Hades Game Review

Hades is a rogue-like dungeon crawler developed and released by Supergiant Games in September 2020. You play as Zagreus, son of Hades, who desperately wants to escape the Underworld. Along the way, he’s helped (and sometimes hindered) by his relatives from Olympus (like Zeus, Athena, Ares, etc.) and other mythological characters. 

I got Hades in anticipation of part two and didn’t expect much — just a bit of insight into what Hades 2 might be like. But along the way, I fell in love with this game. 

Yes, the constant dying annoyed me to no end (especially in the beginning), but the story and the characters, as well as the humor really sold this game for me. It was super enjoyable, beautifully designed with some of the best voice acting I’ve seen recently. 

Check out my full thoughts below. 

Storyline

Hades somehow manages to seamlessly blend the storyline with the action in a way that makes the game so much better. So, as mentioned, you play as Zagreus who wants to escape the Underworld and his father, Hades. Of course, Hades isn’t willing to let him go and Tartarus is a dangerous place with ever-shifting dungeons. 

Fortunately, Zag has relatives on Olympus who are more than willing to help, as well as allies in the Underworld who will help guide him. But again, nothing is quite so simple since everyone has their own agenda, there are family secrets to uncover and tons of relationships to build. 

I won’t spoil anything, but I’d recommend sticking around for interactions with the characters and the story itself because it’s definitely worth it.

Characters

The characters in Hades are truly a memorable cast. Each Olympic god makes an appearance and their personalities were done super-well. I ended up hoping to run into boons from certain gods just to see how their story plays out. 

They’re also beautifully designed, with excellent voice acting too. 

Along with Olympic gods like Zeus, Poseidon, Athena and others, you’ll also meet the Underworld gods and allies like Hades, Nyx, Chaos, Charon, and more. You’ll be mentored by Achilles and meet his lover Patroclus, fight Megara, get help from Sisyphus. 

Here are just some of the characters and their intros: 

Gameplay

One of the first things you’ll do in Hades is — well, probably die, if you’re anything like me. But, you’ll also have a bunch of other things to do, and that makes all the dying worthwhile. Plus, every time you die, you’ll get better damage resistance. I’m embarrassed to say that mine was at around 68% the last time I checked. 

Fighting (Escaping Underworld)

In order to escape the underworld, you’ll need to fight your way through the ever-shifting dungeons. In them, you’ll encounter various creatures that will try to kill you, helpful allies like Sisyphus, or even Hades himself trying to take you out before you escape. 

After going through several dungeons with regular enemies, and possibly a mini-boss, you’ll run into your main boss. The first one is Maegara, but they get harder and harder (obviously). 

Boons

Every time you die and retry to escape again, you’ll get a boon (skill) from a god at the beginning. You’ll keep getting these boons in various dungeons depending on which path you pick, but which god will come to you is pretty random. All of the skills that they give you will help you get through the dungeons, but you have to keep your build in mind. 

Sometimes, two gods will offer their boons at the same time. Whichever one you pick, the other god will feel slighted and attack you immediately. In the end, they will get annoyed and give you their boon anyway (if you survive). 

To upgrade your skills, you can take some pomegranate, and pick a skill to upgrade. 

However, once you die, you’ll lose all of these boons and have to build up again. 

Healing

Healing opportunities are few and far between at the beginning, but you’ll end up finding more healing opportunities. Sisyphus and Charon are the primary sources of this — you can either get (Sisyphys) or buy (Charon) healing from them. You can also buy healing at the little purple altars when you run into them in the dungeons. 

Once you rebuild the fountains, you’ll run into them frequently as well and there you can heal a bit more.

Sometimes you can also get a boon that will increase the chances that once you kill an enemy, they release some healing power to you. 

In Zag’s bedroom mirror, you can get extra healing in between dungeons (but it’s very little). Plus, you can get the skill that allows you to defy death and heal instead of dying — either in your mirror or through carrying the tooth that Skelly gives you (or both). 

In-game Currency

Within the game, you get four types of currency: 

• Coin — This is mostly used to buy boons or healing within the dungeons. Once you die, you lose everything you gathered. You get more coin by killing enemies. 
• Crystals — You also get crystals by fighting in the dungeons, but you get to keep everything you gather even when you die. You can use this to trade, buy boons or healing, and redecorate the house. 
• Darkness — This is another currency you get in the dungeons and that you don’t lose once you die. However, while you can spend it in pretty similar ways to other currencies, this one you can also use to upgrade you innate skills in the mirror. 
• Chtonic Keys — The keys are used for unlocking weapons, but also trading (if you have no more weapons to unlock). 

Weapons

There are a bunch of weapons you can choose from before you try to escape again. The choice of weapon is really up to you and what you enjoy the most, and the game doesn’t require you to pick anything specific. 

I personally loved the gun-like weapon (I forget what it’s called) and the spear. My escape attempts worked the best with them. But you also have: a sword, a crossbow, fighting gloves (sort of mechanic), and a shield. 

Building Relationships

Another fun aspect of Hades is building relationships with other characters. You do this by giving them nectar or ambrosia. In return, they will give you various gifts that can help you through the dungeons. This won’t happen every time (the gift giving on their part), but it might and it does help improve Zag’s relationship with them. You can see how strong your relationship with each character is in your Codex. 

There are some characters you shouldn’t give nectar to — like Hades — but you might still get a gift out of the exchange. 

Decorating the Castle

When you inevitably die and go back to House of Hades, you’ll still have plenty to do. Since Cerebrus destroyed the lounge when Zag left originally, you’ll be able to clean that up, add new furniture or decor, etc. The prices of all of these items are quite high, especially if you spend some of that in-game money (crystals?) on boons and heals in the dungeons. 

Personally, I didn’t pay too much attention to this aspect of the game since I didn’t want to spend a lot on it, but it is a fun addition. As a bonus, you can pay to add different things to your room or the dungeons (like the fountain) that can help your escape. 

By clicking on the contractors, you’ll also be able to find various missions that you can unlock. For example, freeing Orpheus. So, while decorating may not be your thing, you’ll still find useful things with the contractor. 

Misc

In addition to all of this, you can do a bunch of random little things. For example, you can pet Cerebrus or interact with the shades and listen in on them. You’ll have opportunities to go to sleep and then explore the house at night to uncover some secrets (and the narrator is really funny) or observe who gets to be employee of the month. 

Within the dungeons, you will run into these entrances to interact with Chaos whose boons will be useful for gathering resources, but will come with a catch, so be careful. 

Graphic and Audio 

By far one of my favorite things about Hades is its art. Everything in this game is so beautifully done. From the characters (see pictures above) to Zag’s house, various bosses and minions, all design aspects of Hades are very appealing. 

The audio is much the same — I loved the music and sounds that came with it, but a real standout for me is the voice acting. It matched each of the characters well and all of the voices were very pleasing to listen to. 

Together, these two aspects make Hades quite an experience. It’s immersive, fun, and great to look at.

Does Hades Work on Steam Deck? 

Not only does it work wonderfull— I think it’s a perfect Steam Deck game. It was so satisfying to play, smash buttons and navigate the space on Steam Deck. I’d say it’s even more satisfying to play it this way than it would be on desktop. 

The controls are easy to get, and the game itself even tells you which buttons to press, which makes everything even easier. The graphics are stunning, as well as the sound, so you’ll be getting the full Hades experience. 

Final Thoughts

Hades is a fun, action-packed game that also has a wonderful story to tell. It has a great sense of humor that will keep you hooked to the story and the characters, which is so rare in a game. And while it’s definitely challenging, I’d say it’s also perfect for casual players (like me), because the constant dying means you get stronger, and there’s plenty to do in the House of Hades to not get bored of it. I’m excited for the next part!

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