Hades is what happens when every aspect of a game is firing on all cylinders. The game design, character design, art direction, sound direction, narrative, and voice acting are all top notch.
The game has solved the rougelite problem of "I don't want to keep playing after I just died" by letting the player further storylines, invest in NPC relationships, decorate their home, and more in that space between runs. In several cases, I almost looked forward to dying because I wanted to see what one of my favorite characters was going to say to me next, or I finally had enough currency to buy something I've been wanting.
The actual runs themselves are so varied that one run you can be dashing all over the place hitting constant chain attacks, to the next standing completely still while your upgrades do the damage for you.
The character design is phenomenal. Every character has unique personality traits, and everyone is essentially likable in some aspect. The voice cast is stellar to the point where I never once skipped dialogue forward.
The animations, environments, and sound cues all work together to make the gameplay feel snappy and easy to parse what's going on.
The soundtrack has some of my favorite songs in a video game from the last decade. Darren Korb knocks everything he touches out of the park.
I know I'm gushing about this game. But even now, 2 years after completing it, the emotions the game made me feel are still fresh. And the addicting gameplay loop still has me wanting to go back and play it.
This game is a masterpiece in game design, sound design, art direction, and basically every other area that makes up a game. The only bad thing I could really say about it, is that it's ruined most other rougelites for me as so many of them pale in comparison.
10/10
The game has solved the rougelite problem of "I don't want to keep playing after I just died" by letting the player further storylines, invest in NPC relationships, decorate their home, and more in that space between runs. In several cases, I almost looked forward to dying because I wanted to see what one of my favorite characters was going to say to me next, or I finally had enough currency to buy something I've been wanting.
The actual runs themselves are so varied that one run you can be dashing all over the place hitting constant chain attacks, to the next standing completely still while your upgrades do the damage for you.
The character design is phenomenal. Every character has unique personality traits, and everyone is essentially likable in some aspect. The voice cast is stellar to the point where I never once skipped dialogue forward.
The animations, environments, and sound cues all work together to make the gameplay feel snappy and easy to parse what's going on.
The soundtrack has some of my favorite songs in a video game from the last decade. Darren Korb knocks everything he touches out of the park.
I know I'm gushing about this game. But even now, 2 years after completing it, the emotions the game made me feel are still fresh. And the addicting gameplay loop still has me wanting to go back and play it.
This game is a masterpiece in game design, sound design, art direction, and basically every other area that makes up a game. The only bad thing I could really say about it, is that it's ruined most other rougelites for me as so many of them pale in comparison.
10/10