i like pomegranates

bro Icarus and Mel are so cute

ive been listening to coral crown and i am gonna claw on repeat for the past couple days pls send help

quick edit: I assumed it was obvious but apparently I need to be clear: I don’t hate hades 2 (I’m actually quite excited for it). I know it’s in early access and that all this criticism/analysis could be out of date or wrong by the time the game is done. I am just a person with too much time on my hands wanting to discuss some initial thoughts I’ve had with the game so far (especially since at the same time I’m also replaying hades 1)

look I’m sorry I’m doom posting a little about hades 2 I swear I don’t hate it or anything (honestly I hope I’m proven wrong) but I am a little concerned about some things, here are the top ones in my head:

Overall I am well aware I am being rather critical and over analyzing an early access version of the game, so I am going to keep an open mind. However I do stand by my thought that the game so far at least in my opinion isn’t completely living up to its predecessor, at least from a story perspective.

Okie so hot take: I don’t think Melinoë is as good of a protagonist as Zagreus. And here’s why.

It all comes down to motivation. Why did Zag go through the events of Hades 1? Because he was living in an abusive and volatile household and had to find some way to make things better for not just himself but his house. Otherwise he surely would have lost his mind having to deal with the abuse he got (remember at the beginning of the game basically only Nyx and Achilles were helping him. Everyone else is either neutral towards him or outright hostile). He needed answers, he needed to find out who and what he was by trying to find Persephone. And in the end he succeeded and was able to create a better life for himself and his house. Hell, even his relationship with his dad improved.

Now let’s look at Mel (yes this criticism is only addressing Early Access Hades 2). Why is she going through the events of Hades 2? Because… she’s been groomed since basically birth to kill Chronos. She doesn’t really have any other motivation than because it is what is expected of her essentially. She even says during her confrontation with Chronos, AFTER HE THREATENS TO HURT HER FAMILY, what do I care I barely know them (yeah sure she could just be bluffing to Chronos but that is still a very chilling thing to say when supposedly all of this is to save them and it makes her reunion with Hades lowkey ring hollow or weak). In another scene she even says the same thing to Hecate and says Hecate is more her mother than anyone else. Heck even in the flashback scene with young Mel and Hecate (which was very cute I’ll admit) she says she would want her mother to come back so Hecate isn’t sad. This makes all her motivations to kill Chronos and save the Underworld seem very… disconnected from the main component of the game? Being saving the house of hades and her family??

Like it’s expected of her and she was raised at birth to basically be prepared for this but she doesn’t have any personal reasons for doing any of this than just not letting Hecate and the others in the Crossroads down. Hell when she comes back from killing Chronos for the first time it honestly feels like Hecate is more interested and invested in what happened than Mel herself.

It makes her a really weird protagonist especially when comparing to her brother and how effective he was as a protagonist. Think about it, with Zag we got really in depth and character revealing moments where as the player we understand why he is doing all of this and so it is easy to go along for the ride because we like Zag and want to help him. Mel says she cares a lot about what is going on and wants revenge, but it all feels surface level (and which is understandable she doesn’t know these people, all she can say is “the titan took my family” when let’s be real she sees the people in the crossroads as more of her family). It honestly just seems like because she is expected to kill Chronos since she could think, she feels she has to do all this. It feels weird how she is disconnected from the core point of the game being to save the house of hades when Zag was so integral to that same core point in the first game.

I dunno, just my thoughts, I’m curious to see what everyone else thinks.

Edit: just fyi cause I feel with the comments I’ve been getting from my posts, I like hades 2 I am excited especially for the official release. I recognize my criticism/analysis could be wrong or out of date since the game isn’t finished yet. These are just my initial thoughts.

the sad reality that we as the player/audience know Melinoe’s family better than Melinoe

hot take: Miles and Gwen should NOT end up together during or at the end of Beyond the Spiderverse.

Hear me out, this is not anti gwiles at all.

I think as the audience we get to see the nuances of Gwen’s situation in ATSV and we sympathize with her and understand (well most of us). However, try considering it from Miles’ perspective.

Honestly, if Gwen put me through the crap she put Miles through (intentionally or not), it would take a LONG time before I gave her the chance to be close friends again, let alone dating.

I’m not saying gwiles shouldn’t happen. It can (it is a very cute ship) but it requires a lot of time and healing for both of them, time that honestly I don’t think BTSV is going to have. While I think the movie is probably still going to rush gwiles, I personally think honestly it would be better if at best it was hinted but not outright. But hey, we’ll see.

okay but Eurylochus literally guilting and low key trying to gaslight Odysseus into abandoning the men HE lost to Circe is some good ass foreshadowing