A few weeks ago, we dropped our first podcast to tell you all about the release of Hades 2, the sequel to our favorite roguelike game ever.

Hades 2 is still in early access, and is expected to be so for the rest of this year. That means large updates with dramatic gameplay changes, and this week we got a big one.

Focused primarily on the weapons, this update made massive changes to the mechanics of them. There were other QOL improvements and encounter balances, but the weapon changes are clearly the headline. Let’s take a look at the standout improvements. Necessarily, there will be spoilers.

Outstanding

Aspect of Momus: This new staff is fantastic. Previously, the Momus staff was a bog standard “spam out the long range light attack as fast as possible” weapon, with a buff to the damage of the special attack. The regular attack was useful only situationally, and the hammer options were useful in direct proportion to how well they buffed the “spamalot” strategy.

The new Momus staff focuses on the “omega” moves, turning your cast, attack, and special into incredibly useful tactical leave behinds that keep firing off after you’ve moved on (like turrets). This opens up a whole new way to play Hades, and truly makes the staff feel like a proper witch’s tool.

Aspect of Thanatos: The Reaper’s scythe had a mechanic that made sense, but didn’t function as described by ingame text. You’d get increasing critical hit chance for hitting enemies with your omega moves, but the critical meter didn’t build the way the descriptive text suggested. This led to a functional but underwhelming weapon choice.

Omega moves now are the recipient of the critical chance buff, which is procced by regular attacks. Adding 1%/attack, capping at 13%, this really buffs your spin attack omega move in a way that feels meaningful and powerful. To accommodate this change the axe also gets an attack speed buff with this aspect, allowing you to do a little more kiting/hit and run as you build your crit meter to unleash devastating spins.

Umbral Flames (all aspects): The patch note says “Attacks are stronger and faster; Omega attacks channel faster and use less magic; Special now gives a speed boost, but has reduced damage; Omega special can be channeled while moving.” It could have just said “We decided to make this weapon not suck.” This was the least-usable weapon in the game by a comfortable margin, and the new changes make it play the way it seems like was intended from the beginning.

The Eos aspect also got a major change to how it functions, differentiating its playstyle from the other two. Instead of the tedious mechanic tied to leaving out your attacks and then dashing to call them back, it now releases a massive charged floater, that does massive AOE damage pulses, as the omega attack and ditches the sprint mechanic entirely.

Not bad

Aspect of Circe: This was more tinkering than really changing. The Serenity state is now easier to achieve, and buffs damage for your omega moves. The Circe staff was already fine up to fairly high fear, now it’s just a little bit better.

Aspect of Artemis: The parry/backstab mechanic of the omega attack was changed to be used up before any other damage avoidance options you might have. Additionally it can be used slightly more often due to changes in how/when it recharges. This was already a good aspect, this is a minor improvement.

Aspect of Melinoe (Moonstone Axe): Melinoe’s aspect of the axe previously had increasing attack speed and recovery as you leveled it up. This buff has been transferred to the Thanatos aspect, and Mel’s version now gets maximum life and attack damage buffs instead. Decidedly lateral move here.

Y U DO DIS

Aspect of Persephone - This aspect is still a confusing mess to use, and the aspect’s buff is essentially useless if you’re running any kind of fear on the board. Needs a complete re-work to be competitive with the other skull aspects.

More to come

Numerous changes to the Daedalus Hammer upgrade were already included to go with these re-worked weapons. Visuals and boss fights were tweaked. Spawns were fixed. It’s great to see Supergiant Games so committed to making a fantastic final product here.

Word is, the next major patch will focus on the boons and god balancing. We’d like to see a major re-work of the Fear options first, the boons feel good.

In Hades, the modular difficulty settings presented by the Pact of Punishment (heat settings) really made the game pop, with scaleable customizable change driving the infinite replayability. There was a solid balance between options that made the enemies harder and options that made Zagreus weaker. Most options also had some scaling to them.

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In Hades 2, the Fear options to this point seem slanted heavily toward gimping Melinoe, and a major portion of them don’t scale meaningfully. This, to our experience, is the biggest weakness in the current product.

Supergiant has earned every benefit of the doubt, though, and we are confident they’ll come through with flying colors again. We’ll be there to break it down for you when they do.

Tell us in the comments your experiences in Hades 2 so far. How many clears? Highest fear? Best weapon? Best speedrun? Let us know!

Supergiant Games burst into the bigtime with the 2020 release Hades. Previously known for more slow-paced overhead action RPGs, and with a reputation for fantastic games that nobody bought, Supergiant leaned on its previous genre experience to flip the sales script by ramping up the speed of the action and introducing a slew of roguelike elements to their overhead ARPG formula. An extended beta testing period led to a release that shocked the industry with its lush visuals, interesting score, engrossing story beats, and intense gameplay. Hades went on to win or place close second in nearly every industry Game of the Year award.

This game deftly weaves the story into the gameplay, and it’s difficult to separate the two, but also difficult to describe them simultaneously, so buckle in and we’ll do our best.

The game puts you in control of Zagreus, son of the titular god of the underworld, as he attempts to escape from the (also titular) realm of the dead. Zagreus seems at first your standard issue angsty teenage rebel, just tired of dad and trying to move out. Since he was born in Hades, though, it is said that he cannot escape.

Determined to prove dad (and everyone else!) wrong, Zag sets out to battle his way up through Tartarus, Asphodel, Elysium, The Temple of the Styx, and to the world above. At first, he is armed with Stygius, blade of the underworld, but progress quickly unlocks other options.

The other weapons are Coronacht, the heart-seeking bow; Aegis, the shield of chaos; Varatha, the eternal spear; the twin fists of Malphon; and finally Exagryph, the adamant rail.

To unlock them, you must navigate Zagreus from room to room, slaying each enemy that appears within. Each chamber offers a reward on completion. Some rewards are to aid you on the current escape attempt, but there are a different set of rewards that are used to permanently upgrade yourself between runs. One of the upgrades is of course unlocking the other weapons.

Dying on your way to the overworld simply drops you right back into the House of Hades, there to spend your rewards and then try again.

Dying and starting over is, of course, the essential gameplay loop. The roguelite structure isn’t for everyone. Rarely has it ever been executed with this level of approachability though. It starts, as always, with great play mechanics.

Beginning with Athena, you meet a variety of Olympian gods and godesses on your way to the surface, and they grant you boons to help with your quest. Athena grants you the ability to deflect incoming attacks back at the enemy for example, while Zeus grants you lightning powers. There are eight gods that grant you these types of boons, plus Hermes, who grants increased speed (of movement, of attacks, etc), and Chaos.

Chaos is a bit of a special case. To get a chaos boon, you must first deal with a curse for a fixed number of chambers. These penalties include things like reduced maximum life, or slain enemies throwing bombs on death. The rewards are potent though, and worth it. 

The gods can empower your standard attack, your special attack, your bloodstones - the game’s name for your spell attack - and your dash. Additionally you can get a powerful summon from these gods, and an array of passive and support boons. Many of these boons can also be leveled up by finding Power Poms, the legendary fruits of the underworld.

Naturally there are varying levels of synergy between the gods’ boons, with some combinations even opening up powerful “duo boons” that enhance the abilities you’ve already earned.

Your weapons can also be empowered by finding Daedalus Hammers, which grant a host of effects depending on the weapon. For example, the “dashing wallop” hammer for the shield makes your dash strikes more potent and hit a larger area, the “flurry shot” upgrade on the bow turns it into a rapid fire shot instead of a charge up, and more.

Once all the weapons have been unlocked, you can then upgrade them permanently between runs as well. In addition to powering up the base form of the weapon, each one has three other forms to be unlocked and upgraded as well, for a total of 24 different weapons.

Each weapon aspect, as they are termed in game, plays very differently from the others. Each weapon (except the adamant rail) has one that is focused on casting builds as well, for a huge amount of variety in how to play.

When you finally manage to escape, naturally you still just die and start over again, re-emerging from the pool of the styx at the entrance to the House of Hades. Then the game adds another layer of customizability in the Pact of Punishment.

The Pact is the game’s difficulty system, or “heat.” It’s a completely modular setup, allowing you to tailor exactly how the game will get harder, ranging from 0 to 64 points of heat at maximum. Different playstyles and builds will have an easier time with different types of heat, and learning how to choose is a big part of climbing that ladder. There are ingame rewards for completing 8, 16, and 32 heat.

Truly the gameplay of the game is magnificent, and the replay value is practically infinite. The storyline, though, will absolutely hook new players and keep them going too.

Told almost entirely through ingame dialogue, Zagreus’ tale is one of family fights, reconciliation, and healing. The prince of the underworld makes friends with a huge cast of characters along the way, each with their own unique personalities and stellar voice acting.

Character art is another strength of the game. Each god and friend of Zagreus is brought to colorful life. When you speak to a character, their portrait pops up to dominate the screen, with several different emotional reactive states for all of them. 

Cerberus even appears as your loving and loyal favorite pet.

Supergiant, prior to Hades, established a reputation for having stellar music in their games, and Hades is no exception. While escaping, the music is minimalist, but in the House of Hades Orpheus will play fantastic music as you dash around giving gifts to your friends. Of course, you have to unlock him first.

In one of the more hilarious side stories, Zagreus exaggerates tales of his heroism to Orpheus, and naturally his friend Orpheus sings of these exploits to all and sundry. Heavily implied in this banter is that Zag’s tall tales came down to us in some of the myths we still know today.

Relationships like that are a key part of how the entire game works as well. You exchange gifts with friends, and their gifts help you escape the underworld. Your relationships are upgradeable, just like the weapons, and this has interesting consequences ingame as well.

Everything is like that in Hades. We could go on for twice as many words as we have already detailing all the nuances and systems, but really, dear reader, your time would be better spent playing it.

Simple on the surface, with layers and depth that slowly reveal themselves, truly this masterpiece deserves a place in every gamer’s collection.