Hades II

[Hades]

So it turns out that the best game of the last few years is getting a sequel. Hades II has been officially announced.



Some observations and speculation

-In the original game Zagreus had to fight his way to the surface. In this game Zagreus' sister Melinoe has to fight from the surface to Tartarus to save Hades who's been captured by Chronos. Personally I think Hades is a wee bit too baddass to play the damsel in distress but the premise makes thematic sense. But if Hades been captured then...Cerberus NOOO!

-Witchcraft seems to be a big theme of this game. Melinoe contrast Zag in that he was a punchy boi while she's a shooty gall. She can be seen using various magic spells in the trailer, and Supergiant says witchcraft and the magic goddess Hecate are going to get a lot of focus. The giant lady with the witch hat that Melinoe sparred with is almost certainly Hecate herself.

-Last game had an adorable gorgon sidekick in the form of Dusa...as in Me-Dusa. This time around you'll have an adorable sidekick in the shade Dora, as in Pan-Dora.

-Other new faces include Apollo, Nemesis and Moros. Nemesis is shown to be wielding the ''aspect of Nemesis'' blade that Zagreus could wield in the original game. Of course Chronos is billed as the main villain

-The main area you see in the trailer is a dreary purplish meadow. This is most likely the fields of Asphodel which were flooded with lava in the original game. This means the lava level likely won't be returning

-I suspect Chronos time based power will be the excuse as for why the game doesn't ever end. Once defeated he just rewinds time and you have to fight him all over again. Eventually Hades, Chronos and Melinoe make up at which point Chronos keeps rewinding the war just as an amusing game for all involved.

-Given an invasion of the underworld is the premise its possible that the chthonic gods will be giving the boons this time around, with Nyx, Thanatos and Hypnos taking the place of the Greek gods from the previous game. Or its possible that they're all captured too and that each level involves saving one of them. Hypnos in Elesium, Thanatos in Asphodel, Nyx in Tartaros, etcetera.

-Nemesis seems to be the first boss due to being grumpy that Hecate chose Melinoe rather than herself. The first rounds would probably be nemesis trying to forcefully take over the quest, then change into a test for Melinoe, before finally just being a fun training match for them.

-Zagreus is gonna be the coolest big bro ever for Melinoe.

 

[BrawlMan]

Not my type of game, but I'm glad it got a sequel. Super Giant Games knows what they're doing, so they got this.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I know Hades was a pretty gigantic success, but, I am curious why Super Giant decided to go the sequel route this time around. Wonder if maybe they had more stories with this one that they wanted to tell? Or maybe it's capitalizing on the success of Hades. Either way, still gotta get off my butt and play the first one

 

[Worgen]

Already has a steam page too. Loved Hades so can't wait.

 

[thebobmaster]

I know Hades was a pretty gigantic success, but, I am curious why Super Giant decided to go the sequel route this time around. Wonder if maybe they had more stories with this one that they wanted to tell? Or maybe it's capitalizing on the success of Hades. Either way, still gotta get off my butt and play the first one

They actually answer that exact question in an FAQ on their website.


You've never made a sequel before! Why now?
The original Hades is our most beloved game, and one that we loved building together as a team. Especially since it drew so much inspiration from classical Greek mythology, we always imagined the possibility of new stories in its world. But that in and of itself wasn't enough for us.


With each of our projects over the years, we've aimed to take on a new challenge that stretched our team's creativity and taught us more about how to make games well together. One such challenge we've long considered was to try and make a sequel that could somehow re-capture the sense of wonder and delight of its predecessor. Some of our all-time favorite games achieved this! The question is, can we? Hades II, with its new perspective on a shadowy and alluring aspect of Greek myth, is our opportunity to find out. We get to keep building on foundational ideas that have captivated us since Supergiant's early days, while expanding the world of Hades in a variety of ways we find very exciting, and hope you will, too.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

They actually answer that exact question in an FAQ on their website.

Oh hey, that's pretty neat, and is about spot on with what I thought the case was. I have a good feeling they'll stick the landing

 

[Drathnoxis]

Lol, funny you're the one to make this thread. Not keeping my hopes especially high, sequels rarely surpass, or even match, the originals. A further emphasis on procedural generation would go a long way to improving the sequel, because the original did suffer from the pre-made rooms stagnating over dozens of runs, but I doubt they are going to move in this direction.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Lol, funny you're the one to make this thread. Not keeping my hopes especially high, sequels rarely surpass, or even match, the originals. A further emphasis on procedural generation would go a long way to improving the sequel, because the original did suffer from the pre-made rooms stagnating over dozens of runs, but I doubt they are going to move in this direction.

I don't think that's true for games. Lots of games that are considered the best in the series are not the first one. Actually, I think this is true for most of them. MegaMan 2, DMC 3, Super Metroid, Starfox 64, Steamworld Dig 2, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Paper Mario:The Thousand Year Door, Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 4, Ratchet and Clank 3, Donkey Kong Country 2, Sonic Adventure 2, MegaMan Battle Network 3. Lots of games are considered superior to the ones that came before then in a series.

 

[EvilRoy]

Here's hoping this turns out well. On one hand, more of the same would be enough of a reason for me to pick it up, on the other hand I'm very curious about what kind of changes they're going to try to make in the name of hitting that original sense of wonder.

 

[thebobmaster]

I don't think that's true for games. Lots of games that are considered the best in the series are not the first one. Actually, I think this is true for most of them. MegaMan 2, DMC 3, Super Metroid, Starfox 64, Steamworld Dig 2, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Paper Mario:The Thousand Year Door, Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 4, Ratchet and Clank 3, Donkey Kong Country 2, Sonic Adventure 2, MegaMan Battle Network 3. Lots of games are considered superior to the ones that came before then in a series.

Let's not forget that when it comes to the 2D platformers, the argument is between Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World (which might as well be called Super Mario Bros. 4, but I digress). Super Mario Bros. doesn't even enter into the conversation.

ETA: Needless to say, as a fan of the original, looking forward to this, and I LOVE the design for Melinoe.

 

[BrawlMan]

I don't think that's true for games. Lots of games that are considered the best in the series are not the first one. Actually, I think this is true for most of them. MegaMan 2, DMC 3, Super Metroid, Starfox 64, Steamworld Dig 2, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Paper Mario:The Thousand Year Door, Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 4, Ratchet and Clank 3, Donkey Kong Country 2, Sonic Adventure 2, MegaMan Battle Network 3. Lots of games are considered superior to the ones that came before then in a series.

Let's not forget that when it comes to the 2D platformers, the argument is between Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World (which might as well be called Super Mario Bros. 4, but I digress). Super Mario Bros. doesn't even enter into the conversation.

ETA: Needless to say, as a fan of the original, looking forward to this, and I LOVE the design for Melinoe.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FirstInstallmentwins

 

[Drathnoxis]

I don't think that's true for games. Lots of games that are considered the best in the series are not the first one. Actually, I think this is true for most of them. MegaMan 2, DMC 3, Super Metroid, Starfox 64, Steamworld Dig 2, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Paper Mario:The Thousand Year Door, Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 4, Ratchet and Clank 3, Donkey Kong Country 2, Sonic Adventure 2, MegaMan Battle Network 3. Lots of games are considered superior to the ones that came before then in a series.

Almost all of your examples are from the 90's and early 00's when technology and game design were both advancing rapidly. I'm not saying a sequel can't surpass the original, but, based on personal experience, it's not particularly likely.

They actually answer that exact question in an FAQ on their website.


You've never made a sequel before! Why now?
The original Hades is our most beloved game, and one that we loved building together as a team. Especially since it drew so much inspiration from classical Greek mythology, we always imagined the possibility of new stories in its world. But that in and of itself wasn't enough for us.


With each of our projects over the years, we've aimed to take on a new challenge that stretched our team's creativity and taught us more about how to make games well together. One such challenge we've long considered was to try and make a sequel that could somehow re-capture the sense of wonder and delight of its predecessor. Some of our all-time favorite games achieved this! The question is, can we? Hades II, with its new perspective on a shadowy and alluring aspect of Greek myth, is our opportunity to find out. We get to keep building on foundational ideas that have captivated us since Supergiant's early days, while expanding the world of Hades in a variety of ways we find very exciting, and hope you will, too.

In other words, they've never had a hit this big and they'd like to try cashing in on it and making the lightning strike twice.