{"id":884983,"date":"2026-01-14T08:19:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/14\/hades-2-is-our-favourite-game-of-2025-or-why-we-didnt-give-supergiants-roguelike-a-bestest-best-review\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T08:19:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:19:30","slug":"hades-2-is-our-favourite-game-of-2025-or-why-we-didnt-give-supergiants-roguelike-a-bestest-best-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/14\/hades-2-is-our-favourite-game-of-2025-or-why-we-didnt-give-supergiants-roguelike-a-bestest-best-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Hades 2 is our favourite game of 2025 or: why we didn’t give Supergiant’s roguelike a bestest best review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Or, to be even more blunt, why you have permission to yell the word STICKER at me in every comments section for the foreseeable<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n <\/span>\n \"Horace\n <\/picture>
\n Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun \/ Supergiant Games<\/cite><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For the past month we have been shouting about the games we consider to be the best games of 2025. As is tradition, our choices for the RPS Advent Calendar haven’t appeared in an order from least good to best \u2013 to us, they’re all special.<\/p>\n

However, that’s not true of the game behind door number 24. When the team’s votes were counted, it was a close thing, with only five points in it, but there was a winner. <\/p>\n

RPS’s favourite game of 2025 is Hades 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, perhaps someone would like to explain why we didn’t give Supergiant’s roguelite wonder a Bestest Best sticker?<\/p>\n

Mark:<\/strong> Right, so, it\u2019s time I come clean and answer the question ‘Why, if Hades 2\u2019s truly this good, did my review of its 1.0 release not boast the coveted bestest best sticker reserved for the best of the best?’ You might not believe me, but as I outlined in the comments on that review, Nemesis wouldn\u2019t let me put one next to her in the thumbnail image.<\/p>\n

I pleaded. I told Melino\u00eb’s frenemy that besides an ending that\u2019s not as elegant and cathartic as its excellent build suggests it\u2019ll be, Hades 2 is every bit as much a banger as the original. I protested that the combat\u2019s varied and satisfying, that the characters are capable of being equally funny and dramatic, that the visuals and music are top-tier. I even swore I\u2019d omit mentioning any of the moments when Nem’s carefully-cultivated veil of brooding toughness slips, showing you the real person beneath that armoured shell.<\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t having it.<\/p>\n

\u201cStop trying to blame your own failings on me, dickhead,\u201d she said. \u201cOwn what you\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ok. I\u2019ll be honest. Hades 2 was the first game I reviewed since moving to RPS that deserved a bestest best sticker. But in my rush to complete it ahead of embargo, I forgot they existed \u2013 therefore, I didn\u2019t remember to ask James or Edwin where to find one.<\/p>\n

There you go. I\u2019ve come clean. Now, Nem, do you mind if I cower behind you while the rotten fruit\u2019s thrown? Fine. I\u2019ll face the tomatoes alone.<\/p>\n

Ollie:<\/strong> Supergiant Games does not miss. The only reason I don’t include all five of their titles in my top 25 games list each year is for the sake of variety.<\/p>\n

Hades 2 may not quite be my favourite of their games, but it’s probably their best. Just as with the first Hades, metaprogression is not just about becoming more powerful, but about meeting new characters, learning their stories, and unfolding a fascinating story of gods and mortals. Precious few roguelites can match this impulse to jump back in immediately after your previous run ends. There’s a colossal amount of content here, much of it very pleasantly surprising. And every bit of it maintains Supergiant’s signature quality and style.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Mark Warren
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Or, to be even more blunt, why you have permission to yell the word STICKER at me in every comments section for the foreseeable Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun \/ Supergiant Games For the past month we have been shouting about the games we consider to be the best games of 2025. As is tradition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":884984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28071,42038],"tags":[44789,135161],"class_list":{"0":"post-884983","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-favourite","8":"category-hades","9":"tag-favourite","10":"tag-hades"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}