I have put around 2 hours into this game so far and I have to say that while I generally like the playstyle the overall them of this game, and other games like it, does not appeal to me. This is not to suggest that no one will like it because it does have great game mechanics, but the entire concept behind rogue-like games does not and likely will not ever appeal to me.
Steeped in mythology with plenty of gore as well as humor, this seemed like a top-down (at an angle, whatever, sue me) action RPG from the images I had seen but it isn't that at all.
Instead, Hades has latched on to the success of Dead Cells and made a game that is basically the same thing as that but instead of being a side-scroller it is overhead. You are playing the role of Zagreus, who is the son of Hades and is a rebellious teenager of sorts. He wishes to get out of Hades and go to the top of Mount Olympus because he is sick of hanging out in the underworld.
Of course Hades doesn't actively try to stop him from doing so but just like a lot of fathers who don't show much compassion to their sons, Hades is constantly belittling Zagreus and assuring him that he will fail, because he believes his son is a waste of time.
So far every single run starts out here in the picture and you progress your way up and around in a maze of rooms that are never exactly the same twice, just like in Dead Cells. There are no checkpoints, you can not regain your health using potions or anything like that and when you die, you return to the very start of the game.
This is almost exactly the way that Dead Cells functioned and I quickly tired of that game because I'm one of those WEIRDOS who doesn't actually want to do the same levels over and over and over again... even if they are presented to me in a procedurally generated fashion.
You can get points in order to permanently upgrade certain parts of your offense but this doesn't change the fact that you are STILL required to go through the entire damn game again every time you make a couple of mistakes.
It took me 7 or 8 tries to get past the first boss but and then two tries later on the next section I made it to the second boss and I guess I did pretty well because I got him down to 1/4 health on my very first try. However, I it took me like 25 minutes to get there. I'm not going to have another run after that!
I'm one of those people that complains if checkpoints are too far back in any adventure or RPG game so honestly, it doesn't really matter to me how awesome a game is, if there is only one checkpoint and said checkpoint is the VERY START OF THE ENTIRE GAME this is not going to appeal to me. I understand that there is a market for this and it might simply be because I am older, but this game, despite being made by a studio that I love and appreciate their art style, is likely going to get deleted from my PC very soon.
Just like in Dead Cells, you might on occasion find yourself with a super powered up weapon that you really enjoy fighting with. Well, don't get too attached to it because as soon as you die all the attributes of that weapon are stripped away and you return to a pea-shooter of sorts.
I remember this was an aspect of other roguelike games that really ticked me off. It is all just random luck whether or not you are going to get the upgrades even offered to you that you are looking for.
I can't really understand that allure of games like this but a lot of people like doing the same thing over and over again I guess. These people are likely much better gamers than I. I prefer a game with permanent upgrades, exploration, and some puzzles here and there. This game simply demands that you perfect the dynamics of a single, randomly generated screen and then do that over and over and over and over and over and over.....
I'm gonna keep at it because I don't want to give up on any game in a couple hours unless it truly sucks and this game doesn't suck but I can't really see myself enjoying playing the same levels scores of times in a row. I'll give it a few more days while I wait for the results on the bundle results.