Lacks much variety for its genre, but that allows Scourgebringer to craft the most challenging yet fair roguelike experience with an insane killer "DOOM" soundtrack to match the intensity of the gameplay and some of the tightest 2D gameplay.

Its precise movement is often compared to Celeste, but an equally strong example is to Furi with how each basic move affords so many different options. Your firearm reloads by dealing melee damage to enemies, so you have to mix it into your melee combos strategically. Your dash has no i-frames but it resets on enemy kill, and drags enemies along with you. Your heavy attack isn't just an aoe, but it stuns almost all enemies, so you can combo it with the dash to corral enemies together. And yet by being risky and chasing enemies, you increase your survivability since hitting enemies resets your double jump too. Like Furi, all of these simple mechanics feed into encouraging you to play aggressively yet intelligently.

And you feel like a Gamer God

I would like to say I just went back to this to the beat true final boss. But really I had just beat Hades and I was feeling and itch to return to Revita. Coming back, I had an absolute blast and I absolutely fell in love with this game. Part of my new enjoyment with the game should also be of course attributed all the new relics I now had access to. But mostly the game came together for me in much tighter focus to me. While the player moveset might be simple, the game gains so much depth from its health system. Every choice you make to skip the chance for an item instantly carries so much meaning. Performing well in an area is instantly gratifying because

Stacking on top of the health system, the various different secret choices add so much more flavor to the progression of a run. Instead of simple binary choices like in Isaac, the health system is folded into how you can achieve the different optional routes and colors so much the narrative of a run.

Extraordinary this isn't even the full (2.0.0) release of the game.

As a roguelike, Hades' gameplay fumbles in a lot of ways. It's nowhere near often you are making difficult, impactful decisions like in Revita. It's a bit too quick to learn what are the best and worst boons. Although Hades is technically less challenging than something like One Step from Eden, but the visual noise and enemy jank can make it feel like a more difficult experience. Bomber enemies can repeatedly hop between the same two platforms. Floating ranged enemies can hover over lava or awkwardly out of reach corners. Some enemies can start projectiles from outside the view of the screen. Often times, the gameplay is a test of patience and it can feel like a chore in this way. Thankfully, Hades has what too many roguelikes are missing: a narrative context and a genius story premise. Whereas I would be tempted to return to any other roguelike because of the allure of learning more about the game's systems, I find myself pulled by the incredible cliffhanger after Hades' first run. But maybe then, I'll another roguelike to pass the time.