Supergiant Games’ ‘Hades’ for Nintendo Switch
Released for Nintendo Switch last September, Hades by Supergiant Games — makers of the excellent games Bastion and Transistor — was easily one of the best Switch titles of 2020.
Chaim Gartenberg of The Verge agrees:
Hades is a game that does so many things so well, it’s hard to describe them all. It’s a fine-tuned isometric action game that takes the elaborate interweaving systems and combat of Supergiant’s previous titles to soaring new heights. It’s a roguelike that transcends the limitations of the genre with great storytelling. It’s one of the most compelling personal dramas told in a video game this year — all of it polished to a dazzling, mirror-like shine.
In case you’re unfamiliar, Hades is a Greek mythology-inspired action-RPG that’s classified as a ‘roguelike’. That is, your character — who happens to be the rebellious and immortal son of Hades himself and seeks to escape the Underworld altogether — will inevitably die a LOT as you send him into fierce battle through a series of randomly generated dungeons/realms, each run different from the last.
That’s right, death is more of an inconvenience for this protagonist than anything. Every time he’s defeated, he simply returns to his room in Hades’ palace, with the chance to try again…and again…and again… collecting new Olympian weapons, powers, and upgrades along the way so you can create your ultimate build and finally break free of his father’s clutches.
I enjoyed reading this review by Redditor u/mbrochh:
First of all, death is immediately forgotten because you can pet that dog and speak to all those cool characters at the home-base.
Secondly, you can then power-up and therefore, your next run becomes ever so slightly easier.
I don’t know how they did it, but I think they hit a perfect sweet spot in terms of pacing. The game stays interesting from the first minute until the end. It keeps opening up more and more, and then, when you have most of the stuff, it introduces a few harder enemies in the levels to keep things interesting.
Not only is the hack-and-slash gameplay a treat to experience, the lush visuals, pumping soundtrack, wonderful character interactions, and top-notch voice acting all come together to put the game over the top in terms of entertainment and replay value.
Hades releases on Amazon in nine days from this writing, and you can order it now for $35 to have your copy shipped ASAP. You might also consider getting a standalone controller to experience this game to the fullest.