katto!

lots of yapping and a little art | 21, she/her

[kattortillas]

— ☆ for pinned / intro!

greetings and salutations! my name is kat / katto!! i made this tumblr initially to just yap and that is what i will continue to use it for.. with some occasional art too! ~ posting whenever i feel like it (may be 0 posts in 3 months or 10 in 2 weeks..)

i may post about: hades, epic the musical, greek myths, HI3, hsr, and others when im thinking abt it tbh

my art is tagged #katto art <3

links:

twitter || instagram || commission info

[indigonite]

Three is way better than two right

[sitervlitoy]

pestering my big angry woman every chance I get

[kattortillas]

i want to be a human

[kattortillas]

mr hades game and miss hades 2 are going to beat you to death

[kattortillas]

this has probably been said 289292 times before but like just looking at melinöe's design and i just love the fact she has that ghost arm .. like... it's just a visible indicator of the lengths she will go for the people she cares about. it must also be a constant reminder for her of something she's failed at.. can you imagine how bad she must've felt when it happened. my girl :(

[demilypyro]

It's funny how I actually seem to be a bit worse at Hades 2 than I was at Hades 1, just because Melinoë plays pretty differently from how Zagreus felt.

Zagreus was built to be a berserker: he goes in and he stays in and he hits you until you're dead. He had enough health and speed to generally keep himself alive while you lay down the hurt. He's a perfect fit for my dumb-as-rocks approaches to problem-solving. At high-level play you just never stop attacking.

Melinoë, by contrast, has to be more careful. She starts out with less health, her movesets have more projectiles, her dash takes longer to recharge, and she often has to stay still for a second so she can charge up her best moves. All of this, combined with the way one of her *basic moves* is putting down an aoe that slows enemies, is clearly intended to promote a more cautious and cunning playstyle. She has to think a few steps ahead. She's casting spells and laying traps. She's clever and evasive and tactical.

Zagreus was a warrior. Melinoë is a witch.

It's smart game design. This is characterization through mechanics. The two player avatars favor entirely different mindsets, and that tells you about how they think, and how they prefer to act. And which you prefer also tells you about your proclivities as a player.

I'll get good at Melinoë eventually. When I manage to stop berserking.

[kattortillas]

no cuz fr i went back to hades after mainly playing hades 2 for months .. i much prefer positioning smartly + charge up attacks rather than spam clicking .. so u bet i was straight up BUNSSSSS playing the first game again 😭😭

[kattortillas]

watching the game awards felt like "ANOTHER AWARD TO THAT GAME ARE YOU SERIOUS- omg jennifer english hiiii 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍- AND THERE THEY GO AGAIN"

[zevampirex]

Little hades series because aaaaargh those games 🥹

[unooart]

[kattortillas]

you see the thing with hades 1 romance is that they are established together as a polycule. and hades 2 romance it just feels like quadruple situationship Hell (not in a derogatory way ofc, i find it funny)

[kf1n3]

almost at Olympus

[kattortillas]

sometimes the demons tell you to draw small meli head at 2:30 am

[moonlightflower-queen]

Zag's Hades 2 design is so funny to me. We get it you love your mama and papa stop sonmaxxing.

(The rest is a long ramble about character design in Hades 1 and 2 so be warned)

Like, ok. If you look at Hades 1 character design, characters associated with the House of Hades (or work for Hades) wear gold and have his sigil somewhere on them. Even Alecto, who does not like or respect Hades wear gold and the sigil. I'd even say Alecto and Tis wearing less gold than others could represent how they don't really care about Hades that much, they are just there for their jobs.

Nyx on the other hand does not wear Hades' sigil. There is dialogue about Nyx and Hades's partnership, and Hades even calls the underworld ''their realm''. They see eachother as equals (Nyx says Hades serves the realm responsibly so she doesn't mind his attitude.) But she is responsible for maintaining the house and is a key member of it, so she wears a lot of gold.

She also has a crown like Persephone does, suggesting that she's something close to Persephone authority wise.

You'll also notice that most characters have their necks covered! Why is that? Well, in most business settings in the real world, people wear ties and high collars. In such media you'll see them unbutonning their collars or taking off their ties in more relaxed contexts.

You'll also notice that most olympians don't wear gorgets, or when they do wear something on their necks it's more ''relaxed'')This suggests that the underworld gods are more uptight and disciplined. This has exceptions but it's generally a thing. (Moros literally has a part on his gorget that would stab him in the sternum if he bent over slightly lmao)

On the topic of cultural differences between Olympus and the Underworld, Olympians have british accents and don't wear pants. Underworld gods do wear pants. (Ancient Greeks didn't wear pants bc they thought it was ''barbaric'' a simple google search says.)

Also a characters neck/chest being covered can suggest that they are closed off to others. Thanatos and Hades are more closed off to others, even though their chest is partially open, but Hades compansates for it with the angle of his portrait and facial hair covering his expression, while Thanatos compansates for this with his hood and the hair falling on his face.

Zagreus never, ever wears a gorget. He's rather free spirited and doesn't care about his position as the prince that much. He's relaxed and rebellious, so it makes sense.

Persephone also changes clothes between Hades 1 and 2. In the first game Persephone had just returned to her duties as the Underworld's queen, so she REALLY had to look the part to make her position clear. Notice the skulls, the color, how many accessories she has, etc.

But in Hades 2 her design changes again. She's wearing a more relaxed, comfortable dress with less accessories and gemstones. Her hair is looser. She feels more secure in her position. (Or i'm reading too deep into it and this is her postpartum look idk.)

Hades is also more relaxed in Hades 2! He goes through a lot, between getting his wife back, somewhat making up with his son, having a second kid, failing to protect said kid and years of solitary confinement. It humbles him a lot, he sounds a lot gentler and isn't as loud when he speaks. His clothes are looser, less bright and have less gemstones. Also the angle of his portrait is now at eye level with the player.

You'll also notice how his hair is messier. In Hades 1, his hair is always slicked back, but now he's let go of his need to control everything he lets his hair be messier, maybe even taking after Persephone and Zagreus. The colors are less intense too.

To return to our original point, Zagreus' design.

First of all, his outfit is also a little more muted color wise than the first game. He's less intense. In Hades 1 Zag never wears his fathers sigil and wears very little gold and no gemstones. His outfit is more casual than the other members of the house. It's a clear rejection of Hades' ideals.

He still has a lot of design affinity with hades though, because they are more similar than they both like to think. Especially when you consider Hades' new dialogue about his relationship with Chronos.

He wears a lot more gold, and oh look, he even wears a very similar belt to Hades 1 dades WITH GEMSTONES. He even wears a cape despite making fun of his fathers cape in the first game. The cape has Hades' sigil on the back too lol. In one of the ''rememberance events'' in the first game, Hades says ''You may mock these gemstones but for mortals gemstones are more valuable than their very lives'', so apparently Zag also made fun of that too. HOW THE TURN TABLES. Idk this all suggests to me that their relationship improved really significantly after the first games ending. Though his neck is still completely uncovered bc he's not uptight, at all.

I'd also like to think that now that he has Hades' spear and a more regal look he'll do the ''Murder the ever loving shit out of attempted escapees on the surface'' thing. Apparently Hades just handed Gigaros to him no questions asked when he asked if he could have it. The reason? ''He has a lot of bad memories attached to it.'' (Aka killing his son a bunch of times.) Hades also has a lot of bad memories associated with Varatha, the spear he used to slay Chronos. That's the reason he discarded it after the war with the titans ended.

Anyway end of ramble tell me if i'm looking too deeply into this. I really like the new looks for everyone in Hades 2, i really hope they also give Than and Meg new looks... wedding outfits maybe...

[l0verseyes]

plushie son or nendoroid daughter

[kattortillas]

i have no one to talk to about this so im on tumblr... thoughts about the Hades 2 ending... i feel so many things about it

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

okay so ive only finished up to my first run through of the underworld and the surface after the ending and i have not progressed past that. but Wow im not gonna lie that ending fucking sucked. now, im not totally against the whole "chronos redemption arc" + "we all hold hands and everythings ok" — in fact, its very fitting in terms of the theming of the hades series. but the execution was simply terrible ☹️

first thing ill mention is that i think the struggle in finding a satisfying is not only them trying to tie in the themes they established esp w the first game, but also the fact that the game is a rogue-like; they needed a way to keep the game replayable even after melinoë completes her task. the vestiges of time thing?? idgaf abt that like its whatever. time travel is messy idrc abt the rules they establish. BUT THE WAY THEY DID THE ENDING... 😬

now, i'm a zagreus fan like. at first it was a bit hard for me to get attached to melinoë bc i ultimately preferred him i think 💔 i've seen people say that its out of character for him to suggest "talking things out"... and its like. well No it is the most zagreus way of fixing problems. hades 1 had him fixing divorced couples' relationships left and right. he has always been about tieing people together and showing compassion for people, as he longed for that kind of compassion from his own family. "but he killed his own father MULTIPLE times" yeah but it wasn't a forever death!!!!! like he did that bc 1. hades was not listening to reason, and he when he DID let zagreus go without a fight, he didnt attack him!!! 2. it wasn't going to permanently kill hades or anything 😭 in chronos' case, melinoë was going to PERMANENTLY erase him from existence 😐

yes he's a tyrant yes he was a fucking asshole but zagreus is all abt trying to see the best in people.. like think of it from his shoes man he hasn't experienced anything melinoë was talking about and just wanted to see if there was a peaceful way tor resolve things. that is ultimately what zagreus' character is about.. he may lash out at his father repeatedly but he was projecting this anger frm always being belittled and never feeling like he belonged.. he has developed since then. even in the beginning, he has always shown kindness in the smallest moments.

anyway zagreus aside — what i DONT like about the ending involving him is the fact that it was basically zagreus' choice and not melinoë's ☹️ i mean she gave the OK in the end, but it just felt like.. the fact that this peaceful resolution wasn't even her idea, and right after he kidnapped hecate as well?? my girl was SEETHING. I WAS SURPRISED SHE DIDNT KILL HIM RIGHT THEN AND THERE 😭 she didn't have any dialogue besides her grunts when fighting in that run like she was angry and locked tf in.

and in the end, this is melinoë's game. i just wish that the ending didn't feel like it was her just saying "ok fine my brother wants you to live so i guess you can live." it just felt so out of nowhere. we got one little "possible life" scene with chronos playing hide and seek with her. them trying to parallel that with the memory of her playing with hecate just made it feel even weaker imo. it doesnt let us feel more attachment to chronos. it just makes us feel how hollow it is compared to that memory.

now — i will say that the themes of this ending are good. things like

"tieing together a broken family" like in hades 1. "being a living weapon with no purpose for life outside of that is not good". "end the cycle of violence and start anew". this was the kind of messaging the ending was trying to promote.. but they fucked up how they got there. so badly.

i think it would've worked better for me if there was more build up. and if it felt more like melinoë's choice than her agreeing to zagreus' idea. like;

make melinoë doubt whether this is really going to work. make her wonder if killing chronos will solve all their problems. make her realize that "death to chronos" isn't what she wants, its a means to what her true desire is (seeing her family again). then the whole "giving chronos a chance to do better" would be stronger. at least for me. the whole time she has characters in the game questioning her, and she insists that they shouldn't. like.. give her a bit more internal dialogue, or make her resolution waver at least a bit.

make her be the one to have the idea to give chronos another chance. like.. at the very least, make her consider it more rather than going "excuse me zagreus?!? why would you do that?!?" (WHICH. IS TOTALLY REASONABLE CONSIDERING WHAT HAPPENED... but like.. if youre going to make her change her mind, then show her somewhat agreeing with him you know??!?) at the very least, make her still angry after the ending. the same way hecate is. if theyre gonna act like melinoë had this intense life long grudge and true anger, then show it.

also, give us more than a short flashback. give us more memories if chronos lives an entire other life in a dream. show us him slowly warming up to the hades family rather than instantly showing us his 180 turn. show us WHY he's so affected by this possibility rather than having it all off screen.. at least a small montage of images like.. come on ☹️

once again - the theming, how everything was in character, the way they tried to make the game ultimately replayable in the end; no issues there. but the way they got to this ending just feels like there was no build up. no resolution to melinoë's character arc. no choice given to our PROTAGONIST. i really REALLY love this game. i love the hades series. i love supergiant's work. but i really think they dropped the ball on this one :,) i do not think this is a reason to send them hate of course. but wow.. the ending we have been excited about for so long.. this is not me complaining bc "omg chronos didnt die thats so lame!!!" its just that there was just no satisfaction and that's just because of how it was executed. at least to me :(

[kattortillas]

played the new version today, and wow they adressed every one of my concerns in this post and im so thankful 😭😭 i rlly enjoyed this version esp w all the new stuff added.. WE LOVE U SUPERGIANT GAMES

[freenos]

I genuinely love the changes they made to the ending. I wasn’t expecting an update at all so I think it’s very cool that we got one. And I totally understand if some people are still dissatisfied with the premise of the ending but for me, the execution is so satisfying in a lot of ways that it previously wasn’t. It addresses a lot of broader criticisms but it also adds a lot of little character details that I really like (spoilers under the cut):

-This whole confrontation with Chronos is great but I especially like the conversations before and after the fight. Mel trying to lie to protect Hecate but failing to seem indifferent. Chronos feeling a bit jealous at how much she loves and respects her guardian. I'm happy to see some development in the dynamic between the version of Mel and Chronos that have only experienced this timeline, it feels more like his desire for familial connection is a fundamental part of his character rather than a byproduct of happy memories.

- This bit is such a lovely payoff for Mel’s relationship with Hecate, who Mel has previously stated did encourage her to think for herself and at one point says outright that she’s “not as independent as [she’d] planned”. Mel starts the game dutifully following a set task and acting as an extension of Hecate’s orders. So to see her find a different solution and defend it shows her character development, that she’s not just a tool or weapon of war. She's learning and growing and becoming her own person. In addition to “giving her agency” it ties the resolution to her journey and the themes that we see early on in the game.

- The moment where Mel’s parents thank Hecate directly for raising her and protecting her got me emotional, it's just really nice to see her appreciated and cared for after everything she's been through.

- I feel like Zagreus understands Melinoe’s perspective and sympathizes with her a lot more in this version of things. The “Dissolution of Time” feels more like a team effort between Mel and Zag, and I like seeing them figure it out together more than Mel hastily trying to talk him through all the exposition. It leaves room for them to get to know each other and hash out their feelings, which is more in line with how Zag dealt with conflicts in the previous game. I don't think he was out of character in the other ending, but I think showing him come to fully understand both Chronos and Melinoe’s side of things onscreen really does his character justice.

- It’s a little thing but I love the acknowledgment that they have this in common. Persephone’s experience of feeling out of place on Olympus, her preference for nature and fresh air, I think, would help her understand and connect with this version of her daughter.

- I also think Mel getting the memories back gives her choice to return to the crossroads more weight. Because now she knows what her life would have been like but she wants to be at the crossroads, she loves her home and the people who reside there. And to see her choose Hecate over and over is, I think, very touching.

There are other details I like about it but these are some of the ones that stuck out to me <3