Plenty of things in Hades 2 are similar to things from the original. Your hangout pals still include a dominatrix-coded rival who gets in your way, a fit sadboy, and a ghost whose nickname starts with D and turns out to be a significant character from myth. Mechanically there's plenty that feels familiar too. You can dash out of danger then dash-attack back in, switch between ranged and melee builds as your weapons and boons align, and avoid standing in the red circle where a boss is about to make a magic explosion happen.
That familiarity tripped me up at first, because there are some subtle but significant differences between how the two play. For starters, new protagonist Melinoë's movement and combat style is much more deliberate than her brother Zag's crackhead zippiness. Once you unlock Greater Reflex in the first Hades he becomes a dedicated multi-dash dude, but Melinoë doesn't have that option—if you dash away from trouble only to land in more, you can't just dash again with your middle finger extended, which is how I imagine Zagreus does it.
