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For example, when choosing to play with the bow, I found myself leaning more towards boons from the likes of Artemis – providing me with more critical hit chances – and Zeus – sending bolts of lighting ricocheting off each arrow flurry.
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From sword, to spear, to bow, the weapon you choose will, of course, provide certain benefits and drawbacks, influencing your strategy out in the field and the gods you choose to accept perks from.
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Weapons, perhaps the most crucial tools in escaping the ever-changing labyrinth of the Underworld, shift up the entire flow of gameplay, and with codex entries for each, Hades almost treats them as their own characters. Of course, these are but one of the many different modification options available, and you’ll be rewarded in many varied forms, from story developments and relationship growth with other characters, to permanent upgrades through the many currencies you can snag on your travels.įamily Matters: Zagreus has some rather large shoes to fill when it comes to his father, and it’s time for him to finally fly the nest. Even with a procedural layout (as is typical in roguelikes), the boons give you choices of what preferred move, ability or buff you want to gain, allowing you to still influence the avenue you want to go down and the build that you want to end up with. The gods up top are anticipatedly waiting for Zagreus to join the party, and bestow upon you a range of ‘boons’ that modify gameplay each run. Gameplay is buttery smooth, with Zagreus’ prideful strides between encounters almost as satisfying as his quips and remarks, and it has that distinctive Supergiant feel to it that fans of Bastion or Transistor will instantly appreciate. With each escape attempt, you’ll progress room to room, enduring a slew of enemies and bosses inspired by Greek mythology, before either succeeding, or dying and returning to home to start again from square one. A humorous story that offers varying dialogue options dependent on your choices throughout, you play as Zagreus: a prince dead-set on ascending from the Underworld to join his relatives in Olympus. With a messy bedroom, a father that he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with, and the tendency to try to run away from home, the narrative throughline in Hades seems in some ways more teen drama than violent hellscape. Pitting you as the angsty son of the literal god of death, Hades does things a little differently than Supergiant’s back catalogue, going down the roguelike route, and it just might be the best game we’ve seen yet from the San Francisco-based studio.Įach time the Prince delves back into the Underworld, its ever-shifting chambers realign to frustrate his attempts to maybe map it out.
HADES NINTENDO SWITCH PC
Hades’ eternal flames have been burning for a while on the PC front, with the game launching in early-access at the end of 2018. The illustrious Supergiant Games’ fourth title has already been turning industry and consumer heads, arriving as a console-exclusive title for Switch after being revealed in the September partner direct.
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