Hades Review

Roguelikes had always treated story as an obstacle to repetition. Supergiant inverted it: Zagreus dies, walks back through the House, and the dialogue has moved on. Every attempt advances a relationship, unlocks a barb from Hades, or lets Achilles say something new about Patroclus, so the loop stops feeling like punishment and starts feeling like a serial. The combat underneath is genuinely excellent, six weapons with distinct aspects, boon stacking that produces absurd builds by the fourth chamber, and a dash that doubles as offence once you commit to it.

Difficulty is tuned by Mirror upgrades and the Pact of Punishment rather than by grinding, which keeps failure informative. Jen Zee's character art and Darren Korb's score carry the identity, and Logan Cunningham voices half the pantheon without it ever feeling thin. The isometric arenas are functional rather than beautiful and the enemy variety thins out in Elysium. Small team, enormous execution.