Review Hades - Worthy of a God

Developer:
Supergiant Games

Publisher:
Supergiant Games

Platform: PC, Switch

Release date: September 17,
2020

I love Hades. It's a fantastic roguelike game, developed into a fresh story with ingenious construction and artfully decorated and beautifully designed. But what I like most about Hades is the variety between the characters.

The temple of the Greek gods in Hades is extremely diverse. As Athena is a black woman. Dionysus was a South Asian. Hermes is East Asian. Eurydice, one of my favorite characters, is a black woman on her head wearing a crown and a beautiful gown made from the branches and canopy of a tree.

However, when I emphasize the diversity of people of color in the images of the gods here, in the article about Hades, I have seen comments from some people saying 'mythical heroes Greece and POC [sic] don't fit together.' While Greek mythology is historical, a lot of video games featuring these myths don't seem to mind such things too much, at least in terms of their character design. When I think about other games with gods and heroes - such as God of War - those worlds are completely white. I don't really expect it to offer much variety in its cast (although I personally think Kratos is black - and no doubt backed by the talent of both Terrence C. Carson and Christopher Judge).

I've spent a lot of time experiencing a lot of different games, good and bad, but I find myself that there are very few games created with such diversity and character depth. . It sucks, but I accept it. Likewise, I'm extremely happy and receptive when games don't have to have all-white characters. I'm also pretty glad they broke that trend.

Greg Kasavin, the creative director of Supergiant Games, told me that Hades' diversity was the result of creativity in the game's development.

'We knew when we went into Hades that we wanted this to be the story of a large dysfunctional family set in the Underworld of Greek mythology, told from the Underworld point of view,' he wrote. in an email. 'As we discussed and studied the Olympians from mainstream sources, something stood out that, in retrospect, is clear: They were called the Greek gods because they were worshiped. in ancient Greece, not because they were Greeks themselves.' In other words, they weren't necessarily Greek, or even white for that matter.

Greece is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Through trade and war, the ancient Greeks came into contact with ethnically diverse people, with Africa to the south and Asia to the east. So do mixed cultures, religions, and families. What makes you Greek depends on your choices, not your colors. Besides, we're talking about literal gods.

Kasavin writes: 'Zeus rules all the skies, not just the Greek ones. 'Poseidon rules over all seas and land. They descended from the Titans, who descended from primordial Chaos, the source of all creation. So it makes sense that the gods represent all the people in the world, at least indirectly. "

This expression shocked me more by its simplicity than by overstatement. Like it hit my heart like a thunderbolt thrown down by Zeus himself. The gods, if that's where you choose to invest your beliefs, are for everyone. It reminds me of a slogan I've seen Nordic people adopt against the homophobia and white supremacy that has emerged around their religion. 'It's the Father of all, not some Father.'

While I know I wouldn't pass up the chance to experience Hades once if it had a one-color cast, I know my enthusiasm for it would be much less. The design in Hades represents the unconstrained imagination of the concept of "historical accuracy" it brings and it is the most sincere wish from my heart that many game makers do not understand that. this. Supergiant rightly understood that the game was based on fantasy — there were no set rules that dictated how it would represent their characters. Furthermore, what's the point of tying a game of gods to rigid, established rules? In a game where it's perfectly acceptable, and if not desirable, for all characters to be white,Hades decided not to limit the way the gods were depicted in such a subtle way.