As a fast-paced action game centered around a
Rebel Prince overcoming all of Hell's challenges to escape the underworld itself, it's no surprise Supergiant's
Hades has plenty of
moments to thrill and delight.
- The official animated trailer
, which features a gorgeously-animated fight between Zagreus and the Lernaean Bone Hydra alongside tons of footage of Zagreus breaking out of the underworld, including calling in aid from Olympus itself! - The sheer lengths Zagreus goes to in escaping the underworld to see his mother, including destroying hordes of enemies and bosses every time. By a certain point, it becomes routine for him, and later his official job to boot.
- Zagreus discovering and wielding the Adamant Rail, Exagryph, a fully-functioning machine gun with attached grenade launcher, which averts Fantasy Gun Control entirely. Ares pays the weapon its due respect for its destructive power, and it's implied it later seeps into the mortal world and allows them to invent firearms. It also once belonged to Hestia, who used it against the Titans.
- The Boons deserve a mention for the god-specific powers they can give Zagreus:
- Zeus lets Zagreus destroy opponents with lightning, chaining it and annihilating his foes.
- Poseidon gives Zagreus water-based powers, letting him toss opponents around the room with ease and slam them into walls for extra damage.
- Aphrodite of all people proves dangerous, allowing Zagreus to weaken his opponents. With it upgraded with further Boons, it becomes a Damage-Increasing Debuff.
- Athena gives Zagreus an Attack Reflector, allowing him to redirect enemies' damage straight into them.
- Ares grants Zagreus the Doom ability, which allows him to create a sword above enemies' heads that supplements his every attack afterwards. He also gives Zagreus Blade Rifts, which are beyond deadly in striking any enemy that has the misfortune to face them.
- Dionysus uses his alcoholic powers to be a Poisonous Person, giving Zagreus the ability to inflict Hangover, which chips away at enemy health. For a party animal, he's exceptionally lethal.
- Artemis carries her hunting into Zagreus's powers, allowing him to inflict critical hits on enemies, in addition to giving some of his moves Homing Projectile properties.
- Hermes lets Zagreus have Super-Speed, make extra money, and gain the ability to pull a Nonchalant Dodge on damage, avoiding it entirely.
- Demeter, most shocking of all, is cold in more ways than one, allowing Zagreus to unleash icy powers on his enemies, freezing them over and deploying cold lasers against them.
- Chaos gives Zagreus limited-time negative effects, which evolve into positive ones as he fights his way through the underworld.
- Calls, which summon a specific god-aligned effect to fully apply, from raining down Hangover to turning Zagreus to an invulnerable tidal wave. When the full gauge is used, the god themself flashes across the screen, and Zagreus keeps the effect for a greater length of time, making him a destructive force.
- Lastly, Duo Boons, where two gods combine their powers, giving Zagreus abilites like homing Blade Rifts, critical attacks to weaker enemies, repeated Doom attacks, automatic gauge charging, deflecting Doom onto opponents, tracking casts... and more.
- The boss fights deserve a mention for their sheer awesomeness:
- The Furies — while the first the player will meet is the deadly Megaera, there's three fearsome Furies, each with their own fighting style. While Megaera is an all-rounder with a cool, dry wit (not to mention a lot of chemistry with Zag), Alecto is a rage-fueled Blood Knight and Tisiphone is a nightmarishly focused Fury who will close the room in on Zagreus as they fight, slowly but surely tightening the fight. On Extreme Measures, the Furies can call in assists from the other two!
- The Lernaean Bone Hydra, a massive hydra that fights Zagreus, summoning other heads, unleashing countless attacks. On Extreme Measures, the islands split, making movement itself precarious against it.
- Though a mini-boss, Asterius deserves a special mention here; he's a Blood Knight seeking a worthy opponent, who begins to find it in Zagreus. Honorable and badass, Asterius destroys pillars and decorations during his fights with Zagreus, ramming him, attacking with his axe, and doing it all with utter respect and honor.
- Theseus and Asterius. The two are a dangerous Dual Boss akin to Ornstein and Smough, capable of utterly destroying anyone they so please. While Asterius is aggressive and strong, Theseus is weaker, yet hides behind his shield and throws his spear from afar. Once Theseus is brought to half health, he gets even more intense, calling his own Olympian aid and letting one of the gods rain fire upon Zagreus, just as Zag can himself. Every time Zagreus beats the duo, and/or the fight becomes very intense, the arena begins chanting his name! On Extreme Measures, Asterius gets a suit of golden armor and Theseus gets a chariot with gatling guns on it, though it does break at the halfway mark. A Prophecy even encourages Zagreus to fight them on Extreme Measures.
- Of course, the Final Boss is no slouch. Upon reaching the surface, Zagreus finds himself facing down against the big man himself: Hades. Hades is fast, brutal, and efficient; he summons minions, turns invisible, strikes with his spear, and uses every trick he has. Of course, Zagreus can beat him… only for him to get back up again, rallying himself for the true final showdown, unleashing fiery lasers, summoning deadly vases of undead hands, striking even faster, and gunning to take Zagreus's life and send him right back to Styx. More intense, however? On Extreme Measures, Hades gains the ability to turn the field of conflict to darkness, regain health, call Cerberus for aid, and then gets back up a second time.
- The Superboss, Charon, is activated by stealing from his shop. He strikes for huge damage with his oar, unleashes misty attacks on Zagreus such as throwing massive projectiles at him, and proves to be a dangerous fight, all set to "Final Expense (Payback Mix)." Don't fuck with the ferryman. If Zagreus wins, Charon gives him a discount card, and it's noted that he actually enjoys testing his edge against the son of Hades.
- Thanatos will eventually start appearing to Zagreus, and will unite with him, going Back-to-Back Badasses in a Body-Count Competition, being dangerous enough that he can score a One-Hit Kill on any enemy he marks, even hitting them with the classic "You Are Already Dead" at points. His every entrance is preceded by the entire room turning his signature green, and the ominous declaration of "Death Approaches."
- Hades can't boss Nyx or Thanatos around, since Nyx is Night Incarnate who even Zeus fears, and if Thanatos were stopped from working as in the Sisyphus incident, all death would cease and the Underworld would be thrown into chaos. The authoritative man can do nothing but bluster against them.
- The final Aspects of the Infernal Arms Zagreus can free via their awakening words are all figures from other mythologies, and they're all beyond incredible to witness:
- Always first, unlocked through Achilles: "I see you through the eyes of the crimson phoenix." This summons the Aspect of Guan Yu. While it lowers Zag's maximum health significantly, it allows him to unleash spiraling waves with the Frostfair Blade, cutting through enemies and healing all the while.
- Unlocked through Nyx: "I see your kingly pardon from a prison of stone." This summons the Aspect of Arthur, allowing Zagreus to wield Holy Excalibur itself! Holy Excalibur can cast sacred ground on the floor below, and strikes even more heavily than the Stygian Blade itself.
- Unlocked through Chaos: "I see you stand your ground against the Serpent's flame." This unlocks Aspect of Beowulf, which can strike more heavily and lets Zagreus load the Cast stones into the Bull Rush, turning it to the Dragon Rush.
- Unlocked through Artemis: "I see you drawn in the arms of the seventh avatar." This allows Zagreus to access the Aspect of Rama, letting him unleash ricocheting shots that destroy enemies with efficiency and style.
- Unlocked through Asterius: "I see you overcome the wild and make peace with death." This unlocks the Aspect of Gilgamesh, which lets Zagreus swipe wildly with claws and maim his enemies with a dashing strike. Asterius pays his respect to Gilgamesh, even to Theseus himself.
- Unlocked through Zeus: "I see your prideful fall down from the heavens to the flames." This unlocks the Aspect of none other than Lucifer himself, which lets Zagreus bombard enemies with hellfire.
- Zagreus can be a major force for positive change in the underworld through sidequests, often against the will of Hades, accomplishing feats such as:
- Freeing Orpheus from his imprisonment and getting him to sing again.
- Reuniting lost lovers, namely Orpheus and Eurydice alongside Achilles and Patroclus. With both of them, he must evade Hades's will and pull off loopholes and transactions to do so, yet he'll do it for his friends.
- Freeing the reformed Sisyphus from his contract and ensuring he's no longer suffering under the Furies.
- Helping Nyx and Chaos repair their relationship.
- Opening multiple chambers and refurbishing the underworld.
- Zagreus finally defeating Hades and making his way to the surface, meeting Persephone and persuading her to come home, all the while slowly breaking Hades's cold facade and opening up to human bonding again. Even though he cannot live on the surface, Zagreus makes the most of his time.
- The Reveal that Hades and Persephone not only had Zagreus against the will of the Fates, but Nyx chipped in and saved his life when it seemed he wouldn't make it. Zagreus's entire existence is a defiance of destiny and reality itself!
- The Pact of Punishment, which allows Zagreus to make his own journey harder through various effects, such as buffing bosses, increasing enemy health, decreasing his own health restoration, giving enemies armor, and even giving himself a time limit to enforce quick movement.
- In the post-game, Hades explains that Zagreus is such a One-Man Army and so rebellious that he hires him in an official capacity, testing underworld security with his rampages. The mortals, hearing tales of his rampages, are sufficiently cowed to stay on his good side.
- Persephone standing at Hades's side, reforming him and the underworld and even helping to assuage the gods' worries about her and Hades's relationship.
