Supergiant Games is known for its unique sense of style and storytelling, and each of the studio's games tries something completely different. Never has that been more true than with Hades, which sees Supergiant bringing its style to the roguelike genre.
The idea of the roguelike has been around for decades, but the genre has come into more popularity than ever with new "rogue-lite" titles like Rogue Legacy and FTL: Faster Than Light. Hades is closest to a rogue-lite, but it also brings brand new ideas to the genre.
Hades puts a big focus on storytelling, contrary to what most roguelikes do. It shows how a complex narrative can be implemented in the framework of a roguelike, and its a masterclass of the genre.
Hades Creates an Accessible Roguelike
Roguelikes are generally known as being fairly hardcore experiences, and a genre that can be impenetrable to those unfamiliar. Hades avoids this by putting a fascinating cast of characters front and center and making sure players are feeling some level of progress at every step. The heart of the story sees Zagreus, the son of Hades fighting his way out of the underworld, in search of his long-lost mother. Every run has Zagreus going through randomly generated rooms, gaining Chthonic Keys run throughout the game, however, and can be used to upgrade a number of stats and boosts for Zagreus, as well as unlock new weapons.
Hades' design doesn't emphasize the randomness of its roguelike design, but rather on a sense of progression the player feels. Yes, it's a randomly generated game but progress by leveling up Zagreus on top of the inherent progression by learning and mastering the combat system. Hades adds onto this sense of progression by letting players purchase permanent renovations that can change how runs progress. For example, players can add a fountain room that randomly appears and heals players in each underworld area. At the very heart of Hades' progression, however, is its story.
Hades Drip Feeds Story at Every Single Opportunity
As the core systems in Hades progress, the story moves right along with every beat. At every possible instance, Hades delivers story or character development, making its world feel like its constantly evolving. After every run, Zagreus can talk to the inhabitants of Hades' house, learning about their own personal stories. For example, while Achilles is Zagreus' teacher there's a subplot that can play out across the game involving Achilles and his lost lover Patroclus, who's a shade that appears in Elysium. Almost every character in the game has some kind of subplot that plays out alongside the main story, depending on how much players interact with said character. Outside of the underworld characters, Zagreus also interacts with the pantheon of Greek gods. Every time Zagreus claims a boon the god it's from has a comment which can be about Zagreus himself, the god's relationship with Hades, the state of the underworld, and much more.
What makes all of this work so well is the amount of time and care SuperGiant has put into the writing. Even after playing 40-50 hours players never hear the same voice line twice as there's simply an absurd amount of variety. This makes each character feel incredibly unique, and the art design and voice acting heavily lean into their personality. Dionysus, for instance, appears completely laid back and carefree in his portrait, and his voice could be likened to a college "bro" who's all about being the life of the party. Every character has just as much thought put into them as the last, and its the personal stories that make Hades flourish. At its core, Hades is a deeply personal family story, which is what makes it so refreshing. The stakes in Hades aren't the end of the world, it's reconnecting a broken family, albeit a family of all-powerful Greek gods. These deeply personal stories humanize the otherwordly characters of Hades. The way the game drip-feeds dialogue makes Hades a story-focused experience, even while using the trappings of a gameplay-heavy roguelike. SuperGiant has completely redefined what storytelling can look like in a roguelike, and how a genre known for its gameplay can tell a deeply personal story.
Hades is currently available on PC and Nintendo Switch.
