Alex's 2024 Indie Game of the Year: Hades II

Now, often I have written before that things like DLCs, expansions, remakes, and even Early Access titles shouldn't really be in lists or articles like this. But, then Geoff Keighley went and changed the rules on us, so I will too. There have been a lot of great indie games I've had the pleasure of playing this year. The Rise of the Golden Idol, Flock, Animal Well, Balatro, and more have charmed in a year that could have otherwise been rather dry for releases. However, one god-like roguelike stood above them all.

That game is of course, Hades II, a title that does remain in Early Access, but launched with more content than the previous game, with even more on the way. In the age that we live in now for gaming, Early Access releases can at times be frustrating. More of a shadow of a full release, but that isn't the case with Hades II. The game was largely feature complete at launch, and we're mostly just finishing off the story with each major content update.

But, enough about the game being Early Access. Hades II is a bold step for Supergiant Games, in that instead of being something wildly different than what it has done before, it's actually very similar to the original Hades. Sure, the god powers are different, you have new weapons and a mana pool, but the gist is exactly the same. You travel through the Underworld or overworld as the case may be, fighting enemies until you get to a boss, with the eventual goal of defeating the final boss without being sent back to base camp.

The great thing about Hades II is in exactly that. It didn't try to reinvent the wheel, and every additional feature feels hand-crafted to add or take away. Hades and its sequel feel like different experiences without feeling like I can't play one now that I've had a good time with the other, which is an extremely hard thing to pull off.

I like that Hades II feels like more of a challenge as well. There are less immediately overpowered builds, and while you can stomp your enemies with ease once you're used to the gameplay, it instead requires a bit more than just building damage and spamming dash. Crutches you relied on in Hades like Divine Dash just aren't here, which leads to the player needing more individual skill or turning on god mode. It took me around the same amount of time to beat Cronos as it did Hades in the first game, but then you've got the overworld, which tests your mettle even more.

Once more, Darren Korb and co. have done a phenomenal job with the soundtrack. Kicking your way to the Siren's den just to hear a great track sang by them as they try to rip you to pieces is such a memorable moment I can't wait for the 1.0 release so everyone can experience it for themselves. If you're on the fence about buying Hades II, considering the Early Access tag, I understand it, but as someone who was just hankering for more Hades, I can't recommend it enough.

It's more than just doing run after run, though, as Hades II continues where its predecessor left off in its story. The characters from the first game pop up here and there, but I found my favourite interactions were with new faces, like Odysseus, Nemesis, and Eris. The dialogue is just as snappy, the stakes are much higher this time around, and while this does take away slightly from the more wholesome family drama of the first game, like every story about the Greek gods, family is still very much at the heart of Hades II, and with each new update I can't wait to see where the story goes next.