Hades-Supergiant Roguelike (PS, Xbox, PC, Switch)

[ChrisBardon]

There's a couple of posts in the catch-all indie thread about this game, but it deserves its own thread:

 

 

I'm playing this on PC, and it might actually be better than Dead Cells?  Some things that the game does really well:

• There's way more story than a typical roguelike, and it's interesting.  You're trying to escape the underworld, and along the way you're interacting with most of the Olympian gods, as well as furies, spirits, and other heroes of legend.  All of them have unique dialogue, and many many instances of unique dialog.  I'm at 20 runs so far, and haven't seen a single repeated line.  Progress in the runs equals progress in the story, and the discovery aspect of this is just wonderful. 
• There's a good variety of weapons, but not so much that it's unweildy.  Dead Cells had so many different random weapons that you were really at the mercy of the dice, and unlocking some of them could actually make the game less interesting if you didn't like them.  Hades has what looks to be 5 base weapons, all of which are viable.  It's really telling when every time you use a new weapon, you think "no, THIS is the best weapon in the game".  I thought the shield would be boring for example, but then after a couple of upgrades I made it to (presumably) the last boss of a run on my first try with it (and then died). 
• There are some really brilliant touches, like a system that incentivizes you to take different perks along the way to try new things out.  Normally I'd stick with what I liked from last time, but there's a fated option on the list, so I'll try that instead.  There's also a system where you can convert different item types/currencies in-game (to unlock different types of upgrades), and even the progress tracker in the journal will deep link to where you need it most of the time when you hit LB.  Really well thought out. 
• The repeated boss fights on earlier levels get changed up as you keep playing, so it's not always the same experience on each run. 

 

I've gotten very close to beating a run once, but since then haven't made it much past the midpoint of level 3.  Still trying to decide which of the Death Defy abilities are better: one brings you back at 50% health once (although you can upgrade to more), and one brings you back at 30% once per room.  Trying that last one now, but it's tricky going...

 

No ports to xbox/playstation yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see those early next year.  This is the team who ported Bastion to Chrome after all...  PC version is definitely good though (steam/epic).

[Kyle-K]

Switch version plays very well too.

I have played the hell out of this game.  I haven't played in a week now, but I must have played over 100 runs by now, with probably 20 clears.

 

The game is great, the story keeps going as you keep playing, even after you clear it.  I love this game!

[dogbert]

I'm still getting my head around the mechanics + feel. It's really neat so far. They've clearly looked/played to death the other big action "roguelites" & smoothed out a bunch of rough edges around it for players. The setting's one I'd not thought of and it totally works. 

[Mark E]

I haven’t touched this in a bit, but it is indeed fabulous. It has pitch perfect pacing - I can get a run done and be back at it again really fast and if I don’t have time I can squeeze a single one in really quickly.

 

Also on the Switch and I have zero issue with it, perfectly lovely. People seem to love the shield, which I do not, however. Once I got used to the aim mechanics, I actually have been super fond of the bow...

[ChrisBardon]

I just unlocked the gun last night, and got as far as the second boss (which usually isn't much of a problem).  The auto-aim upgrade I got for it was pretty neat though.  That also unlocked the ability to start spending Titan Blood, which seems like it does some neat stuff, but it's also super hard to come by.  Might have been nice if you could have tried out the different aspects in the training room before committing, but presumably you can farm more of it later on. 

 

2 hours ago, Mark E said:

Also on the Switch and I have zero issue with it, perfectly lovely. People seem to love the shield, which I do not, however. Once I got used to the aim mechanics, I actually have been super fond of the bow...

 

The bow is probably me least favourite weapon right now.  I had a really good shield run with an upgrade that made the special hit extra targets, seek to targets, and inflict doom, so I was just spamming the hell it of that the entire time.  Like I said though-all of those weapons are viable. 

 

I also got the last level of the mirror unlocked last night and it looks...ok?  I suppose the endgame is going to be all about increasing tier/rarity of the rewards.  I still need a ton of darkness to do much there.  I wonder how many death defies you can unlock?  I've been sticking with that infinite/30% one (and switching to the lucky tooth at level 2 or 3), but not sure if there's a better approach. 

[ChrisBardon]

And escaped on attempt #32!  Shield run this time, but with a completely different build than usual.  Instead of throwing it around all the time, I tried using the block and bull rush abilities, and it really helped.  The boon that gave a 500% damage boost for the right timing helped too  

 

And right back at it again.  It's great how there's still more story to see after beating the boss of a run. 

[ChrisBardon]

Kind of sad to say that I fell off of this shortly after beating it.  The SeriesX coming in and starting AC Valhalla is partly to blame, but also the fact that I was having no shortage of performance issues on the PC (probably related to the fact that I'm running it on a laptop).  Things would run fine, and then MASSIVE SLOWDOWN, followed by running fine again.  I think I sorted most of it with Throttlestop settings, but at this point I'm willing to double dip for a seriesX port.  Even when everything works well, my PC fans are running full blast to get Hades going, while the Xbox is silent at all times.

 

Has there been any movement on getting Hades on other platforms?  I have to imagine it's coming...

[Magness]

Got this on Switch as a Christmas gift 😊 will start it later tonight. 

[Romier S]

Waiting on the game hitting the PS4/5/Xbox. Hopefully with a physical release.

[Magness]

I’ve not played a lot yet but, what a gorgeous art style the game has and really smooth combat and controls. 

[foogledricks]

I cannot ignore the hype for this game. But I will ignore the game until I’ve had my fill of monster hunter. But this is next I think.

[Graeme]

Been watching the NoClip series on the making of this and am really enjoying it despite having not played the game. 
 

Im kinda tempted to try it, but I think I should maybe finally play Bastion instead (which I think I own on nearly every platform it has been released on). 

[foogledricks]

Should I wait for the pS5 version is the question.

[dogbert]

28 minutes ago, Graeme said:

Been watching the NoClip series on the making of this and am really enjoying it despite having not played the game. 
 

Im kinda tempted to try it, but I think I should maybe finally play Bastion instead (which I think I own on nearly every platform it has been released on). 

Bastion's well worth a play. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The voice over can grate for some people. 

[Magness]

I loved Bastion and Transistor and so far Hades is awesome too. I ended up getting it on Switch instead of PC because I wanted to be able to play it anywhere and it’s smooth and looks gorgeous so I can’t image this looks or plays poorly on anything. 

[JTello]

19 hours ago, foogledricks said:

Should I wait for the pS5 version is the question.

 

$15 on Epic to tomorrow. (looks like the other deals in this article are over though) 

 

https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/good-deals/2021/1/5/22214879/hades-nintendo-switch-best-buy-deal-sale

[ChrisBardon]

On 1/5/2021 at 10:17 PM, Graeme said:

Been watching the NoClip series on the making of this and am really enjoying it despite having not played the game. 

 

Just finished that the other day, and it's well worth a look at how the sausage gets made.  Is it wrong that after watching that I was wondering how long it'll be before someone buys Supergiant?  I have to imagine there's been offers made, especially after Hades hit the way it did. 

[foogledricks]

I just finally dove  into this. So similar to Dead Cells which I played last year and loved to death. 
 

So far I find that Dead Cells was fun more quickly. But like Dead Cells, there was a point where everything clicks. Both where the difficulty becomes more tolerable, and where I start to get a handle on, well, everything.

 

That moment was when I unlocked the gun. That was the run where I made it all the way to the third boss. And really saw how the grind could push me forward through the game. Via all the persistent upgrades you make over time.

[foogledricks]

I've now reached Mom six times, using 4 different weapons. I'm still a virgin with the spear and bow. 

 

How ashamed should I be that I'm playing in God mode and am at 76% cheating with it? I don't even want to know what happens when I shut that off. If I do shut it off, can I flip it back on and I'll be at the same percent?

 

I would have quit the game if I wasn't helped by god mode. So I feel a little stupid, and yet, it has allowed me to play this game to death and love it. I feel I payed my dues in dying to get to that point. 

 

I'm highly dislike stories in videogames. Somehow I am enjoying the story here more than I thought I might. Which is a pleasant surprise given it looks like a cartoon and it is incredibly silly. The tone is really good though. Can't wait to see what this developer does next.

 

 

[Romier S]

Coming to Xbox Game Pass and Playstation, August 13th:

 

 

[JFo]

Very happy to hear this is also coming to Game Pass. I have an aversion to roguelikes after playing Returnal. I’d like to give this game a try, but didn’t want to spend the money to play it, simply because I didn’t want to pay for something I wasn’t sure I would enjoy.

[ChrisBardon]

Glad to finally see it after being rumored for months now.  I have to imagine that bringing Hades to Xbox/Playstation was always in the cards, but I wonder if the game pass thing came about in any part because of those rumors?  No idea how far in advance these deals get done.  In any case, looking forward to playing more Hades without fighting with PC performance.  Probably not even worried about progression not carrying over from Steam-I'd probably start over anyway to get back into the story. 

[Angry the Clown]

11 hours ago, JFo said:

Very happy to hear this is also coming to Game Pass. I have an aversion to roguelikes after playing Returnal. I’d like to give this game a try, but didn’t want to spend the money to play it, simply because I didn’t want to pay for something I wasn’t sure I would enjoy.

 

Very much my feeling. Like Returnal, I can see that this is a fabulous game, but my limited gaming budget and unwillingness to give up too much time to going back to the same game repeatedly (when I'm pulled every which way by all the other things people are telling me to play) makes titles like this a difficult investment. So I too must bow to our Game Pass overlords in this instance. 

[dogbert]

This is out now on Xbox. It's a top notch port in my limited play time but I am playing it on a Series X No hitching, no lag, completely fluid + responsive. I still stink at it. 

[ChrisBardon]

It plays much better on my series X than my work laptop, that's for sure.  Solid 60fps and no slowdown.  I also haven't made it past the hydra yet, but I did make it to Meg on the first run of the game, so that counts for something, right?  I do like that even though I can't transfer my save over, it's a roguelike so it doesn't matter quite as much.  Starting the upgrade grind all over kind of sucks, but I also don't remember which ones I targeted last time, so there's also a lot of new in there. 

 

The bow still sucks though.