Hades’ main character, Zagreus. Players use Zagreus to navigate the underworld and make progress, fighting monsters and interacting with other characters from Greek mythology. “I relate to [him] on a very personal level,” says an anonymous junior. (Image courtesy of Supergiant Games)

In May of this year, American game development company Supergiant Games released the much-anticipated Hades II, a rogue-lite dungeon-crawler (similar to Diablo) based on ancient Greek mythology.

With all of the praise and attention that Hades II has been receiving, it’d be worthwhile to take a retroactive look at its predecessor, Hades, and understand how we got here and why the original game rocks (according to Hollis Brookline High School students).

Hades is a top-down, rogue-lite dungeon-crawler based on ancient Greek mythology. It was released by Supergiant in September of 2020. With a great story, incredible music, solid gameplay and amazing art, it’s definitely something that you should check out. “It’s a game you can play multiple times without getting bored,” says a junior who wishes to remain anonymous. 

Let’s look at Hades’ individual aspects and see how they contribute to the game’s incredible reputation. First, its music; Hades’ soundtrack has been lauded by critics and its player base. When asked about their favorite part of Hades, the same anonymous junior commented, “Its soundtrack. I love the soundtrack and it’s better than most other game soundtracks I’ve listened to.” 

The game’s art has also been highly praised. “[The art] looks excellent,” says Edward Al Banna ‘26. “I love the designs of the characters.” There’s a reason Hades won a BAFTA Award for Artistic Achievement in 2021; its art, consisting of ambient digital paintings set behind elaborate set pieces and incredibly intricate character designs makes it a joy to look at. 

Hades’ gameplay and core mechanics are also things to take note of. Its stage generation and progression system are really unique and make playing feel like a reward (most of the time). “The capability for progression and skill expression as playtime increases is phenomenal,” explains William Setmire ‘26. “However, there is a fairly large initial buy-in time,” he continued. 

On top of that buy-in time, players should enter Hades with a little bit of base knowledge about the genre; it can be a pretty challenging game, especially for first-time dungeon-crawler players. The payoff for making progress is worth it, though. “The game is very fun, especially once you start making tangible progress; it feels like overcoming an exercise goal, in a way,” explains Setmire.

Hades’ story is also worth paying attention to. Without spoiling anything, it’s essentially a story about teenage rebellion and self-discovery (something a lot of HBHS students can potentially relate to). “I feel like Zagreus [the main character] relates to the teenage experience through his struggles with his father, finding his own job and place in the underworld and the familial pressure that commonly comes with the burden of family businesses,” says the anonymous junior.

If all of this makes Hades sound like something you’d be interested in, you should definitely give it a try.