Playing Hades 2 in Early Access makes it feel like a roguelike soap opera, and it's the only reason I still use Steam

Hades 2 is my favorite trashy TV show. What's better, it's interactive. Warsong, the roguelike's latest major update, marks the third theatrical exploit in Melinoë's journey, charted through Early Access to an unpredictable (and therefore incredibly exciting) release schedule. The plot thickens with each episode as new and familiar faces alike get added to the mix, stirring up enough domestic drama to put The Bold and The Beautiful's 38-year foibles to shame. Meanwhile, rebalanced boons and arcana systems mean that the game is constantly changing – and what do you mean there's a new animal familiar?

It's everything I love about playing Hades 2 in Early Access. Just like a soap opera, missing even one update can spell the difference between knowing the cast inside out and losing the plot entirely. The final v1.0 release version is bound to look very different from its current standing, but there's something rewarding about the challenges of having to relearn an ever-changing meta while staying on top of all the narrative twists and turns Hades 2 has to offer – and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Murphy's in-laws

In Early Access, whatever you love most about a game is bound to change. Especially when, in the case of a roguelike, those things you love often amount to the most broken gameplay strategies. The same can be said of fan-favorite TV characters, their innate purity dooming them to a dramatic, devastating exit further down the line.

This kind of TV-adjacent theorizing informs much of my Hades 2 guesswork as I try to predict where Supergiant will zig before it starts to zag. I was still mourning the loss of Smithy Sprint – a boon so overpowered that I knew it was graveyard-bound the moment I put it to work – when Warsong launched in the midst of my staunch Avowed marathon. I mainly rely on my Xbox Series S these days, having made peace with my 5-year-old gaming laptop's incumbent obsolescence, but Hades 2 is keeping that HP Pavillion from the scrap heap. That's because once again, having scratched the surface of yet another new-and-improved Hades 2, I'm reminded why I love the thrill of playing Early Access games on a PC.

You might think it would be aggravating, seeing beloved strategies getting ousted overnight, but the good news is that Hades 2 always gives as much as it takes away. It's all in the name of keeping the roguelike balanced, fun, and fair. Case in point: Supergiant's steadfast mission to redistribute the specialities of different gods and their boons in order to make space for new additions.

Hephaestus, Hera, and Hestia have long been my go-tos when it comes to Hades 2's slate of new kids on the block. I was thrilled for Dionysus being added in October's Olympian update, and am similarly ecstatic to see how god of war Ares flexes his expert muscles in the fight against Chronos now that he's entered the arena, but my main desire for the latest patch was to see at least one of my gods-of-choice get a little extra juice. My prayers were answered in the form of Hera's reworked boons.

Hera's new Extended Family boon is an easy trade-up for newly nixed Nasty Comeback. With Ares now specializing in so-called "revenge" boons – blessings that punish foes whenever Melinoë takes damage – it makes more sense for Hera to zero in on bestowing her queenly gifts elsewhere. Extended Family rewards the player for diversifying their godly portfolio, boosting Mel's damage by one percent per god whose boons you have accepted on a given run. It's a nice way to sweeten the deal and encourage broadening my Early Access horizons, but I was especially impressed to discover that Zeus' retooled Thunder Rush makes a nice replacement for my beloved Smithy Sprint. Pair all of this with Ares' boons showing a penchant for mercilessly amped up damage output, and suddenly I have four new family favorites. Immediately, though, I've become wary. Hera, Zeus, Ares, and Hephaestus have proven flat out deadly when combined, and even though I have only made it through to the final confrontation on Olympus this one time, I'm already concerned for which of my right-hand boons might be on Supergiant's chopping block. Especially if they're reading this.

It's keeping me on tenterhooks, but just like a mid-season cliff-hanger, the aspect of not knowing is what keeps me coming back for more Hades 2. My laptop gets worryingly creakier by the day, and I know the full story will be saved for the official v1.0 launch, but getting to experience so many iterations of the same game is a unique opportunity that can only be granted through Early Access – and, more specifically, through our most benevolent deities at Supergiant Games.

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