Is it still Godlike in 2024? | Hades Review 

Couldn't agree more!

Yeah I played 2 and there was a lot of grinding. They thankfully mitigate it by letting you carry more tools later but early on getting what you want was pretty annoying. I do like 2's changes to the combat loop though (having mana as a resource for "ultra" moves tied to every attack style is neat, and the game seems to emphasis ranged combat more so than the first game). The grind in Hades wasn't that bad until the end. Also having to run the loop a dozen more times before Perseph decided I get the epilogue was a bit aggrivating.

@@ThreeMinuteGaming it's magic, not mana lol. idk why players call it mana just cuz other games do xD I agree that Hades 2 emphasizes ranged combat but this isn't always a good thing at all. the cyclops at the surface feels near impossible with melee weapons as a result. it's horrendous. to me, that's a silly objective tho. the point of a rogue is that the run is varied each time but not necessarily that the biomes will be different each time. Hades 1 did exactly that: the runs had varied randomness to feel unique every time. Hades 2 is the same b/c it's not like the biomes will change at all: if you pick underworld path, you're always getting the same 4 zones in a row. surface path will always have the same 2 zones (until they add more). it's not like you can have a 6 biome run that combines all total. it's simply that you have 2 potential paths to try out.

Unfortunately, Hades 2 made a lot of things worse that I dislike (the heavy focus on grinding items, the inability to get basic things from the first game until you grind enough materials now, having over 40+ grinding items to locate while the first game only has about 10, etc )

Also what are you talking about in terms of Hades 2 fixing those cons? Hades 2 has just as many power imbalances as the first game did in early access. Some boons are leagues better than others. And despite the different weapons, the play style still focuses on attack, special, cast, and dash. The only difference now is the focus on magic and omega effects.

@@l.n.3372 what I mean with fixing cons: - zone repetition: instead of 4 zones, now you have 6 (for now, past eris there's else but not implemented yet, probably 8 zones I guess) - wonky balance There are no universally godlike boons right now, like Athena dash that was ALWAYS good and powerful. Right now some boons are better for a certain weapon and/or play style (for example, axe likes Apollo attack range buff, some prefer to get hammers for basic attack, others prefer the omega attack, etc) The only "general" boons that are always good are the throwing cast but I won't say it's op unless you get it mixed with others,there are no single base boons that instantly makes you op (in case you think there are, I'd be curious to read which ones you may think that are) - combat evolution This also depends on which weapon you are using, every weapon has a different play style that adapt to the player, and viceversa. In hades 1 toy basically used your cast if you had it ready and/or had a boon for it, dash attack, attack/special based on weapon, repeat. In hades 2 you use your cast if you have a reason to use it (since it's not always dealing dmg), sometimes you alternate between attack and special, you have the omega attack to mix it together etc. I may agree on the grind, but they are trying to fix that (you already don't need to have a specific tool to get that resource, you are just more likely to find that. One run I've had the one where you pacify souls and got more fishing zones) Which are basic things that you have to unlock? The arcana are basically the mirror and you had to unlock it a lot before getting that, the arcana limit is the only major difference from that but it still it's an interesting choice, we'll see how it will go. It's still an alpha, it's not the final product, bit I think it still addresses those 3 points

I will say I do really like Hades 2's approach to the passive upgrades/skills vs 1. While in 1 the mirror was a bunch of binary choices (and some were blatantly better than others), 2's tarot grid has give and take that seems to lend itself to more buildcrafting. That is until the community finds the most broken combo lol.

@@riccardomosena4162 the game's story has a focus on the underworld and Olympus. that isn't fixing any former con - it simply means that this is a bigger game thus a bigger story/zones. that's like saying a bigger story/game fixes the issues of a shorter game. Hades 1 was a complete, full game, but it was smaller in scale than Hades 2. this isn't a flaw at all of Hades 1. it doesn't seem like you know much about Hades 2 meta right now, b/c it's universally accepted that Poseidon's boons are pretty much the best in game atm with the splash knockback pushing back enemies. just about every major speed run build or high damage build (like Momus staff, Pan dagger) that is recommended will put Poseidon on the special. everything you're saying about the attack/special/cast is exactly the same as Hades 1. in both games, if your build doesn't need X, then you ignore X and focus on Y. Pan dagger needs specials and cast, so attack doesn't matter. the Momus staff strategy uses double moon shoot hammer with special, and that's all that matters, etc. in Hades 1, if you wanted Hera bow, for example, you get Aphro cast. you get Poseidon cast for Beowulf shield. in Hades 2, the same situation exists where you get Poseidon special for Momus staff and Pan dagger. I am aware they patched it so that all tools are available per run but the one you choose is HEAVILY favored. if you pick the shovel, for example, you may dig 10 times each run and you're WAY less likely to find any fish. so it all amounts to a similar grinding experience b/c you STILL need to collect everything. pre patch, there used to be rooms where there was a mine, dig, ghost, and fish/ nowadays, I NEVER see a room with 2 farming materials anymore.