If the recent mainstream success of Hades means anything for the game industry, it's that the meteoric rise of Roguelike titles may finally be reaching the heights of the open-world genre. Of course, it also means that the talented team at Supergiant Games came together to make a fantastic game that has fans asking for Zagreus to join the Smash Ultimate roster.
Regardless of whatever stars and skill aligned to make Hades the sensation it is today, it is both a product of and the next step for the relevance of the Roguelike genre, especially within the Indie gaming market. However, for the next game that wants to push the genre of games forward, it may be best to look back to some classic titles that began establishing the tropes these titles follow, like the original Rogue and the PS1 classic Azure Dreams.
This isn't to say that Supergiant's title is lacking in any way as a proper Roguelike, even being able to hold a compelling narrative that is fueled by the expectation that the player is going to die repeatedly. It's more that there are new ways to expand on some of the elements of Hades' repetitive roguelike mechanics, specifically when it comes to returning back to the game's main hub. These elements are exactly what an older game like Azure Dreams can still give to newer games, if future titles in the genre are looking to iron out the rougher parts of the gameplay loop.
Roguelikes from Origins to Modern
The Roguelike genre gets its namesake from the 1980 title Rogue, which most players were likely first introduced to on either an early home computer like the Commodor 64 or the Atari 8-bit, though it did release for a number of other systems. There had been a few games with procedurally generated dungeons that came out first, like Beneath Apple Manor and Sword of Fargoal, but Rogue was the first of these to find considerable success. Since then, Roguelikes have been a fairly niche market mostly reserved for Indie titles like the continually updating Dead Cells.
It should also be noted that this isn't a genre that was made in the 80's and then disappeared until the current Indie Renaissance suddenly brought procedural generation back as an easy way to extend a game. Major developers like Nintendo with the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series have kept the Roguelike genre alive, usually with dungeon crawlers built around a familiar franchise's coat of paint. However, more recent developments in how these procedural elements can be implemented have even created a new genre known as the Rouge-lite.
Hades and the Permanent Progression Roguelike
The majority of the Roguelike genre works off of a system that includes a way of maintaining progression, either through a leveling system, or collectables that can make each dive slightly easier each time. In the case of Supergiant's Roguelike, Hades offers keepsakes and weapons that can make grinding through the levels endlessly less of a chore with each new attempt. It's a great way to keep players repeating what is essentially the same levels indefinitely, while also giving them a feeling of progression and reward for making it farther through the Underworld.
This permanent progression is generally what separates Roguelikes from Rogue-lites, where the progression of the latter is more related to the player's own knowledge of the game as opposed to unlocking new items. In the case of Hades' progression, the narrative and art is a secondary expansion that players earn by both reaching farther into the Underworld and by dying and meeting high profile Greek myths back at the hub area. However, while meeting Hades' characters is a huge part of the respawn mechanic, giving new additions for each player death, there are games that have made this transition area between the main gameplay loop even more rewarding.
Azure Dreams' Town Building Mechanic
One of the key features of Azure Dreams that separates it from other Roguelike titles is the focus on the hub area, which isn't just a single room or main area, but an entire town. The way that the progression in this town works is that after every trip into the Monster Tower, this game's procedurally generated dungeon, gives the player a chance to collect money to spend on rebuilding this humble village. That isn't to say that there aren't things to do in Hades' hub, it just isn't quite as expansive and becomes eventually becomes a quick pitstop before jumping back into the main game.
What makes Azure Dreams stand out among Roguelikes so much, even after 23 years since its initial release, is that having the town grow opens up for both the player to buy new items and buffs before going into the Monster Tower, and introduces new characters. This winds up opening up a Persona-like friendship mechanic with its characters, where the player will be tasked with gathering items from the tower to complete new side quests. It opens up an entire new gameplay loop that doesn't require players to jump right back into the more repetitive section of the game as soon as they exit the tower, but is still influenced by how well the player progresses through the main game.
How Hades and Azure Dreams Approach a Narrative
Considering how separated these two games are, both in the 23 years between releases and the completely different combat systems, it's amazing how much Hades and Azure Dreams have in common when it comes to how they approach narrative. Specifically, players will find new character interactions as they delve into the procedural dungeon, introducing new gods in Hades and the occasional rival and romantic interest in Azure Dreams. These characters then begin to appear in the hub area after leaving the dungeon and will be available for continued dialogue and flesh out the narrative with each new trip.
This is one of the major through lines that helped get Hades nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards, alongside the stellar combat and upgrade system. So, considering how well Supergiant was able to make this work, the developer's next Roguelike should take the next step towards integrating Azure Dreams' town building mechanic. Beyond the scope of this one developer, looking at some of these previous games should be the first building block tackled by any future team looking to develop a new Roguelike title.
Hades is available now PC and Switch.