Steam Link Spotlight - Hades

Steam Link Spotlight is a feature where we look at PC games that play exceptionally well using the Steam Link app. Our last entry was on Disco Elysium. Read about how it plays using Steam Link over here.

For this installment, I took a look at Hades, the latest title from Supergiant Games, which just left early access as an official release. Supergiant Games has a history of making games that all feel distinct from one another, but Hades feels like somewhat of a harkening back to their first release, Bastion. This is to say it's fast-paced, combat heavy action rpg, and it plays surprisingly well using a touch screen.

As you can see in the video above, Hades has its own custom control scheme set up for mobile streaming. It uses virtual controls, and they feel as responsive and useable as any other game with this control method, streaming or otherwise. I personally prefer to play games like this with a controller whenever possible, but there are no particular hotkeys or other inputs that feel unrealistic or inconvenient to perform without one.

The game itself feels like a blend of many different action roguelites, most notably Dead Cells, where you're trying to fight your way out of the underworld one procedurally-generated room at a time. What sets this game apart is the way it weaves narrative into its loop-based gameplay, making the experience both about improving your skills and learning more about what drives the son of Hades to keep fighting his father's machinations.

Hades is such an action-heavy game that of course I'd love to play a native mobile version if it ever became available. Because of Supergiant's previous work in porting Bastion and Transistor to phones and tablets, I'd also be confident that it would be a high quality port. I have my doubts about how soon this might be though, as the studio still has yet to bring their previous title Pyre to mobile platforms, so for now I'll be happy to chug away at Hades using Steam Link.