If you've been playing Hades 2 since it arrived in Early Access, you've possibly seen two different 'true' endings: one involving Melinoe, and the other Zagreus. The latter came in a patch that changed the finale, and it was because of what players were telling developer Supergiant.
"Our post-launch patch was created in response to player feedback," Greg Kasavin, creative director at Supergiant Games, told GamesRadar+. "Hades 2, like its predecessor, was designed for Early Access development from the ground up, meaning we conceived of it as a game where listening to and responding to player feedback would be core to the development process."
This then coincides with another of the roguelike's themes: the passage of time, and what that does to even the most godly of beings. "Hades 2 is also a game that explores the effects of time -- ideas around different outcomes and possibilities that might have occurred, and having to move forward past setbacks," he explains.
By having the climax altered, Hades 2 stands as a monument to choosing what's canon to you. If you played and got the Zagreus version first, and like that one better, that's your ending. If Melinoe feels more apt, then that's what works. There's a philosophical poetry to it all, even if slightly incidentally in the face of Supergiant simply wanting the project to evolve.
"We were thoughtful about such themes when enhancing details of the story in response to player feedback," Kasavin adds. "All of the stories of our games draw from our experiences working together on them."
Hades 2 is another excellent entry in Supergiant's catalogue, capturing the magic of the first and improving it in near enough every way. Will we see another true ending at some point? I don't think predicting the future is in any of the post-launch plans just yet, but we'll see what tomorrow brings.
