I really hope Supergiant takes that guaranteed Hex/Path of Stars idea, it would help make Selene feel even more important while removing all the gripes everyone has had with the current Hex system
My personal hope is that there will be several different Titans with different Hexes, like Helios and Eos, or even more ancient ones like Atlas. With this type of system it could add a lot of interesting variance to each run.
@@calliope-greii While that would be cool, I imagine that they'll keep the focus on Selene since the moon theming is so pervasive throughout the game (especially with it's relevance to Melinoe)
One thing to note though is that Selene has specific dialogue mentioning how she regrets not being able to shine for Melinöe every night as she's busy being the moon and all.
I think it needs major overhaul. With just tweaks I'd rather have a boon or pom or even money instead, against chronos it's a liability more than a skill
@@gasparsigmawhy? Most hexes are op af. Only ones to bounce off chronos are the morph and slow time (which trivilises eris). All the rest offer good dmg and dmg immunity.
A thing i would really like is to have a way to rewatch "cutscenes", dialogs, events etc... there´s so many iconic lines or moments that i would like to see and hear again, something like "The Mirror of memories" or something lmao I think that could be cool.
@@Marcus-oj9xw I was so happy when i saw it the first time. i use it a lot, especially when I do like 8 runs in a row and my brain doesn't brain anymore lol
Making a sequel to such a critically acclaimed game as Hades was always going to be the tallest order, so the fact that it's THAT GOOD despite sky-high expectations is really a testament to Supergiant's talent. While I mostly agree with your criticisms, I'm also really, really happy with what we got so far and can't wait to see what's in store for future updates.
@haelian : can you imagine if the trials of chaos becomes a community feature ? Like ... Choose a biome, boons, aspect, arcana, vows and even more crazy options (mini boss each encounter, no shop, chaos portal each room, etc.) and share it with everyone to "compete" in it ?
I’d say my biggest problem with hades 2 right now is that the fear system requires milestones rather than just increments. Now im at a point where reaching the next fear milestone for each weapon would be a real struggle and I’m not feeling the same motivation to play, whereas hades 1 offered new prizes for each boss each time you beat them on a new heat with each weapon. This really got me to experiment and take breaks with one weapon to grind up heat with another. This grinding then got me the Titan blood I needed to upgrade other aspects so I could try them out on different heats.
I recently beat 40 fear and am currently trying for 45. I really think the most obvious gripe I have is the arcana one being essentially unplayable and basically assures than no one will beat 55 fear right now. And maybe that was intentional I guess
yea i’m on the 20 or 24 fear milestones for 3 of the weapons and it’s just not fun to play anymore. i would rather unlock the rest of the nightmares some other way 😊
Yeah, Fear I genuinely despised doing, albeit it was when some weapons weren't that great. I had to do Torches for 32 Fear, and decided to just use a Cast build that didn't matter what weapon you used. Titan Blood I fully agree, it was more fun to have increments where you can slowly build up the difficulty. The Fear system instead jumps from (can't remember fully as it's been a while) from 1, then 2, then 4, and so on. Once it gets to 16 is where it was just annoying but can still deal with, then 24 which is a huge jump. Then 32? I was debating to just quit playing and wait for buffs for the weapons, or cheese my way through. It really didn't help that the enemies felt unfair, and so many weapon aspects were just "meh".
@shinkinshin001119 before the first major patch I got 32 fear with every weapon. OG momus - easy mode with the poseidon special double moonshot Pan daggers - also pretty easy with poseidon The other 3 were than axe, mel Torches, and medea skull. Those took me a collective 40-50 runs to beat 32 fear with each. I agree the jump isn't ideal. I'd prefer it like the old system AND for that to award us nightmare
There was something special in the first game about building up your greater call, hearing Zagreus call their name, and they pop in and say a cool line. I can still remember my first time beating Hades, I had Dionysus and heard his "You got it, man" line, and while I don't think it was unique to that fight it really felt like he was cheering me on. It's a feeling I don't think Hexes can ever replicate, no matter how much they refine the system. Amazing game, though.
Totally agree on the UI / UX, the weapon upgrade menu is really cumbersome. And I didn't think about the readability on the oaths but now that you mention it, yeah, it can definitely stand for some redesign.
One small thing that I would really appreaciate if it was added is a way to test boons and hammers against skelly while at the crossroads. It could be couldron unlockable, and only let you test boons or hammers you have already gotten in a run.
I like this idea alot. It allows you to plan ahead with different builds before going on an attempt. Instead of having to hope it works the way you want it to, you now know what the build feels like.
I wish they kept the old bounty system in hades 2 where each individual point you put into the pact or in this case vows would get you new nightmare bounties since as it stands you need to grind out a LOT of nightmare from bone merchant guy in the crossroads
On the other hand I disliked that you needed to run every single point of Heat in Hades 1. It felt a bit boring because doing one run with tier 1 Hard Labor and then another with tier 2 Hard Labor and then another with tier 3 and so on really isn't that interesting. The milestone system encourages more substantial changes between progression runs.
The Omega and Cast addition make the game way more diverse in builds imo, in Hades 1 I felt like I ran out of builds pretty fast and pretty much only stick to one or two weapons and builds but so far in I'm enjoying way more varieties in Hades 2, not to mention Arcana / Hex and other goodies
Yeah, my only real issue with the main mechanics changes is the inconvenience of properly upgraded hexes compared to Calls in Hades 1. The Hexes themselves are fine for the most part, but when you already need to put more work in to fill out your build thanks to the other new mechanics, it feels particularly inconvenient that you'll likely need multiple Major Reward rooms to fully upgrade it even if you choose the full moon option - and even then that assumes RNG favored you again and give you an efficient Path of Stars. Not many people are going to prioritize upgrading a Hex over getting the rest of the build going - there's a reason we groan when we get a Selene start instead of a boon - and there's basically no scenario where going for Selene and one Path of Stars is better for the long term build than two God Boon, especially on the way up where Path of Stars is harder to come by. They're already a secondary priority, involving that much RNG and necessary chamber rewards to maximize it's effectiveness only furthers the divide. It feels tedious at best, or not worth any sort of active effort if you roll poorly on either the Hex options or the Path of Stars. Which sucks because they're legitimately more fun than a lot of the Calls ever were, they're just too much effort with basically no player control since there's no re-rolls.
I agree. Haven’t finished the video so I’m not sure that it’s mentioned, but I think that’s it too hard to make those builds work right now at high fear. At 32 fear, like 1/3 of the fear works against omega builds, particularly tight deadline. I’ve lost so many runs bc while the enemies slow down during omegas with the mirror, the timer does not, making it feel actively bad to focus on omegas w/ 5:00
My idea for an Eris rework: Only have her show up to give her Blessing the first time you enter a biome. This will be the only time you get the Blessing, but it will also be harder (maybe start at 30%). Then she throws trash on the floor. This immediately introduces her as an annoyance and barrier to progress but because it only happens once, won't be as infuriating. However, we still have to keep in mind her original purpose which is to prevent players from finishing the game too early in favor of the story. Whether you agree with this mechanic or not is not the topic of this comment; it's what the devs intend for her to be so we're working with it. Instead of giving her annoying Blessing, any subsequent Eris appearance should instead be a Boon, similar to Chaos but with both the good and bad benefits. Example: Have 20% slower dash, but regen additional 5 magick per second. If making it permanent is too much, make it last for a single biome. This way, she can still pose a challenge to players who are progressing too fast, but make it a little bit more fair/less punishing. And then she throws trash on the floor. And then, once the first 11 Nights are done, instead of completely disappearing, there will be a random chance for Eris to show up during biome transitions. But this time, her Boon isn't required, giving players the choice to take on an Eris challenge. To incentivize players, Eris says she'll give you a prize in the next biome transition if you make it there and maybe gives you gold or a boon or a hammer, or maybe she just shoots you for half of your remaining health. And then she throws trash on the floor. This keeps Eris relevant to the player even after her initial purpose is served and allows players that go slow in their first 11 Nights to still meet her because she still plays a big role in the game. In your first surface attempt, she should show up again in Ephyra to give her Blessing like in the other biomes, BUT, when you first enter the docks to transition to Thessaly, she doesn't. She shows up to greet you and put a scare in you, but no Blessing will be given. This is to give players a false sense of hope before seeing her at the beach. And then she throws trash on the floor. Eris should be annoying, but also likeable as a character because seeing her at Thessaly should feel like a betrayal. Many players feel righteous joy and fury when they first see her because of how much they hate her and are excited to finally get their revenge. I feel by not making her as annoying and giving her more interactions with the player, will we be able to feel the same disappointment that Mel feels when we see her on the beach.
I mean yea have like Eris give you a boon you have to choose that gives you a debuf, but you still have the choice between 3 options would give the player a feeling of being in control over it even if it is still forced on you. It would also be a great addition for the pact, where after she normally doesn't show up, you can "invite" her back in for a higher fear level or sumthing.
I think a better rebalance for King's/Queen's Ransom would be to give both current and *future* Boons from Zeus/Hera all those bonus Pom levels. That way, the sacrifice feels more worth it.
It feels fitting that there's just no way to make Hera and Zeus work together, but yeah I've basically never wanted to take those duos after crossing them off the fated list.
@@sockpuppetqueen For me its more a for fun boon - I regularly go for Zeus builds, not cause he's strong but because I find them fun and theoretically really strong, and getting even one cash out feels pretty good. Once Zeus' usefulness and Legendary boon rates get adjusted, because I really think they will, have a rethink on it
7:52 I would actually love this implementation: Make it so that hexes are guaranteed at points where youre much more likely to get any actual use out of them.
Got a wait on the writing bit. Hades 1 had really good writing. Nothing mind-blowingly different in 2. Aesthetic look different. Not better. Mechanically is different. Not better. Gotta wait on story. Here's to Hades 2 being even more amazing launch
I might be in the minority, but Hades 1 is still better in my eyes. To be fair, Hades 2 is still early access and may become better than Hades 1. To me though, the overall balance and presentation of Hades 1 is remarkable to me. Still really like Hades 2 though, great game.
@@jackalvonstone250 It's personal opinion of course but I find Hades 2 much better. Not in terms of story which is equal but in terms of mechanics. To be honest I didn't like how dash spam was overpowered in first game. Sometimes it gave me headache. Hades 2 with area spells feels more strategic to me. Second, Hades 1 had way too small number of areas, and was too short, Hades 2 feels like it will double it with surface to Olimp runs. So Hades 2 for me is Hades 1 with flaws fixed.
I think the ability to create your own custom chaos challenge would be a really cool end game reward. I know that would probably take a lot of work but it would add a lot to the end game
There was a, now ex-dev, at Supergiants who joinedntge studio when they were making Transistor. He was showcased as the 3D UI animation expert. Who made the Transistor UI screen when you setup the abilities. That dev had left to work at ID on Doom. Maybe Supergiants haven't got another UI expert dev yet.
I think Supergiant has said it’ll always be a single player game and personally I think that’s a good thing for allowing players to enjoy the sheer atmospheric talent that they’ve been showcasing for a decade, but it’s interesting to think about Supergiant multiplayer like how Pyre did it
Some of the best changes are those that you can’t just set and forget. The mirror and keepsakes in Hades 1 didn’t feel like much needed to be tweaked or changed from run to run and the new keepsakes and Arcana really answer those problems.
This is kind of inconsequential in the scheme of the game, but I vastly preferred the art for boons in Hades I. The new little squares are too akin to app symbols on a phone and it kind of takes me out of the experience even though it's just a little detail; it feels too modern.
That's what it is! The UI felt just a little weird at first but I couldn't quite place why. They remind me of the Android marshmallow icons and just feel less "clean" overall.
To me it seems it is a deliberate choice to simplify the art and create faster the icons, given that suposedly the god pool is going to increase on this game seems like a natural development.
Not sure which I prefer honestly. Hades 1's icons look really good, but Hades 2's being smaller makes the overall thing more readable and leave more space for more information given how complex Hades 2's systems are.
Been loving all your Hades II content! Honestly, one thing about the Chaos Trials is that I found them lacking the ability to be replayed. Wow, some of the most fun I've had playing through them, and I will obviously make a new save so I can play them, but with so many of them hinging on an aspect or keepsake being leveled to keep up with the challenge, i really wish I could revisit them. I thought they were going to be my go-to "mindless playthrough" instead of going into a random run when I know I only have a few minutes, or can't really be arsed to plan an incredibly synergistic run, Not to mention the amount of scenarios that just can't happen in normal gameplay, these were so fun I wish i could replay them as much as I wanted.
To me, I was more into the story and narrative than mechanics in Hades I, I'm generally not a big gamer but the style and dialogues got me into Hades. I still remember the first time completing a run and how it felt ethereal to actually exit the underworld and meet Persephone. Bringing her back felt like an honest win, with "In the Blood" playing in the background. It gave me a heartfelt feeling for the game. We see that they put a lot of work into balancing the new and the already-established mechanisms and stepping them up to the next level. That is why I really hope that the final game will tie everything together in a meaningful way and use the empathy we built up for the old Hades family and for Melinoe, use the arcs created with new characters, and use all of the Gods introduced. If that's done right, this will not just be a DLC and a new skin to Hades I, but a concrete sequel and a game deserving to be judged independently.
Seeing Eris and getting the buffs the first times felt really forced. It made me feel like i was getting punished for learning from my mistakes and forcefully stopping me from progressing which really sucked. It sucked even more when i finally got a good combination of boons, hexes, and health only to get slapped with a debuff and then sent back to the crossroads a few stages later. I agree that the eris debuff should be optional. LIke an option for a pact of punishment or something. It really just stops a player from experiencing the game which is probably the last thing you want on a fresh run.
Heyy good to see you again! After beating Chronos more than a handful of times now I think I'm mostly safe from spoilers. I agree with a lot of your feedback, though I think they switched around the boons enough to make them interesting, defo needs a lot of balancing
So, according to the orphic myths, the one's thay supergiant used to make Hades I and II, "Hades" has 3 children, Zagreus, Melinoë and Marika, based on the success of the first one and the reception that the II is having, I think its quite possible that Hades is going to be a trilogy, and oh boy, if the II game is going to have double the content than the first one, just imagine what a Hades III would be. And yes, I know, the second game hasn't even been released yet xD Note: I am writing this after what Haelian said about co-op, maybe that can be something for Hades III that would make it different from the other 2.
i'm definitely having a harder time with Hades II than the first. I was stuck on the Sirens fight for a while, something like 10 tries, and I'm still yet to get the Chronos kill (game says I'm on Night 30). I've gotten him down to like 10% health left in phase 2 once. I've finally fully upgraded the Death Defiance card, though, so I'm hoping I'll get through it soon. It feels like you can take just an absolute ton of damage REALLY quickly in this one.
I really like the familiar system and I can’t wait to see what new ones are added! I think it would be cool to make a weapon that interacts with them in some way! I could see like a flute or a whip weapon that replaces your attacks/specials for your familiar to directly attack/special. Could be lots of cool interactions and a totally different play style! Beastmaster style haha
I've thought that to impliment the custom runs mechanic, they can either introduce Morpheus god of dreams or further utilize Chaos. I think Morpheus could be unlocked with an incantation in the mid to late game or Chaos could offer that option in the pitch black stone after you complete the trials. It could be cool to have two option for these custom runs: seeding the gods encountered, desired hammers, etc and having a training room where its just an arena where you can kit yourself out with any possible loadout.
I think that making infusions a bonus instead of an actual pick would be nice. Feels bad to pick one up and then not be able to activate it due to bad RNG.
For me, Hades 2 was way easier. As soon as Eris stopped showing up with her "blessing", I hit that "cruising speed". Hades 1 took me much longer. I think part of it is visual clarity. I don't know if it's me, the game, or both. I just find it much easier to see what's happening, even in hectic encounters.
I think maybe something that would make the Eris thing fair is if she gave you a buff as WELL as a debuff and if it was something you could choose if you wanted to take it or not.
Thank you for calling out the UI. The weapon upgrade menus in particular are weirdly disconnected. Hades 1 made sense. Select the weapon, upgrade the weapon. Moving it to a separate list is just odd. The oath of the unseen is also a step backwards.
Hades was to me a perfect game and, as eager as I was to try out Hades II, I decided to wait for it to come out of early access. This summary was very interesting and I appreciate the containment of spoilers. Thank you!
Hmm interesting! I wonder if I will want to play Hades 2 when it fully releases. I think I'm still burnt out from playing almost 100% in Hades 1 but I bet I'll be up for Hades 2 in 2-3 years.
I dislike the grinding in this game. I think the heat system of bounties was better than the fear system of rewards. I also dislike how Tartarus here is set up vs Styx in the past. In Hades 1, it was 5 tunnels with a chance of 2 sack up to 5. But you get a reward at end of every tunnel and can choose all 5 if you want. In Hades 2, Tartarus doesn't give you any rewards if you want the fast path. You need to willingly detour for rewards off the fast path. And you have a minimum of 5 paths on quick route. So basically 5 paths but 0 rewards as opposed to rewards at the end of every tunnel beforehand. Also there is NO fountain at the end of Tartarus unlike in Styx once you found the sack.
Oh also, I dislike the lack of Charon wells on the boat biome. I dislike how we cannot get all pylon rooms rewards in surface (why can't we choose extra pylons for rewards even after getting the 6 that are necessary?)
I'll think your Points are valid and at the Same time really not. The Heat system from Hades 1 was by far Just OK. IT looked good but serveral of the Penalties were Shit. I'll mean literally some were almost unplayable. IT was so hard on high Heat or highest Heat only a few Players could Beat the Game after making a Plan, playing thousands of hours, doing it serveral times. Like u could not be a good Gamer and Just do 32 to Heat after a short time. So the Fear system could BE way better, Just the Looks need to improve. You are absolutely right when it comes to grinding Stuff to get everything or Level everything should be way faster. Not Take way over 100 hours. Tartarus should be Something else IT shouldnt be the Same, u know ITs another Game. Should IT be little changed yes but IT got good and Bad Things Like in Hades 1. Surface Level is not even Done soooo... To get every door in the First biome would make u way to OP. How IT IS , is good cuz IT throws u a selection of Things and U can make Something Out of IT. Than comes a greedy bitch human and says give me all. That destroys fast the fun. There needs to be a Balance Healian Said the the surface kinda feels easy. And you are saying, make It way more easy
I'm of the side that Hades 2 felt *too* different for a while, but that's exactly because I wasn't used to the cast/sprint. I took a couple weeks off playing, came back and did a couple of runs trying specifically to use both mechanics and the game feels buttery smooth and less awkward to me now. I think you were spot on about duo boons too, although I haven't played as much as you.
I had a decent speed run at the time of Hades, but I only did that because I LOVED how the story unfolded. I'm waiting for full release to not spoil myself on that aspect.
i feel like eris showing up at the start of the playthrough is okay if it's someone's absolute first time playing the game, and it could be set up by the game asking you "is this your first time playing hades 2" when you go to create a new save. some players would like of course but it would prevent situations where e.g. someone who's already played wants to do a fresh file chronos clear has to die 10 times just to get rid of eris and her debuff
When Eris said "Return to shadow now" after she killed me gave me the biggest laugh and also made me pissed at her at the same time. After hearing Melinoe say it over a dozen times before you get to her and then to hear Eris say it was amazing.
I just learned a lot from you (This is why YOU'RE the Hades guy) but I also LOVE what you had to say about duo boons, music, and the UI stuff. I will say infusions I absolutely love them. What do you think the last two biomes on the surface are gonna be like?
I 100% agree on your hex view. As you started talking about hexes i thought it would be better to just have it as a guaranteed utility move not something that takes place of other boons in the run. Then you said the same thing.
hades two so far really feels like you have to kinda skill your way through the first three levels and build your ENTIRE BUILD around the fight against chronos. it the damage cap kinda useless against most enemies? yes. Will i pick it up so chronos doesnt DECIMATE my hp in the first two second of the fight? yes
Glad you brought up the Fear screen and Arcana screen readability thing. Honestly shocking to me that its so badly designed when the Hades 1 versions were so much more readable and everything else was improved whereas this definitely took a step back. I think it's a design and times thing though as every newer version of shit I use these days seem to take more actions/clicks to do stuff or get info. Maybe a GenZ/Alpha change due to how touch screens are affecting people's way of interacting? Idk but i hate the trend lol.
you've put a lot of things I felt into words and I appreciate it as I hope this draws more attention to them. A lot of the UI including the one you mentioned and some others feel like they accidentally took a step back from what felt so fluid in the first one. hexes and duos are underwhelming and could use to have some more unique utilities built into them
When it comes to the element system, I think we just need ways of choosing to exchange them, whether it's buy element ticks through well of charon, have a way to convert one element into another with a boon, or something to just give more agency to the player. Atm, I feel like if I see a boon that gives a bonus at a certain number of elements, it's either take it if you meet it or skip it if you don't. If I take it only needing 2 more fire or air to complete, oftentimes the boons I do get will have everything but those elements, and the boon is wasted.
The comment section of this video and the video itself will be a gold mine for the devs, put these comments in an excel sheet and now you have a list of things to consider
The tone of the good side vs the not so good side really says it all The good: style is great, story is good, combat is fun and unique, even more content than we expected, etc etc The bad: hexes are kind of underpowered. ui needs work. They really knocked it out of the park
Speaking about the hexes, my idead would be that depending on the familiar you use you get an affinity towards 3 curses and you can pick 1 of the 3 and it could garantee it would show up on the path of stars.
I think both duo boons and infusion boons should be far more common, I'm about ~50 runs in having beat the final boss three times, and I've only got two or three duo boons and maybe ten infusion boons. Duos are one of the most fun parts of the game so I'd love to get them more (and yes I'm taking core boons of different gods when I can)
I looove all the new environments, they're so cool and with the city I feel like I've actually seen some of those places as illustrations in my high school Latin text books, it's the perfect balance between real and cartoony and feels so lived in ✨ Definitely agree on the meh feelings for the hexes and duo boons though
i hopped back on hades 1 recently to race a friend who doesn't have hades 2, and found myself REALLY missing the cast and sprint mechanics, i felt super sluggish and weirdly un-mobile, despite having multiple dashes + 1 from hermes. i personally would also love to be able to use the hades 1 weapons in hades 2, and also be able to get boons from ares, athena and dionysus (maybe with some changes, especially dio, who hestia kind of replaces in some ways), just to see how the old weapons would interact with the new boons, and how to old gods would interact with the new weapons. it's not likely, but would be fun imo
Love ur content! Unfortunately im one of the (many) heathens who just doesn't click (at all) with Hades 2! At this point im just keeping my fingers crossed & vainly hoping the game will change over the next year or 2.
I would love for them to maybe find a way to put a *teleport to your cast* ability into the game as a way to flesh out her movement. It feels like a classic Warlock/Witch move in videogames and would give you a bunch of reasons to think about where you leave the cast/stuff you can do when you gain the ability to throw it. You could even make another set of boons off it
I very much agree with Duo boons not feeling good, my main gripe with the game currently is there is very little synergy. I mean yeah i could check out the hundreds of videos on crazy builds but i dont wanna do that , i figured some out by myself in Hades 1 and Slay the spire and Astral Ascent, seeing an upgrade in a roguelite after 10hrs of play your brain should be going : "oh this would go great with this" , that only happened once or twice during my 20hrs of Hades 2.
I actually quite liked Eris's bs in the early runs (plus they did improve the encounters in the first patch so she gives you a ton of meta-progression resources for encountering her). I don't think a choice is a way to do it, since that's kinda against Strife's whole schtick. But it did feel SUPER satisfying to finally kill her as a result, even more than Chronos! I agree that the "blessing" feels like artificial difficulty. Maybe instead you should get a choice of WHICH bane you take from her (like Chaos, but without the benefits, or like an early version of Fear)
Concerning Eris in the first 11ish runs, This will make a fresh file Chronos kill so much more interesting and impressive. As was said in the video, most people will never see Eris because a new or casual players will rarely start out that good. Maybe they have plans to allow players to turn it off after 1.0 releases and you actually beat the game.
I personally cannot help but feel, that we really, REALLY need some way to give us more ability to control some aspects of our build. I remember running something along the lines of aspect of Charon on axe and being absolutely unable to get any boon for my Special whatsoever, despite having like 15 or more boons total. There was just none. Espectially now, when we got so many boons for other aspects such as infusion and mana regen I feel like the choice of 3 really, REALLY limits and makes you make choices that just really honestly suck. Perhaps combining Special and Attack boons into one boon that then lets you choose could be nice, or just increasing choice to 4. Also, I can't help but feel that Skull still needs some polish, specifically the aspect of Persephone. It feels kinda wack with being stack it by only using Omega Cast and only some very specific casts. They did great work on torches tho, so here's hoping. Other then that, it kinda feels like some of the aspects of the story feel very weak, even tho it's very early to talk about it at all, but even if we compare Echo\Narcissus storyline to Euredice\Orphes or Chilles\Pat, it just feels very week without almost any sort of progression or bonding or character growth. But hey, we shall see, it's still Early access and a lot of things are still not in their place, so here's hoping my worries
You are without a doubt the number 1 streamer/youtuber of Hades content so I hope Supergiant is watching and will take your feedback into consideration. It is probably more relevant and constructive than anyone's else.
To me it feels like playing Hades with a different class/character than a "Hades 2". I prefer playing Zagreus but Melinoë is also fun. I just wish I could experience either side of the story with either character.
I was blown away by how much content there was in this EA. I liked most of the additions they added. I do also agree that hexes seem a bit half baked. They are just kind of there and I don't find them extremely meaningful in builds whereas in Hades 1 it felt like most things were contributing to the overall build. I also found Hades 2 way harder for some reason. It took me quite longer than in Hades 1 to complete my first run. But slowly learning the fights and each biome in subsequent run is what makes a roguelite fun imo. I'm super excited for what they do for the surface biomes and that 6th nocturnal arm!
I agree with a lot of this, especially duo boons feeling weaker, in fact in general I would say boons don't FEEL quite as powerful, even where they are mechanically. Still if they released it with absolutely no changes today I would still tell people it was a great game, which I think is a good sign. I also agree it doesn't quite feel that you have enough upgrades, maybe they need to tweak how often you get minor boons or stuff like that.
I too, am a veteran of Hades 1, played it ever since eatly access when they had only 1 biome! Hades 2: I like the game systems, but I dislike the weapons, frankly. I also agree that Chronos is generally harder than Hades as a boss. Looking forward to the surface area getting another biome.
Aspect: The skull in general Character: I like lots of characters, but Melinoe most of all just from the design. Keepsake: I like Circe's Crystal Figurine keepsake the ebst even though it's just a meme keepsake in terms of it's actual effect. Music: The Titan of Time. I'd like to see more surface biomes, for one thing, because I don't remember any of the ones that aren't in the early access build. (i know they're coming but I still look froward to them.)
The one thing that I don't like about Hades 2 are the weapon upgrades. In the first game, I felt like each weapon upgrade significantly changed how the weapon played. That doesn't feel like it's the case in this game. A lot of the upgrades feel like they just upgrade one or two of the moves for the weapon, and even then they don't really change how the weapon plays. There's nothing that's so revolutionary that it feels like its own weapon type like there was in the first game. Just as an FYI, I unlocked everything in this game and beaten essentially everything that exists in the early access thus far but I just don't feel that same push to continue playing all the different weapon types.
Minor rewards after you've maxed out your meta progression. In Hades 1 you would get extra gold, max health or + ranks to boons from minor rewards. Right now in Hades 2 seeing ashes, nectar or psyche in the next room feels so unsatisfying.
(I haven't played in a month, so if any of this has already been addressed I'm sorry) I had a big issue with Chronos, not because he is hard, but because of the way in which he is hard, which is mostly his second phase. Needing to intuit, that you're about to get one shot within seconds of the second phase felt really cheap. I also felt like it was almost impossible to beat him with a build, that realies on the auto targeting of the game. I had multiple runs reach the very last phase where he summons the hourglasses and my DPS just tanked, because the targeting always prioritized the adds. I had a rum with the the Zeus cast, which I got to place directly on top of him only for it to still ignore him completely. Lastly I think he's such a big spike in difficulty compared to the rest of the game. I think I reached him 4 or 5 times in a row with 2 death defiances only to get wiped, before finally being able to beat him.
I think the issue with infusions is honestly a lack of them and too low a requirement for them to work. If infusions want to be special, you have to have an insentive to pick more fire boons than they ever would in a regular run. Like, it would be nice if all gods had infusion boons of every type, and some of them was like "If you have 10 fire, this powerful effect happens", cause you NEVER get 10 anything unless you really aim for it. Also I really dislike stuff like zeus, aphro, Posidon and demeter. I don't like those where the amount of elements doesn't matter after the activation threshold. At least there Hestias is significantly better made - imagine if it was just a flat "at 5 fire, gain 10 power", like bruh.
My only complain are the aspects of the weapons! They all feel very similar other than increasing some damage or whatever. In Hades 1 all the aspects felt fairly different (especially the shields imo) Hopefully this changes, I absolutely trust Supergiant!
I want to talk a bit about the hexes. I am not the most experienced Hades player. I put probably around 20 hours into the first game 1/2 years ago, but in Hades 2 I already have 60+ When I started playing Hades 2 I was average at the game, maybe even below average, and the hexes, while I didn't get to use them much because I wasn't using enough omega attacks, still felt powerful. Now that I am better at the game, the only hexes I like are wolf howl and the healing one so I am intrigued to see how Supergiant will change them in the future. I think for new people that aren't good at making builds, hexes are going to be useful, so it'll be hard to make them good for experienced players while not making them op for newer ones.
I think when you force Eris to appear in a fresh file, the play ccould be rewared by the gods commenting that Chrono's forces on the surface seem distracted and this gives them an opening that lets eahc god allow you to rarify a boon or something. Either way they should defintely let the player know how impressive they are with consequences not just in terms of resources but in little narrative nodds.
for me personally i think hades 1 had better weapons and better story , but that doesnt mean i dont like hades 2 , i like the addition of HEXES and OMEGA, i like the CAST , the ARCANA system is nice , i wish DUO BOONS were more powerful overall , other than that this game is really fun
I was ok with Eris showing up in Tartarus to nuke one of my first runs because I probably wasn’t winning that one anyway and I had a Poseidon resource boon so she dropped me 450 bones (300 normally?)
My biggest problem with Hades is the too much randomness to the boons. I want to play a certain playstyle and play with certain upgrades I find fun or experiment with something different, Hades will force you to choose between options you might not like. If Hades 2 doesn't give more agency to the most fun part of the game I don't see much point in beating the game more than once.
this games updated polish gives me the same feeling that my favorite souls games do and it's like a 'right at home' vibe. i will be playing *a lot* of hades 2
Definitely agree on the hexes and duo boons. I've played for like 74 hours and when I think of fun or memorable duo's I just draw a blank. They just don't feel impactful during a run.
14:40 when he started to talk about coop i was kinda shocked as in "are we getting a coop or are we HAVING a coop rn" idn? BUT if we are going to have coop i just want to imagine my friend playing as Melinoë and me playing as Zag but with the Hades 1 boon system for Zag. I know that this is not going to happen but i just wish it did. I still want to beat up Nemesis and get my sword back though. 😂
I don't agree with your take on Eris. For me, I see her as a character that you are supposed to hate when introduced, and the debuff she gives is really annoying when I encounter her. The devs probably plan for her to have some character development, which you see a bit in the early access. In terms of gameplay, the first time I encountered her I immediately thought about the speedrunners that speedrun a fresh game from the start, which will make their run more interesting than just looking for the right set of boons
@@Haelian I mean, we DO experience that character arc by encountering Eris on the surface. Also, the devs might actually be assuming that a lot of people do get relatively far on early runs due to being a sequel and thus more skills carrying over from Hades 1
I'm having a lot of fun with Hades 2 so far but I hate the Banshee enemy and Shadow mini-boss and think they need to rework those enemies. So many times I've run away from the Banshee and then got stuck somewhere and taken damage. The shadow mini-boss is so trivial and frustrating at the same time. Get in the shadow, attack, get out and repeat until he's dead while dodging an attack you can't see coming half the time.
I agree with all your points of things that are not so good. Especielly for the UI and how to get an easy overview of the systems. I am still confused about how the cards are working (i.e., why can't I use these two cards together), but haven't spend that much more time to actually look into it. But they are not intuitive. That was not the case in Hades 1. Also, the weapon upgrade system is just so confusing compared to Hades 1. I think the addition of icons was a vast improvement (And expected), but it needs further work. Same with the fear system. The Pact of Punishment was so easy to navigate even the first time you were introduced to it. The small increment for each weapon yielding you additional rewards towards upgrades and meta items/systems was insanely well presented. The fear system is so confusing compared to that. I hope they adjust it. They don't have to make it the same as the pact system, but it needs tweaking to be easily understandeble and readable.
Hades 1 Unseen One here... :p Loved Hades 2, you get the same exhilarating feeling when you beat a boss with 10hp left! The story is good, you get something for everyone. The new biomes especially fields of morning, are great, trial of flame, was a total blast! But, but it is very early access, some menus, weapons, are really bad, balance is way off, some gods are useless aswell as some hexes, there is still a lot of work to be done... In short if you loved Hades 1, you will have a descent amount of good time, if you are not to familiar with the universe maybe wait until the story content is completed...
Yeah I really hope supergiant either reverts the fear and aspect UI to Hades 1 or changes it. I'm not really a fan of how unintuitive it feels especially the upgrade and unlocking of new aspects, if it ain't broke don't fix it I say.
My thoughts (beat 32 fear all weapons but torches and skulls, 200 nights): great game. Balance needs a lot of work. All magic needs to work like Born Gain (works while Omegaing) rather than nerfing Hera (makes omegas too niche/suck bc of deadline and starting with 0 magic). I don’t have 30 seconds to wait in each encounter for Hearth Gain, for example. All of the duos are bad because they are too niche and expensive at high gear except for maybe Zeus (with aphro or pos). Omega builds are too weak at high fear because of the way magic regen works and because of tight deadline. The axe, torches, and skulls need a bit of work. Torches are great damage (Momus wrecks) but all aspects are glass nukes rn and the skulls feel inconsistent sometimes. The axe just needs to work on Chiron I think.
I think that happened around my 70~80 run, and some runs before I beated her for like, 5 or 6 times? and I started to get so many consistent runs killing chronos, them she just appeared, talked to me, and booom she gave the debuff
it problably has nothing to do with consistency, and maybe not even beating her and then going down to chronos again and again, but this just randomly happened to me, also we I died I got an dialogue with her about she trying to stop me to defeat chronos as this way, just some low % trigger?
