Hades 2 has the potential to offer an enticing speedrunning experience to rival that of its predecessor. Supergiant's fourth game, a roguelike set in the depths of the Greek Underworld, offers plenty of opportunity for unique and exciting speedruns. Hades allows the player to upgrade and customize protagonist Zagreus to their liking, from skills that improve resource collection to unique weapons that sweep rooms in seconds. Due to the nature of fast-paced roguelikes and the thoughtfully designed Hades, the game has unsurprisingly developed an impressive community of speedrunners. The developers have even acknowledged an impressive run, in which the player starts a fresh save with no upgrades and clears the game in under half an hour.
Aside from the plethora tools and upgrades afforded to Zagreus as he treks through the Underworld, Supergiant included a transformative feature called "heat". Players can increase the heat level of their runs by tacking on difficulty multipliers via the Pact of Punishment. These sixteen conditions have multiple levels, and stacking even a few onto a run can drastically alter the experience. Players can face alternate boss abilities, armored grunts, and even timed stages. This is even required after many successful escapes; the rewards for each layer of the underworld can only be earned once per weapon, per heat level. Hades was built inside-out to have infinite replayability, as Supergiant highly encourages it via in-game rewards. That said, many players have found a more intrinsic value in escaping the pits of Tartarus as fast as possible, however difficult.
Hades 2 Speedrunning Should Have a Solid Foundation
With great difficulty and an incredibly versatile arsenal in Hades, it shouldn't be surprising that the maze-like halls of Tartarus and the golden gates of Elysium have inspired players to attempt speedruns. The sheer number of possible runs is staggering; combinations of weapons, boons, keepsakes, heat levels, and pact conditions seem to offer limitless potential for specially crafted runs.
However, some players might not find the Hades' unique weapon and boon combinations enough to sate their desire for an excitingly fresh run—going so far as to speedrun the game on a fresh save, which includes the unique obstacle of being unable to upgrade their weapon using the Daedalus Hammers which only appear in subsequent runs. With no choice of weapon, no ability to upgrade their sword, and no player upgrades from the Mirror of Night, this sub-thirty-minute run was impressive enough to draw the attention of lead developers Amir Rao and Greg Kasavin.
One could make the argument that Hades' base arsenal was lacking in variety once the Daedalus upgrades and unlockable weapon aspects are cut out. If Hades 2 could expand on the arsenal, even by adding one or two more weapons, it would allow for more experimentation in the early game as well as a greater variety of combinations as players progress. Additionally, Supergiant will most likely add to or replace the pact conditions for the sequel. Introducing more settings that drastically alter gameplay, whether pact conditions or in-game settings, would open doors to tons of fun, niche speedrun categories. Ultimately, weapon and ability variety is the greatest speedrun toolset.
However, with an already incredibly solid foundation in the first entry, players can expect Hades 2 to maintain that variety which makes its predecessor so enduring. Clearly, the developers are listening, and roguelikes grant developers the unique ability to build their games around fundamental mechanics that directly propagate speedrunning. From a number of fun keepsakes and boons that reward speedily clearing chambers to an optional timer in the settings, the first game was practically built for speedrunning. Hades2 has the potential to greatly expand upon that, and Supergiant will likely take every opportunity to do so.
Hades 2 is in development.