I’m very grateful this class gave me the chance to play Hades (Supergiant Games, 2018), a game I had been excited for since before its release. Some Youtube content creators I followed, in particular MagikarpUsedFly, posted their own gameplays and it looked insanely fun. At the time I was still constrained financially by my progenitors, and so after seeing a video or two, my hype gradually died and the game was relegated to my ever-growing list of games that I seem to never get around to playing.
I’m fairly familiar with Roguelike games from The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (2014) and Risk of Rain 2 (Hopoo Games, 2019), and so seeing how Hades incorporated the familiar elements of procedurally generated* maps, enemies, and upgrades alongside a rich narrative was thoroughly captivating. As I played more and more of the game I began to feel there was something fundamentally different about Hades stylistically from the other roguelikes I had played, and that is what this blog is about. While I could easily write independent essays on its music, art, gameplay, and so on, I want to focus on its narrative and style. THIS IS YOUR SPOILER ALERT – YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Hades is based on Greek mythology; you play as Zagreus, purportedly the son of Hades (the God of the underworld) and Nyx (the Goddess of Night), although of course from mythology we know Zagreus to be the son of Zeus (the God of Thunder) and Persephone (daughter of Zeus) – the Greek Gods were a twisted promiscuous bunch, subject of a different post. Zagreus’ (or, the player’s) goal is to escape the underworld. The player cannot outright die, but when they die during an escape attempt, their progress is reset and they must begin anew. However, the NPCs (non-playable characters) in the house of Hades remember these attempts and so their dialogue adapts as one progresses. Throughout the game you’re encouraged to interact with as many of the NPCs as you can through the familiar exclamation mark icon, (which I first saw in World of Warcraft (Blizzard, 2004), but it could be even older than that). These interactions are widely varied, well voiced, and really encourage the player to go do some research outside the game to understand references to the mythology the game is based off. Most of the NPCs want to help Zagreus escape the underworld and offer advice, boons, items, and so on across a vast range of interactions.
What I loved as I blitzed through the first five hours, and the first way in which Hades differs, was the way in which progression was clear despite the fact that your attempt escapes were reset after each try. This was not something I had experienced in ROR2, where the only progression was in unlocking characters and alternate skills. During the runs, the player can acquire many items that they retain after the run has ended, and which they can use to unlock new weapons, discover new skills, change the very underworld they have to traverse and so on. This makes the game constantly new and exciting; I found myself almost eager to return back to base despite that requiring I lose a run. The game is not intended to be completed quickly! The game is intended for the player to die again and again and again and again, constantly, exhaustively, and yet this is a STRENGTH of the game.
However, of course, this is not unusual for roguelites – the subgenre of roguelikes where a progression is maintained. Hades goes above and beyond by digging richely into its cultural scaffolding. It hugely surprised me how much gameplay, or at least storyline, there was at the house of Hades, and how much more invested I became in it, despite being naturally inclined towards the fighting aspect of the game. In ROR2 I would be devastated after losing a run, in Hades, I was mildly perturbed but also excited to see the new interactions, see how the home had changed, spend my newly acquired resources to strengthen my character etc.
The world feels alive in its own right; the NPCs have their own agendas and storylines, and Zagreus is but a small part of all this, not even the main part one could argue (at least, not before he actually escapes the underworld, a feat I’m still far from completing). This makes the world far more engaging and enjoyable and I went so far as to actually listen to all the voice acting, relishing in each NPC’s uniqueness and consistency. An example of a voiceline that I think really helped establish continuity would be Hypnos’ comments regarding the player’s death to a specific enemy. An example of worldbuilding would be the way different God(esse)s comment upon the various weapons available to Zagreus as he uses them during a run, discussing their origins and uses. In terms of its narrative, I think the game could fall under the genre of an interactive movie given how the player is really just fulfilling the existing wish of the playable character. Of course the path taken varies somewhat, but in the end Zagreus will escape the underworld (I think?) with the help of various deities and mythological beings – the player merely acts out the mechanism (although most enjoyably I must say).
tldr: play Hades, enjoy the evolving narrative, enjoy the gameplay outside of the runs themselves!
*Procedural generation refers to a computer algorithm that automatically creates content based on pre-written instructions, meaning every ‘run’, or iteration, is unique in a roguelike game
I enjoyed your post- and I thought that you did a good job at analyzing Hades through the lens of someone who has previously played roguelikes, and can use your past experience to look a a little deeper than someone who had just played the genre for the first time. I agree with your points as well, and something that surprised me about Hades (and ultimately actually put me off the game) was the sense of constant progression in the sense of narrative. Something interesting about the difficulty curve of Hades is it actually gets easier as you progress, by having more direct upgrades to make your runs quicker and better. That’s different than Binding of Isaac or Risk of Rain because yes, you get more items but you’re not necessarily going to obtain them on all runs. With Hades, you get direct upgrades that make your runs fundamentally easier.
Hades is actually the first Roguelike game I have ever played, and it frustrated me a lot because I’ve never played a game where every time you die you have to start all over again but not respawn at the nearest checkpoint. However, the simple gameplay and satisfying graphic kept me going. Spending more time with it made me realize that it is not just a roguelike game where you go through individual rooms, Hades is much more interactive and rewards you for patience. For example, I was killed two times consecutively by the death trap. Upon my respawn, I was roasted by several NPCs about my “foolish way of dying.” The game suddenly came alive in that it actually acknowledges your gameplay and makes various fun comments about your deaths in the last run. Apart from that, the game did a good job of revealing information about the main character and the background story. It actively keeps the game interesting even though the gameplay is repetitive to some extent.