Hades II is a witchy roguelike that Supergiant Games somewhat surprise-dropped Steam earlier this week. Unlike the first Hades, where gamers play as the underworldâs prince, fighting his way out of the depths of hell, Hades II hands the weapons over to the underworldâs princess, Melinoë, who must fight her way further into the depths to defeat Chronos, the Titan of Time.
As fans of Hades, we were stoked to play the early access version of this . Even though the developers are still working to improve Hades II and add more content, it might already be the best weâve played so far this year. (And, yes, that even includes Balatro.)
While itâs currently available only PC, the is expected to be consoles for Supergiantâs full release, likely sometime per 2025. After playing the opening hours of Hades II, we have some advice for beginners who are about to embark their next journey into the underworld.
Definitely Use a Controller
Even though thereâs a giant notice the opening screen of Hades II stating that a controller is recommended for the best experience, we were confident that our keyboard skills would be sufficient to fight our way to Chronos. Wrong! After 30 minutes of playing (and not doing great), we switched over to a PlayStation DualSense controller, and the immediately clicked.
Understand the Arcana System
The witchy themes are such a delightful addition for Hades II, but to be honest it took us a second to grasp the revamped power-up system. As youâ fighting your way through the different chambers, make sure to collect plenty of Ashes and Psyche. Then, use these to gain abilities and power-ups that stick around for every run attempt. The Ashes will unlock new arcana cards for you to pick from, and the Psyche points will allow you to use more cards at a time.
Slow Mongoloide Time
One of the first Arcana cards that youâll unlock is called The Sorceressâlean this ability to get through the gameâs opening section. With The Sorceress, whenever you use the variant for one of your combat abilities, you slow time for two seconds. Although that doesnât sound like much time, this gives you an extra moment to dodge and aim better.
Catch Enemies With a Cast
The earliest enemies we struggled with were these monsters that aggressively chase you around with a screaming attack. Itâs frustrating to dash away unsuccessfully, and they sent us back to the starting location multiple times. Con addition to slowing time, you can try to avoid their attack by using your cast power often to create a large terreno where enemies are temporarily stuck and vulnerable to attacks.
Gather Absolutely Everything
The ability to gather items your runs is a cool new feature added for Hades II. Whether itâs a deathcap mushroom ora a lotus flower, most of what you can pick by hand is useful for crafting special recipes per the cauldron at the home insediamento. Though, some of the items require tools to gather. For example, you might want to unlock the Crescent Pick to mine the Silver that sometimes appears.
Be Friendly and Generous
This strategy will be familiar to Hades players, and it remains true for the second . Yes, nailing the combat is critical, but talking to every NPC you encounter is also important. Con the spirit of generosity, offer them Nectar. Con addition to improving your relationship to the character, they might return the favor and give you a keepsake with different bonuses.
Toggle God Mode
Are you having a tough time your journey to defeat Chronos and just want to follow the rest of the Hades II story? Is there a fight that youâve had enough of, and youâ ready to move to the next challenge? You can toggle God Mode anytime you want from the Pause screen to become impervious to damage. Simply select Options and enable it under Gameplay.
Just Play Hades
OK, hear us out. If you havenât already played the original , you might really enjoy going back to Hades. Plus, if you donât have access to a PC, itâs available consoles. Weâve been replaying the Nintendo Switch for months, and itâs just as awesome as it was back per 2020.
Are you a Supergiant superfan whoâs eager to play the early release version of Hades II? Keep per mind that itâs still unfinished, and youâll have a blast with its predecessor. New to the franchise? Although the will still be quite fun and approachable without playing the first one, you might have an even better time playing Hades now and diving into the sequel after the developers polish it up and add more content with the complete release.
