Back to Home
Hades II
game
•7/14/2026

Hades II

bySupergiant Games
SteamNintendo Switch
9.3
The Verdict
"Hades II had every excuse to play it safe. The original's formula was a proven, award-winning machine, and simply reprinting it would have sold millions. Supergiant chose the harder road—rebuilding the combat, layering in the Arcana system, and doubling the world—and the gamble pays off. This is a sequel with the confidence to be different, and the craft to make that difference feel earned." "The caveats are honest ones. It's still in Early Access, the mechanical density will intimidate some, and a few systems await their final polish. But the foundation here is extraordinary. Even unfinished, Hades II is deeper, richer, and more ambitious than nearly anything else in its genre. When 1.0 arrives, it stands a real chance of eclipsing the game that made Supergiant a household name." "Melinoë came to kill a Titan. On this evidence, she'll manage it in style."

Gallery

Screenshot 1
View
Screenshot 2
View
Screenshot 3
View
Screenshot 4
View

Key Features

The Magick & Omega System: Melinoë wields mana, spending it on charged Omega attacks and a dedicated Sprint. Combat is no longer just dodge-and-strike; it's resource management under pressure, adding a second economy to every fight.
The Arcana Card System: A brand-new meta-progression layer of permanent, customizable buffs. You build a "spread" of cards within a resource limit, effectively designing your own difficulty and playstyle before a run even begins.
Dual Worlds—Underworld and Surface: Two divergent campaign paths, each with distinct biomes, bosses, and gods. The map isn't just bigger; it's structurally split, doubling the sense of a world worth exploring.
Living Narrative Between Runs: Death advances the plot. Tend a garden, brew incantations at a cauldron, and build relationships with a sprawling cast—every failed run feeds new dialogue and story beats.

The Good

Deeper combat with a genuinely fresh mana/Omega system
Arcana cards deliver enormous, customizable build variety
Massive content volume across two distinct worlds
Best-in-class art, music, and full voice acting

The Bad

Higher complexity creates a real onboarding wall for newcomers
Still Early Access—awaiting final balance and 1.0 content
Mana economy slows the frantic pace some fans loved
Stat-heavy UI can overwhelm during hectic fights

In-Depth Review

Bottom Line: Supergiant took the best roguelike of the last decade and refused to simply photocopy it. Hades II is bigger, thornier, and more ambitious than its predecessor—and even in Early Access, it's already one of the finest action games you can buy.

The Gameplay Loop

The genius of the first Hades was its answer to the roguelike's oldest problem: repetition. Dying wasn't a punishment; it was a narrative beat. Hades II keeps that engine and bolts on more horsepower.

Each run pushes Melinoë through procedurally arranged encounters that reset on death. Clear a room, choose a door, gamble on a reward—a boon from an Olympian god, a pile of resources, a stat boost. The rhythm is familiar to anyone who played the original, and that familiarity is deliberate. Supergiant isn't reinventing the loop. It's deepening it.

The real change lives in your hands. Melinoë is a caster as much as a brawler. Her Omega attacks—charged, mana-fueled versions of her standard moves—demand that you constantly weigh burst damage against the resource pool that also feeds your Sprint and Cast. This is the sequel's central tension, and it's a smart one. In the first game, mana didn't exist; aggression was nearly free. Here, every big swing is a decision. It slows the tempo just slightly, trading Zagreus's frantic bloodlust for something more calculated and, frankly, more witchy.

Not everyone will love that. If you came to Hades for pure adrenaline, the mana economy can feel like a governor on the engine. But give it a few hours and the friction reveals itself as depth.

The Arcana Layer

The Arcana card system is where Hades II makes its boldest structural bet. Between runs, you arrange a spread of tarot-like cards that grant permanent buffs, constrained by a resource budget. It functions as both progression and self-imposed difficulty tuning. Want more survivability? Slot the defensive cards. Chasing a glass-cannon build? Load up on damage and pray.

This is meaningful player agency. The original's Mirror of Night offered upgrades, but the Arcana system feels more like deckbuilding—a puzzle you solve before the action starts, layered on top of the boon-drafting you do during it. The result is staggering build variety. Two players can spend a hundred hours each and rarely share a strategy.

Onboarding Friction

Here's the honest cost of all this depth: Hades II is harder to learn than its predecessor. Mana, Omega variants, Sprint management, Arcana spreads, boons, incantations—the systems stack fast. Newcomers who never touched the first game may feel the onboarding wall. Supergiant does a competent job of drip-feeding mechanics, but the sheer surface area is real. This is a more intimidating front door than Hades ever had.

That complexity is a feature for veterans and a hurdle for tourists. Know which one you are.

Editorial Disclaimer

The reviews and scores on this site are based on our editorial team's independent analysis and personal opinions. While we strive for objectivity, gaming experiences can be subjective. We are not compensated by developers for these scores.