The challenge a sequel always faces is finding a way to improve upon what came before while still staying true to what the series actually is.

For Hades, Supergiant Games found an absolutely winning formula and made the game that defined their studio. Which is hard to believe following the success of the brilliant Bastion and Transistor.

The thing is, what worked so well in Hades, has now been excelled and improved in just about every conceivable way in Hades 2.

Following an extensive early access period which has allowed the game to receive through analysis and playtesting from PC owners, as of this week, the game has finally entered 1.0 and it has been such a pleasure watching this game gradually evolve.

As someone who was playing this time last year, to see Hades 2 become a game that was merely following in its brothers footsteps to this absolutely vast juggernaut that expands the game in ways I could scarcely imagine, is a delight, a relief, and also a danger. Because I’m about to lose hours of my life to this again, and I’ve already played so so much!

Where to begin. Which is also difficult without spoiling too much of how the game just continuously, gradually unlocks. Perhaps that’s the best place because I found with Hades 1, this was something Supergiant Games did well but it often felt a bit surface level. You’d get new lines of dialogue or you’d see characters change position, you might get some new adversaries out on the road or some flashback sequences.

But for the most part, you’re just tasked with doing the same runs over and over and often times it didn’t always feel like you were moving forward very much. But in Hades 2, beating the same bosses with different weapon combinations, or different artefacts, sees you still unlock things that can help you later in the game.

Again, I love Hades to death but I was so done with that effing Bone Hydra after the tenth time of passing. The interesting thing you’ll find with the game’s first boss is by defeating her multiple times, you not only manage to have different dialogue exchanges but you actually gain new incantations which can help you in a variety of different ways.

You can unlock new areas at the Crossroads – the game’s version of the Underworld – and you can find new ways to progress through the game – though I’m being a bit mindful of spoiling too much. But for example, you can grow soil patches which allow you to grow seeds which can be used in concoctions and reveal new hidden chambers when out in the wide world.

There’s even alchemy where you can brew powerful concoctions that can make adjustments to time and the things you earn while on a run. This is a new feature of Hades 2 where you can now gather resources while out on runs, from mining steel to gathering flowers and when brought back, brewed in a cauldron in conjunction with other materials.

Materials are gathered from clearing some rooms but even when purchased from a vendor at the crossroads using an unaffected in-game currency that doesn’t clear after every run. Don’t worry, that’s still very much an important part of the Hades 2 experience.

Other permanent materials can also be used to unlock new weapons, improve upon them and even experiment with different forms. But also to unlock new tools for gathering, so you can eventually fish during runs, bring back fish and sell them for more money.

Hades 2 is this self-sustaining roguelike now where the hub is constantly evolving and being built out in different ways, as you go from run to run, meaning Supergiant Games are able to keep the game fresh 10, 15, even 20 hours deep. Which is something even the original Hades struggled with.

It’s a much bigger game, and that’s before talking about some of the new additions, like Familiars. Eventually you’ll be able to bring along ‘pets’ during runs but each offers some fundamental differences, like improving health capacity or even attacking enemies for you, improving your critical hit rate.

And then there’s perhaps the biggest addition of them all – the ability to go both underground and overground. Yes, there’s actually more than one run to be made in Hades 2, meaning you can alternate between pathways to try and make progress between them! And of course, each environment has its own enemies, resources, and even powers that can be added to just make those experiences feel different. I’ll say no more for spoilers, but this is a massive game-changing element that feels a little bit mind-blowing when first encountered.

There’s even ways to blend God-powers in clever ways and you can even scrub a previous blessing for another if you feel one is better than the other, though that in turn can also affect your relationships with the ancestors.

Because, of course, Hades 2 has familiar faces. Skelly’s back, as is Lord Charron, Aprhodite, Zeus, but there’s also lots of newcomers for you to meet, including the lead character, Melinoë. She’s more of a witch-like character with ranged attacks compared to Zagreus, although you can definitely still pack a punch with a punishing axe or dual sister blades.

Still, this makes you rethink your strategy in different ways as to combat your ranged attacks are enemies that also have effective ranged attacks but even get in up close. And some of the bosses are just fantastic to face off against – I actually adored boss two even if it proved to be quite an upgrade and challenge from the first. Again, no more for spoilers, but it’s easily one of my favourite bosses in series history and one that becomes an instant scene-stealer.

Another interesting change are the size and scale of some of the environments. While, yes, there’s the smaller encased rooms you’re used to, Hades 2 goes bigger in some areas, broadening the scope and scale of what you go up against and see you traverse across more open fields or larger sized dungeons. While it would have been very easy for Supergiant Games to just repaint all they’ve done, at almost every stage they’re showing renewed ambition with Hades 2 and have even presented it in a way that’s made for longevity.

There’s chaos challenge rooms for you to compete against, and lots of story fragments and pieces to unlock. Even fortunes to be written that will require more than a few completionist runs.

And this is all without talking about the soul and heart of the game. While I became deeply engrossed in Zagreus journey of defiance, there’s something so much more compelling and interesting about Melinoë. She has depth and layers, which really unfold in the conversations she has. She can choose to provide different gifts to potential friends in order to unlock new interactions with them, liking sitting around drinking a beer or chilling out in the hot tub.

And even with the sub-cast, you can just feel that something bad is brewing throughout, but you can’t put your finger exactly on what it is. You can feel a story weaving to and fro, and you begin to wonder who to trust and who to avoid as more and more characters get added and others peel back more and more layers.

Visually, the game is as stunning as ever and is just such a perfect fit for Switch 2, whether you just want to play a run or two handheld, or you dock to the TV to watch it sparkle and whizz by at a stunning 120FPS. Hades 2 just feels so crisp and sharp, it’s the perfect blend of chaos for fast-paced action but on Switch 2 is also just set up for casual bed time play.

There’s even some really tender moments, such as when Melinoë can join in and sing along to some heart-felt tunes or join in with a chant around the cauldron. As with Zagreus, she can also eavesdrop on important conversations and find time to pet the animals that dwell around the crossroads.

From the gradual, steady progression, to the weighter, meatier systems, to the depth of content available and the interesting characters and story-telling, I cannot imagine a world where any other game I play this year will best Hades 2 for me. It is, quite simply, everything that I could have wanted from a sequel and more.

Supergiant Games have well and truly made their masterpiece. This is an incredibly magical, very special game indeed and the fact I was able to stop playing long enough to write this, but deep inside I was just desperate to get back to it should tell you all you need to know.

I’m calling it right now – Hades 2 is my Game of the Year and it’s not even close!

Verdict

Hades 2 has done the seemingly impossible – made one of the most compelling, interesting and entertaining rogue-likes of all time even better. Bolstered with bigger, more tactical content, with richer story and more interesting characters, built in a fantasy-filled world that explores Supergiant’s world in deeper ways. It’s filled with heart and soul through its art, its music and voice-acting, and it continually presents players with options to keep them going for one run after another, making it almost impossible to put down. It’s not just my Game of the Year, it’s already in my Top 10 favourite games of all time and it keeps climbing higher the longer I play. This is a magical, breathtaking, energising and fulfilling game in every sense of the word. So much so, all I want to do is spend time with Melinoë and not the many other games I have sat waiting for me.

Hades 2 is out now on PC, Switch 1 and 2

Played on PC and Switch 2

Code kindly provided by Supergiant Games for review purposes