While the 2022’s ceremony of The Game Awards was filled with exciting announcements and memorable trailers, one of the most delightful surprises of the evening was that Supergiant Games is currently developing Hades 2. The first Hades won the Game Award for Best Indie and Best Action Game in 2020 while also being nominated for Best Narrative and Game of the Year. So, it’s fitting that Supergiant Games decided to use the ceremony to announce the sequel.

The reveal of Hades 2 is also unprecedented for the company since each game Supergiant developed has a unique art style and core gameplay loop, including Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre. So, while we love Hades, Supergiant is treading in uncharted waters by making their first sequel. The reveal trailer is delicious enough for us to be hooked, but we still hope Supergiant could make some tweaks to make their almost-perfect formula even better. Here’s everything we want in Hades 2.

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More Biomes and Boss Battles

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In Hades, you play as Zagreus (voiced by Darren Korb), a demigod who tries to escape the Greek Underworld. With a sword in hand, Zagreus must fight hordes of lost souls until he finally faces his father, Hades (voiced by Logan Cunningham). Each region of the Underworld is a unique biome with refreshing mechanics, and there’s a fantastic boss battle waiting for players before they can process to another level. However, every time the player dies, he’s sent back to the bottom of the Underworld and must climb to freedom from scratch, over and over again.

There’s a poetic beauty to how Hades deals with defeat, as each death becomes meaningful in the game’s context. Even so, after a couple of dozen runs, we begin to wish for more biome and boss variety. Hades 2 apparently deals with a time loop, as Zagreus's sister, Melinoë, goes after Cronos, the Titan of Time. That gives Hades 2 the perfect opportunity to explore many more biomes and bosses. With the power of time travel, each run of Hades 2 could have random biomes, each with its own unique boss, increasing the replay value of an already great formula.

A New Combat System With Unique Weapons

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Image via Supergiant Games

Hades has an easy-to-pick, hard-to-master combat system with dozens of combinations of weapons, abilities, and passive powers. While Hades 2 could just copy the same combat structure and still be a fantastic game, Supergiant Games has the opportunity to build something completely unique. Melinoë is a different character than Zagreus, so she should fight differently. Especially considering how the first trailer for the sequel teased Melinoë is connected to witchcraft somehow.

In Hades 2, Supergiant Game could explore a new approach to combat by leaning over Melinoë’s strengths and allowing players to have the same thrill of mastering the action and learning how to mix and match different tools for their advantage. Of course, just copying Hades’ formula is fine, but if Supergiant decides to rework the combat system, we could have another Game of the Year contender in Hades 2.

Streamlined Currency System and Less Grinding

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Image via Supergiant Games

If there’s something we wish Hades had done better is streamlining its currency system. Players can collect Gemstones, Darkness, Nectar, Diamonds, Chthonic Keys, Ambrosia, and Titan Blood in the first game. Each of these currencies serves a different purpose, and there’s an in-game explanation for players needing to collect them all. Nevertheless, after we beat Hades a few times and are working on maxing out the game’s permanent upgrades, it can be repetitive to go after all the different kinds of currency. That’s even more true since there’s no way to change one type of currency for the other freely. Things get even worse when we consider all the aesthetic upgrades players can buy for the Underworld, which cost an immeasurable amount of different currencies.

In Hades 2, Supergiant would do well in streamlining the currency system to make the game less grindy. That would keep us motivated far longer and make every run meaningful. Reducing the level of stress that comes with managing so many different currencies is also a plus.

The Same Level of Love for Storytelling

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Image via Supergiant Games

If there’s one thing Supergiant cannot change for the sequel is the love the studio shows for storytelling. While Hades has a solid gameplay loop, we fell in love with the game due to its fantastic characters. During his journey through the Underworld, Zagreus touched the lives of dozens of Gods, demigods, and mythological creatures, creating meaningful bonds that ultimately help him escape his afterlife prison.

Hades 2 should keep the same design direction, giving us characters we can care about and with whom it is fun to interact. That creates a moment of respite between each run and makes even the worst deaths bearable. It feels good to have people to return to after each defeat, and we would love this trend to still be part of Hades 2.

Supergiant Games is set to reveal more information about early access for Hades 2 in early 2023.