Hades Ascends the Action-Roguelike Throne
By: Josh Bycer
Tags: Indie Game, Features, Gaming, Game Development, Videogames

Hades Ascends the Action-Roguelike Throne

The most modern and approachable roguelike on the market

Supergiant Games has made a name for themselves over the last decade for combining great gameplay with imaginative stories and storytelling. Their breakout hit Bastion brought a level of craftsmanship and artistic care to the action genre. With Hades, the team tries their hand at making an action roguelike and gives us one of the most aesthetically and narratively pleasing examples on the market.

Escape from Hell

The story follows Zagreus (or Zag for short), the demigod son of Hades, as he attempts to escape from both his father and home of the same name. Aiding him on his escape is the full litany of Greek gods and mythological figures. Right off the bat, you can see Supergiant’s penchant for storytelling come through with Hades. You’re playing as a demigod, aka someone who is immortal. The writing of the world leans into the fact that everyone you come across can’t be killed, and they constantly reference previous battles and experiences each time you meet them.

There is a great sense of dry humor throughout Hades as Zag grows in power (more on that in a minute) while still trying to convince bosses that maybe they should just let him pass this time for free. The narrative framework fits the roguelike atmosphere perfectly: as new characters, events, and stories, become available the more you play. This kind of carryover also works in the game’s favor with an extensive list of persistent elements.

The designers of Hades know that roguelikes live or die on their replayability, and the game is set up for continued growth and change both during runs and after them. Combat in Hades is entirely real-time, with a heavy focus on dodging and setting up enemies for increased damage by hitting them in the back or knocking them into the environment. The rooms in the game are handmade but randomly chosen as you play through each biome. You are free to choose which path to go down based on the reward earned for beating that room.

Before you start a run, you’ll choose a weapon that remains with you until the run is over. Even though the weapon itself doesn’t change after starting, the variance in gameplay comes with the appearance of the Greek gods. When you find a god boon, the game will give you a random list of possible perks to choose from. These perks vary greatly — from super moves to changing the properties of your attacks, and more. Further still, there are special duo powers that unlock if you have the right combination from two different gods. There are further rewards that can be found during a run that levels up perks or allow you to change an aspect of your weapon.

The four biomes of the game don’t change as much compared to other action roguelikes, and you’ll be largely fighting the same enemies and bosses on each run. To make up for that, Hades features one of the best uses of progressive difficulty and persistent systems I’ve ever seen.

Climbing the ladder

A lot of Hades’ growth occurs in-between each run instead of during it. There are different resources that can drop during a run that can be used back at the starting area. Gems and diamonds can unlock new items and services that can appear in future runs. By giving nectar to all the named characters, you can unlock trinkets that provide passive buffs that can be further upgraded by using them. Shadow fragments are used to permanently upgrade Zag’s stats and unlock more passive buffs. While keys are used to unlock more options for shadow fragments and an assortment of weapons.

The story of the game also grows as you play through it. New dialogue and story scenes unlock that delve into the personalities of the various characters. As you make progress and begin winning, the game starts to throw new and different events at you. These include new boss variants, new god buffs, and new features that you can unlock. Unlike other action roguelikes that their story ends after you finish a run, Hades is just getting started, and I won’t spoil the twist that happens when you “beat” the game.

To keep the challenge growing, the game introduces the pact of punishment. Before each run, you can “raise the heat” by turning on various modifiers that make the game harder. From increasing enemy strength to turning off invincibility frames after getting hit, and so much more. Individually, these modifiers don’t sound all that difficult, but trust me, going from heat 16 to heat 32 was an ordeal.

At each heat threshold, you’ll unlock special bounty rewards for beating the game’s biomes that can be used to further enhance and unlock new content. The catch is that the bounties are tied to your weapons, which means to get everything, you’re going to have to get good with every weapon in the game. However, the game makes it clear that these challenges are just optional, and you can see everything from a story perspective without them.

The balance between story and gameplay is one of the best aspects of Hades and makes it one of the most accessible and approachable action roguelikes on the market.