As a roguelike dungeon-crawler, it’s possible for players to speedrun an escape from the Underworld inHadeswithin 20 minutes. At the same time, it’s also a game with dozens of hours of story and character content for the player to work through, and much of it comes post-game once the credits have rolled. This comes with its own set of challenges, but it also has lessons thatHades 2can learn from.
Hadesplayers soon learned that escaping the Underworldwas just a small part of the story. The plot thickened when Zagreus learned the heartbreaking truth that he could not survive on the Earth’s surface for too long. With this revelation came the need to convince Persephone to return with Zagreus to the House of Hades. After several escapes, Persephone finally agrees, and they return to the Underworld in Charon’s boat while the credits roll; players soon discover this isn’t anywhere near the end of the game, and there’s still much left of the main story to complete.
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The Hades Ending That Players Didn’t Expect
Players accustomed to RPGs and games more focused on narrative would probably have already greatly improved their relationships with most, if not all, of the Olympians by this point, as well as wrapping up any of the side content such as reuniting Achilles and Patroclus and resolving the relationship between Chaos and Nyx. WhileHadesdoes encourage players to improve their relationships with allthe Olympians throughout the game by dispensing nectar and ambrosiato prepare for the post-game challenge of issuing invitations to the House of Hades, players who have only focused on escaping and who haven’t been nurturing their in-game relationships will find the game’s story halted to a crawl at this point without much warning.
The end-game credits also happen rather abruptly; without much warning, Hades gives up on fighting Zagreus and Persephone agrees to move back to the Underworld all in the same run.Hadesthen moves into its post-game where the focus of thenarrative shifts to building a relationship with Persephone, Hades, and Demeter, alongside the other Olympians. The pacing of the epilogue is fine if the player has been consistent with the other side quests and building relationships throughout the game. Otherwise, the epilogue may prove to take longer to complete than the core game.
Why Hades' Epilogue Slows to a Crawl
While having a ton of content to work through post-game is a great idea, it only really works well if the player plans accordingly. First-time players and players who aren’t aware of tropes of the genre also need to be made aware of the importance of building relationships and making steady progress throughout the game,rather than charging through the main story to get it doneand focusing on the side content later.
The developer can do this through game design that clearly signals intent, such as letting the player clearly know when the game’s main story is nearing its end, what that means, and what should be done before completing the main storyline. As a sequel,Hades 2will probably also have an extended epilogue, extensive side quests, and a ton of characters for players to get to know and love.
Hadesis already a great game andHades 2only needs some tweaks from the formula its predecessor has set up to become truly spectacular. Supergiant Games will most likely use this as anopportunity to improve onHadesand deliver an experience that comes with a more satisfying payoff and better pacing than its predecessor, particularly post-game, for both veterans and newcomers.
