Hades II is a fantastic sequel to the original, but a quick glance at the top 100 played games on Steam Deck this week will tell you that many people are favoring the older 2020 title instead. Why is that? Well, there could be a few reasons why this is the case, but we’re sure that the ongoing Steam Summer Sale is a big part of it.
Elden Ring is still top of the charts after claiming the number one spot off the back of the Shadow of the Erdrtree DLC launch, with fan-favorite Stardew Valley remaining as relevant as ever. Hades II is the only game in the top 10 not enjoying a discount, which says a lot too.
Hades is 60% off in the Steam Summer Sale
Usually priced at $24.99, Hades is now 60% off in the Steam Summer Sale, so it costs just $9.99, or £8.39 in the UK. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite the lowest-ever price, but still well worth a purchase if you’re looking to get into the hack-and-slash roguelike title. We don’t know how long we’ll be waiting until Hades II goes on sale either, so why not pick the cheaper option?
The Steam Deck – or other handheld devices – is the perfect match for the Hades series. Both games are lightweight and can run on just about anything; we found that it even ran smoothly on integrated graphics when testing the best settings for Hades 2.
Which Hades game should you buy?
If you’ve played neither game, then we’d suggest picking up the original, especially while it’s on sale. Additionally, Hades II is still in early access and has much time to develop into a ‘complete’ game, not that it’s really lacking content at the moment. The first Hades game will introduce you to the world and mechanics, we’d say in a more simplistic way than the ambitious sequel.
Looking at the Steam Charts of both games – Hades vs Hades II, people seem to agree. Even though the sequel enjoyed a massive amount of peak players on launch, nearly double Hades ever had, the player base has settled now, with more people still playing the original, many we imagine for the first time.