You need to have the right mindset going into this game. That's my advice. This demo is NOT like any other platformers I've ever played in structure, physics, anything. And let me tell you from experience that you are going to be EATING DIRT for the first couple hours. Falling down, losing progress, screwing up wallruns, missing jumps. You might shout, get a headache, turn off the game.

Now, that sounds kinda bad, right? But if there's no challenge, there's no reward. Learning these firm but fair systems of movement is less like a traditional 3D platformer but more like a parkour game. Much like real life freerunning, height is much harder to gain than length. You have to use every piece of the environment to your advantage if you want to catch those pesky fish. This is why the game feels so damn rewarding. You feel like you conquer an area once you reach the top.

Think about it in the context of the story, too. Tackle is training to "earn his scales" and become a true Fyskari. That is not a title handed out for free. Tackle has to work for it, and YOU have to work for it.

Where will you be working for it? Breathtaking structures that put the fear directly in your heart. "I have to climb THAT? " Yes. You do. Big fan of the massive castle with the trees up top, and the mortar island. Utterly masochistic areas. I love how unafraid the game is of putting incredibly twisted areas in a free demo. That's bravery. This is a demo with about 10-16 hours of gameplay. Keep in mind that even with my 9.4 hours at review time, I'm still not quite done with this demo. It's basically a full game in of itself. Feel free to take your time with it.

I said the game is without comparison earlier, but obviously no game truly is. I love how the fish collectables have different behaviour based on their colour, like Ape Escape. I love how the structure reminds me of secret hunting in Shadow of the Colossus. I very much enjoy the Super Mario Sunshine-type spin jump being present. Small pieces of classic early 3D titles are littered throughout.

Obviously, demo's not without fault. I think that it should be a little more obvious when an area is really hard and when it's going to be good for a beginner. Rule of thumb is, smaller structures are generally easier than the larger structures. The game also has some pretty bad performance issues on weaker hardware, which you wouldn't expect from the graphics. I hope they optimise the game better before release.

Make sure you read all of the signs in the tutorial area. You may find the impossible becomes possible once you do. That's also a weakness currently. The tutorial is very blunt. Though, like a drill sergeant, it prepares you well for the rest of the game.

Edit: I beat the game 100% with 14 hours on the save. Still believe this is an incredible experience.

It's scary. It's like they took all the things I didn't like about Hades 1 and amplified them for the sequel! As well as decisions that I just really, really do not like.


I don't think that roguelike games are enhanced by lots of metaprogression (progression between runs) because it turns the game from "How can I get better" to "Let's just wait for the character to get stronger". Why bother trying now when in a few hours you won't have to try anywhere near as much. When they announced this sequel I was actually hoping they'd reduce the amount of grinding. Start the character stronger. Guess what? It's the opposite! Mel is a lot weaker than Zag was.


Hades 2 has an array of new tools to use in levels to scavenge materials for the game's metaprogression. MINE with the mattock! Save some souls with the Mystery Rune! Fish with the iconic Rod Of Fishing. This is so fun that I almost forgot that you're only allowed to take ONE per run. Why? What's the point? I took the rune that can bring shades back to your camp for bonuses, but only 1 shade appeared on my run. Meanwhile, I had to pass by a half dozen wonderful mineral deposits. This SUCKS. Who the ♥♥♥♥'s gonna be excited about this? "Oh boy! Time to only get ONE type of progression item this run!" Who is that? Why do this? I'm gobsmacked. EDIT: They made it so you can use all of your tools, but now you prioritise a specific type of resource, types you don't prioritise become extrememely rare. Better than before but I'd rather just have all of them appear with similar frequency if I'm honest. I don't see why pickin the tool is a feature.

Speaking of more stuff to collect, room choices, especially early game rooms, are incredibly weighted towards gaining ashes or grasp, and I've been referring to it as:


It feels like for the first two worlds of the game, you're making this exact same choice wayyyy too much. You'll be leaving world one without most of your main boon slots filled. And it won't be by your own choice! You'll go for boons and then the 3 choices they'll give you will be things you'd call "tier 2" boons in Hades 1, where they upgrade a secondary aspect of your kit. Boons like revenge boons, hydraulic might, pressure points. This leaves your character feeling ridiculously weak compared to the increasingly large enemy health bars.

Your health bar will also look comparatively shrunken, as centaur hearts have become a rare delicacy. Because the mana bar has its own associated equivalent to the centaur heart, progression items are more likely to show up than in hades 1, because god boons are so rare you nearly always want them.... you're gonna be dying FAST.

Compound this with the way you're punished for playing aggressively with the weaker dash and no animation cancelling, and you have a game where you are SERIOUSLY encouraged to play safe, at long range, boring.


If the stars align and the game bestows upon you a boon at last, sometimes the description makes no bloody sense. The 1 sentence descriptions are fine for about 80% of boons, but sometimes I'd just like a little bit more clarification of what I'm actually choosing. When I pick a Hex the game says that one of the hexes has "Full Moonglow" which means that it "Has the most potential" and that "It gains +2 upgrades from my next Path of Stars"

What does any of this mean? Am I meant to know how this impacts my choices? Please actually tell me what I'm picking I don't want to open a wiki and get spoiled on other things by accident. This problem existed occasionally in Hades 1, but usually just for a few Duo boons. It's something they need to work on.


Quite frankly, the first time I got out of the relatively dull world one and into world two, I was quite enjoying myself. I think this world has the best designed enemies, some actual levity in the form of the world 2 boss, and its very visually appealing. I should mention the music in this game IS good. I'm a bit over the music in Erebus but beyond that I feel like it's consistently great. Especially the hauntingly beautiful world 2 music. This game isn't a 0/10. I don't like it currently, but it has merit. Great graphics, great music, great sound design. This is my positive section. I like the new gods. Hestia having the rarely heard midlands UK accent was a surprise. Apollo is sweet enough. Hephaestus is cool.

I'm a little less enthused about the returning characters. Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite etc feel a little bit less interesting this time around. Their renders aren't posed as dynamically, Nice to see them... But kinda not?


Back to negativity! The game's story itself seems to show up just to interrupt and disrupt runs. Instead of being tied to progressing the way you'd want to (Getting further, talking to characters in later worlds) thing are progressed when the game decides so. The player's actions or accomplishments aren't just ignored by the story, the game direct punishes you for doing too well too quickly. Now, in my 5.3 hours on record I made it to the room directly before the final boss. Why?

Eris is the worst idea in video game history. Punishing me for being good at the game too quickly reminds me of a overly pushy DM who harshly punishes you for doing anything they don't want you to do. Eris shows that the devs were insecure that someone could beat the first game on the first run, so they made it ridiculously hard to progress if they deem you unworthy. Eris gives you a debuff that basically means you'll lose.

Nemesis' whole battling thing is fine i suppose. The money wager isn't the worst thing as a concept. what I hate about her is that she reduces your options for the next room. Just make her teleport out or something. It's such a needless punishment... Because she does it EVEN if you succeed. It just makes it feel like the game can choose to ♥♥♥♥ me over whether I like it or not.

Chronos' random interruptions are also randomly wayy easier or wayy harder based on nothing basically. You can just get totally ♥♥♥♥♥♥ or utterly saved depending on what asphodel room it sends you do and with what enemies it picks. Not a fan.


I don't think Mel is a particularly interesting character unfortunately. Zagreus was cocky and talked himself into bad situations, which made him a fun character to watch. Mel is just too polite and duty-driven. I wish she was a little ruder to people quite honestly. Like she's just a lil too nice and dutiful.

Alongside this, the more complex family drama issues in the first game are just a lot more interesting than 2's plot, which is unfortunately kind of just a Kill The Bad Guy tale. Yes, I may be early in, but Hades 1 had already gripped me by this point.

Overall, I can't recommend this game in it's current state. This review will be updated as time goes on.