For a lot of people,Hadesis one of the best indie games ever made. It’s a shame that it came up againstThe Last of Us Part 2(a game many would call the greatest triple-A game ever made) atThe Game Awardsin 2020, or it might have been the first bona fide indie to win GOTY, if you care about that sort of thing, whichI’m not ashamed to admit I do. Because of Hades' quality, you might be looking to scratch that itch.Sorry We’re Closedmay hold the metaphorical back scratcher.
Obviously there isHades 2, available now in early access. But I have not touched the game, and won’t until it is ready. I appreciatethe excitement at being a small part of the developmentvia playing and offering feedback, and the urge to give into the anticipation. If some of Hades 2 is ready now, why not play it to tide you over until the rest arrives, right?The reason I’m able to resistis the same reason I find it so easy to recommend Sorry We’re Closed as an alternative.
Sorry We’re Closed Does Not Play Like Hades
A major caveat first. If you play Hades entirely for the mechanics, then turn around and go home. Sorry, we’re closed. Unlike several dozen games to appear in the aftermath of Hades, Sorry We’re Closed is not a Hades-like. It’s not a roguelike of any kind, but a linear narrative puzzle game with some occasional combat. And oh brother, does that combat stink.
Switching between melee and FPS with equal wonkiness and a fairly unforgiving health bar, combat is easily the worst thing about Sorry We’re Closed. If it were any more regular it would be enough for me to steer you away from the game entirely, but the sporadic frustrations are worth it. Sorry We’re Closed is not for Hades fans who play over and over again because the mechanics are so varied and yet always seem to fit together as if curated as the ideal experience. It’s for fans of what’s below the surface.
If I was to boot upthe skeleton of Hades 2now, I’d get that familiar gameplay (presumably with improvements) and wouldlove what exists of the game moment to moment. But I’d also get placeholder art, meet narrative strands thatfade out unfinished in the aether, and reach an ending that was not an ending. I want to play Hades 2 in one large chunk where I can sink into the story, see what impact my repeated runs have on my destiny, and maybe even fall in love in the underworld. This is where Sorry We’re Closed comes in.
But It Does Feel Like Hades
Playing as jaded store clerk Michelle, a visit from a tall, seductive demon in your dreams opens your third eye and allows you to see into (and eventually explore) an alternative reality layered onto your own. Mechanically it’s a survival horror where you kill grotesque ratlike men, but the narrative is all leather-clad beauties, forbidden desires, and an endless array of tongues. Erotic without being lewd, it channels the temptation of the demonic and lets your imagination work in tandem with its PS2-era art style.
This is the other side of Hades, the beauty of the underworld and the love stories within it. These alone would not have propelled Hades to the pinnacle of the indie scene, but they area cornerstone of the experience. If you’re prepared to accept gameplay not on Hades' level (and unless you’re content to play about five other video games for the rest of your life, you better be), thenSorry We’re Closed is the first game since Hades to nail this idea.
In fact, it might even do it better. While the nature of the narrative means Michelle isn’t choosing between a trio of attractive gods designed to appeal to different sensibilities the wayZagreus is with Megaera, Thanatos, and Dusa, Sorry We’re Closed is far more open about the connection between hell and sex that romantic literature has drawn for centuries. A subversive exploration of the condemnation of queerness as sin, Sorry We’re Closed is not just hot people who happen to be in the underworld, the fact they are in this dark realm is the entire point.
It can be hard to get your Hades fix, but gameplay wise, Hades 2 has you covered. If you’re looking for something beyond the mechanical experience, Sorry We’re Closed has a heart-shaped collar with your name on it.
