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One of the things that sets gaming apart from most hobbies is that it is meant to be a challenge. A book won’t stop you from continuing if you are a slow reader and a movie won’t shut off halfway if you haven’t identified the main themes, while gaming will absolutely bar you from the ending if there is a mission you just can’t figure out. Both Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2 lean into the “challenge is the point” aspect in their designs, but I was surprised at how quickly I bounced from Silksong in favor of Hades 2.

Put down your pitchforks; I’m not saying that Silksong is bad. Far from it – I included it in my top games of 2025 for a reason. The simple but vibrant art style, the tight controls, and the unique way that Hornet attacks are all phenomenal. However, that game is hard. Like, punishingly hard. So hard that the developers put out a patch to tone it down a bit. And, I’m not ashamed to say, so hard that I put it down before I even finished the Deep Docks.

Am I a quitter? Maybe, but I’m old enough to recognize when a game just isn’t jamming for me. When the relentless deaths and a learning curve that is more of a cliff face than a curve, I could tell that Silksong just wasn’t for me. When the design is more frustrating for me than actually fun, I know it is time to walk away. The game is great and it deserves the praise it has gotten, but it just isn’t for me.

And yet I’ve completed over 75 runthroughs of Hades 2, and I don’t feel myself slowing down at all. I’ve completed the initial objective (which I won’t spoil for folks still working on it) and am still playing, trying to unlock the true ending of the game, which is something I don’t usually do. Despite the challenging combat that could be, honestly, overwhelming at times, I’ve had so much fun overcoming that challenge that I’m still slogging away.

It has had me reflecting on why Hades 2 has gripped me so completely since it was released, when I dropped Silksong after a few hours of playing. Both assume that you will die repeatedly and often, having to retrace your steps to get back to where you were. There is an element of trying to do a little better each time you face a boss, learning patterns and locking down your strategy to overcome that next hurdle. So why do I favor one over the other?

I think it is because of the way each approaches failure. In Hades 2, failure is expected and even encouraged. Sometimes you didn’t get the boons you needed. Sometimes you just dash when you shouldn’t have. However, I never had a sense that I wasn’t progressing in my quest to free the Underworld from my tyrannical grandfather. It all felt achievable. I could see the progress I was making.

The same couldn’t be said for Silksong, where every failure felt like a punishment. I would have to retrace my steps, hope to pick up the shell shards I had dropped, and maybe make it back to the boss who had wiped the floor with me. It became frustrating rather than fun. Beating a difficult boss didn’t fill me with the sense of accomplishment I was looking for. There is a reason that I never got into Dark Souls or any of its many sequels and clones.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t having fun with Hollow Knight: Silksong and I’ve been loving Hades 2, so I don’t regret making the jump. Maybe my days of endless exploration in metroidvanias are over, while my rogue-lite era is still in full swing. Hades 2 hits the perfect sweet spot of a challenging game that seems manageable, so I’m content with my choices in life. Am I a quitter? Maybe, but part of being a gamer in 2025, when a hundred games are flying at you at any given moment, is knowing when to walk away from a game that isn’t for you. Life is short and the backlog is very long.

Respect your time, fellow gamers, and you'll enjoy the hobby a lot more.

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