On May 06, Hades II, the highly-anticipated successor of Supergiant’s Hades, launched into early access. Interestingly enough, Hades II, in its current base state, consists of “more environments, foes, and fully-voiced characters” than the entirety of the first Hades at launch, according to an FAQ on the game’s Steam page.

This is a bold statement, considering that the first game was a critical darling praised for its environment, storytelling, and replayability. But sequels building and expanding upon their predecessors is nothing new, as previously seen in sequels like “Metal Gear Solid” and “Uncharted”. But what makes Hades II’s case interesting is that it’s still in its development phase. The developers have stated that key areas and more enemy types and major narrative events are yet to come.

It's important to remember that early access is exactly what it says it is: early access. The game is still being worked on and being expanded upon. While it currently offers a larger amount of content compared to the first game, the final release promises to be bigger and even better.

Hades II is an action role-playing game filled to the brim with environmental storytelling and ever-evolving roguelike mechanics, developed and published by Supergiant Games. A direct sequel to 2020’s Hades, it follows Melinoë, Princess of the Underworld and sister to Zagreus, the protagonist of the first game.