Hades II

“The god-like rogue-like returns,” they said, and they were right. An amazing sequel to an amazing game. It is very similar to Hades 1, with the same excellent art and voice acting, but I actually like the combat a bit more here. It feels like the game pushes you harder to use your full moveset instead of relying on one attack or ability. The progression is also outstanding. Even failed runs usually feel productive because you are constantly unlocking new tools, gathering resources, progressing character interactions, and simply getting better at the game. Runs can also feel very different depending on your weapon, abilities, and buffs, even if the levels themselves eventually start to feel familiar. The story is probably the one major area I preferred in the first game. I still liked the narrative here, but Hades 1 felt more straightforward and natural in how it fit its story into the roguelike structure. Some parts of this sequel feel like they had to work harder to make the narrative fit around repeated runs. Still, I enjoyed progressing the story and interacting with the characters. The amount of unique dialogue is honestly ridiculous, and you can talk to the same character countless times without them immediately running out of new things to say. My main complaint is that the endgame and post-credit progression start to drag. The repetition of the runs becomes much more noticeable, and some of the progression feels more stretched out than necessary. That might sound like a minor issue for optional content, but if you go for all achievements, the post-game can make up a huge part of your total playtime. For the first 30–40 hours especially, this might be my favorite roguelike ever, and that is probably the part that matters most for the majority of players. I absolutely recommend it, although if you have not played the first Hades yet, I would still consider starting there.