Hades 2 is nearly perfect, but there’s one problem that needs tweaking

digitaltrends.com:

In the most unsurprising news possible, Hades 2 is excellent. Anyone familiar with the first game — which Digital Trends voted one of the best games of all time — should have seen that coming, but it’s almost shocking how great the sequel is in its early access state. One might have expected an incomplete foundation to be built on over time, but developer Supergiant Games has already delivered what feels like a fantastic and fully formed product.

Like a lot of players, I’m loving it already. Its witchy vibe is a great tonal refresh, its weapons feel unique, and it boasts some wildly creative bosses that surpass its predecessor. My complaints are minor so far (spellcasting times feel a little long at present), but there is one area that I hope Supergiant tackles before 1.0: It isn’t the best experience for newcomers so far.

Getting on board

If you’re familiar with the first Hades, you should have no problem grasping the sequel’s basics. The core roguelike is mostly unchanged. Players hack and slash hordes of enemies with light and heavy strikes. Each biome contains a series of rooms, which contain combat challenges, rewards, and boons that totally change their weapons’ functions. A lot of familiar systems carry over too, like a social system that has players giving gifts to Gods to gain bonuses from them. On paper, returning players shouldn’t need many tutorials to get started.

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And yet, as someone who has put over 100 hours into Hades, I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around parts of Hades 2. That’s because the sequel contains very little onboarding to explain its changes. For instance, combat does have a new twist this time. Players can cast spells by holding down attack buttons and drop Wards that can slow enemies down. None of that is