MyMMO demon Cortyn just wanted to kill a few hours of time – suddenly two weeks were over and the time was filled with lots of fun.
Sometimes things just don’t work out that way in the current “main game”. The raid in World of Warcraft didn’t go well, the role-playing game was spontaneously canceled or you suffer one defeat after another in your favorite MOBA.
I had a day like that when I thought to myself: Cortyn, you need something new. See what Steam suggests and just take a chance.
I did this to distract myself for a few hours for an evening. At least that was my original plan. But after 2 weeks I have sunk over 100 hours into this game and I have to say: I don’t regret anything. That was pure fun.
We’re talking about Hades. The game originally came from 2020, so it’s already a few years old. The game was suggested to me every now and then on Steam, but somehow I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Something I now regret – because I would have liked to have played this masterpiece earlier.
What is Hades? If you (like me) have lived behind the moon for a long time and haven’t really dealt with Hades, here’s a little summary: In Hades you play Zagreus, the son of the Greek god Hades. Zagreus wants to escape the underworld to meet the Olympian gods while also fulfilling some personal goals.
But escaping from the underworld is not that easy. There are multiple levels and plenty of Hades’ henchmen to ensure that no soul ever escapes the underworld.
With each level you conquer, you become stronger and receive blessings from the Olympian gods. Zeus could ensure that your attacks throw additional lightning, Aphrodite could make your enemies lovesick and dazed, or Athene could ensure that you even reflect projectiles when dodging and throw them back with increased damage.
Finding the “perfect” combination is the great appeal of the game.
As in most rogue-like games, failing and dying is an integral part of the gaming experience. Every now and then your ascent ends abruptly and you start all over again. But you can save a few of the resources each time so that you can start a little bit stronger next time, have more options or even wield a new weapon.
A spiral with no escape
This loop is incredibly addictive. You slaughter and fight your way through the underworld for a good half an hour, then spend around 10 minutes having conversations, buying upgrades or uncovering little secrets. And every time you think: “Oh, just one more run. Then it’s really enough for tonight.”
And before you know it, you’re surprised that the sun is just rising and your colleagues from the editorial team are praising you for showing up to work really early today. Cough.
I find that most trailers or gameplay videos actually do a little harm to the game. Because if you look at the trailers, Hades seems incredibly hectic. Colorful colors are flying everywhere, dozens of enemies are jumping across the screen at the same time and everything just seems chaotic.
But that’s not the case at all. This apparent chaos is largely controlled. Because as a player you have a massive influence on how everything in the game behaves. After playing two or three rounds, the behavior of all enemies is completely logical and (in most cases) predictable. Then it’s still colorful on the screen, but you’re more likely to ride a wave of cool abilities than fight against a stream of enemies and lose track of things.
Anyone who thinks “This is all way too wild for me. This is too hectic for me. I’m too old for that.” – he should just risk it. The trailers simply don’t give a good impression of what the actual game feels like.
So much story, so much to unlock
What amazed me most was the sheer scope of the game. I kept thinking to myself: “Ah, now the ‘end’ of the game will surely come and then the story will be over.” 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 plot are only found out long after the official credits.
In addition, the characters in the game are simply entertaining and great. I was drawn to the somewhat shy but extremely hard-working Dusa right from the start and enemies like Megaera are just so great that you always want to hear more about them.
Sure – the story isn’t entirely fresh. After all, the characters are all taken from Greek mythology and their personalities are therefore generally known. I still found their portrayals in Hades to be so fresh and entertaining that you looked forward to every little conversation.
Even now, after over 120 hours of play, I’m not “finished” yet. I still have a number of achievements and dialogues that I still want to see.
I’m currently eagerly awaiting the release of Hades 2. The game is already available, but so far only in early access – even if the reviews here are already extremely positive. But I’m afraid that if I throw myself into the successor now, I won’t get to do anything else…