What makes Hades II unique is its combat system, which is faster, deeper, and more tactical than before. You can fight with both weapons and spells and switch between close and ranged attacks, which gives you more flexibility in how you approach battles. You can slash through enemies with a staff, unleash magical spells, or combine attacks to create combos. You can upgrade every weapon over time, and blessings from god, as well as spells, can help you manage your energy, speed, and cooldowns.
Each time you descend into the underworld in Hades II, you face new challenges, enemies, and events. You collect materials to upgrade abilities, forge new weapons, or craft items that influence your future runs, and you can learn something new about the enemies and rewards each time you play. You can unlock new mechanics and permanent upgrades that carry over between sessions, so even if you fail one, you’re still progressing.
The mythological setting in Hades II means the game takes familiar figures from Greek mythology and reinterprets them creatively but still accurately. The gods can have new roles, and you will also meet new deities. Over time, they will remember your choices, react to your victories or defeats, and evolve with the story. You get to develop relationships with characters like Hecate, Moros, and Nemesis, and talking to them can reveal important context and deepen the narrative.
Even though Hades II is still a roguelike game, it gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to exploration. There are rituals and crafting methods you can learn to approach the game in different ways. You can experiment with alchemy, gather materials, or discover hidden paths that alter how you progress through the game. The worlds are procedurally generated, and rooms, enemies, and rewards shift with each attempt.
Hades II, just like the previous title, has a detailed and expressive style, lightning, and soundtrack, which makes the game a pleasure to play. Everything reacts to your actions or the flow of the battle, so the world feels alive. The game masterfully balances challenges and rewards, and you can download Hades II on computers with Windows and macOS, as well as play it on Nintendo Switch 1 and 2.
