This title deserves every award it got. From its gorgeous art style to its swift gameplay, every aspect of Hades is so well polished that trying to escape the underworld feels just amazing. The daring but mind-blowing representation of the greek deities and their stories, which the player discovers bit by bit through interactions with them during and in between escape attempts, feels so natural that one may not suspect to what point they are accurately based on classical greek culture.
The combat is pure joy. Its learning curve may be a bit too steep, but the controls are so simple and its mechanics so intuitive that it's easy to get accustomed to it. Besides, the rewards and skills that the player obtains during runs (all of them passive) helps the player reach just a bit further on every try, which along with the bullyish relationship between Hades and the main character makes completing a run the most gratifying itch to scratch.