During the recent Nintendo Direct, Supergiant Games finally announced that Hades 2 v1.0 will launch on September 25th, 2025. This trailer also confirms that Hades 2 will launch on the Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.
What Is Hades?
Hades 2 and its predecessor, Hades, are all games that take unique spins on Greek Mythology and other mythologies loosely connected to them. In Hades 1, the player took control of Zagreus, son of Hades, the god of the underworld. The primary goal of Hades 1 was for Zagreus to escape the underworld against his father’s wishes for a mysterious reason that would slowly be unveiled to the player as you progress in the story. In Hades 2, you play as Melinoë, the daughter of Hades, venturing downwards into the place Zagreus had escaped from in Hades 1 to vanquish the Titan of Time, Chronos.
The Gameplay of Hades 2
Both games follow a unique and visually polished isometric rogue-like beat-’em-up gameplay flow, progressing from room to room after clearing out waves of enemies, ending each area with a boss. The thing that drew so many people into Hades was its overarching story, which progressed alongside you as you delved deeper and deeper into the game. When you die in either game, instead of actually dying, Zagreus floats home through the River Styx, and Melinoë performs a last-second incantation to avoid certain death.
This unique manner of handling the rogue-like genre allows for bosses to have taunting or annoyed dialogue that responds organically to your prior efforts. Each time you returned to the House of Hades, you’d be able to speak with the residents of the underworld for unique reactions that acknowledged what you did in the previous run.
What Makes Hades 2 Stand Out From Its Predecessor?
Both Hades 1 and Hades 2 evolved drastically over their early access period, and both reflect a similar gameplay flow, with massive exceptions that are dependent on the circumstances of the story and the relationships of the characters. In Hades 1, Zagreus utilized the power of Nyx, his surrogate mother and benefactor, to draw out more of his latent potential to gain permanent upgrades to his power. Zagreus utilized the Infernal Arms, weapons used to fend off the Titans when the Gods rebelled against their progenitors. These weapons included more traditional weapons like a Sword, a Spear, a Shield, a Bow, Fists, and a Gatling Gun.
In Hades 2, Melinoë took up the mantle of avenging her family against the horrible Titan Chronos with the teachings of Hecate, the Witch of the Crossroads. As opposed to her brother’s more straightforward manner of combat and growth, Melinoë uses Tarot Cards to charm herself with unique buffs at the start of each foray out into the wild, along with performing incantations at a cauldron to bring forth blessings from nature to change the world around her. Melinoë, as opposed to her brother, utilizes the Nocturnal Arms, bizarre weapons that are inspired by the shifting phases of the moon: A staff, a dagger, a sickle, torches, a great-axe, a skull, and a coat.
Brother Vs Sister
With both games being so similar, yet somewhat different, what are some key differences between Zagreus & Melinoë? Zagreus used the powers contained within his blood and his authority as the Son of Hades to make changes to the underworld around him, slowly expanding his reach. Nyx had reached out to Zagreus’ relatives to provide him with Boons of power, imbuing him with basic abilities that the most well-known of the Olympians could provide to him to enhance his basic moveset.
Melinoë is capable of using magic along with the moveset her brother was capable of, channeling an additional resource into her moveset that she can activate when holding an ability after using it. The boons Melinoë utilizes are from the Gods during a period of war, encountering a different variety of gods when compared to her brother, Hestia, Hephaestus, and Apollo, to name a few.
To wrap things up, if you were a massive fan of the original Hades, its sequel proves to be bigger, better, and everything you could want out of a second entry.
Keep an eye on our latest news for more updates and death to Chronos.
