and hyper light drifter, but given from your description it's probably not for you)

[Dorok]

Originally posted by Robin:

There's no rpg elements like in Torchlight or Grim Dawn. If you didn't get into Hyper Light Drifter, this game will be way too fast paced for you too, I think. (Don't get me wrong, I love this game and hyper light drifter, but given from your description it's probably not for you)

Perhaps but it's not that simple, HLD looks like at same pace than a game as Children of Morta, but I played both Hades and Children of Morta, and despite with a faster speed, Hades is more playable.

There's many aspect, one is the importance of Dash in Hades, it speed up but also the whole controls are simpler. Enemies patterns are much more visible in Hades. Traps are much more Visible in Hades. Overall Hades controls ar simpler. And K+M controls are much better than in any similar game I played.

But ok your comment could be right as well, I never played HLD.