I beat Hades II (Supergiant Games) and got the true ending. I have to say that it was WILD and not what I was expecting at all. And, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I won’t be getting into the specifics, but I have to say that it’s a good way to set up what is essentially NG+. Or rather, how to let you continue doing runs and adding different difficulties to up the heat. I will say, story spoilers from here on out.
*SPOILERS*
I beat the final upward path boss four times and nothing changed. I was surprised because I thought that was what I needed to do to trigger the next bit needed. But, no. That wasn’t all I had to do. There are a few more steps to take before youu get the true ending, and even then, I was holding my breath because it seemed like that maybe it wasn’t the end.
It was a bonkers ending, and I did not expect it at all. And, I have to be honest: I thought it was a bit, ah, discordant with the game itself. That’s the best way I can put it, and I don’t mean it in negative way, per se. After I beat the boss and it was clear that there was going to be a talky ending, I carefully set down my controller–but I kept my hands lightly on it. Just in case I had to pick it up and play again.
As I watched the scene unfurl in front of me, I started to smile. Not because it made me happy, but because I could not believe what i was seeing. It was so not what the game would lead you to believe would happen, I had trouble accepting it was the actual ending. Again, I’m not saying it was a bad ending, but it was certainly unexpected.
I’ll have to sit with it to see how I truly feel. It will probably take me a few days to digest it (while trying to tidy up the loose ends. And not loose ends. There are things that were set up fairly early in the game that have not been resolved yet. And not all my relationships have been maxed out. I have had some of them strengthen since I got the ending, but I still have a way to go with some of them. Also, with at least one of them, there seems to be much he needs to do before we can be besties. And knowing what I know about this game, I’ll be the one to make sure this happens.
I know that’s part of any game. The main character is the driving force of any action in the game. We all accept this, even though I wish it weren’t the case. Actually, that’s not completely true. There are times when I get to listen to conversations, and they’re not always about me. But when they are, it can be kind of cringy. At one point, I was bonking three siblings. I got to eavesdrop on two of them talking about it.
It was so disappointingly human. I mean, they are both god/desses/deities, and they were squabbling about little old me? I’m also a goddess, so we should all be above this kind of feelings/behavior!
By the way, I just found out that the actor for Melinoë is Judy Alice Lee, a Korean-American voice actor. I’m really happy about that. There’s no point to this–just a note and my happiness.
I sat through the credits and just let the incredible music wash over me. I always watch the credits because these people dedicated their lives to this game–the least I can do is watch the credits. Then, I watched as Melinoë returned to The Crossroads. There were a bunch of new dialogues to have, and I did my rounds.
I have to say. I’m a bit frustrated that a few of the characters don’t change. Two of the women I’m bonking, specifically. They’re sisters, by the way. I understand that they are the personifictaion of their names, but at the same time, there could be some room for growth within those parameters. The third sibling had more compartments to his personality than just his name/avatar, and quite honestly, he’s my favorite of the trio.
I also feel that one of the woman is supposed to be the replacement for a very popular character in the first game, and in my opinion, that was a mistake. That character was so outstanding and memorable, the best thing to do would have been to get away from her completely in this game. The version in this game is a mere shadow of that person in the first game, and while I first found her interesting, now, I’m pretty bored with the character.
The other sister? Ugh. Just ugh. I wish I hadn’t bonked her, but let’s face it–I’m going to bonk anyone I can bonk in a game like this as long as I don’t have to do too much to get to the point. I guess what irks me so much is that this person became even more disagreeable after we got together. And, yes, it makes sense because of who she is, but I’m just done with her. Yes, I’ll talk to her when she has new dialogue, but I don’t like any of it now.
It’s funny because I was watching two content creators chat about this game as they were playing a different one, and they were saying they didn’t care about the story and just rushed through the dialogue. One of them mentioned that he did not like the character I talk about in the prior paragrpah. And, yeah. I’m there now. I just don’t want anything to do with her.
There is still so much to do, even now that I’ve gotten the true ending. There’s the joke in games that ‘now the real game begins’. It’s usually trotted out when you’re far into the game and you’ve done something difficult that in many games would be considered the ending. In this case, it’s just true. It was the same in the last game. You had to beat the final boss ten times before you got the true ending and things opened up.
In a previous post, I talked about the Fated List of Minor Prophecies. They are basically side missions that once you do them, you get rewarded. I have about ten that I have not yet done. Some of them are related to things you could do before the end of the game, but some are not. It’s And there’s one key thing that was introduced at the very beginning of the game that I was told I had to deal with. It had to do with a beloved character from the first game, so I was eager to do it. When I was able to do the incantation to help this character, I eagerly did it. It didn’t work.
I got a cut-scene that was interesting, and then I was told I had to do another incantation that might work. I toiled to get the ingredients for that incantation, and then I got another cut-scene, but it did not work, either. I have not been able to get one ingredient for the third(!) incantation, and, quite frankly, I’m not happy about it.
I have more to say, so there will be one more post before my official review.