Hades, Revisited
Oct. 20th, 2020 08:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingI think I was right about this game being a flashy alternative to Animal Crossing. Like Animal Crossing, Hades is about customizing your space and checking in with its inhabitants every day, and there's a lot of grinding.
In fact, I'm going to say that Hades isn't so much a Rougelike as it is a vehicle for grinding, and the Rougelike elements keep it... Well, "interesting" isn't the most appropriate word, but they keep it going.
So again, Hades isn't a game that anyone should come to for storytelling, character development, worldbuilding, exploration, puzzle-solving, clever gameplay mechanics, deep battle mechanics, creative visual and sound design, or even compelling voice acting. And that's okay.
Hades is all about its core gameplay loop of grind, come back, get a little stronger, go a little farther, and grind some more. The randomness is more than a little frustrating, as is having to start over from the very beginning every single time, but that's why you only do it a little every day. I think, like Animal Crossing, Hades expects you to spend dozens (if not hundreds) of hours futzing around and gathering ore (or whatever), and you just have to decide whether that's something you want to commit to. For me personally, it's a nice way to keep myself from going insane while sitting through an endless series of Zoom meetings, and I appreciate that.
In fact, I'm going to say that Hades isn't so much a Rougelike as it is a vehicle for grinding, and the Rougelike elements keep it... Well, "interesting" isn't the most appropriate word, but they keep it going.
So again, Hades isn't a game that anyone should come to for storytelling, character development, worldbuilding, exploration, puzzle-solving, clever gameplay mechanics, deep battle mechanics, creative visual and sound design, or even compelling voice acting. And that's okay.
Hades is all about its core gameplay loop of grind, come back, get a little stronger, go a little farther, and grind some more. The randomness is more than a little frustrating, as is having to start over from the very beginning every single time, but that's why you only do it a little every day. I think, like Animal Crossing, Hades expects you to spend dozens (if not hundreds) of hours futzing around and gathering ore (or whatever), and you just have to decide whether that's something you want to commit to. For me personally, it's a nice way to keep myself from going insane while sitting through an endless series of Zoom meetings, and I appreciate that.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-21 12:21 pm (UTC):\
I want to be excited for this game, but the more I hear people talk about it, the more I just... want to do something else instead of finally booting it up. Because I haven't played it yet, it's not really fair for me to make this critique right now, HOWEVER, as someone who has played all their previous games, it's fucking baffling to me to imagine that they wouldn't focus on any of that. Hell, Bastion was a solid action game with equally solid storytelling, characters, and worldbuilding. THEY CAN DO IT. I KNOW THEY CAN.
That all said, I'm glad this has been enjoyable for you in small doses and keeping you sane through Zoom meetings. Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one who plays video games while on the third pointless conference call for the day.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-24 11:46 am (UTC)I take it for granted this is what most of my students are doing tbh.
Personally speaking, it's like there's a switch somewhere inside my head that goes from "I'm present and paying attention" to "I'm present but also playing Animal Crossing" to "I'm playing Hades."
It's really not a bad game, but it's a shame that most of the storytelling work needs to be done by the player (and by fan artists on Twitter).