If you're struggling with Hades 2's small changes, don't worry—they'll click

GamesActionHades 2If you’re struggling with Hades 2’s small changes, don’t worry—they’ll clickWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Supergiant)

Hecate holds one hand aloft

Plenty of things in Hades 2 are similar to things from the original. Your hangout pals still include a dominatrix-coded rival who gets in your way, a fit sadboy, and a ghost whose nickname starts with D and turns out to be a significant character from myth. Mechanically there’s plenty that feels familiar too. You can dash out of danger then dash-attack back in, switch between ranged and melee builds as your weapons and boons align, and avoid standing in the red circle where a boss is about to make a magic explosion happen.

That familiarity tripped me up at first, because there are some subtle but significant differences between how the two play. For starters, new protagonist Melinoë’s movement and combat style is much more deliberate than her brother Zag’s crackhead zippiness. Once you unlock Greater Reflex in the first Hades he becomes a dedicated multi-dash dude, but Melinoë doesn’t have that option—if you dash away from trouble only to land in more, you can’t just dash again with your middle finger extended, which is how I imagine Zagreus does it.

Still, there’s a wind-up to Melinoë’s animations that takes a while to get used to. Even with Vsync turned off there’s a noticeable moment’s pause, a green flash of magic that goes off before you commit to dashing and before the invincibility frames kick in. I got hit a lot because I was so used to Zag’s instant dashes, but in Hades 2 you have to think faster and pay closer attention to the way enemies telegraph their intent.

(Image credit: Supergiant)

Hecate turns you into a sheep (early access)

Finally, Hecate’s bullet-hades attack is there to teach you why sprinting is so important. She’s the first of several bosses who need to be lapped while damage effects circle them clockwise, climaxing with the second phase of the fight against Chronos. The titan of time fights you on a literal clock whose burning hands chase you around its face as they tick down.

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(Image credit: Supergiant)

Melinoe swings her axe against a colorful profusion of enemies (early access)

The weapon that really emphasizes the difference between the two games is the Umbral Flames. This pair of torches felt like the worst weapon of all when I first tried it, firing out dinky little balls of light that do fuck-all damage. And yet, this was the weapon I got my first clears of both the current final bosses with. (He said, trying not to spoil things.)

The Umbral Flames are the first purely ranged weapon you unlock, with the right-click special attack an orbiting orb that spins around wherever you drop it. Instead of needing to dash in to take your swings, you can concentrate on moving between areas of safe ground, whether behind obstacles or in the spots a boss isn’t about to set on fire, timing your attacks in between. It takes longer to chip away their health, but you spend more time getting used to their patterns. Even after Hecate, Hades 2 keeps trying to teach you how to play it if you let it.

(Image credit: Supergiant)

Hecate teaches you about time

Which makes sense, when you think about it. This is a game where your literal objective is to kill time, after all.

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