Hades

 

My Favorite Game of the Year goes to Hades, a rogue-like with a Greek mythology-based setting. Developed by Supergiant Games, which made a name for itself over the last decade with highly acclaimed titles: Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre. Hades feels like the culmination of what Supergiant has learned over the years, combining and improving the best aspects of their previous titles. It’s a game that does so many things so well - An epic soundtrack, thoughtful storytelling, beautiful art, charismatic characters, and a very engaging combat system. I like how there are a variety of weapons, each with different forms that change the way you can play, and the huge amount of abilities and modifiers that are gifted by the gods of Olympus. Despite the nature of the game, it does not feel repetitive even if you play over and over before returning to the underworld once you’ve been killed by one of Hades' powerful foes. That repetition builds the story itself. I highly recommend it, especially if you are new to rogue-likes.