Why Hades 2 Fans Should Check Out Spiritfall

Hades, the godlike roguelike from Supergiant Games, is getting a sequel, Hades 2, and it’s already out in early access on Steam. Even though the game hasn’t been finished yet, it’s received tons of positive reviews from fans of the original Hades. On Steam, Hades 2 has earned a commendable 94/100 user score, which is just 4% less than that of its predecessor. In its current state, the game offers dozens of hours of high-quality dungeon-crawling content, and with Supergiant Games updating it regularly, players will have a hard time running out of stuff to experience.

Even though Hades 2 is already in a fairly polished state, some players may wish to hold off until it has fully launched. Unfortunately for those people, however, Hades 2 doesn’t have an official release date yet, and Supergiant Games hasn’t provided any details on when it expects the game to leave early access. If Hades 2 follows the same development timeline that the original Hades followed, then it’s likely that it won’t be out until mid-2026 at the earliest. In the meantime, Hades fans shouldn’t sleep on Spiritfall.

How Far Hades 2 Has Come After One Year of Early Access

Hades 2 just celebrated its first year in early access, and with two updates under its belt it looks more impressive than ever for release.

While Waiting for Hades 2 to Leave Early Access, Hades Fans Should Give Spiritfall a Shot

While it is disappointing that Hades fans will have to wait a while to play the final version of Hades 2, there are fortunately a bunch of great roguelike games that they can occupy themselves with in the meantime. The biggest games in the roguelike/roguelite genre, like Balatro, The Binding of Isaac, Into the Breach, and Dead Cells, are already ubiquitous, but there are some notable roguelikes, such as the recently-released Spiritfall, that have kind of flown under the radar, despite getting glowing reviews.

Spiritfall is a Cross Between a Platformer Fighter and an Action Roguelike

Spiritfall is a 2D action roguelike that mixes elements of the platform fighting genre with RPG mechanics. This game is the first-ever project from Gentle Giant, an independent studio that was established in late 2020. Like Hades, Spiritfall originally made its debut as an early access title in April 2023, but it later received a full launch on PC in February 2024. It was then ported to PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo systems early last month. Spiritfall‘s console releases haven’t attracted much attention from the broader gaming community, perhaps due to the title’s limited appeal.

If there’s one phrase that accurately describes what type of game Spiritfall is, it’s “Hades meets Super Smash Bros.” Although Spiritfall is completely single-player, it has taken a lot of inspiration from Nintendo’s long-running crossover series. In the game, players fight against enemies in large, side-scrolling arenas, which are filled with platforms that can be jumped on. To defeat their opponents as swiftly as possible, they have to unlock special abilities and test them out with different builds and weapon combinations. Each time a player dies, they obtain new resources that they can use to upgrade their current skills.

Spiritfall has a relatively light story and a handful of talking NPCs. Interestingly, some of the characters in Spiritfall are divine spirits and gods, so the game is kind of similar to Hades 2 in that regard. The game’s art style, meanwhile, is very vibrant and stylized, not unlike how striking the visuals are in many of Supergiant Games’ best games. At the end of the day, Spiritfall isn’t exactly the Hades clone that some fans are looking for, but it may whet the appetite of many roguelike enthusiasts, especially those who are impatiently waiting to get their hands on Hades 2.