Hades II is coming out soon, and by Olympus, the gameplay looks stunning! Supergiant Games opened sign-ups for the Hades II technical test, and you can try your luck and apply here if you want to experience some of the gameplay yourself.
If you’ve played the first Hades game, then you already know that Zagreus successfully broke out of his father’s home (the Underworld) and reunited his parents. Everything should’ve been happily ever after, and for a while, it seems everything was happy. Melinoë, Zagreus’ sister, was born sometime after the first game.
But the start of Hades II shows us an Underworld in ruin. Melinoë is the Princess of the Underworld, but the House of Hades is nowhere to be found. Chronos, the Titan of Time, has captured Melinoë’s entire family, and she must save them all.
Some gods who were not present in the first game have finally appeared to help Melinoe in her quest to avenge her family. Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, is just one of them. Even older gods who’ve appeared in the first game have updated boons, and you’ll be able to pair them with new weapons. Melinoë’s a little luckier than Zagreus because she’s able to wear armor of your choice from Arachne, whom you might be able to encounter while dungeon crawling in the Underworld.
This Underworld is not the same as the one we’ve seen with Zagreus, so we might not see friends like Achilles and Cerberus, or even old foes like Theseus. They might have been captured by Chronos, or, gods forbid, worse. But this Underworld is not devoid of any help either. Melinoë had been raised by Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and necromancy.
This is also why Melinoë is called “witch,” since she uses witchcraft as taught by her mentor—who is also one of the bosses in the game, all in the name of tough love. You can watch Supergiant Games’ technical test for yourself and decide whether you think Hecate is a tougher fight than Hades himself.
(featured image: Supergiant Games)
