I was too depressed to finish the cover of Good Riddance before the release of the video so enjoy the festive and definitely topical opening instead :3
superb analysis! ever since my grubby little gamer paws procured a copy of Hades for my Switch a couple of months ago, I've been enraptured with the game, and I think I can confidently opine that it's one of the most magnificent, earnestly created video games I've ever had the joy of being able to experience. while I actually tend to enjoy the frivolous levity of many aspects of Hades's narrative structure and plot elements, I do agree with you that such a lightheartedly whimsical, almost blithe approach imposes the inimical effect of potentially detracting from the gravity and poignancy of the story. perhaps this is merely the undue influence of my inner theatre nerd, but how I reconcile this in my head is by envisioning the recursive events of Hades as almost being akin to productions of an ancient Greek play, where the division between the audience and the performance is frequently nonexistent or negligible. in my mind, this would provide at least something of an explanation as to how Zagreus is able to engage with the sonorous, seemingly omniscient narrator--who almost functions in a manner parallel to the Greek chorus. I'm not entirely sure if this harebrained, partly puckish perception of Hades holds any merit whatsoever, but there's something appealing in it to me. anyways, that is a turgid digression! just want to reiterate that this is an excellent video, and your perspective on the peculiar nature of this game's narrative is genuinely edifying and enlightening :)
the athena thing you mentioned at the end- they actually changed it just before the 1.0. instead of randomly making guys invincible, she creates a thanatos circle on top of enemies every so often that applies invulnerability instead of killing them when it pops. she's actually way safer and easier to deal with now. poseidon and aphrodite are the hardest ones after the nerf i think.
oh lmao. I was clearly so traumatized by the early access version of it that I never, ever chose her again. I've been in poseidon and aphrodite hell forever thank you for this news
So, being "that guy" who has... more or less scraped Hades of all content (I will go back and finish the 32 Heat run... when my life stabilizes again) I largely agree. There are things that weaken the ending, and those cracks run through the whole game in a way. The Epilogue, for how much you work to unlock it, is... horribly weak. We don't get to even hear the characters interacting with each other. We're just told "it all worked out. Good job." Not even a suitable pat on the back. But also Athena is straight up the weakest of the gods in the "pick one" round. I breathe a sigh of relief every time she is an option, because the enemy patterns aren't different and there is no new thing I have to account for. She doesn't produce a thing that chases you constantly, meaning your attack pattern has to be shattered and frenetic (like Aphrodite's fucking heart shit) or take up large chunks of the room (fuck you Zeus). The worst, however, is Easily Demeter. I had one round where her fucking blizzard took up The Entire Room sans like a sliver on the side. That is just... You can't fight that, the whole room is pain. No. Never again, I know she doesn't always do that one, but the risk that she will just outright kill you is too high. Plus it's super easy to "force" your god picks, and frankly... Athena, Artemis, Zeus and Demeter is the strongest, most flexible combination in the game. If you even partially pick up some of their combo abilities you can easily clear Super Hardmode Daddy just by focusing on dodging. (Lightning Rod, and the regen abilities are So Powerful)
I was too depressed to finish the cover of Good Riddance before the release of the video so enjoy the festive and definitely topical opening instead :3
superb analysis! ever since my grubby little gamer paws procured a copy of Hades for my Switch a couple of months ago, I've been enraptured with the game, and I think I can confidently opine that it's one of the most magnificent, earnestly created video games I've ever had the joy of being able to experience. while I actually tend to enjoy the frivolous levity of many aspects of Hades's narrative structure and plot elements, I do agree with you that such a lightheartedly whimsical, almost blithe approach imposes the inimical effect of potentially detracting from the gravity and poignancy of the story. perhaps this is merely the undue influence of my inner theatre nerd, but how I reconcile this in my head is by envisioning the recursive events of Hades as almost being akin to productions of an ancient Greek play, where the division between the audience and the performance is frequently nonexistent or negligible. in my mind, this would provide at least something of an explanation as to how Zagreus is able to engage with the sonorous, seemingly omniscient narrator--who almost functions in a manner parallel to the Greek chorus. I'm not entirely sure if this harebrained, partly puckish perception of Hades holds any merit whatsoever, but there's something appealing in it to me. anyways, that is a turgid digression! just want to reiterate that this is an excellent video, and your perspective on the peculiar nature of this game's narrative is genuinely edifying and enlightening :)
Ahh yes, Hades content
Inject it into my veins
more like hadeez nuts
Great cat content as always; can't wait for the Good Riddance solo review!
So whacky how you can actually hear them!
the athena thing you mentioned at the end- they actually changed it just before the 1.0. instead of randomly making guys invincible, she creates a thanatos circle on top of enemies every so often that applies invulnerability instead of killing them when it pops. she's actually way safer and easier to deal with now. poseidon and aphrodite are the hardest ones after the nerf i think.
oh lmao. I was clearly so traumatized by the early access version of it that I never, ever chose her again. I've been in poseidon and aphrodite hell forever thank you for this news
And with this, the Supergiant series is complete :(
Until they release another game, that is.
So, being "that guy" who has... more or less scraped Hades of all content (I will go back and finish the 32 Heat run... when my life stabilizes again) I largely agree. There are things that weaken the ending, and those cracks run through the whole game in a way. The Epilogue, for how much you work to unlock it, is... horribly weak. We don't get to even hear the characters interacting with each other. We're just told "it all worked out. Good job." Not even a suitable pat on the back.
But also Athena is straight up the weakest of the gods in the "pick one" round. I breathe a sigh of relief every time she is an option, because the enemy patterns aren't different and there is no new thing I have to account for. She doesn't produce a thing that chases you constantly, meaning your attack pattern has to be shattered and frenetic (like Aphrodite's fucking heart shit) or take up large chunks of the room (fuck you Zeus). The worst, however, is Easily Demeter. I had one round where her fucking blizzard took up The Entire Room sans like a sliver on the side. That is just... You can't fight that, the whole room is pain. No. Never again, I know she doesn't always do that one, but the risk that she will just outright kill you is too high.
Plus it's super easy to "force" your god picks, and frankly... Athena, Artemis, Zeus and Demeter is the strongest, most flexible combination in the game. If you even partially pick up some of their combo abilities you can easily clear Super Hardmode Daddy just by focusing on dodging. (Lightning Rod, and the regen abilities are So Powerful)
apparently Athena was patched to be a very different fight than when I did it in early access lol