Hades 2 gets a huge gameplay stream out of nowhere: devs reveal new features, characters, Boons, and more in the roguelike sequel ahead of its technical test

gamesradar.com:

While fans wrangle how to access the Hades 2 technical test, developer Supergiant Games casually dropped a hefty gameplay reveal stream for the hotly anticipated sequel.

Today's Hades 2 gameplay showcase was announced literally minutes before it went live and introduced several new features, mechanics, abilities, and other elements that distinguish Supergiant's first-ever sequel from the original smash-hit roguelike. New protagonist Melinoë, sister to the first game's hero Zagreus, was the focus of the reveal, with creative director Greg Kasavin and studio director Amir Rao demonstrating what separates her from Zagreus. 

Melinoë seems to wield greater range and more crowd control compared to Zagreus. Her base weapon, the first of what looks like six available from the Silver Pool back at the Crossroads hub area, is a Witch's Staff capable of melee and magic attacks. She can also use charged Omega spell attacks for screen-sweeping AoE, tied to a new mana-like resource called Magick. We also saw the Sister Blades, a pair of fast close-range swords with new, more aggressive Omega moves like an AoE fan of knives and a teleport. These two are the only weapons available in the technical test. 

"These are key weapons that are almost like characters in their own right, and they each support a different play style," Kasavin said. "They're each meant to be equally or at least similarly viable in different situations, and the way that different Boons influence them opens up a lot of different possibilities for different builds and different play styles." 

The Silver Pool is additionally used to unlock a variety of tools tied to gathering resources mid-run that can fuel things like incantations back at base. That's right, folks: we're picking herbs, mining rocks, and witching it up with a proper cauldron. Incantations are "often world-changing" effects that seem to unlock new characters or other key elements, with one early incantation entreating the very sisters of fate itself