#Switch hades review update#
#Switch hades review upgrade#

That is, the game doesn’t tell you what any of the items you pick up do or what effects they have. Many other titles of this ilk suffer from what I call the wiki-syndrome. Whatever your playstyle, Hades will accommodate without sacrificing a healthy amount of challenge.Įven better than that, Hades is completely transparent about in-game items and abilities. Do you really enjoy Zeus’s lightning abilities? There’s an item you can equip so that they’ll be even more plentiful.

#Switch hades review upgrade#

If you’ve been dying to the same boss over and over you can purchase an upgrade to give you an additional life each time you fall. Each run you’ll find a wealth of items and currencies that can be used to help you in the next run. Luckily for those uninitiated players, Hades is a standout entry point to the rouge-like genre. So Hades is a fantastic game that’s an immense amount of fun to play but it’s also accessible to newcomers. Whether he’s swinging around a giant sword or darting around a stage pinging arrows at foes with his bow I never felt like the controls were holding back the gameplay as I did before. Zagreus changes all that by being an exceptionally responsive avatar with a wide arsenal of weapons that each feel distinct and fun in their own right.

They never felt bad to play but your character’s movement was never as fluid as I would have liked. Past Supergiant games could feel a bit clunky and sluggish at times. None of this will come as a surprise to any player of Supergiant’s previous efforts as they’ve become masters of quality storytelling with fantastic art direction but what is especially impressive here is that Hades feels exceptional to play. It’s these interactions with each character in Hades that evolve over time revealing a bit more about the characters, the setting, and the history of events that give the narrative an organic quality I’ve not seen in any other rogue-like. He never misses an opportunity to reward your efforts by increasing Zagreus vitality in proportion to his consumption. Or, a personal favourite of mine, Dionysius the god of wine, drink, and song who appears to Zagreus always reclining on a chez with a goblet overflowing with wine. Take Zeus for example the god of thunder bestows the power of zapping foes with thunderbolts but he does so each time by addressing Zagreus as ‘boy’ and lamenting his ‘retched brother’s’ (Hades) exploits. Each of them is not only useful but imbues the gameworld with colour and each deity with their own personality. More than the variety of powers that Zagreus will receive during each escape attempt though is the flavour that accompanies these abilities. These power-granting boosts are just one of the ways that Hades balances game difficulty and choice, allowing players to craft unique builds so that each run feels powerful and unique.

Fortunately, he’s not alone in this mission because his relatives on Mount Olympus take a shine to him and lend him their strength through various boons. To escape, he must fight his way past hordes of the neither world’s undead inhabitants.

Tired of being stuck in the drab inferno of Hell, and spurred on by an event I won’t spoil, Zagreus decides it’s time to leave home. The narrative centres around Zagreus, son of Hades (lord of the Greek underworld). I’ve played about 30 hours or so of the game thus far and completed only a single run but it’s the most fun I’ve had with a video game this year.

#Switch hades review update#

It wasn’t until a surprise announcement during a Nintendo Direct a few weeks ago that the Hades 1.0 update was released and the wait was finally over. The team laboured over the project and released it as an early access title where it continued to bake for some time. Otherwise, take a few moments to read what makes this not just the best game that Super Giant has created thus far, but the best rouge-like ever made.Īs a fan of Supergiant’s previous games, I’ve been following the development of Hades for a few years. If you have any interest at all in this genre, action games in general, or are a fan of Supergiant’s other work, quit reading and go play Hades. But what puts Hades miles ahead of any other rogue-like I’ve played its narrative. The art and sound direction are top-notch (as is the case with all of Supergiant’s previous games). The controls are as tight as the former genre king Dead Cells. It’s Rouge-like without equal is easily one of the best games of the year.

Both the title of my review and Nintendo have let the secret out: Hades from Supergiant Games has escaped early access and landed on Nintendo Switch and PC.