Hades

Hades combined Supergiant Games' signature emphasis on storytelling and music with the roguelike genre: Zagreus, son of the god of the underworld, Hades, repeatedly attempts to escape the underworld for Mount Olympus in search of his mother Persephone, and each death sends him back to the start with a new selection of weapons and divine boons from figures of Greek mythology such as Zeus, Athena, or Ares. The key innovation is the fusion of the repeated dying typical of the roguelike genre with a fluid, continuously evolving narrative - characters remember previous attempts, new dialogue is revealed, and relationships deepen with every further fall, turning the frustration of failure into meaningful narrative progress.

The combat system offers six distinct weapons, each of which changes dramatically depending on the chosen combination of bonuses, guaranteeing enormous variability between individual runs; in an isometric view, the player fluidly combines a fast attack, a special move, a ranged ability, and an evasive dash. Permanent upgrades purchased between runs, along with the option to voluntarily raise the difficulty in exchange for better rewards, let everyone set their own pace of progression. A visual style drawing on Greek vase painting and comic-book aesthetics, together with an excellent soundtrack by Darren Korb, further heighten the atmosphere.

The voice performances, including the charismatic narrator Hades voiced by Logan Cunningham, give even the smallest characters of the underworld an unmistakable personality, while Zagreus's relationship arcs with characters like Megaera or Thanatos offer an unusually intimate look at Greek mythology. Hades also became one of the first titles to successfully use a long-term, community-followed early access development process on the Epic Games Store before its full release. Critics showered the game with nearly unanimous praise and a string of Game of the Year awards, firmly establishing the roguelike genre in mainstream awareness and opening the door to a sequel.