It is fitting that one of the greatest video games of 2020 is about a continuous and futile escape from hell itself. Hades, from Supergiant Games, won the hearts of millions when it was officially launched in September 2020, reinventing timeless Greek mythology and using it to build a narrative that rewarded failure as much as success. The action game roguelike stars Zagreus, the son of Hades, as he struggles to make his way through the various layers of hell on a mission to reach the surface and find his missing mother, Persephone. Zagreus is aided in his search for the Olympian gods, who are thrilled to learn of his relative’s existence and help him with various benefits that increase attack strength, add buffs or debuffs, or provide other useful facts.
There are two keys for Hades‘success. The first is that the game rewards failure. Zagreus dies … a lot, and is forced to restart his endless search from scratch whenever he is sent back to the underworld. However, dying gives Zagreus the chance to spend money to permanently increase his strength and abilities, unlock new conversations with key NPCs and try out new weapons with unique abilities. Hades it only moves forward when Zagreus dies, and that mechanic removes one of the most frustrating aspects of most video games – the futility of loss.
The other key to Hades‘continued popularity is the relative lack of villains in the game. There are no really “bad” guys in Hades – the game’s antagonist is stubborn, proud and severe, but the game slowly peels its outside to reveal the very valid reasons for its continued resistance towards the child. Over time, players can eventually date the first boss that players encounter, come to terms with other important antagonists and find meaningful solutions to complicated plots. Empathy and care are part of Hades’ core, and they help players keep coming back for more races, even after the main game is over. The Greek gods themselves were also wonderfully redesigned, with fabulous voice acting and fundamental art that inspired countless pieces of fan art. It is very difficult to hate any character in Hades, with the possible exception of Theseus, whose personality is deliberately unpleasant and unpleasant.
Sure, Hades it is also a very fun hack-and-slash game. The game’s benefits system is built around discovering combos that break the game quickly and destroy dozens of enemies at the same time. Since blessings are given randomly, players are encouraged to mix and match at will, and there are very few skills that don’t sync well with one another. Most Hades players will swear by one weapon or another, but the game can be won by just about any combination of weapon and benefit, as long as the player does the best with what they offer. Players will delight in spamming multiple combos while cleaning rooms, while trying to decide whether to add more benefits or energize existing ones. There is never a wrong answer, although some options work better with some play styles than others. I personally liked how different weapons can be customized to fit different play styles. The Twin Fists of Malphon, a set of gauntlets designed for hand-to-hand combat, has evolved from my least favorite weapon to the weapon with which I have had the most consistent success, as I have learned to combine my strong stroke attack style with different benefits and time attacks for hitting enemies while I passed them.
The game also rewards players for continuing to play, even after they finally escape Hell. Each of the weapons in the game has different variants that can only be unlocked after repeated runs, and the main storyline itself is not resolved until a player has completed the game 10 times. Post-game content is also fun, with players literally taking their poison making the dungeons deliberately more difficult to unlock additional rewards. There are also RPG elements that don’t come into play until much deeper into the game, with players able to romance some characters and learn meaningful information about others while giving gifts and talking to the characters between races.
Hades is an instant classic, a game in which players can spend 50 hours or more playing without feeling that time has passed. The game should be enjoyed in small pieces, with no run taking more than 30 minutes to complete. These short segments were perfect for 2020, when many people struggled to find energy for the marathon sessions. Combine that with the captivating storyline and easy-to-learn yet difficult-to-master gameplay, and Supergiant has found a recipe for instant success. In a difficult year, Hades it was a breath of delicious fresh air.