Summary
Hades 2’s premise brings a lot of drama and urgency to the story, but could hold it back in one area where the first game excelled. So far,Hades 2has come on strong with a new protagonist, set of weapons, and a significantly different story to follow for the game’s adventure. While it’s still early, Melinöe looks like she will be able to handily take the protagonist role that Zagreus excelled in during the first game. However, for all of the good things aboutHades 2, there is one potential flaw that could stall its momentum.
Trailers made it clear thatHades 2will have a very different storycompared to the first game, although both have a lot to do with Hades himself. In the firstHades, Zagreus wanted to escape the underworld in order to search for his mother, with Hades being the final obstacle that he has to face before reaching the surface.Hades 2, on the other hand, has the God of the Dead going from the final boss to a man in need, as Melinöe is tasked with rescuing him from the titan Chronos. Considering how strong Hades is, that raises the story’s stakes significantly.
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Hades 2 Needs Justification for Multiple Playthroughs Like the Original
In one of the more unique traits of thestorytelling used inHades, the game’s plot doesn’t come to an end once the player makes it to the surface. Zagreus finds his mother, but only receives a little bit of information before he has to return to the underworld. The player has to keep fighting through the underworld and beating Hades 10 times in total to get the full story and see the game’s true ending. It’s a design choice that gives the player more reason to play after seeing every level, and does a better job than the heat challenges in that regard.
WhileHades' plot worked for multiple playthroughs, the nature ofHades' return inHades 2makes such an idea harder to work with. After all, the reason that Zagreus had to escape over and over was because he could only survive for a limited time on the surface before dying and going back to the palace. That justified needing to play through multiple times, because Zagreus needed the time to talk to his mother. However, Melinöe’s quest to rescue Hades feels more like a one-and-done kind of mission, so it’s harder to imagine how the story could evolve through multiple playthroughs.
WhileHadeshandled the continuation of Zagreus' adventure well, it may be more difficult for theeventual postgame ofHades 2to do the same. Melinöe would need a reason to keep fighting Chronos again and again, after all. However, if she needs to keep saving Hades, then it won’t feel like the player is making real progress unless some other element is at play. Likewise, if Hades is saved after one attempt, then there would need to be a new reason for Melinöe to go back to fight Chronos again.Hades 2may have a harder time than the first when it comes to multiple runs.
Hades' longevity was built on its story structure, butHades 2may need some finesse to recreate the same effect.Hades 2’s story presentationis working with a different kind of plot, and that will require some work to achieve the same effect as the first game. While rescuing Hades is Melinöe’s primary goal, the game will need to find some ray to continue the quest with subsequent playthroughs in order to match the original’s gameplay loop.Hadesdid an excellent job of encouraging players to do multiple playthroughs, andHades 2needs to repeat that without the cycle feeling forced.
Hades 2is in development.
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