Hades

Hades is a roguelike where death is part of the plot, not a punishment. The main character Zagreus is trying to escape from his father’s underground kingdom, and each failure only adds to his experience and reasons for new conversations with the inhabitants of the house. The house of the underworld lives its own life: relatives, servants and random guests react to every return of the hero. Battles go quickly: blade, shield, spear and other weapons set a different rhythm, and the abilities and gifts of the Olympian gods are combined into assemblies. Zeus, Athena, Poseidon and other relatives willingly share their power, and some of the offers depend on who the hero has already made friends with. There are many rooms and opponents, and bosses require you to learn attack patterns and choose weapons to suit your style. Victories provide keys and materials for leveling up, and defeats open up new lines, meetings and romantic lines. Over the course of dozens of runs, the characters manage to change a lot, and story scenes continue to appear even after the first escape. Experience from races is converted into mirror improvements, due to which the next escape starts with an advantage. The design and music make the process look like an expensive comic book: bright gods, living scenery and constant comments from the narrator. The controls are simple, but the complexity increases with the number of enemies passed and contracts that the player takes on voluntarily. After the first victory, the story does not end: the hero returns to deal with his relatives and the real reason for his escape. For those who enjoy fast-paced combat and stories that unfold gradually, this is an escape worth replaying over and over again.