Doug Baker

Wow. Hades hits every mark and does it with style and humor. I was surprised at how many laugh out loud moments there were in just the first 2-3 hours of gameplay. Dying is inevitable but I found that I didn't mind because even dying is rewarded by more upgrades, weapon unlocks and great character development. I haven't been this excited to find a new game in a very long time. Thank you, Xbox Game Pass! I would probably never have found this shiny diamond otherwise. Playing in 4K on a large projector screen at 120 inches and it looks and sounds amazing.

An improvement and definitely a step in a better direction for WB to listen to the loyal fans. My big problem is with the editing. Its damn sloppy and repetitive. Everytime Diana strikes her hero pose moment, which is far too often, the editor includes an audio cut of a vocal solo, a woman singing a mideastern sounding call to worship. Everytime. Same thing with Arthur and the metal guitar riff. Its juvenile and lacks impact. Worse, once I noticed it was impossible to not notice it. The over use of super slo mo particle effects was criminal. All of this heavy handed editing detracts from the storytelling craft. Very unfortunate.

Patience is required to sift through various characters and their scattered, non-linear memory jumps. But for all that there is a treasure chest at the bottom of the lake that is worth diving into. The last two episodes tell heartbreaking stories that moved me to tears and I am not a man who cries at the drop of a hat. At the end, I chose to watch the credits and enjoy the song and gave it all a few minutes to sink in and found the journey was definitely worth taking, even if it was arduous at times.