Hades is the Ultimate Greek Mythology Story

 Introduction: 

So, after putting it off for quite some time, I decided to finally play Hades, Supergiant’s best game yet and one of the top contenders for Game of the Year in 2020. 

I’m honestly ashamed it took me so long to play this masterpiece. I pretty much love everything about it: the gameplay is stylish, the controls are intuitive and responsive, the visuals are gorgeous, the voice acting is some of the industry’s best and the characters are all supremely likable. Even though the game is fundamentally a roguelike (or roguelite, I suppose), which is a genre I never really cared for; I find the roguelite nature of the game actually keeps me coming back more and more. It’s addicting, challenging without being frustrating, and I feel engrossed at every turn. 

But I’m not here to discuss the gameplay, the roguelite design of the game or its gorgeous visual style; all of that has been discussed to death. 

No, what I’m here to talk about is the game’s story. Honestly, no matter how good the gameplay is, I almost always get into games because of their story. While there are some exceptions (my love of fighting games being one), this is why story-driven experiences like God of War and The Last of Us are generally my favorite games. 

So even though the gameplay here is wonderful, I really dove deep into Hades because I’m a huge mythology nerd, and I wanted to see how some of my favorite gods and goddesses were reinterpreted. 

This will be a bit of a different analysis then most Hades reviews and video essays out there. This'll be a shorter essay focusing entirely on the characters, mythology and storytelling style of Supergiant’s magnum opus. 

Without further ado, let’s get into it. 

Overview:

Since the early 2000s, it’s become increasingly obvious that ancient mythologies are a huge reservoir of inspiration for all storytellers. My own fascination with mythology began with Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson, The Heroes of Olympus, The Trials of Apollo, The Kane Chronicles and the Magnus Chase series are all set in a shared universe that consistently dominated the Young Adult storytelling scene (and my mind) for 15 years. The Wonder Woman and Thor movies demonstrated to the broad public how well mythology and superhero fiction could mesh; and Showtime’s take on American Gods introduced millions of people to Neil Gaiman’s critically-acclaimed novel. 

But while cinema and literature have had plenty of successes with adapting old myths, I’d argue that video games had some of the most fun in completely reshaping these legends. 

• SMITE was one of the first major MOBAs that helped popularize the genre, and its many gods are not only diverse in origins, but in gameplay styles

• Assassin’s Creed, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, has slowly moved away from historical fiction into historical fantasy. 

• The Shin Megami Tensei series (and the Persona sub-series) both make use of mythological figures in their stories, either by having the characters outright appear or (in the case of Persona) merely being alluded to. 

• And of course, we have to mention God of War. This was an absolute game-changer, being one of the first video games to show off the potential for cinematic storytelling in the medium. Its soft reboot, God of War 2018, is one of the greatest games of all time. 

In many ways, Hades feels like the response to all of this mythologically-inspired fiction, doing the exact opposite of what many of those stories did. Hades tells a story that is laser-focused: Zagreus never strays from his goal, the game never strays far from the titular underworld, character dynamics are front and center, and the only side characters who appear are the ones who have business being in the underworld, like Thanatos, Nyx, Hypnos and Meg. The only Olympian gods who appear do so through brief messages in Boons or in the game’s epilogue. 

The end result is a game that feels like a grand adventure, but never loses sight of or gets ahead of itself. By not casting their net too wide and not having too many toys in their sandbox, Supergiant games can focus on taking what they already have and honing it to perfection, whether that be the gorgeous setting, the complex parent-child relationships, or the engrossing mystery surrounding Persephone. (This idea of taking what little you have and honing it to perfection isn’t anything surprising for Supergiant, because that was essentially the whole point of making the game Early Access. But it’s interesting to see how that gameplay approach was more or less the same as the narrative approach.)

I made a point of mentioning other mythology-inspired video games, and specifically God of War, because it’s actually a lot of the same design philosophy. The Greece trilogy is still a great collection of games, but it often feels like they’re trying to cram as many references and allusions as possible. We just don’t spend much time with characters like Hepheasteus, Icarus or Poseidon before Kratos kills them and we move on. They essentially had all of Greek mythology to work with, and they made most of them little more than target practice. 

Cory Barlog has spoken about this in interviews, and how the writing team initially wanted to have another jam-packed story with God of War 4 but he convinced them to pull it back and hone in on Kratos, Atreus and the themes of fatherhood and redemption. I’d even argue that the game being presented in one cut was a way to visually remind the audience that Kratos and Atreus are the main focus of it all. In the end, this was the right call: God of War 2018 has been lauded as one of the greatest games of all time specifically because it focused on the parent-child relationship, and because it knew when to hold back on some of the juicer parts of Norse mythology. 

Now, don’t mistake me: I’m not saying that Hades rode the train of God of War’s success. Hades is its own beast, that much we can’t deny. I’m simply stating that Supergiant’s decision to only focus on a handful of Underworld deities was for the better. It gives a sense of intimacy and closeness to each of the relationships Zagreus develops, whether it be his cute friendship with Dusa, his strained-but-healing relationship with his father, or his budding romances with Thanatos and Megaera. 

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Speaking of which: Hades sets itself apart from the pack by having no original characters. This was one of the first things I noticed about the game: even characters who seem like OCs are actually just clever reinterpretations of old characters. For example, Dusa is clearly just Medusa’s decapitated head (the fact that she’s a maid named Dusa is an obvious pun on Medusa, but it took me forever to get it, so I thought I’d put it out there.)

I thought for sure Zagreus an original character, akin to Kratos, Percy Jackson or Shadow Moon. But he’s actually a character from the original Greek myths, which I’ll discuss in just a second. 

Even though there are no original characters, that doesn’t mean the game lacks originality. Far from it, Hades radically reshapes classical mythology in clever ways to tell its own story. It’s just that it does so with a very limited, polished cast of characters that all have some basis in real-world myths. 

• In some versions of the original myths, Hades outright kidnapped Persphone. Persephone ate Pomegranate seeds in the underworld, and as a result, she has to stay in the Underworld for 6 months of the year. Here, the relationship was much more consensual, but she fled after the trauma of Zagreus’ stillbirth. It makes their relationship feel tragic and it gives Zagreus a goal to work towards, yet their relationship is obviously fixable. 

• Demeter in the original Greek texts is the goddess of agriculture, who was so devastated when Persephone left for the Underworld that the world plunged into cold for six months. This was the Ancient Greek explanation for the seasons, but Supergiant Games have an interesting take on this by just straight-up making Demeter the goddess of seasons. An interesting choice, to be sure, but it helps make her feel very unique from her daughter and it adds a refreshing set of boons to the combat. 

• In the original stories, Zagreus was the God of Rebirth. While that still factors into the main story (with Zagreus nonchalantly being reborn after each failed escape attempt), Supergiant portrays him as a prince who doesn’t even know what he’s the god of, with Achilles supplementing that he’s the god of blood and life. This is an interesting idea: blood and life are inherently related to each other, but life tends to be associated with nature, agriculture and the color green (much like Persephone). Blood is associated with death, destruction and the color red (much like Hades). Zagreus having one red eye and one green eye is a visual signal that he’s the son of a Chthonic God and an Olympian goddess, and it affirms what he is the god of. 

I could go on and on about Hades’ brilliant reinterpretations. I appreciate how in many ways, Supergiant manages to breathe new life into characters not necessarily by adding new facets to their personality or altering myths, but by reemphasizing older parts of the original myths. 

• For example, this is one of the only modern stories I can think of that emphasizes Hades is as much a god of wealth as he is a god of the underworld. Whereas most media portray him as a gloomy Satanic figure, here, Hades is a workaholic adorned with gems and jewelry of all kinds. 

• This is also one of the only modern stories I know that gives the proper emphasis to Nyx. The goddess of night is a looming force in the underworld, but she’s a kinder, more benevolent figure. In addition to being Zagreus’ adoptive mother, she’s also the biological mother Hypnos and Thanatos. 

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I think that Hades cements itself as the ultimate Greek mythology story because of its hilarious relationship with modern day. 

That’s not to say the game is actually set in modern day, like many of the books and games I mentioned previously. No, what I mean by that is that Hades constantly uses tropes, visual design elements and comedic jokes associated with modern storytelling---the juxtaposition between these modern elements and the Ancient Greek setting ranges from clever to outright hysterical. 

• Take, for instance, Hades’ entire attitude towards Zagreus’ rampage. He pretty much treats it as a hormonal teenager trying to leave the house after curfew, even telling Zag to clean his room on more than one occasion. I laughed aloud at a particularly great bit of dialogue where he tells Zagreus to stop ransacking his realm so they can sit down and eat dinner for once, goddammit. 

• Speaking of which: while a lot of the collectibles make total sense in the context of the universe (i.e. Titan Blood, Centaur Heart, pieces of Nyx’s darkness, etc.) I found myself chuckling on the rare occasions I found completely American food like french fries in this realm of spirits and monsters. 

• The House of Hades itself seems to be almost hilariously modern at times. Zagreus can get posters to hang up on his walls, further cementing that he is in fact just a teenager rebelling against dear-old-dad. 

• That’s not even getting into the final weapon in the game: the Adamant Rail, a fucking minigun in this universe of Greek gods. 

Basically, Hades is great, not just for putting a modern spin on old characters, but for putting a spin on old settings. Never before has the underworld felt quite so alive, and a big part of that vibe owes itself to the game’s modern sense of humor and style. 

Conclusion:

Hades is an incredibly interesting gameplay experience, no doubt, but it’s made all the better by its likable characters, punchy humor and fascinating setting. On any Internet forum you’re just as likely to see people discussing their favorite NPCs and dialogue lines as they are their favorite boon or weapon. So I thought it was necessary for me to make an essay about why we’re so captivated by this story specifically, in an age of modernized Greek myths. 

For those that have made it to the end of this, I just want to say: if you haven’t already played Hades, please go do so. Yes, it’s a challenging roguelike, but it’s also home to some of the most compelling characters I’ve ever seen in the medium. 

My name is Jonathan, and thanks for reading.