Game of the Month #72 (January 2021) - Hades

Defy the god of death as you hack and slash your way out of the Underworld in this rogue-like dungeon crawler from the creators of Bastion and Transistor.

I was already playing Hades a week before the voting, happy to see it winning (though I really want Enslaved to win the next one...).

I'm beyond happy with this game, I'm glad that Supergiant finally 'hit a home run'. I've liked Bastion a lot but I kinda forgot about it. Transistor has a cool world and an amazing soundtrack, but the combat is more interesting than fun. Pyre I've just passed, a made up sport is definitely not for me.

Back when it was announced, I was disappointed to see that it would be yet another roguelike. However, after playing it, I'm glad they did it. The roguelike aspect of it doesn't feel like a cheap way to stretch a thin game, quite on the contrary, it's amazing how much they built the game around the idea of it.

The artstyle and soundtrack is amazing as usual for Supergiant, stating how good it is feels like beating a dead horse for their games. What they really improved this time (IMO anyway) is the progression of the game. They hit a very sweetspot of being dense with mechanics, currencies, extras, and lore but it doesn't feel overwhelming at all. It's beautifully accommodated to the roguelite loop.

Before I was always eager to see what's Supergiant is doing next. Now I'm eager not only to check it out, but actually play it.

I wasn't too sure about Hades at first because I'm not much into roguelikes overall, but being SGG they won me over even while it was still in Early Access. I haven't played a ton. I think I'm sitting at 23 escape attempts now, maybe 24, but it really is so well put together with a good loop of progression and dying isn't a bother at all, if anything it can even be rewarding. I love going back and seeing what's going on at the House.

And of course there's the good writing, art and music as always. I'm looking forward to playing more over the month.

Ooh, one I might actually play this month. I've been watching streams of it, even though I own it and haven't played it. It looks so fun and being the mythology nerd I always have been it should be right up my alley. I've had too much going on in my backlog to really set aside time for it, but if it's GotM I can try to make an exception.

I could kick myself for not playing this game sooner. I don´t really like rougelikes/rougelites and was giving this a pass initially, but people kept raving about it and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

Supergiant Games has never made a bad game, but this might just be their magnum opus. This game is pure bliss even if you suck at it.
Even if you die immediately after walking out the door, there will be new dialogue and lore in the house of Hades for you to enjoy so none of your time feels wasted.

I was dying to the first boss a couple of times until I learnt the controls and got some good abilities and upgrades.
You just keep getting stronger and once you find a weapon you like and a ability that fits your playstyle then you´ll be going places until you reach the third area where you´ll die again, because the enemies there are BS.

I got to see the true ending, but I really want to play more it´s just that good.

Had my first sessions earlier:

I've done about 5 runs so far and made it the 32nd chamber which is the chamber right after the minotaur

I'm enjoying it so far and it feels like a much more refined and flesh out version of Bastion (side note Bastion is now the only Supergiant game which hasn't had a GotM thread now) and it works well for the gameplay. One of the big things about this game is that it slowly opens up options in the game the more runs you do and not just via the souls you pick up throughout your run. I think the lounge doesn't open until your 5th run where you can trade items in and that's only when you can change your upgrades from the mirror on that run.

One other thing which supermassive did which again is they've done before is reward you for mixing up your gameplay styles. You get at 20% drop increase on only 1 specific weapon on each run so if you want the reward you have to change. Also each boss drops a special item (don't what they are currently for but i'm trying to collect them) only one for each weapon so there is incentive to change up your play style.

The lore also is extremely well paced. It immediately dropped me into the game with one objective escape and then built from there. It seemed just simple that your main character wants to leave the underworld but talking to nyx seems to imply there is ulterior motives into why and there is a mention of lack of hands in the underworld and a vague mention of an ongoing war which is causing this problem.

The biggest hindrance I currently see though is that each section only seems to have one boss type. Maybe this'll change the longer i play but i've only fought the same 3 bosses in the same areas each time. Due to the way roguelites work it means i'll be facing them each and every run thus they kinda lose there boss charm the further along you get. It would've imo opinion been better if there were 2-3 bosses each level which the game switches between for each run so that the bosses can stay to a certain extent fresh

Had my first sessions earlier:

I've done about 5 runs so far and made it the 32nd chamber which is the chamber right after the minotaur

I'm enjoying it so far and it feels like a much more refined and flesh out version of Bastion (side note Bastion is now the only Supergiant game which hasn't had a GotM thread now) and it works well for the gameplay. One of the big things about this game is that it slowly opens up options in the game the more runs you do and not just via the souls you pick up throughout your run. I think the lounge doesn't open until your 5th run where you can trade items in and that's only when you can change your upgrades from the mirror on that run.

One other thing which supermassive did which again is they've done before is reward you for mixing up your gameplay styles. You get at 20% drop increase on only 1 specific weapon on each run so if you want the reward you have to change. Also each boss drops a special item (don't what they are currently for but i'm trying to collect them) only one for each weapon so there is incentive to change up your play style.

The lore also is extremely well paced. It immediately dropped me into the game with one objective escape and then built from there. It seemed just simple that your main character wants to leave the underworld but talking to nyx seems to imply there is ulterior motives into why and there is a mention of lack of hands in the underworld and a vague mention of an ongoing war which is causing this problem.

The biggest hindrance I currently see though is that each section only seems to have one boss type. Maybe this'll change the longer i play but i've only fought the same 3 bosses in the same areas each time. Due to the way roguelites work it means i'll be facing them each and every run thus they kinda lose there boss charm the further along you get. It would've imo opinion been better if there were 2-3 bosses each level which the game switches between for each run so that the bosses can stay to a certain extent fresh

The biggest hindrance I currently see though is that each section only seems to have one boss type.

This game has a few more tricks up its sleeve, but I won´t spoil the surprise.

BTW Supermassive are the Until Dawn devs, not the ones that made Bastion and Hades.

The biggest hindrance I currently see though is that each section only seems to have one boss type.

This game has a few more tricks up its sleeve, but I won´t spoil the surprise.

BTW Supermassive are the Until Dawn devs, not the ones that made Bastion and Hades.

Well that's good.

BTW Supermassive are the Until Dawn devs, not the ones that made Bastion and Hades.

...Yeah i meant supergiant. I'll update that

I am in love with this game already! Thanks for making me buy and play it *_*

I'm a big fan of Super Giant's games so no surprise that I'm enjoying it so far...

... even though my playthroughs so far has consisted of about 20% game and 80% petting Cerberus.

I'm a big fan of Super Giant's games so no surprise that I'm enjoying it so far...

... even though my playthroughs so far has consisted of about 20% game and 80% petting Cerberus.

20% game and 80% petting Cerberus

That´s how it´s supposed to be. Petting Cerberus is the law in the house of Hades. Give him a nectar once you´re able to and he´ll give you something nice in return.

The biggest hindrance I currently see though is that each section only seems to have one boss type.

This game has a few more tricks up its sleeve, but I won´t spoil the surprise.

BTW Supermassive are the Until Dawn devs, not the ones that made Bastion and Hades.

This game has a few more tricks up its sleeve, but I won´t spoil the surprise.

I see what you mean now. The bosses don't change really but different variations start appearing. I think that works rather well so I def spoke too soon on the bosses.

I'm just under two hours in so far, really enjoying it. All of the characters are interesting, and I can't wait to see where the story goes. Unfortunately, of the two weapons I have, I'm far better with the bow than the sword, which I get the feeling doesn't speak well to my skill level. :S

When am I going to meet my husbando Thanatos? Very impatient gay sounds, nyaa.

I'm just under two hours in so far, really enjoying it. All of the characters are interesting, and I can't wait to see where the story goes. Unfortunately, of the two weapons I have, I'm far better with the bow than the sword, which I get the feeling doesn't speak well to my skill level. :S

When am I going to meet my husbando Thanatos? Very impatient gay sounds, nyaa.

I love every single character in the house of Hades and I can´t pick a favorite, because they´re all great.

I had the exact same experience with the sword at the beginning, but the game has a way to get you to try all the weapons with the dark thirst bonus and it just kept trowing the sword in my face. Time to get good I thought.
I went with Poseidon on that run whose boons give your attacks knock back effects and extra damage if enemies hit a wall. The sword´s special attack already has some
small knockback effect and in combination with some lucky boons of dear uncle Poseidon meant that enemies were constantly hitting the wall and each other and that does a lot of damage.

Also if you see a hammer among your available reward always go for the hammer. It can make a huge difference.

Thanatos is a random event I´m afraid. You first have to make your way past the second boss and then there is a chance for him to show up and he´s glorious.

Have you met your wine boyfriend yet?

I'm just under two hours in so far, really enjoying it. All of the characters are interesting, and I can't wait to see where the story goes. Unfortunately, of the two weapons I have, I'm far better with the bow than the sword, which I get the feeling doesn't speak well to my skill level. :S

When am I going to meet my husbando Thanatos? Very impatient gay sounds, nyaa.

Unfortunately, of the two weapons I have, I'm far better with the bow than the sword

Same same same. I did way better with bow and was the first weapon I made it to final boss with. I proceeded to get my ass kicked, but I made it.

Once Thanatos does show up he's around pretty regularly. He's coming!

I love every single character in the house of Hades and I can´t pick a favorite, because they´re all great.

I had the exact same experience with the sword at the beginning, but the game has a way to get you to try all the weapons with the dark thirst bonus and it just kept trowing the sword in my face. Time to get good I thought.
I went with Poseidon on that run whose boons give your attacks knock back effects and extra damage if enemies hit a wall. The sword´s special attack already has some
small knockback effect and in combination with some lucky boons of dear uncle Poseidon meant that enemies were constantly hitting the wall and each other and that does a lot of damage.

Also if you see a hammer among your available reward always go for the hammer. It can make a huge difference.

Thanatos is a random event I´m afraid. You first have to make your way past the second boss and then there is a chance for him to show up and he´s glorious.

Have you met your wine boyfriend yet?

Well, hopefully I'll figure out how to git gud with the sword, then. :S If I can go from stone awards my first time playing Bayonetta to golds and platinums on replays, surely I'll get there. I first got the hammer the first time I tried the bow, which let me shoot constantly, which I think is the only reason I got to Elysium for the first (and so far only) time. Hopefully I'll start getting there with more regularity, then, if that's where Than is.

If by "wine boyfriend" you mean Dionysus, I've got one of his boons so far. Daddy.

Managed to get to the last boss with sword for the first time. I ran out of death defiance uses by that point and was wounded so it didn't exactly go well. It was also the first time I made it through Elysium with the sword too so at least I got that reward. And a fair bit of stuff to use back home too.

But most importantly of all I bought Cerberus a fancier rug. Only the best for our three-headed dog.

I found one build that was so OP

Are you gonna share with the class? Please do.

I finally have the time to talk about this game for a bit. As I’ve said before: I really love this game. So far I’ve put about 27 hours into the game in only a handful of days. Once I’d picked it up I just couldn’t put it down anymore, it’s just that good lol.

I first decided to vote for this game because, eh, it looked good and it’s a roguelike, and I normally really enjoy roguelikes quite a bit. But this game. This game is everything I didn’t know I needed in a roguelike. I love roguelikes for their random elements, usually quick and ever-changing runs, fun gameplay, often multiple endings and the fact that even if I suck at them at first, I usually am able to beat them after some time, which is a very, very rewarding feeling.

Now what makes this game special in my eyes is the story, the very well fleshed out characters and the awesome conversations. I always want to do another run, because the gameplay is fantastic and fun and because of all the characters you can meet during your escape attempts. But then I’m equally happy when I end up back at the house for one reason or another, because there are a bunch of new conversations waiting for me there! And at the beginning I thought this would stop after a while, like, alright, they have their 10 lines of text and then there’s probably silence. Guess I was wrong though, because after almost 30 hours there are still ever new conversations waiting for me.

Another thing I really like is the affinity system. Here I thought you give some nectar to characters, they say a few lines and give you gifts in return. But there are actually some really good and meaningful conversations there and I always try to get more nectar/ambrosia to increase my affinity with all the characters. The first one I maxed out was Cerberus, obviously. Then Charon, which happened rather randomly, though.

My favorite character so far would be Achilles. He was the first character, after Cerberus, who I gifted nectar to. And the fact that he asks you if you have romantic feelings towards him after gifting him a bunch of nectar made me go like WHAAAT ARE THERE ROMANCE OPTIONS IN THIS GAME OMG. Haha, really not what I expected from a roguelike. Now I’m trying to get him back together with Patroclus, hoping that it is actually possible. I’ve given Achilles all the Nectar I can and he’s said something about his contract and that I should talk to Nyx, but no further conversation about it has popped up so far. I think I might still need to give Patroclus one or two more nectar, maybe then this storyline will continue. Another character I’ve given all the possible nectar to is Than and I’ve met him several times since, but his affinity gauge just wont progress further. I’m guessing that I’m missing a few conversations, or maybe me beating the game puts main-story related conversations in front of the affinity conversations or something, because whenever I get a chance to talk to him, it’s always about Zagreus’ mother and/or escape attempts.

Another thing I really like about the game is the music. It’s just sooo amazingly good. Even playing for so many hours I still enjoy it very much. And the voice acting is just very, very awesome.

My current goal is to get more nectar/ambrosia to max out all of the character relationships and to get more gems to decorate the house. So far I’ve “beaten the game” four (or five?) times and I’m guessing I need to beat it a lot more often to get through the main story.

My favorite weapon and the one with which I beat the game the first time are the Twin Fists. Twin Fists with the Aspect of Talos and a trait that pushes enemies away are really fun. Magnetic attacks and pushing enemies away at the same time is just great, also, they do a decent amount of damage, too. Also the Shield build that Firelink suggested has worked really well for me, too. If you find any more fun builds you should definitely post them.
If you are struggling, Athena's boons are really good as they give you reflect.

I think that’s enough for now. Let’s see how many more hours I can put into this game. Not today though, I need to take a break thanks to work :D.

I think I'm going to give this game a go as well. I really like what you're all writing about it. There are so many elements that sound great to me that I think I can overlook the fact I don't like to fight and die in games.

Normally when I die three or four times, I put the game away and give up. I'm hoping that Hades will get me out of this mentality, since dying is the purpose. If anything, you only get stronger as you die.

Let's see if this game works for me. I'm going to buy it today to try it out!

So here's a question for y'all. God mode: yes or no?

See, I'm finding myself in the opposite situation. I'm eleven hours in so far, and I've had it turned off. But I've made it to Theseus & Asterius twice now and haven't beaten them, and I just can't help but wonder if I need a little extra help to keep going. It doesn't help that I don't feel like I'm making much tangible progress (which obviously isn't true, I finally met my future husband Thanatos among other things, but still.) That said, this isn't a case like Celeste where I hate the game and just want to get through it so I turned on invincibility; I like the game a lot, and the fact I'm making it to Elysium with more regularity seems to indicate I'm doing much better than previously. I just feel like I'm not going to "git gud", especially considering I need to beat the game ten times to unlock the true ending, Jesus Christ.

Basically, I don't want to escape the prison of the underworld only to be like

See, I'm finding myself in the opposite situation. I'm eleven hours in so far, and I've had it turned off. But I've made it to Theseus & Asterius twice now and haven't beaten them, and I just can't help but wonder if I need a little extra help to keep going. It doesn't help that I don't feel like I'm making much tangible progress (which obviously isn't true, I finally met my future husband Thanatos among other things, but still.) That said, this isn't a case like Celeste where I hate the game and just want to get through it so I turned on invincibility; I like the game a lot, and the fact I'm making it to Elysium with more regularity seems to indicate I'm doing much better than previously. I just feel like I'm not going to "git gud", especially considering I need to beat the game ten times to unlock the true ending, Jesus Christ.

Basically, I don't want to escape the prison of the underworld only to be like

Oh don't worry your prison was always shame /S

10 hours later and I still can't progress the relationship with Than :(. I've met him so many times since maxing out the Nectar with him and still nothing. What am I missing? Ist there anything specific you need to do? I've both won and lost the killing game against him, too. Oh well. I still need to beat the game a few more times, so something's ought to happen at some point, I hope.

I've beaten the main story today, but I'll definitely play this for a while longer. There's still so much to discover! My current goal is to further increase my bond with everyone. I've already completed a few bonds, but there's still a lot to do. I've -just- started giving Nectar to the Olympian Gods, after mostly neglecting them so far. I still don't have any more progress on either Than or Achilles/Patroclus, though. This is taking ages, mostly because I never seem to meet them now! D: But I have maxed out Orpheus and only need to see Eurydice a few more times now, I guess. Their singing is very beautiful by the way.