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It cannot be overstated just how incredible Jen Zee is. She has been the art director on all of Supergiant's games, and I don't think Supergiant would be where they are today without her signature art style.
My transistor "Empty Set Concert" poster has a prominent spot in my home, and a nice bronzed frame. There's no doubt in my mind Jen has been integral to Supergiant.
@@AugustRx Uh, yes? They're an independent, privately owned studio, and still have less than 30 full-time employees. EDIT: To be clear, I don't think their small size is at all reflected in the quality of their work, which blows so many "AAA" titles out of the water. But Supergiant is literally an indie development studio.
@@AugustRx indie means independent, means not owned by a corporation, the money invested is not a category. Stardew dev is a multimillionaire and you can't tell me Chocolatier is going to be a AA game for that reason.
Already playing this in early access and can confirm: the game feels damn near complete and I'm so excited to see what else they polish before it hits 1.0.
It feel mechanically complete but [spoilers ahead] . . . . . the fact that there's nothing after Eris for now and character arcs stop advancing at a certain set point with a couple of Ambrosia interactions available leaves a ton left to do esp in terms of endgame plots. I'm excited to see where it goes but you definitely do hit a content wall after 20-40 hours (depending on skill level).
If you are going to buy it anyway then there is no reason to hold off. If you are worried it wont be up to par then wait. Pre-purchase or purchasing in early access is only bad for studios you do not trust. Ask yourself "will [publisher/dev] deliver", if it has a proven trackrecord and you trust them enough then youll be okay If you have any worries then hold off
I think the change that has struck me the most - and something you touched upon - is the heavier tone of the overarching plot. Both games have that often silly, fun dialogue that brings levity to the story and situations, but here that feels especially important. Zagreus' journey of escape in the original title was always something very personal, and ultimately functioned as a means of connecting him better to his family. I was always invested in the characters and their relationships, with the "main" story feeling more secondary to that. In comparison, Melinoe's task feels far more important and significant in the grand scheme of things, even while her own reasons for getting involved are very personal. You see the dire impact of Chronos' rule all throughout the locations you visit, and learn more about it through your interactions with the various characters. It's honestly made it even harder for me to put down compared to the first game simply because I'm so much more compelled to see things through to the end. Like, I REALLY want to bring death to Chronos. That's rad, and with characters and relationships just as strong as those in the first game, it really feels like Supergiant has managed to push the genre forward narratively (for a second time).
It's also important to mention that there are literally early-access-exclusive content in the game. Characters and narrators have dialogues referencing the fact that the game is unfinished, and you can only experience these dialogues during EA. To me, this makes playing the game right now totally worth it.
This! The early access-specific dialogue bits are small in general, but it's awesome getting to experience them. I know it's very unlikely, but it'd be really cool if Supergiant could find a way to allow players to access older builds of the game after the full release, including this version. I know there are a few games out there that offer similar features, and in this case in particular it seems like it could be worthwhile for this specific reason.
Austin: “The binding circle is critical…” Me, who always forgets about it and doesn’t really understand how to properly use it: “Ah, yes, of course. The ol’ binding circle.”
Just have it out really Scylla's final rush properly teaches you how to use it, game loves a lot of rushing enemies who are taken care of by rooting them and giving you room to breathe
Really like the initial 3 minute review at the beginning of the 20 minute review. It's a nice tone setter and if I'm too busy to watch the whole thing I still get an idea of the vibe of the game.
I’m hoping that I love this new protagonist as much as Zagreus cause he was honestly a pretty fun character. I’m gonna be heartbroken seeing my boy Zagreus in some tragic situation. Can’t wait to see his cameo
Just (finally!) finished the main campaign storyline for Hades and playing through for the “dating”/sidequest/epilogue part. Really appreciate you not going into too much detail because I’ve been doing my best to avoid major spoilers for Hades 2 until 1.0 release. Looks so good!!
I'm still astounded by how far the Early Access has gone since the first game. Hades 2 is still in Early Access and already has much more content than the finished version of its predecessor, which makes me look forward to seeing just how much content they could add before they finally release the game proper. New characters, weapons, zones, enemies... I can't wait to see what Supergiant's got cooking.
What blow my mind is that, each girl plays an instrument, a guitar, drums and vocal, but if you pay attention, every time you defeat one, their instrument stops playing in their song as you fight, to the point where at the end with scylla, is just vocals
unless i missed it they're not adding a 3rd overworld. just their first major patch will add a 3rd biome to the surface along with some other stuff. presumably they'll add a 4th to it at some later point in the early access when it goes live but i don't believe they've said they're planning a whole 3rd area.
@@Psilomydethere is the path into the overworld with 4 biomes and a final boss and the path to olympus with just 2. Presumably there will be 4 total as well, with the 3rd being added in the next content update
I would say Melee combat takes a little more to master in this game, but you will, and it will be VERY rewarding, believe me. But yeah, first thing going in it is way easier to use ranged attacks and conjurations to observe and react. After you learn how every enemy acts, melee becomes easier since you know precisely when you can attack.
The axe was too hard and I would actually refuse to use it. But now, after punching chronos in the gut a few times, I feel it is one of the most powerful weapons in the game. I made an aphrodite spin to win build once that just deleted old chrony for real.
It does feel like the Underworld bosses were made with Staff testing only Overworld feels much better for all weapons and less dependent on cast snares
@@rachi7629 Might need to articulate that further, every boss is much easier to beat with ranged But Underworld bosses 3 and 4 just have so much tigher hitboxes that go around them for melee range Overworld 1 has either ones you can dash over or so short that you can hit over them And the final Overworld boss can be dodged by staying behind it, giving melee ample time to dish out the hurt
This seems like the kind of game that looks the same as the last in previews but actually plays quite differently. That crowd control ability looks like a game changer.
It amazes me that people didn't see Hades 2 coming. No clip made a documentary were the writer explicit said they had to cut the original script and research because it was unviable to make a game with all they had In mind, so they reduced the scope to make Hades 1. When Hades 1 blew up, they had everything ready to make Hades 2.
@@Sazed0 Not a single artist with their size and money will EVER say "We will do 15 games of this shit and you will buy it" It's irresponsible. They make the game, they wait they decide. It helps them to not create expectations that can't be met and also helps to create marketing by getting everyone by surprise.
I've played 50h of Hades 2 already and I want to stop and wait for the next release, but I can't stop thinking about new builds I want to try. It's insanely addictive.
@@IncognitoActivado Flash-forward to the gravestone: "Here lies IncognitoActivado. He waged a battle against a nonexistent enemy because some overweight neckbeards pulled one over on him."
When I saw the initial drop and gameplay trailers, I also assumed "Just more Hades" (which I was fine with, but didn't feel the need to pick up immediately). I had planned on waiting til 1.0, but seeing how much has actually been added already...I'm definitely picking this up sooner rather than later.
Yeah I’m like 70-80 hrs in gameplay timewise, please support small studios doing good work! Hades is my fav game ever, I love this sequel, can’t wait to buy it again on a Switch 2 and probably my PS5 lol. With focus on Greek mythology, combat and drip-feeding me a fully-voiced, compelling (but also novelly “normal” & social “focused on getting to know all the personalities”) narrative where you get learn a little about everything in the game world, I can see Hades becoming my favorite series of all time. The only thing I would fix is resource economy, but hey lets be honest all of us who are big fans are going be playing dozens and dozens of runs anyhow 😉 again, please support small teams doing AAAA work, focusing on fun and story, not graphics and money.
i have over 45 hours into the EA version of the game, its marvelous and deep and incredibly fun. I already knew I loved hades 1 so this was a no-brainer for me to pick up at the ground floor. I love that its not "easy" even on the pre-Fear runs. you can REALLY get your teeth kicked in by the final bosses even if you know what to expect.
I just got the game about 3 days before the most recent update (the one on Jun 26th) and as someone who did not play Hades 1 in its early days to experience the changing of content, it was SO cool to see things alter right in front of me, as this game gets more and more refined. Alls I know it: I tried to use blitz and scorch on my first few play through, they really weren’t working for me. Cut to just days later, all of a sudden, both actually feel valuable to me and since that update dropped, I’ve went from wins in the under or upper world to winning twice on both sides. As someone who only really got into Hades 1 this year and has put 80 hours into it over the last 2 months….this game is everything I wanted. I click so much quicker with the new gameplay features here compared to when I was trying to learn how zag worked. I’m especially VERY into the omega system, boons that involve priming your mana, and also the new cast. GOD do I love the last now, I hated hades1 cast and refused to do cast builds, but now I’m in love with dropping that circle, stopping the enemies chasing me for a moment while I ready up for an attack. Add onto that aphrodites cast boon that sucks enemies in, causes weak, and now as of the new update, also damages them. I’m 25 hours in so far, as I have no intention of stopping just yet, I’m far from bored, which is a surprise to me given that I thought having to wait for the next area of the upper world would get me to stop playing for now….but I just….I don’t wanna stop, I’m still having so much fun and I still have no many unlocks to work towards. Best 30$ I’ve spent in a long time and while I LOVED FF7 rebirth and LaD 8……this genuinely might be topping them for my fave 2024 game, even if it’s not officially a full game yet. I love the melodrama of RGG, and I love the spectacle of FF, but this game is just pure addiction for me right now, it’s the only game on my mind, and I JUST built a new rig I made solely to finally play BG3, a game I didn’t play yet because my old rig didn’t have the SSD space needed left. So now, here I am, new rig setup, 1.3 tb of space left to install, can get Bg3 at any time….and yet all I wanna do is play Hades 2 right now (and I say this as someone who loves not just Divinity OS 2 but Divinity in general (even have a soft spot for divine divinity), so I’m very hyped to see what Larian cooked up) but I just can’t escape this game right now.
I'm pretty sure there isn't a third route planned. I think Olympus will be the final section of the surface route, which would make the surface route have 4 areas just like the underground route and the hades 1 route. Also i'm pretty sure there is dialog within the surface route that states that you are traveling to Olympus.
Do you ever have nights, or game sessions where no matter what game you try playing, you’re just not feeling it… Especially a long RPG style game, or you’re getting completely wrecked in a souls like game, or you’re at a point in a game where it’s a tedious fetch quest… You catch my drift. Well, the cure for that, “not feeling it” feeling is to play Hades 1 or 2. Before I know it, I’ve gone from half asleep to wide awake fully engaged wreaking havoc in Hades 1 or 2. I can’t think of a better pick up and play game that doesn’t require too much dedication. A run in Hades II can last 30 to 40 min (For me! I know you MFs are pros and can do it in 15), after the run, I am satisfied and end up going and playing those bigger RPG games, it’s like video game coffee to me. Hades games will forever remain in my top 5 fav video games of all time.
Hades is my fave game of all time. Played it through to 32 heat on PC, Switch and PS. Just loved it so much. I can't tell you how excited I am for 2. I heard 1 second of the music of the reveal trailer at TGA and I got tears in my eyes. So glad to hear how much you loved it Austin. ❤❤❤❤
I took a chance and bought Hades 2 even in early access, and I don't normally do that, I usually wait for Early Access games to fully come out, but I had to check this out because I really liked the first game and I was surprised as to what and how much was here, along with the fact that there's pretty much no bugs or performance issues. Great review man!
Austin, Ralph, I seriously love you guy, I am just gonna play this video on mute in bg while I work, simply because I have been looking forward to this game since a year and want to play it fresh! I am sure as always Austin did awesome job!
1 minute gaaaaaang Also yeah the game could be sold as is as a 1.0 release if it were anything else but you know that supergiant just cooks a 3 star Michelin quality 3 course meal plus dessert.
@@TheLovescream the only thing it’s missing. Everything else seems feature complete. Aside from the placeholder art for some characters. Like yeah, it sounds like a complete hyperbole for many people to be saying this but I think it’s true. Everyone’s got an opinion though.
Super awsome review, I'm gonna miss Zag though, he was one of my favorite protags. The main complaint I had after 100%ing all achivements was the lack of level variety, glad they have addresssed this, I hope the boss variety was also expanded. I'll wait for 1.0 but glad Supergiant is still going strong.
I did find one bug where I couldn't move after dashing during a boss fight... then again, that's why it is on early access and the bug was promptly reported ... I still think it is a fantastic game and Im glad to be able to find bugs to help it be perfect.
i didn't play hades 1 but watched a ton of content on it, knew that i wanted to play hades 2 as i felt like i missed out with the first one. still haven't beat chronos, still haven't cleared the "upstairs" but enjoying every second of it
9:31 I IMMEDIATELY noticed this when playing the early access. It kinda sucks because playing really fast and dash-attack heavy in Hades 1 was really really fun, now you have to be slower and take your time way more.
Loved the first game, but am probably going to wait till 1.0 release. Didn't play Hades 1 until like a year after launch and I didn't stop till I got the epilogue ending. I have a feeling the same will happen here, don't want to have to stop before the ending.
@@IncognitoActivado Why would you? Here's a studio dedicated to providing bang for your buck without corpo nonsense - of all games, Hades 2 would be the one with the least reason to pirate IMO.
@@AgentSmithTV No, it's been proven that Piracy doesn't outright "kill" sales. It 100% most definitely still hurts sales. If there's even a single person who would have bought it but instead pirated it, that is hurting sales.
i'm glad this game releases next year so i can probably bank on metaphor refantazio being my game of the year. if GTA does release next year, this will still be my game of the year solely because of how much these two games stand out. there is just nothing quite like em.
The only problem I got with Hades 2 is that sometimes my graphics card drive would crash, but the new nvidea update seemed to have fixed this....honestly I don't even know what was going on since it only happened in Hades. Anyways, this game is a banger.
Just want to point out that it's likely the surface will get TWO new biomes to match the 4 in the underworld and the 4 from Hades 1 (Tartarus, Asphodel, Elysium, and the Styx Temple). I wouldn't recommend Hades 2 to a new player yet, but it's definitely in a state where Hades veterans can happily enjoy it.
I keep telling myself to wait for the 1.0 release, but it's getting harder and harder to ignore the temptation of going back to Hades when Hades 1 is one of the best games I have ever played.
Happy that Transistor got a call out. Great review Austin. You truly do get the best games to review. I think that says a lot about the current state of the industry.
hades 2 is hands down one of the best games i have ever played. prob my fav game of the year too. soooooo happy for super giant. a bunch of nice incredible good people.
I've never bought a game while it was in early access before, but ho boy.... Hades 2 is an exception, I've spent my weekend playing this game for almost 26 hours and haven't gotten bored in the slightest! Very good job for Supergiant Games, I can't imagine how big the full content release will be
Love the game, been playing for the past week.. runs like a dream, no bugs, great story, 2nd boss fight is awsome.. cant wait for full release with extra content
Love the area diversity for Hades2. Hades 1 was great but the areas felt too samey after 10 hours. Another similar roguelike i love is Dead Cells and the huge amount of different areas (especially when you add in DLC) gave it an edge over Hades. Maybe Hades2 will beat Dead Cells for my favorite roguelike.
I did the same lol the game was so good I went and bought every other game they'd made and bought Hades 2 day one. I absolutely love it, I've put several hundred hours into it by now lol
Having played the first game for well over a thousand hours and 100%ed it across three platforms, I'd say the biggest issue they had with Hades 2 at launch were the resource grind (which has been mitigated with patches making it possible to collect every resource type on every run) and the sheer amount of time it would take to bring the arcana up to the intended balance level, compared to how much time it took to do the same with the mirror in the first game. Other than that, the weapons (with the exception of pan daggers) just don't pack any of the punch of all the different aspects from the first game and he gods and their boons feel very wonky as well. It feels more like a ROM made by a fan than a sequel.
I've been a fan of Supergiant ever since Bastion. They may have dropped the ball a bit with Pyre (heh), but that's just me splitting hairs at this point. If you guys haven't played Transistor yet, please do yourself a favor.
I honestly think that Supergiant Games is the most talented studio working today. And I very much include From Software, SantaMonica etc in that statement. They really stand on the very top of the mountain when it comes to creativity and polish in video games.
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austin always getting the best games to review is my favourite recurring joke
That's bc Austin gets the indies while shillup gets the AAA lol
@@IncognitoActivado we don't care
@@whydoistillusethissite8626 Whatever you say, bot. XD
@@IncognitoActivadosilence, american.
He didn't get No Rest For The Wicked though. With 2.0 patch yesterday that thang even better.
It cannot be overstated just how incredible Jen Zee is. She has been the art director on all of Supergiant's games, and I don't think Supergiant would be where they are today without her signature art style.
My transistor "Empty Set Concert" poster has a prominent spot in my home, and a nice bronzed frame. There's no doubt in my mind Jen has been integral to Supergiant.
Yay women
Gen z?
@@Tlk2Rbtsbruh, the person's name is Jen Zee
@@estebanstrangiatoGen Z
Fellas, it is not that Austin gets the good games, it is that Shillup gets to review the AAAs
People still think supergiant is an indie/AA studio?
@@AugustRx Uh, yes? They're an independent, privately owned studio, and still have less than 30 full-time employees.
EDIT: To be clear, I don't think their small size is at all reflected in the quality of their work, which blows so many "AAA" titles out of the water. But Supergiant is literally an indie development studio.
@@AugustRx indie means independent, means not owned by a corporation, the money invested is not a category.
Stardew dev is a multimillionaire and you can't tell me Chocolatier is going to be a AA game for that reason.
@@umarthdc so half life 2 is an indie game?
@@AugustRx valve's full name is Valve Corporation
"Will only get better with time" is a genius closing line...
Death to Chronos!
@@TheWindwallDeath to Chronos.
Already playing this in early access and can confirm: the game feels damn near complete and I'm so excited to see what else they polish before it hits 1.0.
It feel mechanically complete but [spoilers ahead]
.
.
.
.
.
the fact that there's nothing after Eris for now and character arcs stop advancing at a certain set point with a couple of Ambrosia interactions available leaves a ton left to do esp in terms of endgame plots. I'm excited to see where it goes but you definitely do hit a content wall after 20-40 hours (depending on skill level).
Do we have a release date?
Holding on for full release is getting harder and harder with all these glowing reviews coming out constantly.
I recommend picking it up now! It is a very complete package, no need to wait
If you are going to buy it anyway then there is no reason to hold off. If you are worried it wont be up to par then wait.
Pre-purchase or purchasing in early access is only bad for studios you do not trust. Ask yourself "will [publisher/dev] deliver", if it has a proven trackrecord and you trust them enough then youll be okay
If you have any worries then hold off
You absolutely don’t need to hold out, but I get it, you only get a first time and a first time is better when all the pieces are in place.
You'll get even harder playing the game
It absolutely feels like a full game. Some characters don’t have their „midels“ yet but other than that i couldn’t tell its early access
I think the change that has struck me the most - and something you touched upon - is the heavier tone of the overarching plot. Both games have that often silly, fun dialogue that brings levity to the story and situations, but here that feels especially important. Zagreus' journey of escape in the original title was always something very personal, and ultimately functioned as a means of connecting him better to his family. I was always invested in the characters and their relationships, with the "main" story feeling more secondary to that. In comparison, Melinoe's task feels far more important and significant in the grand scheme of things, even while her own reasons for getting involved are very personal. You see the dire impact of Chronos' rule all throughout the locations you visit, and learn more about it through your interactions with the various characters. It's honestly made it even harder for me to put down compared to the first game simply because I'm so much more compelled to see things through to the end. Like, I REALLY want to bring death to Chronos. That's rad, and with characters and relationships just as strong as those in the first game, it really feels like Supergiant has managed to push the genre forward narratively (for a second time).
It's also important to mention that there are literally early-access-exclusive content in the game.
Characters and narrators have dialogues referencing the fact that the game is unfinished, and you can only experience these dialogues during EA.
To me, this makes playing the game right now totally worth it.
This! The early access-specific dialogue bits are small in general, but it's awesome getting to experience them.
I know it's very unlikely, but it'd be really cool if Supergiant could find a way to allow players to access older builds of the game after the full release, including this version. I know there are a few games out there that offer similar features, and in this case in particular it seems like it could be worthwhile for this specific reason.
The worst thing about Hades 1 is that the best romance option is a disembodied medusa head who ultimately friend zones Zagreus.
Austin: “The binding circle is critical…”
Me, who always forgets about it and doesn’t really understand how to properly use it: “Ah, yes, of course. The ol’ binding circle.”
Just have it out really
Scylla's final rush properly teaches you how to use it, game loves a lot of rushing enemies who are taken care of by rooting them and giving you room to breathe
Yes. The circle specifically to bind Kuzco. Kuzco’s circle.
Mood I forgot about it
Dang youre letting austin cover all the bangers, how generous
Supergiant does it again, no blemish on their record. Video game designer superleague
Really like the initial 3 minute review at the beginning of the 20 minute review. It's a nice tone setter and if I'm too busy to watch the whole thing I still get an idea of the vibe of the game.
So excited to see where Supergiant goes. Definitely one of the best studios around today.
The fact it's an indie team of veterans makes me even more excited for Gravity Well games project since they are of the same origins.
@@dropkickpherby6994what are they working on?
I’m hoping that I love this new protagonist as much as Zagreus cause he was honestly a pretty fun character. I’m gonna be heartbroken seeing my boy Zagreus in some tragic situation.
Can’t wait to see his cameo
With all this bullshit in the game industry it’s too easy to forget that Supergiant even exists and will come through for ya
Just (finally!) finished the main campaign storyline for Hades and playing through for the “dating”/sidequest/epilogue part. Really appreciate you not going into too much detail because I’ve been doing my best to avoid major spoilers for Hades 2 until 1.0 release. Looks so good!!
I'm still astounded by how far the Early Access has gone since the first game. Hades 2 is still in Early Access and already has much more content than the finished version of its predecessor, which makes me look forward to seeing just how much content they could add before they finally release the game proper. New characters, weapons, zones, enemies... I can't wait to see what Supergiant's got cooking.
This early access game is worth buying for the Scylla fight/music combo alone.
Darren Korb is amazing, I hope they pay him the big bucks.
What blow my mind is that, each girl plays an instrument, a guitar, drums and vocal, but if you pay attention, every time you defeat one, their instrument stops playing in their song as you fight, to the point where at the end with scylla, is just vocals
Seriously, "I am gonna claw" is so sick
unless i missed it they're not adding a 3rd overworld. just their first major patch will add a 3rd biome to the surface along with some other stuff. presumably they'll add a 4th to it at some later point in the early access when it goes live but i don't believe they've said they're planning a whole 3rd area.
that is correct
Wait so there’s another over world besides the path to Olympus?
@@Psilomydethere is the path into the overworld with 4 biomes and a final boss and the path to olympus with just 2. Presumably there will be 4 total as well, with the 3rd being added in the next content update
I would say Melee combat takes a little more to master in this game, but you will, and it will be VERY rewarding, believe me.
But yeah, first thing going in it is way easier to use ranged attacks and conjurations to observe and react. After you learn how every enemy acts, melee becomes easier since you know precisely when you can attack.
The axe was too hard and I would actually refuse to use it. But now, after punching chronos in the gut a few times, I feel it is one of the most powerful weapons in the game. I made an aphrodite spin to win build once that just deleted old chrony for real.
It does feel like the Underworld bosses were made with Staff testing only
Overworld feels much better for all weapons and less dependent on cast snares
@@knavenformed9436 really? I dont feel that at all. Both main bosses from the surface are way easier to beat with ranges weapons, in my opinion.
Makes sense to me, first time I won a run in OG Hades was with the homing Bow lol.
@@rachi7629
Might need to articulate that further, every boss is much easier to beat with ranged
But Underworld bosses 3 and 4 just have so much tigher hitboxes that go around them for melee range
Overworld 1 has either ones you can dash over or so short that you can hit over them
And the final Overworld boss can be dodged by staying behind it, giving melee ample time to dish out the hurt
This seems like the kind of game that looks the same as the last in previews but actually plays quite differently. That crowd control ability looks like a game changer.
It amazes me that people didn't see Hades 2 coming.
No clip made a documentary were the writer explicit said they had to cut the original script and research because it was unviable to make a game with all they had In mind, so they reduced the scope to make Hades 1.
When Hades 1 blew up, they had everything ready to make Hades 2.
Maybe it's because they repeatedly said that they prefer not to make sequels and that they weren't planning on a sequel?
@@Sazed0 Not a single artist with their size and money will EVER say "We will do 15 games of this shit and you will buy it"
It's irresponsible. They make the game, they wait they decide.
It helps them to not create expectations that can't be met and also helps to create marketing by getting everyone by surprise.
Everybody’s hot and everything is badass, Hades is so back babyyyy
I've played 50h of Hades 2 already and I want to stop and wait for the next release, but I can't stop thinking about new builds I want to try. It's insanely addictive.
Hades II is w@ke, so no; it's not worth it. XD
@@IncognitoActivado Nobody cares, incel.
@Cyber7777 Fighting against the pro-w@ke bots is a great duty. ;)
@@IncognitoActivado Flash-forward to the gravestone: "Here lies IncognitoActivado. He waged a battle against a nonexistent enemy because some overweight neckbeards pulled one over on him."
@@jonathanbaird Hi, w@ketard, are you still salty?
When I saw the initial drop and gameplay trailers, I also assumed "Just more Hades" (which I was fine with, but didn't feel the need to pick up immediately). I had planned on waiting til 1.0, but seeing how much has actually been added already...I'm definitely picking this up sooner rather than later.
Yeah I’m like 70-80 hrs in gameplay timewise, please support small studios doing good work! Hades is my fav game ever, I love this sequel, can’t wait to buy it again on a Switch 2 and probably my PS5 lol. With focus on Greek mythology, combat and drip-feeding me a fully-voiced, compelling (but also novelly “normal” & social “focused on getting to know all the personalities”) narrative where you get learn a little about everything in the game world, I can see Hades becoming my favorite series of all time. The only thing I would fix is resource economy, but hey lets be honest all of us who are big fans are going be playing dozens and dozens of runs anyhow 😉 again, please support small teams doing AAAA work, focusing on fun and story, not graphics and money.
i have over 45 hours into the EA version of the game, its marvelous and deep and incredibly fun. I already knew I loved hades 1 so this was a no-brainer for me to pick up at the ground floor. I love that its not "easy" even on the pre-Fear runs. you can REALLY get your teeth kicked in by the final bosses even if you know what to expect.
I just got the game about 3 days before the most recent update (the one on Jun 26th) and as someone who did not play Hades 1 in its early days to experience the changing of content, it was SO cool to see things alter right in front of me, as this game gets more and more refined. Alls I know it: I tried to use blitz and scorch on my first few play through, they really weren’t working for me. Cut to just days later, all of a sudden, both actually feel valuable to me and since that update dropped, I’ve went from wins in the under or upper world to winning twice on both sides.
As someone who only really got into Hades 1 this year and has put 80 hours into it over the last 2 months….this game is everything I wanted. I click so much quicker with the new gameplay features here compared to when I was trying to learn how zag worked. I’m especially VERY into the omega system, boons that involve priming your mana, and also the new cast. GOD do I love the last now, I hated hades1 cast and refused to do cast builds, but now I’m in love with dropping that circle, stopping the enemies chasing me for a moment while I ready up for an attack. Add onto that aphrodites cast boon that sucks enemies in, causes weak, and now as of the new update, also damages them.
I’m 25 hours in so far, as I have no intention of stopping just yet, I’m far from bored, which is a surprise to me given that I thought having to wait for the next area of the upper world would get me to stop playing for now….but I just….I don’t wanna stop, I’m still having so much fun and I still have no many unlocks to work towards.
Best 30$ I’ve spent in a long time and while I LOVED FF7 rebirth and LaD 8……this genuinely might be topping them for my fave 2024 game, even if it’s not officially a full game yet. I love the melodrama of RGG, and I love the spectacle of FF, but this game is just pure addiction for me right now, it’s the only game on my mind, and I JUST built a new rig I made solely to finally play BG3, a game I didn’t play yet because my old rig didn’t have the SSD space needed left. So now, here I am, new rig setup, 1.3 tb of space left to install, can get Bg3 at any time….and yet all I wanna do is play Hades 2 right now (and I say this as someone who loves not just Divinity OS 2 but Divinity in general (even have a soft spot for divine divinity), so I’m very hyped to see what Larian cooked up) but I just can’t escape this game right now.
Another austin review is a win for the viewers.
No
@@cesarbrad286yes
Not really, its good but not better than Ralph.
Hades II is w@ke, so no.
@@IncognitoActivado🤣🤣🤣
I'm pretty sure there isn't a third route planned. I think Olympus will be the final section of the surface route, which would make the surface route have 4 areas just like the underground route and the hades 1 route. Also i'm pretty sure there is dialog within the surface route that states that you are traveling to Olympus.
Do you ever have nights, or game sessions where no matter what game you try playing, you’re just not feeling it… Especially a long RPG style game, or you’re getting completely wrecked in a souls like game, or you’re at a point in a game where it’s a tedious fetch quest… You catch my drift. Well, the cure for that, “not feeling it” feeling is to play Hades 1 or 2. Before I know it, I’ve gone from half asleep to wide awake fully engaged wreaking havoc in Hades 1 or 2. I can’t think of a better pick up and play game that doesn’t require too much dedication. A run in Hades II can last 30 to 40 min (For me! I know you MFs are pros and can do it in 15), after the run, I am satisfied and end up going and playing those bigger RPG games, it’s like video game coffee to me. Hades games will forever remain in my top 5 fav video games of all time.
Always nice when a 2025 GOTY contender arrives a little early and you can see it all come together. 20 runs in and loving it.
Hades is my fave game of all time. Played it through to 32 heat on PC, Switch and PS. Just loved it so much.
I can't tell you how excited I am for 2. I heard 1 second of the music of the reveal trailer at TGA and I got tears in my eyes.
So glad to hear how much you loved it Austin. ❤❤❤❤
I took a chance and bought Hades 2 even in early access, and I don't normally do that, I usually wait for Early Access games to fully come out, but I had to check this out because I really liked the first game and I was surprised as to what and how much was here, along with the fact that there's pretty much no bugs or performance issues. Great review man!
Austin killing it on the reviews.
As someone addicted to online shooters, this is my most hype game of the year!
Austin, Ralph, I seriously love you guy, I am just gonna play this video on mute in bg while I work, simply because I have been looking forward to this game since a year and want to play it fresh! I am sure as always Austin did awesome job!
1 minute gaaaaaang
Also yeah the game could be sold as is as a 1.0 release if it were anything else but you know that supergiant just cooks a 3 star Michelin quality 3 course meal plus dessert.
...reporting for duty!
Could be sold except for the missing story and missing assets I guess?
@@TheLovescream the only thing it’s missing. Everything else seems feature complete. Aside from the placeholder art for some characters. Like yeah, it sounds like a complete hyperbole for many people to be saying this but I think it’s true. Everyone’s got an opinion though.
I’m in the one minute gang… my wife isn’t happy about it…
Super awsome review, I'm gonna miss Zag though, he was one of my favorite protags. The main complaint I had after 100%ing all achivements was the lack of level variety, glad they have addresssed this, I hope the boss variety was also expanded. I'll wait for 1.0 but glad Supergiant is still going strong.
I did find one bug where I couldn't move after dashing during a boss fight... then again, that's why it is on early access and the bug was promptly reported ... I still think it is a fantastic game and Im glad to be able to find bugs to help it be perfect.
Such a relief Austin's back and we don't have to put up with that Ralph guy who reads the ads
Great job as always Austin, your voice is ambrosia!
i didn't play hades 1 but watched a ton of content on it, knew that i wanted to play hades 2 as i felt like i missed out with the first one. still haven't beat chronos, still haven't cleared the "upstairs" but enjoying every second of it
9:31
I IMMEDIATELY noticed this when playing the early access.
It kinda sucks because playing really fast and dash-attack heavy in Hades 1 was really really fun, now you have to be slower and take your time way more.
I will be there day 1! Great review! Loved Hades 1. Im down and dirty for this one.
This "early access" is more polished than the original hades which almost had zero bugs
Always love your insights Austin!
Hades introduced me to this genre. I'm so glad it did..
Been playing this for a week and I’ve been loving it.
Loved the first game, but am probably going to wait till 1.0 release. Didn't play Hades 1 until like a year after launch and I didn't stop till I got the epilogue ending. I have a feeling the same will happen here, don't want to have to stop before the ending.
Piracy is king.
@@IncognitoActivado Why would you? Here's a studio dedicated to providing bang for your buck without corpo nonsense - of all games, Hades 2 would be the one with the least reason to pirate IMO.
@@AgentSmithTV Good point.. I guess I just found the statement sort of incongruous or out of place here.
@@IncognitoActivado lmao you’re a loser
@@AgentSmithTV No, it's been proven that Piracy doesn't outright "kill" sales. It 100% most definitely still hurts sales. If there's even a single person who would have bought it but instead pirated it, that is hurting sales.
Hey, do you have a source for that 3rd overworld you mentioned in 15:10 ? That would be amazing!
Thanks for the great review, Austin!! Always getting the fun games. 😂
i'm glad this game releases next year so i can probably bank on metaphor refantazio being my game of the year. if GTA does release next year, this will still be my game of the year solely because of how much these two games stand out. there is just nothing quite like em.
i did run into some crashes/ perfo4rmance issues , but it's early acess, so I don't mind. I agree with everything else
Whenever I am worried about the state of gaming, two devs always give me hope. Larian and Supergiant.
The only problem I got with Hades 2 is that sometimes my graphics card drive would crash, but the new nvidea update seemed to have fixed this....honestly I don't even know what was going on since it only happened in Hades. Anyways, this game is a banger.
Austin playing some bangers as of late! Nice review, mate.
Fun fact: all Australians sound the same.
My bro discovered the existence of accents lol
Austin and Ralph sound so different lol
Yeh we all talk through our nose
OI!!
choosing nem over mel for the thumbnail is definitely a choice....
i understand tho
Just want to point out that it's likely the surface will get TWO new biomes to match the 4 in the underworld and the 4 from Hades 1 (Tartarus, Asphodel, Elysium, and the Styx Temple).
I wouldn't recommend Hades 2 to a new player yet, but it's definitely in a state where Hades veterans can happily enjoy it.
I like mommy Nemesis on the thumbnail.
I keep telling myself to wait for the 1.0 release, but it's getting harder and harder to ignore the temptation of going back to Hades when Hades 1 is one of the best games I have ever played.
What is that area with your frog hopping around? I'm like 20 hrs in and have not seen that.
It's funny that Austin mostly gets to review great indie gems, while Ralph has to suffer through reviewing mostly garbage AAA games.
Happy that Transistor got a call out. Great review Austin. You truly do get the best games to review. I think that says a lot about the current state of the industry.
At this point, if Austin reviews it, I know it's getting a GOTY nomination
Already have 25 hours played. This is how you do a damn sequel, can’t wait for the full release
Hades 2 is this era's symphony of the night
hades 2 is hands down one of the best games i have ever played. prob my fav game of the year too. soooooo happy for super giant. a bunch of nice incredible good people.
Really looking forward to this. Never completed the original
Hades 2 is my Game of the Year. Honestly it is so so good. Already so full of content, even in early access.
This is a textbook example for how to make a an amazing sequel to an amazing game.
Only question that matters...is Skelly in Hades 2?
Yes
Yeah he is but he is using a really clever disguise... not ^^
@@ixtiander999 Welp, that's all I needed. Day one purchase confirmed. 🙌
I've never bought a game while it was in early access before, but ho boy.... Hades 2 is an exception,
I've spent my weekend playing this game for almost 26 hours and haven't gotten bored in the slightest!
Very good job for Supergiant Games, I can't imagine how big the full content release will be
Love the game, been playing for the past week.. runs like a dream, no bugs, great story, 2nd boss fight is awsome.. cant wait for full release with extra content
Indie devs releasing gems like this, while the AAA industry is collapsing under its greed. Really shows who deserves our support.
To Hades with starting over every time. Never again!
Love the area diversity for Hades2. Hades 1 was great but the areas felt too samey after 10 hours. Another similar roguelike i love is Dead Cells and the huge amount of different areas (especially when you add in DLC) gave it an edge over Hades. Maybe Hades2 will beat Dead Cells for my favorite roguelike.
Waiting on that 1M sub Outer Wilds review ;)
Great review Austin, I thought this was your best yet.
Me, on my consoles, waiting for the full version to release: this is fine 😢
I have to resist buying this early. I got so burnt out on old hades that i never saw the ending till i booted it this week years later.
I did the same lol the game was so good I went and bought every other game they'd made and bought Hades 2 day one. I absolutely love it, I've put several hundred hours into it by now lol
Will you guys re-review this at launch though?
I'm guessing the 3rd overworld will be Olympus itself
Can’t wait till it is on consoles.
We love you Austin. Keep playing the bangers!
Fantastic Ea release
Already burned through the content and can't wait for 1.0
may be recency bias but i think it might be better than the original. the soundtrack for the sequel is phenomenal
really enjoyed hades 1 never finished it but had a good time
Having played the first game for well over a thousand hours and 100%ed it across three platforms, I'd say the biggest issue they had with Hades 2 at launch were the resource grind (which has been mitigated with patches making it possible to collect every resource type on every run) and the sheer amount of time it would take to bring the arcana up to the intended balance level, compared to how much time it took to do the same with the mirror in the first game. Other than that, the weapons (with the exception of pan daggers) just don't pack any of the punch of all the different aspects from the first game and he gods and their boons feel very wonky as well. It feels more like a ROM made by a fan than a sequel.
I havent played around with the aspects a lot but you can certainly do lots of damage with every weapon.
Austin is the great value Ralph
The first game is my favorite game I was never able to beat lol. Really looking forward to this one coming to console.
Look at shill up barging in by the end of Austin's reviews with his promotions. Let the man do his reviews in peace or we riot ❤
That's why supergiant are the GOAT
So glad i took a break from D4 season 4 to play Hades 2. Well worth $30 as is in early access.
I've been a fan of Supergiant ever since Bastion. They may have dropped the ball a bit with Pyre (heh), but that's just me splitting hairs at this point. If you guys haven't played Transistor yet, please do yourself a favor.
I honestly think that Supergiant Games is the most talented studio working today. And I very much include From Software, SantaMonica etc in that statement. They really stand on the very top of the mountain when it comes to creativity and polish in video games.
I'm going to wait for the 1.0 and get the full experience, but DAMN this review had me sorely tempted to jump the gun.
Bruh, who are these guys?
Supergiant really dropped GOTY and were all like, "Oh, that ole'thing? Nah, that's just the start."