When Hades 2 launched in early access with more content than the entirety of the original, I was a little worried that Supergiant wouldn’t take the same approach to updates as it did with the previous game. I was laughably wrong.
Even during the review period, I noticed patches being deployed that added new character portraits and mechanics, getting the game into a perfect shape before it was unleashed onto the wider world. Now the first official patch has arrived, one that acknowledges and builds on feedback from players in an immediate and honest way. For the most part, all these changes are for the better.
Hades 2 Patch 1 Is Filled With Small Yet Meaningful Changes
Before I delve into that, I need to make a confession. My first time beating Chronos was an accidental challenge run, because I failed to realise that Melinoe can not only equip cool Arcana Cards at the Altar of Ashes, she can also upgrade her Grasp using materials earned during runs, essentially allowing you to equip more Arcana Cards and earn greater buffs and abilities. For 30 long hours, I didn’t do this a single time. Luckily, Supergiant noticed I wasn’t alone, since the tutorial for this mechanic will now keep popping up until it’s been properly engaged with.
This tutorial rolled out with the update earlier this week, and has immediately changed how I plan new runs while opening my eyes to a range of new playstyles and abilities that Hades 2 unintentionally hid away in its earliest incarnation. An honest mistake that most people didn’t notice until it was brought to their attention – yes I know I cover games for a living, everyone makes mistakes – but some of the other changes are far more noticeable.
Gathering resources is a big deal in Hades 2, with Melinoe able to craft, equip, and upgrade a number of tools in the Training Grounds before embarking on a run. Originally, you weren’t able to gather resources, rescue ghosts, or go fishing if you didn’t have the right tools on your person during a run. This was a little frustrating and forced repeat runs to successfully carry out incantations back in the hub world, even if there is a distinct strategy to having only one tool available at any given moment.
The first update addresses this problem by allowing us to gather any resource at any time regardless of the tool we equip, but there will now be larger changes of certain resources appearing if you prioritise a specific tool. There is a push and pull at play here that is essential to early access development, as turning gathering into an action Melinoe can perform whenever she likes would make all of these tools pointless.
In A Way, The Smaller Updates Are The Most Interesting
Melinoe also sprints much faster now, aided by a new Arcana Card that makes navigating the hub world and various realms much easier. Pulling off counter and dash attacks is also a bit more satisfying now, and a far more effective strategy in the majority of encounters.
As a few of us played the review build prior to release, there was a common concern that Supergiant was stuffing Hades 2 with too many systems. Too many things to collect, items to craft, and people to converse with, only made more dense with the addition of surface run for players to tackle. Those worries were mostly unfounded once we got into the rhythm of things, but that doesn’t mean the game can’t be improved by refining them, or cutting away the feature creep that a sequel like this was bound to embrace. It was already good, now it’s better.
The rest of the changes are small – unassuming improvements to boons, encounters, and a few other things which the average player isn’t meant to notice if they’re done right. We only complain about the things updates bring if they actively make the experience worse or cause weird crashes that weren’t present before, and that doesn’t seem to be the case here. Hades 2 already has a brilliant foundation to build upon, and with each milestone reached, I have little doubt that Supergiant will be scouring through comments and figuring out what needs to change.
Supergiant no doubt has a roadmap in place for all the major updates set to introduce new realms, weapons, features, and characters, but in a way, the patches that land between such big events are the most interesting. How a studio of this size responds to feedback and goes onto making changes says so much about them, and whether that communication is receptive, hopeful, or makes the alterations we were hoping for. When it comes to Supergiant, it could do no better, and even if it did screw up, I have faith that mistake would be short-lived.
Hades 2
Hades 2 is the sequel to Supergiant Games’ smash-hit roguelike dungeon crawler. This time you’ll play as Melinoë, Princess of the Underworld and Zagreus’ sister, as she takes on the forces of the Titan of Time.