Archives in Video Games: Hades 2

Back in the ye olden times of 2020, in the midst of the Covid shutdown, I, like many stuck at home with little else to do but bide my time and hope that people would get less stupid about vaccines, decided to fill the hours not working from home with something more substantial: video games. This was an important moment in my life as I hadn't played a console game since I was fourteen and rage quit over Crash Bandicoot. So, when I decided to pick up gaming again, you'd think I'd go for an easy in like the cozy-core quasi-socialism of Animal Crossing.

Nope!

I started with Supergiant's Hades, a rogue-like action game that was as stressful as it was fun to play. I've been an avid reader of Greek mythology since I was a kid, so the game's central premise of fighting your way through the layers of the Underworld as Prince Zagreus, son of Hades, to get to the surface with the assistance of boons provided by the Greek Pantheon, as well as meeting and conversing with other notable figures of myth, was exactly the thing I'd gravitate towards.

Needless to say, when Supergiant announced they were making their first sequel game, Hades 2, I was immediately ready to give them my money and check out early access. I did just that and was blown away with how much game they already had to share. I then waited until after the first major update to patiently wait for the full release because some small part of me wanted to be just a little bit surprised.

I was not disappointed. As of the writing of this article, I've seen the original ending and the epilogue and with the latest patch, I'll likely play through it again with the significant changes that have already been made to major parts of the end game.

But I'm not here to talk about how much I adore our new protagonist, Melinoë, Princess of the Underworld, or the handful of new god, goddesses, and mythological figures ready to lend a hand. I'm also not here to gush about the new weapons, boons, and familiars doing their damnedest to salvage each nightly run. No, I'm here to talk about these two:

Look at this little nerd with his glasses, tie, bucked-teeth, and middle part! Do I like this particular stereotype? Not usually, but it is adorable on this shade.

Back in the first Hades game, Zagreus eventually gained access to the Administrative Records chamber where shades of the Underworld kept track of contracts, filed paperwork, and maintained a record of Zag's stats with each new run towards the surface. It was a fun way for the player to look at their overall performance as well as see which weapons, boons, and keepsakes were used.

Narration about the Administrative Chamber

In Hades 2, as Melinoë begins to expand her camp at the Crossroads, she's given the incantations "Summoning of Personal Insights" to recruit the Record Keeper and "Summoning of Historical Travails" to recruit the Learned Sage after enough progress has been made and the Taverna restored. In early access, the two were sat in front of the Taverna, but as of the full release they are in opposite corners of the communal space with the Record Keeper up by the dock and Artemis's resting area and the Learned Sage in the lower corner by one of the tables. The two shades function in the same way as the Administrative Records chamber. The Record Keeper provides the stats on your overall gameplay while the Learned Sage shows you the outcome of each run.

Beyond their summoning and whether or not the player makes use of them, the Record Keeper and Learned Shade are just kind of there. You can do the customary salute and get emote reactions, but the only other interaction I've seen in-game comes when you speak with Artemis at her resting area and she notes that the Record Keeper has been watching her. Melinoë is quick to say that it's not for any nefarious reason. He's probably just noting the nights she arrives and what she sings. Because, ya know, a nerd's gotta nerd.

The game itself only brings up the Records chambers and the archives sparingly, mostly to point out its existence in the first game or to give Melinoë some insight into how her brother gained the Fated List of Minor Prophecies in the first place. It's a callback, like a lot of things in Hades 2, but it makes sense given that Melinoë and Zagreus walked similar paths despite their narrative separation.

Lord Moros explains that Zagreus unearthed the Fated List from the Archives.

It doesn't escape my notice, however, that there is some very obvious gender coding for the Record Keeper and the Learned Sage. The Record Keeper, a statistician dealing in quantifiable data, draws on old aesthetic stereotypes associated with male nerds. See all of the 1980s school-based movies and television shows. The Learned Sage, an historian taking in the full picture of your nightly runs, wears the broad-brimmed witch's hat prominently worn by Hecate, which makes her female coded upon first glance. The accoutrements surrounding the two shades - books and scrolls for the Record Keeper, a crystal ball for the Learned Shade - also implies a certain level of skill, or lack of skill, that goes into their respective jobs.

Ya know, something to chew on after taking another swing/stab/shot at Chronos.

Death to Chronos!