Death to Chronos.
Few tales are told of Hades, whose reign as grim lord of the dead came to a sudden end when, all at once, his past caught up with him. But gods do not go quietly, and history repeats. So this tale was only a matter of Time...
Hades II is the sequel to the 2020 isometric Roguelike Hades by Supergiant Games. It was announced at the 2022 Game Awards with the following trailer
. The game is notable for being the first sequel from Supergiant Games. The game is slated for an Early Access release in 2Q 2024, with a full release following at some later, unknown point.
Set some time after the original game, the game follows Melinoë, the daughter of Hades, student of witch-goddess Hecate, and sister of previous protagonist Zagreus. She sets out to free her father and defeat the Titan of Time, Chronos, who has escaped his underworld prison, captured Hades and the rest of her family, and declared war on Olympus.
Previews: Reveal Trailer, Official Website
Tropes:
- Action Girl:
- Melinoë, like her brother before her, can wield a variety of weapons, including a staff or a pair of blades. She also knows magic, using it to empower her attacks or stop foes in their place.
- Hecate taught Melinoë how to fight and use magic so her protege could someday kill Chronos; she's also the first area's boss, testing whether Melinoë is ready for her task ahead.
- Adaptational Modesty:
- Zeus is wearing a chestplate now.
- Aphrodite, while still nearly butt naked, wears a little bit of armour here, not much though.
- Arc Words:
- In response to the first game's "There is no escape," this one has "Time cannot be stopped."
- Repeated all over by characters in the first gameplay preview:"Death to Chronos."
- Art Evolution: The second game adds to the original's already gorgeous art by making the character portraits more detailed, intricate, and sometimes even more grandiose.
- Continuity Nod: In the previous game, the Stygian Blade can be imbued with the Aspect of Nemesis, turning it into a single-edged blade with red plates, a bronze skull on the handle, and a blue-bottomed hilt. Nemesis is shown wielding this exact sword in the trailer.
- Costume Evolution: The gods from the first game who return all sport armor and weapons now. Skelly, now "Skelemeus" meanwhile has a Chest of Medals, a cape, and armor skirting. And somehow, a beard.
- Named in the Sequel: While the Narrator's identity is hinted at in an interaction during the first game, Zagreus only ever addresses him as "old man". Come Hades II, and Melinoë finally addresses him by given name: Homer.Narrator: Uhhh erm-erm-erm, I, I, I've no idea to whom you refer... to whom the Princess of the Dead refers!
- Geometric Magic: In the reveal trailer, Melinoë attacks her witchy mentor Hecate, who then activates an intricate magic circle beneath Melinoë's feet that blasts her backwards.
- Happy Ending Override: At some point between games, Chronos attacks the Underworld, resulting in Hades, Zagreus, and Persephone being captured and the souls of the dead now scattered across the world. To make matters worse, this happened shortly after Melinoë's birth, resulting in her growing up separated from her family.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Hades II makes no attempt to hide the fact that Zagreus and Hades reconciled in the first game, or that Persephone and Hades were reunited.
- Mythology Gag:
- In a very literal sense; the mythological Melinoë is described as being "saffron-clad". As seen in her character art, her dress is a saffron-orange.
- Hephaestus was described as lame in some myths. Here, his leg is fully missing and he uses a prosthetic replacement.
- Chronos, primordial god of time, is portrayed here as a member of the Titans despite typically being regarded as one of the Protogenoi and thus an existence closer to Nyx and Chaos. This is a nod to his historical conflation/sycretism with the separate being Kronos, who was the leader of the Titans and enemy of the Olympian gods. Their similar names and Kronos' specialty as the god of the harvest has led to some interpretations even in ancient times of him as a time god and an aspect of Chronos.
- Poor Communication Kills: According to Poseidon, the fact that Hades almost never contacts Olympus in the first place resulted in them being completely unaware that he and his family were captured by Chronos until fairly recently, with them initially brushing things off of Hades simply being in another one of his usual moods.
- Strong Family Resemblance:
- Nemesis's face looks almost identical to that of her mother Nyx.
- Dialogue with Demeter has her claim this about Melinoë and Persephone.
- Titanomachy, Round Two: Promotional material shows this essentially is the Inciting Incident. Chronos has escaped from Tartarus and captured Hades, his former captor. Hades' daughter Melinoë is trying to kill Chronos and save her father and the rest of her family.
- Unseen No More:
- In the first game, Apollo is only briefly mentioned in some of Artemis's quotes, while the trailer shows he's a fully-seen god.
- Initially only hinted at though one of the previous wielders of Stygius, the trailer shows Nemesis as having been elevated to one of the Gods that aids Melinoë in her quest. Appropriately, her art depicts her with Stygius as it appears when using her aspect in the previous game.
- Hestia is now a proper boon-granting deity, whereas she was only hinted at in the first game as an aspect of the Adamant Rail.
