10 Best RPGs Of 2024

Early-Access it may be, but Hades II already outdoes many of its fully-fleshed contemporaries in the ARPG arena.

Supergiant's decision to shadow-drop Hades II near the start of the year was one of 2024's best surprises (well, unless you were a developer who planned to released a game that same week). Even in its unfinished state, the sequel to 2020's game of the year more than lives up to its progenitor's legacy of monstrously addictive creature-thumping and excellent writing.

Supergiant's writers and artists have an enviable talent for character creation, and their abilities are on on full display even in Hades II's unfinished state. Melinoe is every bit as charming as former lead Zagreus, Hecate is the stern-but-loving teacher we all wish we'd had watching over us in school and smarmy Time Titan Chronos remains an eminently punchable villain no matter how many times you do him in.

And you'll be killing time (a pun the game itself has no qualms making) a lot in Hades II, as it repeats the roguelike structure of the original. Except this time around there are two sets of levels for the player to run through, neatly halving the repetition that besets all entries in this particular genre. Each run adds new twists to the formula -additional weapons, items, characters and even boss fight music - meaning that even after 40 hours of play this writer is still discovering something new with each run.

Put simply, when Hades II comes out of Early Access, don't be surprised to see it occupying the top spot in "The Best RPGs of 2025".