Hades (2018) is a fighting game where you battle your way through dungeons to escape hell and the clutches of Hades. You play as Zagreus, the son of Hades and through the game, you'll meet many recognisable Greek gods like Zeus, Athena and Poseidon who will try to help you escape and give you new skills. The game is formatted as a rogue-like game, where you must move through a series of dungeons and where your progress is reset if you die. But, unlike other rogue-like games, when restarting the dungeon crawl, your character, Zagreus, remains permanently upgraded and characters you meet will remember you from your previous attempts.
Each environment and character is hand drawn in a cartoon style and is fully voiced. This results in an action game where the narrative and evolving story also offer a strong reason to play. Our examiner, Ellen Robertson, first checked Hades 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 6 months ago.
Play Time: It takes between 45 minutes and 1 hour to play a round of this game. It will take up to 30 hours to beat, but play is through short runs of around an hour.
Rated PEGI 12 for moderate violence and use of bad language. It contains depictions of non-realistic-looking violence towards human-like characters. The majority of the violence is inflicted with melee weapons and magic. Regardless of the type of weapon used, the reaction to the violence remains the same. Characters are often knocked backwards and lose their balance, although no visible wounds are shown. Bright lights and magical effects appear when characters are hit, with some blood effects present. When a character is defeated, they are lifted above the ground before being dropped into a whirlpool of what appears to be blood. The game also contains infrequent use of bad language ('*!@?*').
11+ year-olds usually have the required skill to enjoy this game. Still, it's important for parents and guardians to consider the maturity required to process the game content. It's a game where you need fast reactions and forward planning. Also, because you play through multiple rounds, you need to learn from your mistakes and make choices about the next round to help you do better. Older players get more out of the mythological story that develops.
Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships.