It’s Time: Hades II

Some video games are a fun way to kill time; Hades II has me bloodily, frantically MURDERING Time.

Let’s wind back the clock. In 2018, Supergiant games released the original Hades in early access. You played as Zagreus, son of Hades, as he tries to escape Hell with the help of the gods of Olympus. It ruled. Hades is pure fun: fast-paced, easy to pick up, and deeply strategic under the surface. There’s a huge cast of mythological characters, each brimming with personality, and most wildly, distractingly beautiful.

It looked a bit like this:

But just last month, the sequel dropped, also in early access. This go-around, you’re playing as Melinöe, daughter of Hades, as she leads a crusade against the titan Chronos, the anthropomorphic personification of Time. It looks a bit like this:

I’ve had it for less than two weeks, but I’m hooked. At least a couple of times a day, I check the clock and think, “how far could I get if I started right now?”

If you’ve played the first and haven’t yet started the second, I can tell you without spoilers that the developers essentially took everything that made the first game great, gave you more of it, and then cast a witch-y vibe over the whole thing. Combat is very similar to the first, but with plenty of new twists. Bonding with the cast of characters remains a delight. And this time you get animal familiars you can take with you, and it’s fantastic.

This isn’t even a review, really. Just a chance to talk about a game I wanted to play immediately so badly that I bought a Steam Deck to play it on. No regrets. Death to Chronos.