I loved the original Hades so damn much; it was one of my very first rogue lite games and the game that got me hooked on the genre as a whole. I am so incredibly glad to say that not only do I love, LOVE Hades 2, I am quite literally obsessed with it. So much so that I even play it on my laptop during my breaks at work, when I am not playing Hades 2, I am quite literally thinking about what aspects to use and the runs I would do the next time I play it, it is Hades but twice as addicting. When I say that Hades 2 is Hades times two, I mean it in quite a literal sense, twice the runs, twice the biomes, twice the campaign length (check my hours played on Hades 1 and compare it with my Hades 2 playtime and see for yourself).

Yet, Hades 2 does a lot of things so incredibly well and improved so much upon its predecessor that it doesn’t just feel like Hades with added content, it genuinely feels like a sequel as how sequels should be. First off, Hades 2 is filled to the brim with interesting new characters, each equipped with stellar voice acting performances and beautiful designs, from the calm and collected Hecate to the brooding and rivalrous Nemesis, each character has their own interesting backstories and relationship progression that it’s incredibly hard to pick any favorites as they’re all just so memorable. It’s also so fun to finally see characters that were only mentioned in the prequel fully realized here in Hades 2.

The main story here in Hades 2 is also larger in scale with higher stakes than it is in Hades. You play as Melinoe, the daughter of Hades and little sister to Zagreus who was taken away by Hecate as a child when Chronos, the titan of time, took the entire House of Hades hostage. Ever since that day, you have been trained by Hecate to retake the underworld and free your family, killing Chronos in the process. Personally, I prefer this grander scale in story than the original’s more intimate one, you can feel Melinoe’s disdain and hatred towards Chronos as the titan who took everything from her, making each run and defeat feels much more consequential and meaningful.

While Melinoe is a great main character and fits nicely into the narrative, you can’t help but miss Zagreus while playing as her, Melinoe is more rash, cruel and sometimes even more naïve than her brother, she also lacks that certain charisma that her brother has, though given her predicament, I would say it’s quite understandable that she’d turn out this way, just wished that we could see a lot more Zag in this game, y’know.

Now, let’s get into the meat of the game, and that is the combat, and oooh my god is it so fun and addicting. It is the original Hades’ combat but improved upon tenfold, there’s an entire mana system along with your attacks, specials and casts. In the previous game, at least for me, attacking is mostly going to be your bread and butter throughout your runs, there’s never really any incentive to try different builds when you can just Athena or Zeus attack boon and slaughter your way until the final boss. Now, with the addition of these new mechanics and an arcana system, the possibilities for build-crafting are more accessible and expanded upon by a significant margin. Want to build a cast only build? A dash only build? an omega special only build? Easy. Every build is also so incredibly fun when paired with the right weapons (aspects), and oh boy, are the weapons in this game so much fun.

Unlike Hades, there’s really no weapon that I’m actively avoiding in Hades 2, every single weapon has their uses and they’re definitely all fun to use, some WAY more than others, but still fun all around. Each aspect plays incredibly different, too. On one run you can use your staff (Aspect of Melinoe) to spam your attacks and melt bosses without your casts, only to then use another aspect of the staff (Aspect of Circe) to spam your casts and eliminate bosses without ever using your attack. Combined with the number of Daedalus Hammers that also alter how each weapon functions, there’s just so much possibility on how you can make your weapon broken.

Another new system that’s added to Hades 2 is the Arcana system, and they too, alter the way you play in a multitude of ways, from an arcana that gives you an extra 3 death defiances, to one that activates 5 random arcana cards each time you defeat a boss. You’re also limited on how many arcana cards that you can use for a run, and with each arcana having different costs, as well as synergies and anti-synergies with other arcanas add yet another layer of depth to Hades 2’s combat. IN ADDITION TO THAT (I know, I know, this is the last one I’ll mention, I promise) you get pets to go on runs with you! Each having their own unique characteristics and bonuses.

There’s so many other things that I wanted to mention such as the amazing bosses and biome designs, but I won’t take too much longer of your time. Seriously, just buy the damn game it’s incredibly cheap for a game of its quality and well worth the money. <9.5/10>