Hades II: Action Gameplay

12 May, 2024

As a self-identified video game adrenaline junkie this is the area where I had been hoping that Supergiant would iterate rather than only swapping old for new, and I'm very happy to say that they delivered.

The action gameplay of the original Hades is so lenient in its action economy as to be nearly faceroll-able. Once it's discovered that almost any action can be cancelled into the closely repeatable and invincibility-frame-toting Dash, much of the feeling of the moment to moment intentionality of your actions is lost.

I'd describe the "mental stack" of playing Hades successfully as follows, in decreasing order of importance:

1. Don't get hit

Move around the area to dodge projectiles and stay out of the range of enemy attacks; when in danger you can use your Dash at the right time to escape the scenario either by leaving the dangerous area quickly or by using Dash's brief invincibility.

2. You have 3 attacking buttons, but all buttons boil down to "deal damage"

So ideally push the buttons in the way that deals the most damage, but as long as you're dealing some damage, you'll win eventually. The ideal way to push buttons mostly depends on what weapon you're using, but perhaps also which and how many enemies are in range (single target vs. AoE for example).

3. The Olympian god boons (per-run upgrades) can change how the first 2 rules work

The most interesting part of Hades and the part that earns it its action-roguelike title, defensive boons can change "don't get hit" into "don't get hit too much" and offensive boons can change the best way for you to push buttons to deal the most damage. For the latter, this usually just means "the action on this button has one or many good or synergistic boons, so just use that one."

My glib tone probably makes it sound like I'm down on Hades' gameplay, but it's pretty damn good - navigating Zagreus not just through Greek mythological hell but also through bullet hell while I hold down the attack button is perfectly fine (I love shoot em ups), for the risk-takers among us there's nothing wrong with the tried-and-true classic of "you can play aggressive if you learn the enemy's attack pattern and react at the perfect time," and if you're seeking out roguelikes you surely love the feeling of a synergistic build crafted by your choices blowing all the familiar enemies that wronged you out of the water - but contrasting Hades II to Hades shows that that the sequel is trying to fire on all cylinders in a way that the original is not.

Hades II injects some much-needed intentionality into the series' action formula through one new mechanic and some changes to old mechanics. Let's talk about the new one first.

Omega Moves

A new charge-up-move mechanic that places powerful unique moves on the existing attack buttons of "Attack," "Special," and "Cast" by holding them down instead of tapping them, neatly bringing the player's options for offensive actions up to 6 while preserving the simplicity of Hades' 3 verbs and 3 buttons.

What's even more interesting to me is that Omega moves have another mechanic riding along with them, one that's mostly absent from Hades's action gameplay: resource management.

The classic "mana bar" makes an appearance in Hades II, a resource drained by the use of Omega moves, adding another dimension to potential intention-forming in the game's combat by forcing you to choose when and how Omega moves will be used, as opposed to "whenever and however I feel like it."

Generally speaking, this is respected by boon upgrades that offer ways for you to manage this resource: most offer mana regeneration slowly over time, but one greatly reduces your maximum mana in exchange, allowing you more Omegas per fight but forcing you to space them out; another takes away a proportion of your maximum health as a disadvantage; another will regenerate mana quickly but only if you're standing still for more than 1 second, potentially putting yourself in danger.

There is at least one boon that does trivialize mana management,¹ which could be seen as a positive or negative, depending on your approach. As an appreciator of a well structured and demanding action gameplay loop, I think the game would be better off if it was at least reined in a bit - but it could be seen as a concession to approachability to offer a random chance to players to allay a layer of stress on what could be "the run" for them. What do you think?

Cast

In both Hades and Hades II, the function of the "Cast" action is a bit flexible based on your loadout and boons. In the original game, the most basic function of unaltered Cast is to deal damage from long range, something which often had overlap with different weapons' Attacks and Specials. In Hades II, the basic Cast is a player-centred AoE which "ensares" foes - some are completely immobilized, while some other more mobile ones seem to just have their movement capabilities significantly reduced.

Having a basic action that allows for some utility other than dealing damage provides satisfying gameplay variety, especially so in ultra-frantic lategame situations where crowd control offers you some brief respite to think about your next action. As it has no cooldown other than being limited to having one out at a time, this respite is usually only restricted by the ability's short range, shining most when ranged foes eventually force you out of your safe zone.

Dash

Oh, Hades Dash. I can already see the comments from Hades II players forming in my imagination that the game's Dash feels too slow, too limiting, too sluggish.

Hades II seemingly makes concessions to alleviate the "Dash-spammy" reputation of the original game. I need to confirm this, but I feel they've increased the internal cooldown of the action (now represented in-game by a starry trail that follows behind your character - when the trail is gone, you can Dash again).

What's for certain is that there are no longer "extra Dashes" available via loadouts or boons, meaning you can't increase the number of Dashes you can do before the internal cooldown locks you out of it. The Dash you do is the Dash you get, at least for a second or two. In Hades II there will be no immediate second, or third, or fourth, "oops" follow-up Dash to a misplaced one. This means a panicked Dash is much more likely to still result in you getting hit, something players will no doubt have to contend with in the form of frustration with Hades still fresh on the brain.

Closing

Perhaps action game design is a subjective balancing act of freedom and structure, but to my taste Hades II gives the original's action gameplay a sense of texture that wasn't there before. If I could describe Hades' action gameplay succinctly, it's smooth to the point of being slippery - fluid and satisfying in a basic way, but nothing to grab onto.

Hades fundamentally thrives on the natural crescendo of a roguelike game, where the ambient tension consistently rises over time as you get farther and farther from your "restart point." Once the mystique of the game is lifted and the mechanics "solved," it's reduced to this base, flat, rise - no more rising and falling tension. Hades II offers a greater sense of adversity from the action itself, which I imagine, if managed successfully from early access and on, will lead to it better withstanding the test of Time.