This is it–my true actual official review on Hades II (Supergiant Games). I will not write another post about this game. Ever! This, of course, is not true, but I am going to try my damnedest to make this the last post Here is yesterday’s post in which I mostly ranted about the ending of the game. I will briefly mention it in this post, but not to the same extent.
I’m going to do something wildly different with this review. Why? Because there are three numbers I want to give it, and since it’s my blog, I’m going to do it. In addition, I’m going to spplit categories in two because that’s just how the game felt to me. It’ll make sense as I go. First up, let’s talk about the caharacters. And, yes, there will be rampant spoilers from now on.
*SPOILERS*
NPCs: I am so spilt on this category. In general, the NPCs in this game are not as good as they were in the last. While I did not love all the NPCs, I did appreciate that several had good stories. (While also noting that some were half-baked. My poor Hypnos.)
I like the Olympians just fine. I don’t like that Athena and Ares don’t show up until after a certain point (I think you have to beat Typhon the first time? Maybe?) They are both still great in this game, but I wish they were available from the start. I grew to really like Poseidon in this game (who was meh in the last), and the rest were fine. Oh, I still love Demeter, in part because Ireally dig her ice abilities.
There are two NPCs whom I really adored–Moros and Icarus. I did not like Narcissus at first, but he really grew on me. Same with Scylla. At first, I jsut wanted to punch her in the face. By the end of the game, I really enjoyed meeting up with her. Some were fine, like Odysseus, Hecate, and Medea. Some were meh such as Circe, and two of them were horrible: Nemesis and Eris.
Overall, I thought the NPCs were weaker in this game than in the first. I give them a 6. If Nemesis and Eris were gone, I would bump it up to a 7.5 or maybe even higher. Yes, they annoyed me that much. I hated them by the end of the game.
Music/environment/vibes: This is perhaps the best part of the game. The vibes are great, the enironments are thriving (mostly), and the music is top notch. I can’t give these elements enough praise. Here, the homage to the first game really shone, and I have to give it high marks. The video below of Scylla and the Sirens is my favorite song, Bewitching Eyes. I really like that several of the songs are some iteration of the Death to Chronos song.
The biomes are markedly different, and each one tells a story. While I did not enjoy the upward path, I cannot deny that it was epic–especially the last biome. And it was thematically appropriate, too. That’s a strong point of each area, actually. Each told a little story in and of itself.
Bosses: They were very uneven in terms of how hard they were and in terms of how engaging they were on a personal level. I’ve already talked about Eris, who is the boss of the second level of the upward path.
The upward path is so much harder in general, and I don’t know why that is. Cerberus, the third boss on the downward path is ridiculously easy. I’m not complaining, but I’m puzzled. Both Hecate (first boss downward path) and Polyphemus (first boss, upward path) were super easy. Then, Scylla and the Sirens (second boss, downward path) was hard, but not outlandishly so. Eris, on the other hand, was so fucking hard to me. Cerberus was so easy as I mentioned earlier, whereas Prometheus (third boss, upward path) was beyond my ability. I faced him so many times before I beat him once. He was the one who made me consider quitting the job or turning on God Mode. The first time I beat him, I died to the first enemyy in the new biome, and I didn’t even see what killed me.
Prometheus remained a thorn in my side for several dozen more runs after that. It was only when my God Mode protection got quite high that I could beat him with any consistency. I never enjoyed the fight, either. And I wish he’d keep his smarmy comments to himself. He is voiced supperbly by Ben Starr, though. That’s a bonus.
One thing he and Eris had in common was that when they trained their attacks on me from a distance, their scope followed me. I know i’m suppose to dodge at the last minute to escape the attack, but I can’t dodge like that. The only way I could avoid Eris’s attack was by hiding behind a pillar. As for Prometheus, well, it sucks to be me.
Let me get down to the brass tacks. I said earlier that I have three different scores to give the game. One is the game as it is now (which will be the last). One is for pre-patched true ending, the way I originally played it (which will be the first). The last will be for how I would probably feel if the true true ending had been there from the start.
Pre-patched true ending: I was so let down by this ending. It really upset me/pissed me off. That was the payoff for all the pain and anguish? I was always going to give the game a better score than Clair Obsur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive), which I gave a better score than Lies of P (Round8 Studio/NEOWIZ). I gave the former a 7 and the latter a 6 or 6.5.
If I don’t take into account those scores, I would give Hades II, pre-patch, a 7.0. I don’t remember if I gave the first game a score or what it was, but I liked it better in general than this game. Yes, the disappointment of the ending made me drop it at least an entire point. I can’t separate my anger at the true ending from the score, quite honestly.
If the true true ending had been there from the start: It’s really hard to gauge this because, of course, that’s not what happened. While I’m glad the true true ending got patched in, it did have to be patched in. While I appreciated the change, I can’t let go of how appalled I felt at the true ending before the patch. I don’t think I’m actually going to give a score here, come to think of it. It’s just too hard.
Post-patch true ending: I give it an 8. I know that will seem a travesty to many people who love this game, but it’s what I feal in my heart. Even with the added context, there were still many problems I had with the game. I’m glad I played it, and it’s great game*. It will definitely be on my list at the end of the year for games that deserve an award.
*Just not as good as the original.