Hades is finally coming to Xbox August 13, Supergiant announced during today’s Xbox and Bethesda showcase.
The roguelike will be on Game Pass for console, PC, and cloud. Previously, Hades was only available on Switch and PC, where it gained a fast following for its unique take on the roguelike genre. In Hades, you play as Zagreus, the son of Hades, who hates his underworld life and is trying to escape Hell by battling through changing levels full of monsters. Along the way, he runs into friends—people he knows from the underworld—whom he can get help from and even battle. Different gods grant you different boons, leading to runs that can be vastly different each time. In between, you can update Zag’s underworld home, improving the halls and conversing with people to improve your relationships with them. Despite that seeming like a lot to manage, it’s a surprisingly chill, compelling game.
As Nathan wrote in his review, “Hades is a game about what people do once they’ve realized that failure is inevitable. How do you spend your time when you live in a house built on a foundation of a failure, when all you and those around you can do is fail, when failure will come whether you act or choose to do nothing at all?”
Hades has a big twist that I won’t spoil for you here, and which I also can’t spoil because I’ll admit I’ve never beaten the game. Nevertheless, it’s a lot of fun, with the gorgeous art style and lovely music that’s made Supergiant’s previous games, like Bastion and Pyre, such fan favorites.
Supergiant famously avoids crunch on its games, a rarity in the games industry. It’s just one more thing to love about the studio’s excellent games, which you can play one more of on a new platform in August.