LogFAQs > #968298445

#9: Hades

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/5/6/AAA-H0AADtu8.jpg

It's actually annoying to have to talk about Hades on this list. For nearly every game on this list, I get to talk about why I think the game is so great, why it means a lot to me personally, I have some sort of idea or story that I want to share with my audience. For nearly every game on this list, with only a couple of exceptions, it's going to rank higher on my personal list than it would rank on a big, aggregate list of all games ranked by everyone; in other words every entry is a little more personal to me than it would be to someone else. Even for the non-obscure games that people do already know, it still feels like it 'personalizes' my list to rank them where I did.

But Hades? No. Everyone already knows Hades, everyone already loves Hades, and it's probably the #1 most critically acclaimed game from 2020 or 2021. So I've pretty much got nothing to talk about here. You knew this game was going to be on the list somewhere. It's on everyone's list.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/5/7/AAA-H0AADtu9.jpg

I get into this kind of awkward situation sometimes where I like a game - like, really really like a game - and yet everyone else seems just a little more obsessed with it than me, which creates this almost weird, completely undeserved sense of scorn towards it. Link to the Past is a huge example of this, for me. I love Link to the Past, it was one of my favorite games as a kid, but it is also my least favorite of the classic Zeldas, which puts me in an awkward spot when it's everyone else's preferred classic Zelda; LttP randomizer was the Zelda randomizer that took off big, when I was never really into it, and the fact that liking LttP doesn't feel personal to me sort of puts a damper on it. I know this sounds totally unnecessary and petty, and it surely is, but I can't help it, I'm a weird emotional being who struggles with classifying something that I like, but that I also like slightly less than everyone else around me. The fact that I can't muster an equal level of enthusiasm makes it hard to muster enthusiasm at all. It's stupid, but it is what it is.

Which brings me to Hades, a game that I played for about 150 hours and absolutely loved, but that I have largely moved on from, and everyone else hasn't quite moved on from yet, tons of people still discovering it for the first time and getting super into it, and my enthusiasm level has flagged ever so slightly, just enough to the point where ranking it on my list feels like a burden, somehow.

I mean, what am I gonna talk about? You know Hades. It's like, a perfect video game. It looks great. It sounds great. It controls great. It's a roguelike for people who don't like roguelikes, and an indie game for people who don't normally pay attention to indie games. It's critically acclaimed by damn near everyone. Nobody has a bad thing to say about it. That's great! It's a great game.

Seriously, what am I gonna talk about? I could talk about how the game seamlessly weaves a fun and engaging story and great characters into a roguelike structure, something nobody's really managed to do until now. The characters are great! Zagreus is great, Hades is great, all of the supporting characters are great. The story is engaging and the way it incorporates the roguelike elements as diagetic concepts is genius. But you already know that! Everyone already knows that.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/5/8/AAA-H0AADtu-.jpg

I could talk about how well this game's roguelike mechanics are structured to give people of all skill levels a chance at beating the game. Collecting stuff and upgrading your abilities feels fun and provides a consistent feeling of reward for playing each run - you not only get better at the game, but you get a little stronger each time, too. Games like Rogue Legacy have done this, too, but Hades is just way better than Rogue Legacy and handles all of this stuff way better. The weapon concepts are all brilliant, the mirror abilities and the way you can change them to your preference is fun, getting new items by improving your relationship with other characters is a great way to further tie the characters into the game, it's all wonderful. You've probably already played Hades, or at least you've heard someone talk about Hades, and you already know this. Seriously, what's my angle here? What could I possibly have to add to the Hades discourse?

If anything, it almost seems like by only playing it for 150 hours I ran out of steam slightly faster than other people did. I beat the game at a heat 32 rating, felt like that was about where I was going to peak, and I stopped. I wasn't really any good at speedrunning the game, and going any further than 32 heat wasn't gonna be productive, so I kinda called it good there. This game didn't QUITE pass the test of being a truly all-timer roguelike for me - to do that, it'd have to get over 200 hours and still have things I'm learning and new things I haven't seen. Hades doesn't get there - I find that each run just feels a little too samey, there aren't that many runs where you get an ability or combination of abilities that's really unique, so by a certain point I feel like I've seen most of them. There's still a pretty decent repertoire of stuff! I mean, it lasted 150 hours, that's not bad. It's just a high bar to clear.

But I don't want to make it sound like I didn't like Hades. I mean, I ranked it #9. I love Hades! Everything on this list from Ynglet onwards is currently in my top 100 games of all time, and that includes Hades, which is comfortably nestled in the 70's somewhere. What, are you trying to say I don't love this game? Hades is awesome! Fuck you.

Next up: Can you believe there's only two Japanese games in my top 10? One's Nintendo, and one's Capcom. Who will prevail?!