Hades Review
Our Verdict
Hades is a masterpiece — a roguelite that makes every run meaningful, a narrative that earns genuine emotional investment, and combat that never stops being satisfying.
Combat: Deep and Varied
The six weapons provide genuinely distinct playstyles — the Shield's Bull Rush is strategic and timing-based; the Rail is a resource management game; the Fists reward aggression and dash-strike canceling. Boon combinations create emergent power spikes: Artemis crit + Ares bleed stacking creates a DOT build; Poseidon push + Aphrodite weakness creates a crowd control build. Finding a powerful boon synergy mid-run is one of gaming's great "aha!" moments.
Gameplay Loop
Each run through Tartarus, Asphodel, Elysium, and the Temple of Styx takes 20-40 minutes. Death sends you back to the House of Hades with Darkness (passive upgrades), Gems (cosmetics), and Keys (weapon unlocks). Between runs, talk to every NPC for advancing story dialogue, give Nectar for relationships, and spend resources at the contractor for upgrades. Every resource has purpose; every run advances something.
Story and Characters
The cast is extraordinary: Zagreus is charismatic and warm; Nyx is maternal and wise; Megaera's antagonist-to-ally arc is earned across dozens of interactions; Achilles and Patroclus's separated love is the game's most emotionally resonant story. The gods of Olympus are vivid personalities expressed through their boon dialogues. The final narrative payoff — reached after ten successful escapes — is genuinely moving.
Value
At $25 with regular sales under $13, Hades offers 50-100 hours of content. No DLC, no microtransactions, no live service requirements. Supergiant's complete game ethos delivers extraordinary value.
Verdict
Hades is the best roguelite ever made and one of the finest games of the decade. Essential at any price.
Pros & Cons
- Narrative integration into roguelite loop is a genre-defining innovation
- Six weapons with Aspects provide enormous build variety
- Supergiant Games' art, voice acting, and music are all extraordinary
- Every run, even failed ones, advances something meaningful
- Complete game at launch — no DLC, no live service
- The early game (runs 1-10) is significantly harder than what follows as you unlock Mirror upgrades
- Switch version has occasional frame drops in dense enemy rooms
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