Super Giant's previous films "Pyre," "Transistor," and "Bastion" are all put together in the same way. Story, art, music, voice acting, atmosphere: A+. Combat: B-. Yomigaeri feels like a response to the Super Giant game, which focused on the combat and took it to the absolute top of its game. Not to be a spoiler because I saw the score, but they nailed it. The combat is fantastic.

"Yomigaeri" is not lacking in other areas. It's a roguelike, or roguelite, or action RPG with permadeath. Whatever you want to call it, the story is secondary to the genre, hidden in the lore encyclopedia or otherwise in the back seat (the back seat of a car separated from the driver by a window).

Not so in "Yomigaeri," where every character is fully voiced and there is more to tell with every run. You are Zagreus, son of the Grim Reaper, prince of the underworld. You believe that "ruler of hell" is overblown, and with the help of your distant Olympian family, you intend to fight and escape all the shadows, wrath, and other mythical monsters that stand between you and earth. Because, to hell with Dad.

The best Greek myths are about gods and heroes, and when ordinary mortals are involved, they boil down to a fairy-tale morality that you should follow no matter what because your weird husband might be a West Wind. Hades knows this and focuses on legendary figures like Athena and Achilles, painting them in broad, typical strokes. My favorite is Dionysus, the god of wine and hedonism, and everyone is really cool, but from the long-suffering, angry Megaera to the lazy Sisyphus, everyone is brought to life with solid voice portrayals and art that looks like something out of a Mike Mignola comic!

Other games.

Whereas other games give story as a reward for success, "Yomigaeri" uses story as a reward for failure. Each time Zagreus dies, his father judges his soul and sends him back to the Hall of Hades, where legends are gathered. A round of the court to see what new things they have to say (and to give Cerberus a whiff) allows him to catch his breath and calm down after his hands shake with his latest death. Dying in "Dead Cell" makes you want to quit, but in "Hades," the sting is instantly removed because you can chat with the night incarnate and see what's up with Orpheus. Then you can go back to the zone, buy another upgrade, and try again.

At the start of each play, choose a legendary weapon like the Shield of Aegis, a Dionysus-like boon that adds hangover damage (read "poison") to attacks, and enter the first of three realms of the Underworld The three realms consist of a random room where a predetermined number of enemies The three realms consist of random rooms in which a set number of enemies appear, which you defeat, receive a reward, and then enter the next room.

The weapons are all unique. Holding down an attack with a shield will block it, followed by a bull rush to advance. After bouncing it back at the enemy with a special move, it can be caught like a Hellenic Captain America. The spear can be thrown and retrieved, but it only returns when commanded, so it can be re-positioned first to skewer a new shadow in line. The adamant rail is literally a gun, with an attached grenade launcher.

In addition, there is a ranged attack called Cast, which can be unlocked by filling up the God Gauge, an Ultimate that is granted depending on which God you favor. I often forget about the call because this gauge is inconspicuous under the attention-grabbing red health bar, but occasionally a text pop-up reminds me (probably because the game knows I rarely use the call).

The real star of your arsenal is the dash, which allows you to dash through enemies and objects and combine it with attacks to unleash dash attacks. Whoever was responsible for the timing and animation should pat themselves on the back. Whether I use it to backstab a skeleton or warp a pillar just as a minotaur rushes by to slam a cowlick into a block of marble on my behalf, the dash feels great.

Mobility is essential not only to avoid attacks, but also to set up wall slams for bonus damage, set up traps to dash from the blast point, or knock down pillars and drop masonry blocks. As you fly around the battlefield like a feather in your sandals, in rhythm with the combo, you're in a focused flow state and oblivious to the soundtrack that underscores the action. If a game can distract me from Darren Kolb's rock, then all is well with the game.

The combat in Hades reminds me of Bastion's Dream Challenge; Bastion's combat was seen as its weakness, but my hot take on the 2011 game is that the combat actually dominates, and Hades seems to have evolved it I feel that invoking a deity in Hades gives you a blessing instead of a curse, and upgrades can be bought on the run as well as back in the hub.

Let's talk about upgrades. Gold is an obol from the Eye of the Dead, which can be used for temporary buffs and heals at Charon's store that appears in the chamber. Shards of darkness, on the other hand, can be used for permanent upgrades at the Hades, including backstab damage, the ability to defy death, and the ability to revive with half your strength when you fall. Gems are not only used to renovate the hub, but also the underworld, adding rooms with healing pools and urns that can be shattered for obols.

We have not yet touched on late-game currencies such as diamonds and titan's blood. While this may sound like a bit much, it is handed out at an even pace, and the steady improvement seems to be balanced by the improvement in one's own play. Shortly after I became accustomed to incorporating cast attacks into my dash-reliant tactics, I purchased an upgrade that allowed me to inflict more damage on my cast-enabled opponents. There is an equivalency between that reward and my skills, and both give me an extra boost. I haven't been most enamored with a roguelike upgrade tree since "Rogue Legacy."

This is half the reason I keep coming back to "Hades" and the other half is the unfolding story of Zagreus. He could have been the worst possible character for a video game protagonist: an angry buff prince smoldering with general rage. Instead, that role is filled by Hades, the gothic Santa's father, who yells at paperwork all day and complains to his subordinates. Zagreus has a good sense of humor and is likable, and when Hades sarcastically asks him how his latest attempt to destroy the kingdom went, he replies, "It went well. The prince also just seems like a decent human being. When they talk about how they died, he listens to the shades, thanks the house servant who is also the head of the severed Gorgon, and says, Hey, good for you, Achilles, while noting who the employee of the day is.

Of course, I want every run to end in victory, but I also want to buy a music stand in the throne room, unlock all the memorabilia, and see how this romantic subplot plays out. Like Orpheus I look back, only unlike him, I am content to repeat this cycle.