THIS LOG IS OUTDATED, THIS IS WHAT I THINK OF THE GAME NOW

I think I'm good until the next couple of major updates or the release of 1.0, while I think the things that made its predecessor good are still there and improved tenfold, there are many things I'm pretty much not entirely convinced about yet. For instance, the Arcana System is not great, and I find the buffs it provides very underwhelming compared to the remarkable upgrade system that the mirror was, I don't really like any of the Nocturnal Arms, enemy damage in later areas feels overtuned, and take too fucking long to die, and for some reason every boss summons adds now.
I know some of these issues are fundamental and might not get addressed, but to prevent souring my own experience any further, I'll put this one on pause for the time being.

Also, I'm sure there are a lot of Nemesis fans already that see her and go "I can fix her". I don't want to fix her.
I want to push her off a bridge after saying this.

- Review after finishing both current routes 3 times each -
Hades 2 is everything we expected and everything it should be as a sequel to Hades 1. The gameplay is similar enough to immediately be recognized as a sequel to Hades, but different enough to be engaging for all players, regardless of if they played Hades before.
The focus on ranged combat and the magic system take some getting used to, but can be extremely satisfying after some time. The boons work similarly to the first game, but have a lot more depth to them and can create some insane synergies if used correctly.
The changes to the dash discourage the braindead dashing all around the place the first game was known for and put more focus on mindful and strategic gameplay, befitting the theme of a ranged-focused witch we are now playing.
As if this wasn't enough, the game has a tremendous amount of content to offer in upgrades, difficulty levels, routes and many more things that build on what made Hades 1 so engaging and fun to play.
While I was skeptical at first, I can wholeheartedly give this game a 10/10 and cannot wait for the full release.
Also Chaos hottest character (fight me)

Having reached the current ends of both dungeons once now, I think I can solidly say that Supergiant are hitting it out of the park yet again. As a sequel, it feels familiar, but it's tweaked and added just enough to the first game's formula to give it its own unique flavor. Being in early access, it's left me wanting MORE (more weapon aspects, more incantations, more familiars, more finished character sprites PLEASE), but I know that MORE is coming and I couldn't be more thrilled with that.
I also still adore Supergiant's interpretations of Greek figures so much. So entertaining and full of character. Some of the new characters in this game made my former Greek mythology kid self scream like I was meeting a celebrity.

Literally a day after I posted my last rant log about what I thought of the current state of the game, Supergiant released a Major patch with a fuck ton of QoL fixes, and specially, weapon changes. Goddamn, these people work quick! So I decided to hop back into the game and try, try again, mostly with the weapons that seemingly got improved.

Immediately I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ygnium (Torches) was massively buffed, and I nearly cried tears of joy at the fact that I had finally found what I considered to be my favorite weapons, along with Revaal (Skulls) which I hadn't the chance to try out until now. I'm glad to see that going forward I know that those two are going to be the weapons I'll do most of my runs with. Axe is almost good, but the Omega Special is still not worth the commitment with the barrier dropping while you are locked in the animation, specially against enemies that spam projectiles. So I have to applaud Supergiant for this, I'm genuinely looking for more patches on the way to the full release.

However, some of my strongest nitpicks are still there, I still think it's very obnoxious that nearly every boss likes to spam a fuck ton of adds now, and I still don't find the Arcana system that interesting. However, something else that changed is that I realized that the issue isn't that Enemies are overtuned in later areas, but instead is that Surface runs are fucking tough, enemies there aren't just fucking around compared to the underground areas.

Now having beat a full run on both sides, I can comfortably kick back, put this one on the shelf, and wait for the chefs to do their work

I've shelved Hades 2 since it's an early access so I will be waiting until the game is fully released. But!! The game looks amazing and I love the way they are headed.
Characters are so fine (Nemesis and Moros ESPECIALLY) and funny and I like them a lot and I'm looking forward to interacting with them further when the game is released.
The fighting mechanics are so good for an early access of the game so I think I will just pass out if they make it any better. As for the weapons...I hope they work on them a bit more since I like only 3 of them...and the others are mid to be honest...

Soa mais como uma adaptação da base do primeiro jogo a outra protagonista do que de fato um jogo completamente diferente, o que não é necessariamente ruim, aliás, já gosto mais do que o primeiro. Sinto que no quesito de progressão e formação de build ainda é tão baseado em rng e otimização de dano quanto e em certos pontos um tanto menos interessante de experimentar, as armas por exemplo não são tão criativas e variadas, e os aspectos delas não mudam isso(não sei o quanto o lançamento final vai mudar nesse ponto), mas essa adaptação da base é um ótimo refresco e improvisa bastante em pontos que Hades já era muito bom. Temos agora um combate mais puxado para gerenciamento de recursos, controle de multidão e posicionamento cuidadoso, a movimentação de Melinoe é mais lenta que a de Zagreus e exige maior atenção em onde usar cada ataque, pegar iframe ou utilizar de seus recursos ofensivos para controlar os inimigos, vários encontros se baseiam em uma arena caótica com inimigos mais agressivos junto de inimigos que enchem a tela de projéteis ou ataques em área(até me senti jogando bullet hell e final fantasy XIV em alguns momentos), mas através de um uso inteligente de seus ataques e da conjuração(ataque universal da Melinoe que faz os inimigos ficarem presos em um local), você pode juntar os inimigos para matar eles rapidamente ou garantir que fiquem atordoados e não te ataquem. Essa nova base do combate acaba sendo muito bem colocada na campanha do jogo, e é um ponto que sinto que esse jogo melhora bastante em relação a seu antecessor também, cada região parece bem mais única aqui, tanto por variedade de inimigos quanto por interações com o cenário, e mesmo com a progressão e experimentação de builds sendo um tanto menos interessante para mim, repetir o jogo se torna pouco cansativo justamente por essa base sólida. A premissa da jornada de Melinoe também me chama atenção e gosto do contraste que a relação familiar dela tem com a relação do Zagreus no primeiro jogo, mas isso, junto com novas áreas que estão por vir e provavelmente mudanças de balanceamento e progressão, são coisas que ainda estão sendo construídas e nos resta esperar e ver o que o tempo terá a nos oferecer para esse jogo, no mais, a base presente aqui me agrada bastante e estou bem ansiosa pelos futuros updates.

Oui, il s'agit de ''more Hades'' dans cette suite et ce n'est définitivement pas une mauvaise chose!

La version EA est d'une qualité extraordinaire qui me hype encore plus pour le 1.0

Chef's kiss

After almost 50 hours into the Early Access for this game, I can safely say that making a sequel was a great idea. Hades was a great game and they've managed to spice up the formula enough to not only justify another title, but they've also actively tweaked some systems and such to make the experience feel very fresh and arguably better than its predecessor at times.

Melinoe is a fun protagonist and I very much enjoy the new weapons and environments that come with the sequel (minus a few blemishes here and there). The game isn't finished, and I've managed to hit more than a couple instances of incomplete art, storylines, ways to progress, etc. But even then I'd argue the Early Access is more than worth your time if you enjoyed the first one and don't mind waiting for the game to gradually be completed.

Supergiant are wizards and have once again managed to wow me with their unique art style, fluid gameplay, and overall solid experience that's more than worth the $30 ticket to entry. I may be mostly done with the game for now but I'll almost certainly hop on and do a few runs here and there, especially when more content is added periodically.