Clones get a bad rap. Games can’t evolve if they don’t at first imitate, and a lot of the genres and games we love the most wouldn’t exist had clones not first proven that interest in the subgenre exists beyond the original game they were aping. Let’s not forget that first-person shooters used to be called Doom-likes, and without Metroid clones, we’d never have Hollow Knight.
I’ve played a fewHades-likeslately that stick surprisingly close to Hades’ formula.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fatesis just Hades with multiplayer, and[Redacted]is just Hades with guns. I expected The Eternal Die, Lost in Random’s new roguelike spin-off, to just beTim Burton’s Hades. Now that I’ve played 15 hours, completed the main story, and I’mstillplaying it, I realize it’s so much more than that, and in fact, it’s even better than Hades itself.
More Than A Copy
Beating Hades at its own game is an incredibly high bar to clear. We’re talking about one of the most celebrated indie games of all time. It cleaned up during award season, including practically sweeping the 2021 D.I.C.E. Awards. Hades may stand on the shoulders of roguelike giants like The Binding of Isaac and Dead Cells, but it’s the game responsible for making the genre mainstream. When you say roguelike, a lot of people will immediately think of Hades.
It’s no surprise that so many other games have copied the Hades formula. When a game becomes this popular and genre-defining, it makes sense that other games would come along that cater directly to satisfying the Hades-sized hole in that audience’s heart. Hades with Ninja Turtles is a fine enough pitch for Hades and Ninja Turtles fans - it got me interested, after all - but Splintered Fate can’t stand on its own because it plays ittoosafe. It’s just a different, cheaper flavor of Hades. There’s a good reason no one calls Hollow Knight ‘Super Metroid with bugs’.
At first glance, The Eternal Die seems like the most shameless Hades clone of them all. It’s about a character trapped in a hellish dimension, where the only way to escape is to fight her way out, and every death brings her back to the start. There are four biomes with a boss fight at the end of each one. It has a variety of unlockable weapons each with their own playstyle that can be upgraded with a variety of affixes and abilities during each run.
She has a normal attack that can be charged up, as well as a special attack, a dodge, and a ranged attack that needs to be picked up after it’s cast. The story evolves from run to run, so while you’re starting over each time, you’re making progress narratively, as well as spending currency to unlock permanent upgrades. Yes, it does everything Hades already did, but it does so many of those things so much better.
Taking Hades’ Buildcrafting To The Next Level
For all of its positive qualities, Hades is not a perfect game. Its focus on variety means every run will give you a unique experience, but there isn’t enough depth in its character-building systems to make you feel like the god slayer Zagreus eventually becomes. The strongest builds typically involve combining just two or three key boons and aspects, then filling in the rest of your slots with universal staples like Athena’s Divine Dash, Artemis’ Hunter’s Mark, and Ares’ Doom.
Combat usually boils down to dodging around and spamming whatever ability you’ve built up to do maximum damage. Enemies can be incredibly spongy, so there’sa lotof mashing. There’s definitely an advantage in knowing the best boons to prioritize, but most of Zagreus’ power comes from the incremental stat increases you unlock in the mirror, so just playing the game inevitably makes you stronger. A lot of people have complimented Hades’ God Mode setting that makes you stronger each time you die, but it’s also the least interesting way to supply a power fantasy in a roguelike.
For The Eternal Die, it seems developer Stormteller Games took a close look at Hades and didn’t just copy it, but figured out ways to improve upon it. One big difference you’ll discover right away is that special attacks aren’t tied to your chosen weapon. You get a random card ability at the start of the run and an opportunity to replace it in each biome. Specials also use a mana system, meaning they have limited, but more impactful uses. How you recover mana is part of the character build options, which adds a layer of depth to customization that Hades doesn’t have.
While Hades has a number of status effects like weak and ruptured, The Eternal Die puts a lot more focus on elemental debuffs and how they can synergize with your weapons and skills. Fire, ice, lightning, and poison all have their own progression tracks, and can be combined and enhanced in lots of ways, adding even more depth to builds.
The Eternal Die’s version of Zagreus’ bloodstone is fortune, your die companion that you throw at enemies. Because the die lands on a random number when it’s thrown, there are a lot of upgrades tied to rolling different numbers, and a luck system that influences those die rolls.
The most compelling aspect of The Eternal Die, and what sets it most apart from Hades, is its rune system. Like Hades’ boons, runes are the upgrades you collect throughout your run that unlock new abilities and affixes for your attacks. Rune are color coded, with each color representing a stat line: weapons, cards, dice, luck, and conjurations (AKA status effects). As you collect runes you place them in your inventory grid, and if you can line up matching colors, you’ll increase their corresponding stat for that run.
This system adds a whole new layer of strategy to your character building. Not only are you choosing which perks you want to add to your character, but you’re also trying to arrange them in such a way as to maximize their benefit. Runes can be replaced to make room for better abilities, or just to make a space for the color you want. Color can be added to runes with dyes. You even get a bigger stat boost if you can connect longer chains of colors, so there’s a lot of careful planning necessary in order to make the strongest builds possible.
Hades Will Always Be A Classic, But There’s Room To Grow
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Five years after Hades, it’s about time for new games to come along that build on its formula. And while The Eternal Die is more iteration than evolution, it successfully addresses a lot of the gameplay issues that held Hades back. With more cohesive build options, more well-rounded combat, better boss fights, and a bigger emphasis on build-centric power progression, I think it’s fair to say that The Eternal Die is Hades, but better.
Gameplay isn’t Hades’ only appeal, of course. The way its story unfolds over dozens of runs was novel for roguelikes at the time, and in many ways still is. The Eternal Die replicates that narrative style, but its characters and setting just aren’t as compelling as Hades’.
People love the design of Hades’ characters (maybe a littletoomuch) and when it comes to art direction, Supergiant is unmatched. The things Hades is best known for are the things it still does better than any other game. But when it comes to thegamepart of being a game, there are a few problems, and The Eternal Die does an excellent job of addressing them. You have to play Hades for the plot, but when I want to get a couple good runs in, I’ll be sticking with The Eternal Die.
