Hades 2's update adds Ares to the pantheon and a "final confrontation" atop mount Olympus

Something is slithering up there

Supergiant have released their third big update for slashy dashy roguelike Hades 2, and it adds familiar murdergod Ares to the roster of deities helping you out. Like other immortals he'll offer boons 'n' blessings while smarming at you from afar. The update also adds a new animal familiar - a polecat named Gale who will please defensive players by boosting your dodge chance and movement speed. Which you might need if you travel the surface route towards mount Olympus - because the game now has a "final confrontation" that way.

For players deep into Greek mythology and Supergiant's retelling, the gurgling and scaly appendage teased at the end of the above trailer will be enough to guess the final final (final?) boss. For simpletons such as I, who haven't even defeated vanilla boss Chronos, you might have to look it up. I did, and yes, this foe is definitely large and perhaps even in charge.

Other highlights of the update detailed on Steam include a bunch more story events, dialogue, and character interactions, such as a sing-song with leafy hunter Artemis. There's new tarot card artwork at the Altar of Ashes (the place you prep passive skills and such before a run). And there are two new enemy types to stab - a jellyfish foe in Oceanus and a hulkin' big lad in the Rift of Thessaly.

As usual with the game's major updates, there is a lengthy scroll of patchnotes that details the new stuff and all changes big and small. "Various forms of wildlife now may appear throughout the Crossroads," it teases. "Melinoë will sometimes cover up the family portrait in her tent after brooding too much," we are told. And my personal favourite of the notes: "Fixed Icarus missing his targets unexpectedly (unless you're his father and expect disappointment)."

Supergiant are already working on the next big update, which'll look at mixing up boss battles to give repeat runs more variation, along with plans to expand on "various character relationships". But this won't arrive until "some months from now". They're giving no clues as to when a 1.0 release is coming but seem happy to have given some sense of a finale to players who dash off towards Olympus.

"With the core structure of both the Underworld and Surface routes now fully intact, we're excited to turn our attention to filling out more of the game's content categories, finishing more and more of what we started... until we're done!"

The first Hades was in early access for just under two years. Whereas this sequel hasn't been out even a year yet. So if you're waiting around for the final release, um, just wait longer?