Mobile Port Please! - Hades

In this new series, we’ll cover games that deserve a mobile port. Of course there are many good games from PC and consoles that the mobile gaming community wants to play. But not all of these games will provide experience which is the same as playing it on the original console.

That’s why this series will not talk about games that are too difficult to play from a cellphone without using a game cloud streaming. Although playing Cyberpunk 2077 in the palm of your hand sounds cool, today’s mobile hardware will not be able to play this game smoothly.

The first game in this series is Hades, a game roguelite Action RPG from Supergiant Games. Prior to Hades, Supergiant had released three other games; Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre. All of these games are known for several factors: the unique music and art style, the simple but interesting gameplay, and how all these factors combine to deliver a complete package. Additionally, Supergiant has also brought two of their games, Bastion and Transistor, to iOS, giving them a mobile port experience for their game.

But what kind of game was Hades himself? Players play as Zagreus, Prince of the Underworld – a version of hell from ancient Greece – on his quest to escape the Underworld to escape his father, Hades, the God of the Dead. As a roguelite game, Zagreus would die time and time again only to return to his starting point, his home the House of Hades, only to try to get out one more time.

Whenever Zagreus tries to reach the earth’s surface, he is assisted by other Olympian gods. Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, etc will provide assistance to Zagreus in the form of boo. All boons have different effects, and come randomly to give you a choice of three boons. This combination of boon effects and different options is the factor that gives each run in Hades a different feeling.

Maybe in this run Zagreus will do a hit-and-run tactic by using a boon from Ares that inflicts massive damage a few seconds after the hit. Or you can shoot arrows automatically with each attack thanks to Artemis’ help. There are many other interactions in this game.

Zagreus can also acquire other items on his way. Darkness will make him stronger in each subsequent run. Pomegranate abbreviated as ‘pom’ can increase the level of a boon. After a few runs, Zagreus was able to acquire new weapons in addition to his sword. These weapons can also be strengthened in a run using the Daedalus Hammer.

The gameplay that always feels new is only one part of what makes Hades such a special game. The characters he meets are another factor. Before starting each run, Zagreus can talk to various residents of the House of Hades such as the hero Achilles or the night god Nyx. The longer you play Hades, the deeper Zagreus’s relationship with these characters becomes, even with Hades himself.

All of these characters have their own images with deep detail. They also have their own voice actors. Readers may think that they are probably going to say the same few sentences over and over again. But Supergiant has written thousands of lines of dialogue for these characters. They would comment on various factors such as the weapon being used, the other gods helping Zagreus at the time, even how far he managed to go in his last run.

In addition, like other Supergiant games the music in Hades is very distinctive. There was even a character who would sing whenever Zagreus met them. The genre of music in Hades is diverse, from calm melodies to loud guitar riffs. Listen to the game’s music on Spotify!

All of these components make for a game that is easy to play but has skill ceiling high enough, has a beautiful art style and music, and makes you always want to play it one more time. Plus the experience of Supergiant developers to bring their games to mobile before this, it’s not hard to imagine Hades on mobile.

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