Hades

Hades is a roguelike action game from American studio Supergiant Games, set in the Greek underworld and following Zagreus, son of the god Hades, who repeatedly attempts to escape his subterranean home for the surface, with every failed attempt sending him back to the start with a new set of weapons and abilities. The genre's key innovation is a sophisticated narrative system in which the character dies and comes back to life many times over as part of the core game design, yet instead of feeling repetitive, this death serves as a natural narrative framework for gradually unfolding dialogue with the gods of Olympus and the inhabitants of the underworld, so the player genuinely falls in love with uncovering a rich, fully voiced story bit by bit.

The combat system offers six distinct weapons ranging from a sword to a bow to an unconventional shield, each controlling completely differently, while the system of so-called Boons, gifts from gods like Zeus, Athena, or Aphrodite, lets players combine abilities between runs to create unique synergistic builds. Combat itself is fast and readable, built around a forward dash, a light and heavy attack, and one unlockable skill, so all the depth shifts into deciding which boons to accept.

Between escape attempts, the player invests gathered resources into permanent upgrades and into improving his father's house, so even a failed run pushes progress forward. The visual style combines hand-painted characters with a dark yet colorful underworld setting, accompanied by Darren Korb's distinctive, genre-spanning soundtrack that blends rock guitars with ancient motifs. The underworld's characters also react to the player's progress, changing their lines depending on the chosen weapon and on who last defeated them. Hades launched on Xbox One after a successful stint in Early Access on PC and is widely regarded as one of the best-received titles of the entire generation, even outside the narrow circle of independent games.