Answering Your Hades II Questions

It's been a year already since the announcement of the highly anticipated sequel to Supergiant Games' massively successful Hades. Hades II wowed the world with its teaser trailer, and it quickly — and I mean quickly — became the most-wishlisted game on Steam.

Of course, there are a lot of questions surrounding this title. The announcement trailer alone leaves many questions to be answered, and I've searched for many of these online to create a comprehensive list for all of your questions! Starting with...

What is Hades II?

You may be here because it's the game you're looking forward to and are seeking answers to a specific question... or you might be here because this strange title is the top most-wishlisted game on Steam at the moment, and it's strange that it isn't a well-known AAA. But regardless, it's an answer worth giving!

Hades II is a roguelike title by Supermassive Games, the developers behind many others — from the original Hades to Bastion and Transistor. This new title has a new protagonist who will venture into the underworld to fight against the forces of evil in roguelite combat set in Greek mythos. You can get boons from various deities, offering the roguelite element that'll randomise your runs every time you play!

Is Hades II Connected to the Original?

Yes! Fans of the original game will recognise the appearance of Lord Hades, played by Logan Cunningham. Though we haven't been able to see any sign of the previous protagonist — Zagreus — we know that he and the new protagonist, Melinoë, are related due to her being the princess of the Underworld.

Supergiant Games has already stated that this is a direct sequel to the previous title, though you won't need to play that one (or even know anything about Greek mythology) to enjoy it, much like the original. It'll be a more fulfilling experience in terms of narrative and story for those who have played the other game and are familiar with the mythos, but it won't be a requirement to make it through the experience.

Who is the Protagonist in Hades II?

We have confirmation that the protagonist for Hades II is none other than Melinoë! Much like Zagreus from the original, she does have roots in Greek myth that we can find, but her stories are mostly limited, giving the team free reign to forge her as a character to their will without having to stick to mythos stereotypes.

In Greek mythology, Melinoë has been associated with the Underworld and ghosts. Though the trailer indicates that she is the daughter of Lord Hades, she is — in fact — a daughter of Zeus who was disguised as Hades and had a child with Persephone. She also has close associations with the moon (which can be reflected in her in-game design).

In the game, she is described as Zagreus' sister through parental association, though we do not know whether Supergiant Games will follow the story of her hymn and associate her with Zeus at a later point in the story. She is considered the princess of the Underworld and a Greek witch, though we do not have much more information regarding her at the moment.

Characters We've Gotten to See

The trailer we've seen has already shown off a lot of characters, pretty much all of whom have had no previous connections in the last game. The full list of characters we've seen so far are:

• Melinoë
• Hades
• Chronos (name)
• Unnamed teacher
• Moros
• Apollo
• Nemesis
• Dora 

Professionalism aside, I'd bet my right arm that the unnamed teacher training Melinoë in the trailer is none other than Hekate, who is closely associated to her in Greek myth. She'll likely work either like a teacher (the way Achilles did in Hades) or like Nyx to unlock various spells and powers. Meanwhile, we've heard of Chronos by name (the main antagonist, as Hades describes as no mere titan), who will likely be the replacement for Hades as the final boss in the game.

Interestingly, the unnamed teacher has been placed in the position of a boss near the end of the reveal trailer. There's a possibility we will fight her as a friendly boss (maybe to try to test our skills) and set forth into the Underworld to free Lord Hades from his chains — it could be an optional boss fight like Chiron in the original or a gate-keeping battle like Cerberus was, too.

Among allies, we have Moros (who seems to serve the role of Thanatos and other friends that you could find around the House of Hades), the personification of doom; Apollo as the first-announced boon-giver; and Nemesis, who seems to take a similar role as Megaera in the House of Hades.

Will Hades II Have Multiplayer?

One of the questions that pop into everyone's minds with a new release is always whether it'll have multiplayer functionality for you to play with your friends. There's been a lot of asking for the release of Hades multiplayer, Hades-like games with multiplayer, and even a Hades multiplayer mod — but Supergiant Games has spoken.

No, Hades II will not include this highly requested feature. The reason being that the team wants to keep the game focused on a single-player experience with a story-driven narrative — there are no plans to add any multiplayer modes to the game, and it's being built with that in mind.

What Will Be Available in the Early Access?

Supergiant Games has already delayed the Early Access release once due to lack of content. The team has stated that their plan is to ensure that the Early Access period is worthwhile for the player, and they want it to have at least as much content as was available in the original game.

This means that going into Hades II, we can expect about as much content as was available by the time Hades entered Early Access, too. Looking back, you could traverse the first two areas of the Underworld, going through Tartarus and the Asphodel Fields to fight Megaera and the Lernean Hydra respectively, there were four weapons, and a slew of gods (though some were still missing). 

How Often will the Early Access be Updated?

We haven't heard news from Supergiant Games about this specific question, but judging by the release schedule of Hades, we can make some estimations.

With an Early Access release of 12th of December 2019 and a full release on the 17th of September 2020, Hades received major content updates with a lot of content every month to three months, with the first major content update — The Long Winter — releasing on the 21st of January 2020, just a month after release. From there, the next major content update was on the 10th of March, and then the 23rd of June, culminating in its September release.

With these, we estimate that the game will have several major content updates over the course of its development period, with possible wait times varying between a month to three months for each major update.

Will my Early Access Save be Compatible with the Full Release?

Thankfully, if you're going to be one of the supporters that joins Hades II when it releases in Early Access, you'll also be able to keep your same save file throughout the entire journey! Supergiant Games has already stated that if you will be joining the development process, you should be able to take the same save file from the first time you start your Early Access adventure into subsequent updates and then the release of v1.0.

When Will the Early Access Release?

The good news is that the Early Access release will begin this year, and you'll even be able to partake in a Technical Test that will occur just before it (though, that'll be to a limited number of players with less content). The bad news, however, is that the exact release date is yet to be announced.

What we do know is that it's going to be sometime in the second quarter of 2024, and Supergiant Games will share more information the closer to release we are. There is no exact date or even system requirements at this time, but we look forward to sharing more about it when it does come to light.

Which Platforms Will Hades II Be Available On?

Hades II will release first on PC via the Steam and the Epic Games stores first, considering it'll be in the Early Access period. From there, however, the release of further platforms is still being kept quiet; we don't know anything about system requirements or the possibility of support for last-gen consoles just yet.

How Long will Hades II Be in Early Access and When Will It Release?

Supergiant Games has not shared information regarding the full release of Hades II just yet — we know that the Early Access will release in Q2 2024 (delayed from its original 2023 expected release window), but from there, everything else has been kept quiet. Any information about release is purely speculative and estimations until the team has announced an official release date.

That said, considering that we know the developer wants a release schedule similar to the original for Hades II, we can anticipate about a year of Early Access with major content updates every month to three months. With this in mind, we could be estimating a full release date in early- to mid-2025. However, please bear in mind that these numbers are estimations built from the previous release and are just that — estimations.

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That is everything we know about the upcoming Hades II so far! Though I'd say it's no small number of information for a game that's had merely one trailer, we look forward to learn even more about it as we reach the release of the Early Access! Look forward to the game's Early Access release in Q2 2024 for Steam and the Epic Games store and until then — death to Chronos!