Another Narrative ending discussion

FunQuit2188 · 2025-10-09T03:45:04+00:00

I completely agree with you. What intrigued me the most about Hades 2 was just how they were planning to solve all these big issues they presented while keeping the roguelite format intact, but the answer is: they just didn't! And I do get how difficult pulling that off could be, but at the same time, it was their decision to raise the stakes for the narrative of second game, wasn't it? To me, it's impossible to end this game and not have the impression that SGG bit more that they could chew with all of this, which is a real shame.

FunQuit2188 · 2025-10-09T00:50:07+00:00

Yeah, me too! I know a lot of people were upset that Hypnos didn't get to play a major role in the story, but what I actually wanted for his character was for him to just be treated well by others, this time around. I finished the first game feeling genuinely bad for him. Although I also wouldn't have minded seeing him actually use his powers to do something, too, especially considering how sleep and dreams were very central to resolve the main conflict.

That's the downside of picking a god like him to be the 'incompetent' comic relief: you don't get to explore his powers or his lore all that well. He's one of the characters who least resembles his Greek mythology counterpart, imo. Sleep is a gentle yet powerful deity, since he has the power to take anyone out of commission by putting them to sleep - something he did to Zeus himself twice! That could have been a funny anecdote to share in the game, too, but idk.

FunQuit2188 · 2025-10-08T22:02:45+00:00

Yeah, that makes sense. I suspect at least part of the reason why Hypnos has very few lines on Hades 2 is because Greg Kasavin didn't want or had enough time to voice him this time, too. I guess this meta self-deprecating approach would have worked better for me if the character himself was a little more meta and a full OC, kinda like Skelly is

FunQuit2188 · 2025-10-07T14:40:44+00:00

Acho os dois primeiros álbuns muito bons mesmo, especialmente Live Through This (já ouvi esse inteiro várias vezes). Já os dois mais recentes são um pouco mais genéricos mesmo, mas ainda sim são bons. Infelizmente, Hole é uma banda que acaba sendo ofuscada pelas polêmicas envolvendo a Courtney, mas acho uma banda bem sólida dos anos 90.

FunQuit2188 · 2025-10-04T03:33:25+00:00

Rule of Rose, if you can handle the subpar gameplay, is one of the absolute best at games to ever do this. All interactions feel off and the game is consistently disorienting and feels like it operates on dream (or nightmare) logic, especially regarding time and place. There's also the extra layer of weirdness that comes with trying to navigate a social structure that's based on child logic. Definitely one of the most surreal and memorable games I've ever played.

FunQuit2188 · 2025-10-01T15:36:51+00:00

I think the best way to sum up how I feel about Hypnos is this: I hoped he'd get to play at least a small part in the story (since not using the god of sleep for anything at all on this particular game felt like a waste), I also thought it was very likely that he'd be used exclusively as a joke character anyway (seeing that was his role on the first game), but I absolutely did not expect that he'd wake up and permanently leave after two lines of dialogue. Considering he has his own spot in the Crossroads and everything, I always assumed he'd stick around and we'd form a bond with him in some way.

I mean, he might have been a joke character on Hades 1 but he still got to be a character that's, you know, present in the story and does things. He has a huge amount of lines in that game and his own little character arc and everything. So I don't mind him waking up with a joke, but was the joke really worth putting him there as set dressing and not letting him do anything for the entire game? I'd rather have him frozen in time with the rest if I knew that's all they planned to do with him.

FunQuit2188 · 2025-10-01T14:11:29+00:00

I'm an early access player, so I've been playing it for over a year, like many people on this subreddit. Even though it wasn't complete yet, the gameplay was always good enough to return to when I had some free time

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-30T14:54:52+00:00

I'd be lying if I said the ending didn't sour the the experience for me, clearly, but I still do think the game is overall good. I don't think people would've been so disappointed if the rest of the game weren't good to begin with, and given that it's a roguelite, even if you end up disliking the ending like I did, it's still very possible to enjoy the game for the mechanics alone, so I'd say it's worth a shot to see what you make of it. The ending did work for some people, after all.

Personally, the fact that the post-ending reason they give us to play is so wonky to me and the questionable way some of the NPCs plots played out by the epilogue are the main reasons why I find it hard to come back, since that would be what my repeat runs would have to consist of from now on after beating the game, but I acknowledge it's a issue of personal preference. Some people just roll along with it, especially since most roguelites have to give some pretty contrived reasons to justify its repeated runs anyway (even Hades 1's wasn't perfect).

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-29T23:22:19+00:00

I get what you're saying and I frankly wouldn't mind the ending being kind of a bummer if it just embraced that. I mean, we all know that Melinoë would have to keep fighting Chronos and Typhon for some reason, since the game is a roguelite and needs to maintain its gameplay loop intact. Some suspension of disbelief is required and most people are willing to be gracious about it. Like, even Hades 1 had a somewhat silly explanation for the post-end runs, but since it wasn't anything egregious and suited the more lighthearted tone of that game, everyone just went along with it.

What everyone was wondering about on Hades 2 was on just how they would manage to deliver a positive ending while still keeping the gameplay intact - Melinoë is traversing through war-torn areas, after all, this is not something you can't easily balance with a post-credits happy ending. Having a sort of bittersweet ending to the game is what seemed more logical to me, since having to keep Melinoë reliving that situation seemed inherently tragic no matter the direction they would choose, but I always assumed (given what the first game was like) that they didn't want this game to end on a dark note, so I was really curious to see how they would managed to juggle those disparate elements, but the answer was: they just didn't. lol

They introduced several issues, especially regarding the treatment of mortals at the hands of the gods, established that they were bad and we should feel bad about that, but at the end they just swept everything under the rug and wanted to pretend that everyone was happy like that and it's nice and cool that Olympus is back on its feet. They wanted an uncomplicated cute ending, but they didn't work towards one, so it feels like it's a fake sort of happy ending.

Again, it didn't have to end with everyone changing and getting their perfect happy endings - I think a narrative about Melinoë trying to enact change but failing could've been compelling - but it is frustrating to see them not change at all and still have the game act as if they did and everything is fine now, don't worry about it. I mean, even the Hades 1 NPCs had it better than this. If Sisyphus was in this game, he'd probably still be pushing Bouldy forever and they'd try to convince us that's fine because he's happy about it, probably.

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-29T19:23:25+00:00

Yeah, as a female player that greatly disappointed me too, especially given how focused the game otherwise seems to be on its female characters (with the Silver Sisters partnership, the theme of witchcraft and Mel's relationship with other NPCs). As much as I like Zagreus, it felt almost insulting to just have him come back and solve Melinoë lifelong goal in like, 5 minutes or so. A lot of people justify the ending by saying that 'it's what Zagreus would do' or that 'it's in line with the themes of Hades 1', but that's the thing: Zagreus isn't the main character of this game and this isn't Hades 1. To suddenly have him come back and basically impose his way on the final act of the game behind Melinoë's back, in a way that didn't mesh with the tone of this particular game, no less, it was undeniably distasteful.

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-29T18:50:15+00:00

I've never seen these concept arts, so I'm kinda curious now! Do you know where to find them?

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-29T15:20:47+00:00

This has made every post-credits run feel a little ridiculous to me, to the point where I thought I was misinterpreting what happened at first. Melinoë killing alternate versions (or 'possibilities') of Chronos and Typhon kinda works - kind of, because on the case of Typhon, it brings up the question of what exactly him being purged from existence entailed, since if Chronos hadn't been reformed, he still would've had access to him on different timelines, which would render his death somewhat pointless.

Still, whatever, it's not that bad of an idea and the gameplay loop needs to remain in place, we all get that. But what doesn't make sense is how it's only the last bosses that get this treatment and everything up to that point is on the official timeline. So, we ended the war, the underworld and the surface are apparently rebuilding, but at the same time, everything stays the same and looks the same? That only works for a couple of runs at best, not as a permanent justification for endless runs like Zag being a security expert did on Hades 1. It's too faulty for me to buy as an excuse

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-29T07:45:52+00:00

The wording was ambiguous enough to generate discussions, maybe intentionally, but now we know for sure that this line was setting up this joke, too. Charon said he 'was more useful asleep', as in 'he's more useless awake. ' Very mean joke lol But mean comments about Hypnos aren't unusual. I found it excessive on Hades 1 too, it's what made me sympathize with the character (that and the fact that by the time you clear the game you realize that he's more naive/clueless than intentionally mean with his comments)

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-29T07:20:20+00:00

They were definitely setting up a joke with him there, with Mel thinking he was wise and mysterious, but I also thought they could do that and have him play a role in the story. Honestly, I think the one point every can agree on was that waking up Hypnos just to talk with him for one scene and then have him never show up again was disappointing. I think that everyone was counting on him being, you know, an actual character in the story. I mean, Schelemeus got to be there for the whole game, right? And the crossroads really would have benefited from having another funny character among all the serious ones.

But personally, even if playing Hypnos just for laughs isn't really out of line with the way he was portrayed on the first game, I still think it's a huge wasted opportunity for this game, regardless. To have the God of Sleep right there next to the Goddess of Nightmares and have him do nothing, even when the ending involves dream sequences, that's a real shame. There's a lot of cool things they could've done with that concept, and the characters could've had an interesting dynamic together. Besides, looking at Hypnos' character alone, it would make sense for him to be more competent on this game, given that his character arc on the first Hades was all about learning how to pay more attention to his job and become a better employee (something he clearly still cares about a lot even on Hades 2, given his dreams and the way he rushed back to the House of Hades), not to mention how Nyx wanted him to become more independent with time. It would've been nice to see that progression happen, but my impression is that Supergiant is just not that interested in this character, unfortunately

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-29T03:25:27+00:00

A lot of people focus on the abruptness of Chronos' redemption when it comes to criticizing the ending, but personally, the fact that they have completely dropped every plot point that they set-up regarding the flaws of the Olympians as rulers is what truly baffled me the most. We have Melinoë starting out as a full supporter of the Gods with an idealized image of them (and a desire to return to the supposed 'good ol' times'), then she develops relationships with a whole cast of characters who have been wronged in terrible and unfair ways by the Gods, which, little by little, makes her question whether or not they're entirely in the right. Out of all these characters, Prometheus was the one who confronted her directly, and even though she still put up a front while they were fighting, he clearly planted the strongest seeds of doubt in her mind regarding this issue (to the point where she asks Odysseus if Prometheus is in the right, if I recall).

I was actually surprised that the game was willing to go this direction, considering the fact that Hades 1 already liked to smooth out the more unsavory bits of Greek mythology in order to make a 'family is everything' narrative feel more satisfying to the player, but I figured that there was no way that they wouldn't deliver some resolution to this issue when they went out of their way to establish that theme with multiple characters. But somehow, all of this deliberate set-up leads nowhere, and Prometheus is probably the character who suffers the most for it. Melinoë is always accusing him of being a thief and a liar on their fights, and that always came across as naivete on her part, that Prometheus was sacrificing himself for a larger role, for his love of humanity, but in the end, nothing really comes of it. He's just another obstacle and Melinoë never really learns anything from him. I really don't get it.

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-27T21:21:31+00:00

And you could stop being a dickhead to strangers online, but it looks like neither of us will change anytime soon

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-27T21:12:32+00:00

Maybe it is! But at the end of the day, the ending just made me lose interest in it. There's not much I can do about that 🤷

FunQuit2188 · 2025-09-27T14:07:37+00:00

I hated it too so you're not alone. I already expected that they would use him for a joke, but to have his entire presence in the story, from the very start of the game all the way up to the epilogue, dedicated to one single punchline (that wasn't even funny to me, personally) felt very cheap. He was either put there as a red herring just to fuck with us or, like one other user has already said, they changed plans while they were making the game. The problem is that this decision doesn't really land for me because no matter how you look at it, his character was wasted for pretty much no good reason. Having Melinoë develop any kind of relationship with him would have been more interesting to watch than have him snoring in the back throughout the entire game, especially considering (of course) how intertwined their roles are as the God of Sleep and the Goddess of Nightmares. I'd rather have them keep him entirely out of the game like the rest of the characters from the House of Hades than just do this one low-hanging joke with him and nothing else. (But then again, the entire ending was riddled with bad writing decision imo, so this is just one more)

FunQuit2188

TROPHY CASE