Hades: The Capricious Will of the Gods

46FC1BABD518359ED96279A38D598F7193694DA4 (2560×1440) Hades:

Hades is a rouge-like RPG with hack and slash combat. Starting with a blade, Zagreus' expanded arsenal includes a bow, shield, spear, gun, and fists. In each room he contends with enemies, sometimes waves of them, with six main actions. The player clicks the left mouse button for the basic attack (I used the keyboard and mouse instead of a controller). Q activates the weapon's special attack; a barrage of weaker arrows for the bow or a grenade for the railgun. With the right mouse button Zagreus casts a spell. The base spell looks like a red bolt of blood. To avoid attacks, or maneuver, Zagreus dashes with the space button. With a dash, Zag crosses dangerous traps and leaps over pits. God Boons also unlock an ultimate spell, a devastating Call which differs depending on the bestower. Each of these six actions can be augmented by a single god boon. Gods also offer numerous boons with ancillary effects.

Damage interrupts the actions of enemies and Zagreus. Armored enemies and bosses are not interrupted. Though combat is satisfying, it feels too frantic. At its most hectic, too much is going on, with enemies swarming from all sides. Survival requires dashing desperately, while swinging wildly in all directions. Hades mitigates this issue with a variety of playstyles, composed of different Boons, weapons, keepsakes, and Daedalus augmentations. Success is possible as a caster, brawler, melee fighter, ranged hero, or your own unique creation. Though I was better at some styles of combat than others, I rotated through them frequently. 17782151D556839336B72C6585487BEE7DD49278 (2560×1440)

Building a good collection of abilities is the path to success. There's luck involved. Hades decides which gods the player sees, and which Boons they offer. A dearth of good Boons cripples an attempt. Hammers are important as well. Even if the gods bless Zag, the player also has to consider two options: a strong build or new, untried abilities? This choice is the result of fate, or more specifically, the Fates. These primordial beings, who Zag never sees, declare Prophecies. Completing prophecies unlocks permanent rewards. Prophecies insist Zag will (for example) try every Zeus Boon, or every Daedalus upgrade to the Spear. Should I pick bonuses to win, or unlock prophecies? I favored the latter. Though Hades exerts a complementary effort to let the player see any relevant information, in a few situations it doesn't allow the player to see which picks complete prophecies.

Sometimes, with the combination of Boons, Keepsakes, Hammers, and other additions, the interaction effects are unclear. How much damage is my attack inflicting, or how exactly does this Boon interact with that Keepsake? But it's always exciting to enter the Temple of Styx with a combination of powers that appear chaotic, like a massive swirl of power. If lighting is flashing around the arena, while blood red blades zoom back and forth, and purple smoke spreads, you know you have a good build. A strong build can make even the final boss (a mundanely predictable choice - and no, there is no, final, final boss), easy. The trick with all the bosses, is that after their health is reduced by a third, they wield a brief period of invulnerability. Do not use a Call spell when the boss is about to activate their invulnerability. And remember to use Companions against the bosses (I never did). In addition to the necessary bosses, there is a secret boss, who defeated me twice. But then Hermes challenged me to beat the boss twice in a row, and I complied.

After defeating the final boss once, Hades offers new options. Beating the final boss once took twenty-seven attempts, and seventeen hours. Zagreus locates Persephone, but there are complications... Forces beyond Zag's control send him back to Hades' lobby, to begin the climb again. The story has only just begun, with more questions than answers. But while one might expect the game to labor on after the first victory, it flies. Just when Hades becomes as stale as a seven day old piece of bread, the developers introduce new aspects, like swapping out bosses; Alecto for Meg (poor Meg...). With repeated victories he uncovers, piece by piece, the mystery of his family. It continues to introduce new elements, like the Pact of Punishment. Winning brings strength, but at the expense of new conditions and trials. Even 36 hours in, Hades still surprises, which is a thought I still had at 55 hours.

A7EE0400D341AEC832DBA28A9478770097D75F42 (2560×1440) After beating the final boss once, Hades introduces the Pact of Punishment. The first time Zag bests the original four bosses, they reward him with Titan's Blood, a Diamond, Ambrosia, and Titan's Blood respectively. These valuable resources can only be obtained by defeating the bosses, or trading at outrageous rates in Hades' lobby. Titan's Blood unlocks and upgrades Zagreus's weapons, Diamonds pay for improvements of the realm, and Ambrosia ingratiates Z with friend and enemies alike. But after the player earns their first Diamond with the Blade, they can't earn another unless they use a different weapon, or invoke the Pact of Punishment. This agreement increases the difficulty of an escape, but allows Zag to set the terms. He can increase the number of enemies per room, set a 9 minute time limit to each floor, or increase the difficulty of each boss (and much more). Each punishment adds to the value of the pact. The maximum pact value is 63. Each step increase allows for the collection of more Diamonds, Titan's Blood, and Ambrosia. The first run, without the Pact, is a zero, but increasing it to one, allows the player to collect these resources again. I began by increasing the Pact by one each time I beat the final boss. But Zagreus' skeleton trainer offers the Prince of the Underworld rewards if he escapes with Pact difficulties of 8, 16, and 32. I finished eight points of difficulty without any trouble, but 16 required luck and skill. I tried 32 a few times, but found it too taxing.

The Pact of Punishment includes 15 different methods of torture, and some, like Jury Summons (+20% more enemies per point) are challenging. Others, like Tight Deadline (finish each area in 9 minutes) are easy, but ruin the fun, while Routine Inspection (-3 Talents per point) is both difficult and not fun. Extreme Measures is enjoyable and challenging (as long as you are prepared for it), because it upgrades the bosses with new and improved powers. While a point or two in any Punishment is ok, their difficulty accelerates for each additional point. The first point in Lasting Consequences reduces all sources of healing by 25%. Even the third point isn't devastating, but the fourth point, which negates 100% of healing seems insurmountable. The Pact of Punishment is completely optional to beat the game, but additional Diamonds, Ambrosia, and Titan's blood eases the way. 1A51B7024CC552EAEE8375408E707E558130F51D (2560×1440) Winning requires relationships, and these begin not with Ambrosia, but with Nectar. The lesser bottles are easier to obtain, often through some minor quest, or just defeating the right room. Zagreus hands out Nectar to whoever he interacts with; at least twenty-five souls, gods, or monsters. The first gift of Nectar rewards the player with a Keepsake. At the start of each escape Zagreus equips the Keepsake of his choice for a bonus. He can switch to a different Keepsake after defeating each boss. Depending on the Keepsake, switching is ill-advised. For example, Hermes' Lambent Plume imbues Zag with a 1% chance to dodge attacks for each room he clears quickly. But if the player replaces the feather (or Thanatos' Pierced Butterfly) they lose any earned bonus. The same is not true of Hypnos' chthonic Coin Purse. The player does not lose 100 Obal if they abandon it, nor any benefits they gained from Persephone's Pom Blossom, which improve one random Boon after every six rooms. Depending on the player's style, the best Keepsakes are the Blossom, Plume, Butterfly (as all described above), but also the Shattered Shackle for the start (or in some strange no ability run which I've considered), and the Broken Spearpoint for the final boss (temporary invulnerability after being hit).