Hades II Review

At this point in time, Supergiant really can do no wrong…

“God Tier”.

It’s a title often given to things or entities that have reached untouchable realms of excellence and it can be used for and across myriad worlds, from entertainment to writing to art to manufacturing (and beyond). Today, as we type this review for Hades II however, its attachment to the game’s developer, Supergiant Games, is more pointed. At the eventual ‘close’ of Hades II (there really almost never is one) it’s abundantly clear this studio is pure God Tier in the so-called “god-like” space; a space it not only popularised with the original Hades, but also reinvented from the perspective of the roguelike and lite genres, respectively (and mashedly), transcending the term at all, and leaving us genuflecting at its mastery of its creative and bar-setting self.

In other words, Hades II is the shit and we are in awe at how Supergiant managed to take what was already near-perfection, and perfecterise it even more.

And it’s on more that we can settle in for analysis. The team spent a lot of time with the community and listening to feedback while the game was in Early Access/Beta to not only tighten up mechanics, but also make wholesale changes (at times dealing with multiple petitions to keep this or junk that, at the bequest of hilariously fickle players) often presenting the game with placeholder assets, no audio, progress blockers and more. And while we jumped into the EA and ponied up early to support the game and Supergiant as an Indie, we decided to put the controller down after just a few hours to wait for the final, polished product and we’re so glad we did.

Hades II is a pure joy to unravel. It is beautifully paced and never for a moment feels repetitive, despite its rogue-ish nature, which is a testament to the design at play here. Where character growth from a strength perspective is always taking place, like Hades before it, it’s the world around Melinoë that truly characterises your progress in the game and feels rewardingly neverending. And while that is obviously all very familiar, it also does a lot to not just advance its own formula, but to openly distance itself from what came before, but does so without forgetting the past. Time, here, being of significant essence.

Let us Boon you with info on how…

Hades II

Genre: Roguelike
Developer: Supergiant Games
Publisher: Supergiant Games
Release Date: September 25, 2025
Classification: M 15+
Author: Stephen Farrelly
Date: October 15, 2025

Crossroads

Without spoiling too much of the game, the setup takes cues from Greek epics in the same way the first game did, with this instance seeing the House of Hades taken over by the returned Titan, Chronos -- father to Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, among others. As something of a child of destiny, we take on the role of Melinoë -- baby sister to Zagreus and the only member of the Hades family not taken captive by the vengeful titan. Raised, then, by the witch Hecate, she has been training in the realm of Erebus away from the prying eyes of the original, literal god(s)father in preparation for an ultimate showdown, but getting to old Grandaddy Time takes time itself, thankfully your home in Erebus -- the Crossroads, features all of the initial creature comforts a witch-in-training might need, plus enough pull from the game’s varied economy to even give Crossroads a number of new features, both aesthetic and helpful for your quest.

"For one, you’ll be exploring incantations to help each run and even change the way you handle certain levels, but these require resources..."

This means you can expect a similar upgrade pathway system to the OG game, but as you’ll learn and hear, often, throughout this review, it’s all simply a lot more. For one, you’ll be exploring incantations to help each run and even change the way you handle certain levels, but these require resources, and certain resources only exist in specific biomes, and even then you’re not always guaranteed to get what you want. However, you do gain a garden in the Crossroads which does help you cultivate the resource economy a bit and is also just a fun hobby (read our “Would you like to know more?” box out for… MORE!). You naturally gain more friends from your jaunts and they’ll eventually come and hang at your hideyhole from the prying eyes of Chronos and each naturally comes packed with exposition, world updates, helpful hints and even nerdy nods to their respective places within the Greek epics they ever showed up in.

As a witch, you’ll also gain Familiars -- animal friends you find throughout runs and these guys come with their own active and passive buffs and can be invested in to aid you on your seemingly impossible task. Plus, *how good is it having pets?!

(*"Writes the dual pug-owning reviewer" -- Homer.)

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The Crossroads feels slightly more engaging and broad than the House of Hades. An obvious aspect being that it's actually set within a forest clearing, but also because all parts you upgrade serve something of a purpose. Aesthetics do exist, but a lot of people gave up on the colour of drapes chase in the OG. Meaningful aspects here make more sense because the world and each run costs more, which helps diminish the so-called 'grind' while also making you feel like you're impacting and meaningfully upgrading your safe space. Over time, too, more and more peeps will come and visit and maybe even stay, so it's worth the investment.

Going Up!

Entirely new to the makeup of the Hades experience is your ability to conquer the surface world -- something both Zegreus and Hades himself struggled with beyond a set time limit. Using your witcherly powers, Melinoë eventually sets foot on Earth where you can actually set upon an entirely different storyline to help your family on Mount Olympus who are having their own struggles with Chronos and his lackeys.

"As with all support characters in the game, they all have different agendas, storylines and world information to impart..." 

What's unique about a surface run is that the structure is totally different to an Underworld run, and while they each become familiar in terms of what to expect, it simply means you can mix things up if you’re tiring of one. Moreover, certain resources can only be found on the surface, so even runs to just grind to build out the Crossroads require you to switch it up between the two.

You’ll also meet different characters in each location. Heracles, for example, only appears on the surface, while Nemesis can only be found in the Underworld, and as with all support characters in the game, they all have different agendas, storylines and world information to impart. And that’s only two mentioned, there are more but we don’t want to spoil the surprise too much, save to say whenever we saw a gateway indicating a vignette, we were on it like so many flies on the corpses of those piling up in the burning city of Ephyra. Both quests (they are full quests each, neither is a so-called ‘side’) simply give the game so much depth and variation that you could easily have still enjoyed only working through one and receiving the other after completion or even as an expansion or some sort of DLC, but that they’re both here is awesome and adds to the overall content on offer which, again, is a lot.

Extended Family

The meat of Hades was the power and upgrade support of the gods via their respective boons, and that remains true in Hades II. There are also new boons on offer not from gods that have more passive, or Encounter-based aspects to them (not too dissimilar to those of Chaos from the first game, though they return here also) which mixes things up a bit and definitely forces you to think about the upgrade path you chase in new ways. But in Hades II we also meet some new faces alongside the old offering both new storylines and dialogue as well as unique powers. A personal favourite is Hestia -- the goddess of the Hearth, which is translated in-game as fire -- who is also one of the oldest of the gods. She’s hilarious and powerful but playing with fire in certain parts of the game is fraught with danger to yourself, particularly on the ships in the Rift of Thessaly, and against a certain boss with an equal infatuation with fire (*ahem*). So you really do wind up picking your battles more in Hades II.

"Their help isn’t a fleeting dig at your Old Man - they need you now..."

The other thing, though, is you’re more in touch with each member of the game’s supporting cast this time around, and their help isn’t a fleeting dig at your Old Man -- they need you now, and each vignette and verbal encounter feels more meaningful as a result (read our "Would you like to know more?" box out for... MORE!).

Love interests also return, and Melinoë can pursue these however she sees fit. This is done by gifting Nectar, Ambrosia, Bath Salts (the good kind), Fishing Lures and more as the game progresses and you gain these things. Specific items are then used for ‘date’ purposes, such as the salts for a nice shared bath, or the lures for a spot of fishing. But not all gifting nets you a Nectar-Flavour of Love™ moment, some relationship-building is about combat support, home support or even just emotional support. You are fighting titans, after all and yet you’ve never met your mum or dad or big bro.

There’s a lot embedded in this jaunt from an emotional perspective, and we’re all the better for it.

Pick a C-Arcana-rd, any Card

New here, too, is the game’s power system that sees Melinoë unlocking and upgrading Arcana cards. This is a fairly rudimentary system not at all unlike many a roguelike and lite out in the world right now but how you mix and match these, based on a specific numerical cap, will define your run(s). Matching your Arcana loadout alongside the zone you wish to tackle and the boons you want to chase can mean the difference between death (defiance) and success. Each of the cards is upgradeable, and as has been peppered throughout here, you upgrade these with resources found within each run and acquired in your downtime. It’s a lot of busy work and we can see some people will try and cheese the game or simply settle on what they think are safe options, but there are synergies bound through all of this, but not expressly shared via the devs, so we do feel the research and trial and error are worth it.

"It often feels like no element of the game wasn’t scrutinised within an inch of itself by Supergiant..."

Additionally, you can partake in shortened runs with set boons and buffs from Chaos, and beating these also gives you an important resource for later. Your weapons, too, have new aspects and upgrade pathways and unlocks. 

It’s all very involved, right down to upgrading the basic pickaxe used to mine minerals, or the shovel used to find important seeds and more. It often feels like no element of the game wasn’t scrutinised within an inch of itself by Supergiant to simply ensure it had a level of engagement and upgrade -- or growth -- in line with the rest of the game.

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The first game's unfurling story, and consistently *fresh* information and vignette outlay, was forever surprising. It's an aspect here we've all expected, though, given the pedigree and developer. However, there's also a lot in store if you push through from an equal measure of surprise here. When we continually allude to the game being "a lot more", even those surprises are that and then some. They might be more expected now, but maybe not to the 'scale' you think (actually, beyond). Just, you know... climb that mountain.

Attack on Titan(s)

It felt that at around the 30 hour mark we were making considerable inroads to endrun material. Some bosses after another 10 or 15 hours bared fangs easily enough to see (poor old Infernal Cerberus -- quite easy fodder now, but that feels deliberate), while others still were too hard (Eris still manages to grief). At just under 50 Chronos fell and at a further sub 10, so did another big bad, and each realm had been bested, but the game itself, and us to a very large degree, really, had only just begun to get to work. 

"Maybe just because so much of everything they’ve done here is perfect..." 

Personally, the amount of time I poured into Hades was ungodly (or is that actually, godly?) and this feels no different other than it just has so much more to unpack. It also feels at this point that Supergiant might as well make a third game and leave us with a well-rounded trilogy to stick to its design rule of threes that permeates a lot of the game. And maybe just because so much of everything they’ve done here is perfect. 

The game’s entire art, from presentation to level design to characters to vignettes, and beyond, is perfect. All dialogue and acting performances are perfect, and seemingly neverending. All combat and combat readiness and depth is perfect, even when RNG rears its annoying head from time to time. And from that perspective, the player investment element is also perfect, lest you only want something to pick up and play… but even then, given a basic run is roughly only 30 minutes, well, that’s also kind of perfect. And across both PC and Switch, it plays perfect. Or wait, how did we phrase it at the start?

That’s right… God Tier.

What’s Boss?

  • Elevated art that was already amazing
  • Some of the best storytelling and dialogue this side of... anything, and seemingly neverending
  • Incredible performances bringing the above to life
  • A revamped character growth and investment system freshens things up, but still keeps it all approachable
  • Underworld AND Mount Olympus... yep
  • Familiars change things up considerably

Not Boss Enough?

  • Still an incredibly long and drawn-out adventure, if that's not your thing
  • Some bosses could do with a bit of balancing as of launch
  • Some issues syncing data between Switch and Steam

Sequel to one of the all-time roguelikes, Hades II takes everything up several notches, and then some. From your plight within the world(s) around you, to your own progression and combat prowess, as well as the story that unfolds... this is pinnacle gaming and game design.

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About the Author

Written By Stephen Farrelly
Stephen Farrelly is a veteran journalist and editor with more than two decades experience in the worlds of gaming, entertainment, lifestyle and sport. He is a proud pug dad, loves art in all forms (particularly street and tattoo culture), and is the director of Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd, this site's owner and publisher. When not dispensing words, he's also dispensing boutique beers as a taproom fixture at Bracket Brewing in Marrickville, NSW...
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