Gaming🎮 It's not just the story: every single game developer can learn something from Hades' creative take on an underused mechanic

[Royal_Lizard]

The roguelike genre is a type of game that I have, honestly, neglected for most of my life. I know what I I like, after all, and I don’t see a Silent Hill roguelike happening any time soon. Despite having dabbled with The Binding of Isaac, Enter the Gungeon, and Downwell, something failed to click with me when it came to roguelikes. I later tried Hades, which appealed to me because of its vibrant visual style and cast of hot Gods and Goddesses, only to find that I didn’t quite gel with it either.

After the launch of Hades 2 into Early Access, and seeing a feminine protagonist — Melinoe — at the helm, I was all the more keen to give things a go again. I wanted to know what this magical game that my friends kept telling me I’d love was all about ; I really wanted to get it, to enjoy it as much as they did, and understand what it was all about.

I couldn’t start with Hades 2, though. I had 2018’s Hades to get through first if I wanted to know what Zagreus, Melinoe, and co. were all about, and that’s where my brief obsession with the game — and full conversion to being a roguelike lover — began. And it wouldn’t have kicked off at all without one underused mechanic: God Mode.

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