{"id":7512,"date":"2020-11-11T12:43:04","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T10:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/playlab.uta.fi\/?p=7512"},"modified":"2020-11-11T12:43:04","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T10:43:04","slug":"hades-setting-the-bar-for-roguelike-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/hades-setting-the-bar-for-roguelike-storytelling\/","title":{"rendered":"Hades \u2013 Setting the bar for roguelike storytelling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hades is a roguelike action roleplaying game<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from<\/span>\u00a0Supergiant Games,\u00a0<\/span>best<\/span>\u00a0known for their earlier\u00a0<\/span>releases\u00a0<\/span>Bastion and Transisto<\/span>r<\/span>, that felt more focused on storytelling and artistry rather than gameplay.<\/span>\u00a0Hades feels like the next evolved state of<\/span>\u00a0those two games, finally bringing the gameplay to the same level<\/span>\u00a0as the other aspects<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>You play as Zagreus, the son of Hades, fighting your way through the Underworld to reach Earth\u2019s surface and find answers<\/span>\u00a0to secrets your father would rather keep hidden.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As is custom to the roguelike genre, the primary gameplay loop of Hades revolves around your repeated attempts to fight<\/span>\u00a0through to<\/span>\u00a0reach<\/span>\u00a0the end,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>only to\u00a0<\/span>take\u00a0<\/span>the journey again and again<\/span>\u00a0after succeeding<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Each run\u00a0<\/span>is different<\/span>\u00a0thanks to randomized upgrades and room sequences, as well as your choice of weapon and possible<\/span>\u00a0difficulty<\/span>\u00a0modif<\/span>iers<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0The c<\/span>ombat is fast<\/span>–<\/span>paced and<\/span>\u00a0stays fresh due to all the alterations<\/span>\u00a0to your abilities<\/span>, like changing your attack pattern or giving you the ability to\u00a0<\/span>heal yourself by damaging enemies while your<\/span>\u00a0maximum\u00a0<\/span>amount of\u00a0<\/span>health is reduced heavily.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>All t<\/span>he<\/span>\u00a0different possible combinations\u00a0<\/span>make sure you will experience something new each\u00a0<\/span>run.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s not all about the action though.<\/span>\u00a0Unlike most other roguelikes\u00a0<\/span>with minimal and vague\u00a0<\/span>s<\/span>torytelling<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Hades has a<\/span>\u00a0proper<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>advancing<\/span>\u00a0storyline<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>30<\/span>\u00a0characters that you can deepen your friendship with the game\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>relationship-minigame<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>he<\/span>\u00a0stories and characters<\/span>\u00a0are<\/span>\u00a0based entirely on the actual stories of Greek mythology,\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0the amount of effort that has b<\/span>een put into bringing th<\/span>em<\/span>\u00a0to life\u00a0<\/span>is applaudable<\/span>. Each piece of dialogue<\/span>\u00a0is fully voice acted, from cutscenes and convers<\/span>ations between characters<\/span>\u00a0to throwaway messages you receive from<\/span>\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0gods<\/span>, and\u00a0<\/span>getting to listen the actors\u2019 performances is always a treat to the ears.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The game is also\u00a0<\/span>beautiful<\/span>\u00a0both in<\/span>\u00a0terms of visuals and\u00a0<\/span>music<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The world and character portraits have a distinct style which is just joyous to look at, and the music enhances the at<\/span>mosphere, be it the\u00a0<\/span>high-tension<\/span>\u00a0basslines during combat or the\u00a0<\/span>soothing singing of\u00a0<\/span>a friend you meet in a moment of peace during the climb.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hades is the first time a roguelike has\u00a0<\/span>captivated<\/span>\u00a0me with its story and characters, and\u00a0<\/span>when those elements are paired with\u00a0<\/span>a satisfying combat system that\u00a0<\/span>allows for as much difficulty and depth as you are comfortable with, I think that Supergiant Games has crafted an instant classic that<\/span>\u00a0will<\/span>\u00a0hopefully show the rest of the games industry what they should strive for<\/span>\u00a0from this point forward.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each picture is a screenshot from the game taken by the writer.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Developer: Supergiant Games<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Publisher: Supergiant Games<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, macOS, Microsoft Windows<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Release date: September 17, 2020<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Genres:\u00a0<\/span>Action, Indie, RPG, Roguelike<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hades is the critically acclaimed Supergiant Games\u2019 latest release that takes everything the studio has learned during its history of game development and polishes it into a gem which raises the bar for all roguelikes to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":7517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1181,225,494,1184],"class_list":["post-7512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","tag-hades","tag-indie","tag-roguelike","tag-supergiant-games","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}