Xbox Series X PS5

Hades II

Role-playing (RPG)Hack and slash/Beat 'em upAdventureIndie

Time to beat: about 34.2 hours
Plays offline: Yes

Overview

Hades II is a 2025 roguelike action role-playing game developed and published by Supergiant Games, serving as a sequel to Hades (2020), making it the studio's first sequel. Announced in December 2022, it initially released in early access for Windows in May 2024 and for macOS in October 2024. The full game released in September 2025 for both platforms alongside Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, and later for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in April 2026. The game follows Melinoë, Princess of the Underworld and sister to Zagreus, the protagonist of the first game. Melinoë aims to defeat Chronos, the Titan of Time, with the aid of other Olympian Gods.

Like the first game, Hades II is a roguelike dungeon crawler game. The player controls Melinoë, Princess of the Underworld and sister to the protagonist of the first game, Zagreus. Alongside her mentor Hecate, she aims to defeat Chronos, the titan of time, who returned to enact revenge on all gods and mortals who opposed him in the past and subsequently imprisons her family. Along her quest, she is supported by the Olympians, who grant her Boons as she battles her way to Tartarus and subsequently Mount Olympus. She is also aided by mythological figures such as Arachne, Narcissus, Echo, Medea, Circe and Icarus.

Chronos, the Titan of Time, returns after being overthrown by his children ages ago. He takes over the Underworld and imprisons Hades, Persephone and Zagreus while Hecate escapes with Melinoë, Zagreus' newborn baby sister, to the Crossroads in Erebus. She raises Melinoë and trains her so that she would one day exact revenge on Chronos. After her training is complete, Melinoë descends to Tartarus. Aided by blessings from the Gods of Olympus, Melinoë eventually defeats Chronos.

Hades, which was released in early access in 2018 and had its full release in 2020, was Supergiant's most successful game by that point, but lead writer Greg Kasavin said the team was undecided as to if the game would receive a sequel. In alignment with Supergiant's development process, after completing a game, the team determines what potential next project excited them the most; it was realized that many on the team felt there were still more stories and mythological characters they could explore that were not included in Hades, which made a sequel the preferred option. However, as this would also be the studio's first sequel, they were aware they wanted to expand on Hades in meaningful ways without losing the core of the original game.

As a result of Hades II's surprise early access release, Evil Empire pushed back their planned release of The Rogue Prince of Persia from May 14 to later that month to avoid competition with Hades II.