Hades wasn't really on my radar during its Early Access run, and I only got hooked into the hype for this game after its release. I would consider myself a fan of Supergiant Games. Their style, their eye for visuals, their ear for music, their sensibilities to bring mechanics and gameplay I can thoroughly enjoy, are all in the wheelhouse of things I adore and gravitate towards when I'm choosing what to play next. Hades packs all of that and so much more! So much so, it is easily my favourite game of 2020, but it might as well be my all-time favourite game.

I absolutely and unabashedly enjoy every single aspect of Hades. I believe there isn't a single thing I wouldn't enjoy in one way or another. This game makes me crave for more. One more run. One more interaction with the colourful denizens of Underworld and Olympus alike. One more punch, one for thrust, one more shot through the wretched souls of the underworld. Hades brings out the very best in terms of telling stories, combining it with gameplay, enhancing it with beautiful audio-visual queues to provide an experience worth every penny, every cent you spend on this game.

The gameplay is addicting in the best ways possible. I've seen some people getting bored by the lack of variety of environments or enemies, but I certainly can not relate to that. Each level brings its troubles and despite the fact I play with God Mode on, I still find myself struggle and be challenged in the best possible ways, especially thanks to a mechanic introduced later. The way how this game works is so clever. All enemies you face show you mechanics which you will face in each boss fight at the end, and it took me many hours until I realised this. It is so seamless, yet so effective, without talking down to you and holding your hand. Fast-paced combat is one of the many highlights and after almost 100hrs I still feel my heart racing during later fights, especially when it comes to the final boss. In terms of gameplay, I would only request one thing and one thing only - give me Stardew Valley-like farm in a need of care at the end, instead of the wonderful narrator with his wonderful lines of monologue - you know, to unwind and relax after gruelling battles. This request doesn't make any sense to you? That's ok, but I desperately want it!

As I mentioned above, visually, this game is an absolute gem. Everywhere you look, everything you see is just so damn gorgeous and so pleasing for eyes. Character designs especially are absolutely fantabulous and you fell in love with all of them, on the basis of looks alone. The attention to details in every frame, the details big and so small are so damn impressive. Now, combine this with sounds, music and impeccable voice-acting you are in for a true audio-visual treat, a masterpiece if I can be so bold with such claims.

But, if there's one thing I can't get enough of, it's stories. Storytelling and stories of any kind are something that brings me true joy in life. Let me tell you, writers of Hades definitely made me feel that joy, made me ride that high of a great, intriguing, fresh approach to tell stories as old as time. Being in gaming space as we are now, we all probably encountered a game with Greek mythology in some way or another, but I believe it was never done quite like this. Stories well know, and those maybe not so much, presented in a really gripping way, feeding you with kernels of information, which either sparks the joy of "Wait a minute, I know this!" or "I have to know more!". The writing, in general, is incredibly charming, funny, you feel the various range of emotions coming out of the dialogues on screen, which is, of course, elevated to Olympus via aforementioned astonishing voice-acting. Can't stress enough how tightly and smartly written this games is, even in the silliest moments - and yes, I mean the justification why are we still continuing the effort to escape, which is so silly and yet really clever, well, at least in my eyes.

I LOVE Hades with all my heart, I adore it beyond bounds and I will be gushing about this game for an eternity to come. This is a full package experience which simply hits me into all of my sensibilities, strokes everything that I like and enjoy, while provides a gripping experience during which you won't find one dull or boring moment and only brings excitement.

Hades is an amazing game... Hades is a perfect game!

Grade: A+

P.S. If you feel like you want more and you crave for more of Greek mythology, let me be your guide into the church of Hadestown [open.spotify.com] - a wonderful musical, which gives you more of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice in a different, fresh, incredibly catchy way.

I LOVE Darkest Dungeon®... so much so, within a month I'm getting my very first tattoo and it will be the signature torch from the game (with some added personal meaning). So, obviously, I was buzzing with excitement for the second game to come out.

However, despite my excitement and the game being in early access on Epic Store, I never actually looked at the gameplay or what the new game gonna look like, never watched a stream or even saw images - I went in completely blind. So when Darkest Dungeon® II came out on the 8th of May 2023, I put it in my basket, checked out, installed it, and finally had the chance to sit down and play a few days after.

It's been a rollercoaster of emotions ever since.

As I'm writing this, I've put 25 hours into the game, I've just finally reached the Chapter II boss on The Mountain for the first time, almost won, and in all honesty, it's been very enjoyable in a VERY different way than the first game. But I'll admit, the first couple of hours have been tough. Obviously, expectations played a huge part in why it's been hard. I was completely taken aback by how much things have changed from the first game to the sequel. And, listen, I'm not going to be throwing a tantrum like some other folks here, moaning about how it is so different from the first game this should've been a different game, not a sequel to Darkest Dungeon. That's silly. In fact, I do applaud Red Hook for taking the swing in a different direction when the mechanics of the first game were so damn solid & fun and they could've just added a fresh coat of paint, throw in some fan-favourite characters from the workshop, create a new region or two, write a new story, and people with myself included would eat it up. Instead, the gameplay loop has been revamped in a direction it took a while to adjust to, but as I said I'm enjoying it now quite a bit. I feel like all the new mechanics add this sense of unfamiliarity and danger. With the original, after a certain point you could easily coast and grind for resources with ease, but here you have to be a little bit more strategic with every expedition, you need to plan ahead at least a little to achieve what you want to do, as well as adjust on the go when things go sideways in the worst direction (which they will if you are me). Sure, I miss some sense of stability and predictability in my runs (like trinkets for example), but I can't help but be excited and determined to roll with the punches of each new run, and press on no matter how heartbroken I get when I lose my crew during a phenomenal run.

As I really don't have a narrative throughline for my thought and feelings, what I like and dislike, I decided to split them into the following sections:

• The visual overhaul is absolutely fantastic, just beautiful. The animations and little flairs to each character are just delightful. This is definitely the biggest and the most obvious highlight of the game.
  
  
• Character storylines is something I'm a sucker for. Yes, give me the backstory for all of my heroes. It was fun in the first game, I could role-play and create my own stories, but this is a feature I really like here and I'm super on board for it!
  
• The Affinity System is great, I love it. Again, something I loved doing in terms of role-playing, but I really like how it functions here.
  
  
• Locations and the new travelling system. I really like how things from the first game are implemented here in new ways creating new locations, as well as new dangers and new headaches with them. It's the way it forces you to look ahead, to think ahead because one wrong turn could be the end of the expedition, so I enjoy that aspect of constant danger.
  
  
• New features in general I'm really liking a whole lot. I know this game just released, BUT, if there's a plan for a third one, taking Hamlet and everything that comes with it from the first game and taking the new features from this sequel and combining them together, adding a larger world we could explore? Don't tell me this vision doesn't sound great, it could be ******* AMAZING! and probably a laborious undertaking, but one can dream, right?

• Inability to sell. We are encountering a character named Hoarder, could not at least he be the one we could sell trinkets to? My guy is hoarding stuff, I can imagine he is also hoarding some relics he could bargain, which could be also an added mechanic as certain characters could have better bargaining skills than others.
  
  
• Flagellant now dealing blight damage instead of bleed took me for a spin, and unless there's a story explanation as to why in the Shrine of Reflection, this might be the change that annoys me the most.

• Amount of characters. I'm certain we will get more in the coming months and years, but being so incredibly spoiled by the workshop and the number of fun characters I can choose from, makes the sequel feel less exciting in comparison. Like, at least add all the characters the first game had by the end?
  
  
• Confusing texts are sometimes too much for me. I may be just dumb, perhaps not used to the new buffs and debuffs but sometimes I have no clue what things are doing and why. This one is highly likely on me, but looking back at the first game, I don't feel like I've been struggling to figure out trinkets, attacks etc.
  
  
• Dark Impulse trinkets. I'm not a fan of all of them looking the same, and in the same vein not a fan of each region having Oblivion's Rampart be the locations we always have to clear at the end, I feel like a larger variety, perhaps of something specifically tied to the region would work better. Neither I actively dislike, just wish it wouldn't be the same always.

This is what I have at this moment. Might be adding or editing things out as I continue to play. And I WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY as I got pretty invested and I'm enjoying my time within this gloomy unforgiving world full of horrors and occasional beautiful friendships I witnessed along the way.

Darkest Dungeon® II gave me whiplash for sure when I first started my journey. I do not Love it the same way I did the first game from the get-go, but I kinda do now and I am fully into it, committed, and I'll die as much as it takes to hopefully eventually gloriously beat it.