Hades 2 just released in early access on Steam yesterday so I'll be giving it a go tonight. I still haven't finished the first one properly but I loved it so I'm happy to shell out the money for this one now. I have faith they'll work hard on it and make it every bit as good.

Other than that I'm still playing Palworld on and off with my manager and a couple of weeks ago there was a demo up of Assassin's Creed Mirage. I hate their rpg ones (Origins was fucking awful, I admit I haven't played Odyssey and while Niall enjoyed it I've felt no pull towards it, and Valhalla just looked terrible from the moment it was revealed) but Mirage is a step back to the old style ones so I figured I'd give it a go. Fell instantly in love with it. It feels like #1 but with all the improvements of titles like Brotherhood, Black Flag and Syndicate. I think the setting also helps; being a similar area to the original gives nostalgic vibes. The 'Hidden One' (they're not assassin's yet) bureaus are basically the ones from the original game, where you drop through a hole in the roof into little courtyards with fountains. Oh and they removed the idiotic block on being able to assassinate heavy enemies. If you sneak up on them you can one hit kill them again so I've given in and bought that.

I also got Manor Lords. I know, 2 early access games in a couple of weeks of each other, I feel ashamed. But it's surprisingly well done and has a lot to it already. I think there are 3 scenarios. I chose the one with no combat first and it feels a lot like Banished but a bit more forgiving. I haven't really found any bugs yet other than when I completed that scenario; it gives the option to end game or continue playing in sandbox mode, but if you choose sandbox mode every few seconds it pops up the "Victory!" window again. I have started one of the combat scenarios and died horribly.

Edit: Played Hades 2 for about an hour. Every bit as good as the first one so far. Some interesting changes as you now have a bit more magic and gathering but it's very well delivered so you don't feel overwhelmed at any point by all the new things you can do. The powers still feel very similar yet different enough to feel refreshing and there are a couple of returning characters so far but they've been revamped. I've managed to defeat the first boss but my very first run I died in the second room

Funny, even weeks before Hades 2 was announced I got back into Hades because of a friend of mine who had started playing it and was telling me about his runs. Got the itch again. Then I ended up playing countless hours trying to beat it at the highest (rated) difficulty setting before him, and then decided to 100% all the achievements and prophecies for the hell of it as I was getting close anyway. Was very much addicted and had the "one more game..." bug. Now that I've reached my goals I'm free again...and then they literally release Hades 2 in the same week.

I might buy it in Early Access because let's face it, i'm gonna play it eventually anyway so might as well give the devs a boost up front.

lol @ pev dying in the very first room. I hope it was because you didn't understand the control scheme or something

haha do it ox, buy it! I did it coz let's face it, we know it's gonna be high quality.

I think it was because I hadn't played Hades in ages so had to get back into the dodge mindset instead of 'stand and swing' mindset. The dodge system is slightly different too now; you have a pause before you do your dash and I think that's because if you just press it, you dash, but if you hold it in you dash then start sprinting. Also some of the early mobs called Wailers are total bitches. They come after you with a scream that does damage in a cone. Fine 1 at a time, you can interupt them, but multiple from different directions just leads to you having to run for ages until you can get a shot in.

Anyhoo I'm pleasantly surprised how much is already in the game! I had a great run the other night, got lucky with all my boons etc and went from being stuck on the second boss to beating that, and the third and almost getting to the final boss. They've mixed things up a little too; the third area plays rather differently to the normal areas, yet also similar. I don't want to say more and spoil it because it was a nice surprise (and a scary surprise lol) when I got to it. Honestly it already feels like a polished and finished game to me so I assume it's more around tuning of the abilities and controls that they've put it into early access. There are definitely some disparities (like those bloody wailers).

I also purchased Hades as it was on sale and I don't want to play it on switch very often. So I'm also doing some playthroughs of that now