Hades
Games review
As of Jul 2, 2026, Hades is rated 98% positive on Steam (305,118 reviews), and 93/100 on Metacritic (61 critic reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
Opens Hades's own site, not a review site.
Is Hades worth it in 2026?
A 98% positive rating across 305,118 Steam reviews is not a fluke, Hades earns it by doing something most roguelikes fail at: making repetition feel intentional through a story that actively progresses between runs, reinforced by consistently praised voice acting, art, and combat mechanics. The complaint about repetitive gameplay is real and worth taking seriously if hack-and-slash loops wear thin for you quickly; the fact that only 3 of the sampled reviewers flagged it suggests most players find the narrative hooks compelling enough to sustain the loop, but that's cold comfort if you're not one of them. Controller optimization is a genuine usability concern flagged by multiple reviewers, not a minor quibble, if you plan to play on a controller, expect some friction with remapping or responsiveness before assuming the experience is seamless.
Players who value character-driven progression and story payoff over pure mechanical variety, especially those new to roguelikes or anyone who bounced off the genre before because it felt hollow.
The combat is hack-and-slash by design and does not fundamentally change run to run; if you fatigue on that style quickly, no amount of story will save it. Controller players should also verify current optimization before buying, as reviewers noted real issues there.
ReviewPond's conclusion, drawn only from the verified scores and review themes below. Not a paid or editorial opinion.
Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
Pros
- engaging story and characters10
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- An amazing game! Absolutely loved the replayability as well! Story is also very well written One of the things I enjoyed the most was that an increase in difficulty DOES NOT jus...
- I won't go into every detail, but I have to mention the amount of content packed into this game. It's honestly ridiculous how it refuses to become repetitive. Every run seems to br...
- It’s been a while since I played it, but playing Hades 2 right now, I realized this deserved an overdue review! I really like mythology and therefore this game was already somethin...
- beautiful art style8
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- ---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐...
- I went into this not really knowing what it was, just that it was very well rated, those ratings are well deserved this is a very fun game. Love the art style, love the voice acti...
- Fun, highly re-playable and the art style is amazing. The story is a unique take on Greek mythology, so that's interesting too.
- addictive gameplay loop7
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- I went into Hades with little expectation. I had never played a rogue-lite before, and I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it. I enjoy combat in games, but I prefer turn-based combat,...
- Hades is easily one of the best roguelike / hack and slash games I’ve ever played. What pulled me in first was the setting. I’ve always been interested in mythology, gods, divine...
- Bought it cause the art looked cool and people said it was fun, but I did not expect to get addicted to this game so quickly.
- satisfying combat mechanics6
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- Hades is easily one of the best roguelike / hack and slash games I’ve ever played. What pulled me in first was the setting. I’ve always been interested in mythology, gods, divine...
- If you love Greek mythology, Hades is an absolute must play. What makes it incredible is how the game weaves mythic storytelling directly into the gameplay the gods aren't just pow...
- didn't expect to get hooked this fast. Every run feels different thanks to the combinations of boons and weapons, and even when you fail, it never feels like you wasted your time....
- excellent replayability5
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- An amazing game! Absolutely loved the replayability as well! Story is also very well written One of the things I enjoyed the most was that an increase in difficulty DOES NOT jus...
- I won't go into every detail, but I have to mention the amount of content packed into this game. It's honestly ridiculous how it refuses to become repetitive. Every run seems to br...
- Fun, highly re-playable and the art style is amazing. The story is a unique take on Greek mythology, so that's interesting too.
- high quality voice acting4
see reviews +-
- I went into this not really knowing what it was, just that it was very well rated, those ratings are well deserved this is a very fun game. Love the art style, love the voice acti...
- A fun game I didn't expect to enjoy. Nor did i expect to get far in. I love it's art style, writing and overall full of the contolls. As well as the A+ voice acting.
- didn't expect to get hooked this fast. Every run feels different thanks to the combinations of boons and weapons, and even when you fail, it never feels like you wasted your time....
Cons
- repetitive gameplay3
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- The combat is repetetive and boring. Dodge all over the place and attack over again. The rougelike element does have some variety but I think its a lot of repetition anyways. The s...
- Roguelikes/roguelites: "Yeah man we got you fam with 50h of content." "How much of that is unique and handcrafted?" "About 20% man why?" I'm exaggerating here, but this kind of...
- An incredibly beautiful game with well thought out mechanics, however the gameplay does get a little stale after playing so many times in a row. I'll probably play more after a lon...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 40 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 305.2K ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.