Hades 2 is the hotly anticipated sequel to one of the greatest games ever made, so what can we expect from it when it arrives sometime in the near future?
Developed by Supergiant Games and released as an indie game in 2020, Hades now finds itself counted among the best this medium has to offer. A roguelike that cleverly uses its premise to justify the gameplay loop, Hades tells the story of Zagreus, son of Hades the Greek god of the dead, who has to find a way out of his father’s literal hellscape to reunite with his estranged mother.
During his journey, Zagreus meets many iconic characters from Greek mythology and concludes each run by successfully reaching the world’s surface and facing his father Hades. If killed, Zagreus is returned to the starting point in his father’s office and has to go through all three levels of the Underworld again. The sequel, meanwhile, promises to take that highly acclaimed and incredibly addictive formula from the first game and introduce us to Melinoë, the princess of the Underworld and Zagreus’ sister. So, let’s review what we’ve learned about it thus far.
What is the story of Hades 2?
One would think that with the family now happily reunited, the Underworld’s troubling shenanigans would finally be over. But apparently, the gods of Olympus face a much more dangerous enemy this time around. Chronos, the Titan of Time, has escaped his imprisonment and now wages war against the pantheon. Hades himself has been captured, and Melinoe has to rely on the help of the remaining gods to get back into her father’s realm and challenge Chronos.
New and returning characters for this sequel include Hecate (Goddess of Witchcraft), Moros (Doom Incarnate), Dora (Listless Shade), Nemesis (Retribution Incarnate), Apollo (God of Light), and Chronos himself. Hades and Zeus are also present, though it’s still unclear if Zagreus will make a comeback.
Is there a trailer for Hades 2?
There’s indeed a trailer for Hades 2, introducing you to Melinoe and what you can expect from Zagreus’ badass sister. The first minute is an epic duel between Melinoe and the master training her to take on the story’s big bad. You can also glimpse the level design, which appears to be taking the players into other unexplored areas of the Underworld. Melinoe’s weapons include a strange staff that gives her magical powers and a khopesh dagger she dual-wields in combat.
When does Hades 2 come out?
Supergiant Games has yet to announce a release date for Hades 2, but we do know that an Early Access version is being planned for 2024. In a blog post published on September 14, the studio announced that Steam and Epic Games Store will host an Early Access release in the second quarter of 2024, meaning that you could get your hands on Hades 2 anywhere between three to six months.
There’s also going to be a “technical test” with a limited number of players to flesh out the incompatibility issues, implying that the game’s development is almost finished at this point. And though gamers have learned the hard way that smoothing out the rough edges could take years, we still remain hopeful for a proper release in 2025.
Will Hades 2 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X?
Game studios, especially indie devs, have traditionally relied on Steam or the PC platform in general to test the waters via Early Access. So the fact that Hades 2 is also following in the footsteps of its predecessor is no indicator that the game won’t come out on current-gen consoles. That being said, the first title certainly took a sweet while to do so, releasing almost a year later on the consoles, so perhaps Hades 2 will also prioritize platforms in the same manner.
What’s more, we don’t know if Hades 2 will come out on last-gen consoles. More demanding games have already forsaken PS4 and Xbox One (and even Nintendo Switch, if that was ever a contender) in favor of their more powerful current-gen counterparts, but since we don’t really expect Supergiant Games to push the franchise’s visual fidelity with the upcoming follow-up — I mean, the game’s trailer certainly doesn’t give us a reason to think that — Hades 2 is probably making its way to the older hardware as well. Eventually.
At any rate, that’s all we know about the much-awaited Supergiant sequel, but stay tuned for more updates soon.
