Game Narrative Design
The Conversations That Help the Son of Hades Escape His Home and His Father.
A narrative analysis of the indie game Hades, a roguelike inspired by Greek mythology.
Imagine that Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld, has a son called Zagreus. And Zag wants to escape the Underworld in search of his mother so much that even dying countless times won’t stop him. That’s the premise of the indie game called Hades.
The player, as Zag chooses one weapon from a selection of legendary artifacts. What follows is a perilous journey through several rooms and levels of the Underworld. Zag encounters enemies, traps, debuffs and challenges that often provide special abilities or in-game currency. Are these rewards worth the endless death and “rebirth”?
At Zag’s disposal, there are boons, a type of special abilities granted by the Olympian gods. But the Olympians aren’t the only ones who want to assist the son of Hades. An absent Daedalus, a Greek inventor offers his boons, just as powerful as those of the gods. Patroclus, a fallen warrior offers powerful consumables. So does Eurydice, an oak nymph.
But Zag has to earn those boons by establishing relationships with those who offer them. Those relationships are what the story of Hades is based on. And the game focuses on dialogue to tell that story. Conversations become the main and most important way to learn what’s happening outside of battle.
And there are a lot of conversations!
Zag can talk to all NPCs at his dad’s house (some of whom show up as bosses!) and to all NPCs he meets while not in battle. He also talks to the gods when they offer their boons.
Most importantly, Zag can pet and talk to Cerberus, the three-headed dog and a very good boy. The two share a loving relationship. When Zag encounters Cerberus on guard duty, everyone, including the player, refuses to fight. As a result, Zag goes on a long fetch-quest instead.
On the other hand, there is Daedalus, the legendary Greek inventor. Zag has no preexisting relationship with him. Consequently, the two can’t talk, even when Zag interacts with Daedalus’s boons. And the inventor isn’t even in the game himself.
And the list of characters important to Zag’s story goes on and on.
Since these relationships are the seeds of the story and the fuel to Zag’s search for his mother, focusing on dialogue makes sense. It highlights the relationships and adds meaning and context to the main goal.
However, relying on dialogue to tell the story creates limits. The player only receives the information other in-game characters give. As with any other conversation, this information is limited, biased and potentially false.
Take Achilles, Zag’s mentor and one of the legendary warriors who fell for Troy. Achilles hides a lot from the player and Zagreus. He doesn’t disclose that he had had a male lover, Patroclus until Zag meets Patroclus in Elysium. Only then does Achilles open up about their relationship, deaths and afterlives.
But these limitations can be boons, creating intrigue and interest and motivating the player to play again and again to learn more. This adds to the atmosphere of the game and to the experience. On each subsequent playthrough, the player learns more about Achilles and Patroclus.
One of the problems with having a lot of dialogue is that there’s a lot of dialogue. Many players prefer to skip through the conversations to focus on gameplay. Since there’s a lot to skip, the player may end up frustrated and, perhaps, quit playing the game.
Another problem is that reliance on only dialogue and combat to convey the story may not be enough to keep some players interested. It may also not be enough tools to tell the story. The game would benefit from more found lore. It already has instances where a narrator comments on an element in the environment.
For example, Zag can interact with a rat head on a wall in one of the later levels. He then says that it’s the biggest vermin head he has ever seen.
But that’s not enough. I’d love to see written bits of lore (letters, notes, documents) that would inform the player about how Hades runs the Underworld. I’d love to see more interactable elements in the environment that would give context to the undead minions.
I’d love to see cutscenes — of which the game has none that I’ve found — that would let the player rest their hands. Some of these cutscenes could be triggered by finding something — like a letter — and others can be scripted into every run (provided the player gets to the level).
The foundables and the cutscenes would enrich the world of the game, provide context and engage the player.
And the world of the game is incredibly rich. There is Cerberus, as I’ve mentioned, who is a very good three-headed dog. He’s pretty much Zag’s pet dog who throws a tantrum the first time Zag leaves. Since he’s a good boy, he has to be on guard duty and block Zag’s path.
Worry not, the developers won’t let Zag fight him. Instead, he has to find a Satyr Sack, a treat for Cerberus who leaves his post to eat the Sack. Zag can also buy dog beds for Cerberus at Hades’ palace.
Achilles and Patroclus can’t talk to each other, they each talk to Zag. Achilles is in the palace, ready to give advice and encouragement. He shares some of his past and bits of information about his life.
When you meet Patroclus for the first several times, he doesn’t want to talk to you. His name isn’t shown above him, he’s a stranger. Over time, he shares his name, his identity before death and, finally, his relationship to Achilles. Patroclus takes interest in Zag, as Achilles is Zag’s mentor and Patroclus’ lover. The more Patroclus shares, the more Achilles shares as well.
Every interaction with all of the NPCs contributes to the lore of Hades, the god. They highlight the theme of the game’s narrative, separation and severed relationships. Achilles and Patroclus are separated in the afterlife, as ordered by Hades. Cerberus and Zag have to separate as a result of Zag’s quest. Also, Cerberus has to be Zag’s antagonist later in the game because of the dog’s guard duty.
This focus on dialogue and relationships helps realize the theme. Relationships are important to those who seek their origin, their past or their identity. In any medium, relationships are best shown through dialogue, and Hades does dialogue well.
The voice actors and the speech boxes deliver the dialogue visually and audibly. Each conversation informs about a relationship, sometimes more than one. Each relationship illuminates how the world works — and not just the Underworld — and how Zag relates to that world. That, in turn, gives context to Zag’s goal and the means to achieve it.
Without the help of the Olympians — and Chaos and Daedalus — there would be no boons. Consequently, Zag would die. Without other helpful NPCs, like Achilles and Patroclus, there would be less context to the world Zag is trying to escape.
Hi! My name is Logan Wolfe. I’m a writer and a gamer living in Vancouver, Canada. I analyze game narrative design and write screenplays, sharing my process as I go.
