How Hades Deviates From The Roguelike Formula:
(Warning: Contains Minor Spoilers for Hades!)
I play a lot of video games, and one genre that always gets me to come back is Roguelikes. Roguelike games are a genre of games that are built upon death. Every run is different, and the enemies, rooms, and items are randomized. Death is permanent, sending you right back to the start. I’ve played a few roguelikes, Dead Cells, Enter The Gungeon, and namely Hades. I never thought I could love a roguelike as much as Dead Cells, for the combat was so good, the lore reminded me of Dark Souls, and the system of progression, from collecting cells and spending them on items that will enter the possible pool of items to be used. That was until I played Hades. Hades is a game about the son of Hades, Zagreus, attempting to escape from the underworld to find his mother. Hades’ story is incredibly good, the characters are amazing, all the dialogue is voiced, and the gameplay is god tier. These changes, on top of the Hades’ amazing story and artwork makes it one of the best roguelike games ever, but
The thing that really struck me about the gameplay was how it deviates from the formula roguelikes usually follow.
Before we get started on the game part, we need to discuss the story. For those not familiar with Greek Mythology, Hades kidnaps Persephone and attempts to marry her. Her mother Demeter is so upset with the disappearance of her daughter that she causes a horrible winter to descend on earth. Demeter finds out Hades kidnapped Persephone and marches down to the underworld to get her. Hades manages to feed Persephone 6 pomegranate seeds before she leaves, the marriage custom of the gods. Hades argues to Zeus that he should get her for some of the time for the 6 seeds she ate. So Persephone spends 6 months in the underworld, or winter, and 6 months on the surface for spring and summer. Persephone does eventually fall in love with Hades, so it’s at least a decent deal for her, but still messed up like most Greek Mythology. Hades follows a slightly different storyline, in which Persephone is never found by Demeter, has a son with Hades named Zagreus and leaves for an unknown reason. Hades hides the fact that his wife left him from his son. Zagreus finds out this fact and decides it’s time for him to leave his father and seek the truth from his mother on the surface. Hades then has the citizens of the Underworld try to stop Zagreus from making his way to the surface.
Hades deviates from other roguelikes in it’s handling of resource management. In modern roguelikes, or roguelites as they have been called, completing objectives and progressing through areas grant currencies that can be used to buy things, such as power ups to your character and weapons to unlock. Dead Cells is a great example of classic roguelike resource management, simply because every permanent upgrade in Dead Cells is bought with Cells the only major currency in the game. Coins are not only unimportant for progression, but are also lost on death. Cells on the other hand are deposited at the end of each level.. Cells are obtained by killing enemies, bosses, and by opening chests. Cells can be spent with the Collector to unlock weapons and items. Problem is, you have to make it to the collector to spend them. Dead Cells is an unforgiving game. Die with 200 cells on you? Tough luck. Death can come at any time and it’s frustrating how often you end up losing cells and not progressing at all.
Hades remedies this in a surprisingly simple way. Rather than just one currency for purchasing permanent upgrades, there are 6. Each one is different, functions differently, and can be exchanged for a different currency. Darkness is used for upgrading Zagreus’ abilities, gemstones for buying changes to the Underworld with the house contractor. Nectar for gifting to characters, Chthonic keys for unlocking weapons and new abilities, diamonds for more powerful House Contractor deals, and Ambrosia as an extension of Nectar’s relationship building properties. Each one can be obtained through clearing rooms full of enemies. The difference between Dead Cells and Hades in terms of collecting items is that so long as you defeat all the enemies in the room, the items picked up are yours to keep. Rather than requiring that you finish the area, which you won’t on your first run, Hades allows you to make choices about which rooms you enter and why. Do you need gemstones, prioritize them this run and pick them up when you can. Death becomes less of a blow when you don’t lose it all for messing up. This allows for players to progress regardless of whether they die often or not.
Hades also differs in how the player builds their character each run. There are six weapons to be unlocked. Zagreus starts with a sword, but can unlock a bow, spear, shield, gloves, and gun, more a successor to a dart gun than a bullet based projectile launcher. Each weapon offers different playstyles, and you get to choose what you start with. Starting items in Dead Cells are random, and some items are much better than others.. Get a bad starting hand in Dead Cells? Restart till you get a better one. Hades is different in the fact that no matter how bad your build, at least you get to pick which weapon is used. One key feature of Hades is it’s system of upgrades. The Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology believe that Zagreus wishes to join them on Mount Olympus, and send boons or gifts to enhance Zagreus’ weapons. You start with a random boon, but will pick more up along the way. The player sees which rewards are listed outside the rooms you may enter, and can therefore decide whether they will pick up resources to be kept permanently, or a boon to enhance Zagreus and increase the chance of making it through the next encounter. By giving players the agency to pick which paths they take, which upgrades and weapons they can choose from, allows for players to make difficult choices about what to pick up, therefore making Hades more engaging to play. Hades also has a non-permanent currency. Charon’s Obol is the coinage of the underworld, and all of it is returned to the River Styx when you die. Obol can be used to purchase Boons, Healing, and other Currencies at Charon’s Shop, throwing in an aspect of risk to the game.
One final thing Hades does right is how it scales difficulty. In Enter The Gungeon, or Dead Cells, the base damage dealt by an enemy will remain the same, and the difficulty will only ever go up as the game progresses. Hades is different in this regard, for it slowly tweaks the damage and enemies spawned in rooms for the player to match their skill and success. If a player is absolutely getting the tar kicked out of them and can’t make it past room five? Their own increase in skill, upgrades, and the natural difficulty scaling of the game will allow them to progress a little further each time, even if just by one more room. An “easy mode” is also available that speeds up this process exponentially, allowing for players to experience the story and characters of Hades without being forced to build enough skill and upgrades. Hades is incredibly user friendly and can be enjoyed by both the hardcore gamer, and the casual fan who simply wants to enjoy the story.
Hades is an incredible game, one I would highly recommend to anyone who has even a mild interest in Greek mythology. The story and gameplay are both so good that I would pay $60 for this game. It feels like robbery to get it for the $25 it normally sells at and even more so for when it went on sale for $17. The game design in Hades is incredible, and as a fan of roguelikes as well as SuperGiant games, (the creators of Hades) it is incredible to play.
