schneefink

Remember when I said I wouldn't buy Hades because it would take up a lot of time that I don't have, and then about two weeks later I bought it anyway? Because I do, and it turns out I was completely right. I'm behind on many things because I've played 37 hours by now, sometimes instead of sleeping enough… When I tried to complain about it DD and LB just told me that they're glad I'm having so much fun, not helpful ^^
67 68 escape attempts so far. I didn't get around to posting much because I was too busy playing, but I made a few notes.

Hades, day 6: I finally met Eurydice, and I made it to the stadium! Following advice, I defeated Asterius first, but was then killed by Theseus. Ugh. At least I have almost saved enough Darkness to unlock another Death Defiance through the Mirror, that should help.
Than showed up twice, once in Tartarus and once in Asphodel, and one of those times I even managed more kills than he did! No idea how that happened, but nice.
I'm quite happy about the fact that neither of Meg's sister have managed to kill me once so far. I like Meg a lot. I need to get more nectar, I want to give more nectar to so many people. And more Darkness for the Mirror, and more keys to unlock more parts of the Mirror, and more gems for renovations, and diamonds for the fancy renovations, and Titan's blood for weapon upgrades… (I haven't upgraded any weapon yet because I can't decide, so many options, and it's hard to get.)

Hades, day 7: on my 51st escape attempt, I finally made it to the final boss! I met Patroclus in Elysium for the first time, and getting those Death Defiances back was the only reason why on my fourth attempt I finally defeated Theseus. It wasn't even meant to be a serious escape attempt, I was mostly looking to collect Darkness and keys, and I didn't even think I got that lucky with Boons apart from a very nice Daedalus upgrade for the shield (my bull rush shot beams); several times I could have chosen better options if I had taken it seriously, which is nice to know.
Hades killed me very quickly, but I expected that.
Now I can finally get the fishing rod! As soon as I get another diamond.
I, uh, probably shouldn't have, but I did two more runs after that today, both with the sword because I hadn't used it in a while. I met Demeter! And new monsters, interesting. I finally have three Death Defiances, so of course I immediately got killed by Tisiphone for the first time, ugh. Ah well, I really wasn't trying that time. Still fun.
I love Zagreus' relationships with Meg and Than a lot. Their anger at him deciding to leave is understandable – Than when he appeared in Asphodel today even outright said that he just wants Zagreus to come home (~you don't realize how good you had it), and Zagreus pointed out that "home" for him can't be the same as it was anymore. They can't go back to that time. At least Than "just" has to hide from Hades that he's helping; Meg has to actively fight Zag all the time.

Day 8: I have a fishing rod! Finally. I made it past Theseus again, with the bow this time. I had nice conversations with Than (him saying that he too is starting to be afraid of Zagreus and what he is capable of, and Zagreus momentarily thinking that Thanatos might have known about Persephone being his birth mom all the time and Thanatos reassuring him.) And I turned off god mode, expecting to die immediately, instead on my first run I made it to Elysium, nice. (The second one I died to Tisiphone, which, fair, I should pay more attention to her attack patterns.) The plan is to keep playing without god mode for a little while, until I reliably make it to the stadium, and then depending on how it goes turn it back on.

Day 9: I definitely spend too much time playing this game. Ahem.
Still not in god mode, and I died to Alecto and Meg once and once to the Hydra but I did also make it to Elysium, and even, on run 62, to Hades once! With the shield, which might be my favorite. I think I'll do a few more runs to get my timings right, get a few more mirror upgrades hopefully, and then finally start upgrading my weapons. Starting with the shield, most likely, but I do also like the spear and the fists a lot.

Day 10: I did not get further than being killed in the stadium once, but I am making progress. Both with fighting, and with relationships: Meg showed up in my chambers (to pick up the rest of her belongings, apparently, heh), and Than and I went for a drink :) That was a lovely date – and a surprise, because it hadn't shown up in the scene compilations I watched. Than saying that he somehow always knew that Zagreus wasn't going to stay, because he was so restless, that Zagreus only needed a reason to leave and Thanatos just hoped that he wouldn't find one so quickly, mmm. And Zagreus apologizing that he's putting Thanatos through all of this, it's just something he has to do, but now that they know the truth about him, maybe they can move on from there? And Thanatos saying he always lacked Zagreus' optimism. Just very nice.

Day 11: I finally made it to the surface!!
I remembered that I'm playing this for fun, and I'd kind of like to get more Titan's Blood which is easier with the Pact of Punishment, so I used god mode again (80% damage reduction) and promptly made it out :)
It took me 55 minutes. I got two duo boos, Stubborn Roots and eventually Merciful End, but I never used the first because I never ran out of Death Defiances and barely the latter because the only Deflect boon I had was my Special. I was mostly using a combination of Demeter + Ares + Dionysus boons: Mistral Dash with Killing Freeze, Curse of Agony, and Trippy Shot. With Dashing Wallop for the shield, more speed from Hermes, a few goodies from wells of Charon, etc. On the way I defeated Alecto, met Eurydice, and then Thanatos in Elysium, and I found the Satyr Sack in the third chamber.
Now to do it a few more times! With bounties, perhaps even! And upgrade my weapons, and collect more nectar for story content, and eventually make it past Hades without god mode – still more than enough to do.
Finally making it to Greece was beautiful, btw. The slow walk in the snow, and the sunset! Very nice. And then meeting Persephone for the first time, and finally talking, and then dying soon after, ouch. (I'm sure someone will write the fic about Persephone waiting for Zagreus to come back, right?)
And back in the House Hades pretended nothing had happened, he's such a dick.
…okay so I did start one more run. Heat 1, got to the Temple of Styx, meaning some bounties, nice. And I finally met Patroclus while wearing the Myrmidon bracer, meaning he told Zagreus to tell Achilles Patroclus forgives him (which Zagreus forgot to mention next time he saw Achilles – well, maybe next time), and Achilles found out that Zagreus met Patroclus, nice.
And Hades found out about Thanatos helping Zagreus, and Thanatos with this great quote: "My lord, he and I… please. Go lock me up in Tartarus, or deal whichever justice you see fit, but… my loyalty is not subject to change." asdlfaösd "And I cannot stand by and watch you fight. The matter between you and Zagreus… there has to be some resolution, here." And Hades told him Thanatos is irreplaceable, basically, and Thanatos says he's deeply sorry, and I'm just delighted.