The video comprises body exploration with red light and slow motion to convey to the viewer the idea of strength, power, fear and the concept of the underworld. Using electronic music, upside-down plans and timed cuts, I wanted to convey a self-image of surreality and non-conformity with reality. The title, “Hades”, makes explicit reference to the God of Death and the Underworld in Greek mythology, and serves as a guide for the planned sensations of agony, pleasure, revelation and space-time detachment. This is how I see myself, this is how I think I should be.
This video game contains 31 potentially triggering events.
Not physically. However, Hades is implied to be able to see Zagreus’ movements at all times as he can send enemies for him in a specific chamber and makes comments as you ascend levels.
(spoilers) Yes. I’m guessing this dialogue may not always occur, but upon meeting Hades again after seeing the surface for the first time, Hades will tell Zagreus he must have simply made up the entire escape in his head, among other things.
Hades is verbally abusive to Zagreus, and some of the bonus dialogue you get at the beginning of runs implies this has occurred since Zagreus was a child.
Unsure if this counts but there are mentions of the River Lethe's mind-numbing influences on the shades of Elysium. One depressed character mentions considering (or having considered) drinking of it to forget the pain of his past.
Dionysus' dialogue always sounds a bit slurred as if he's intoxicated, but he's never shown outright being drunk (except [SPOILER ALERT] after the epilogue, where it's implied that he spent the entirety of a party getting blackout drunk. This scene is never shown in the game). Many of his boons inflict the "hangover" effect on enemies, but this appears as a generic poison attribute and the affected characters aren't shown to be abusing alcohol.
One of the enemies in Elysium is an orb that sends butterflies after you, but the butterflies are small and not very detailed. Two of the keepsakes you can get are also based on bugs (A butterfly and an ant)
Zagreus can be restrained by enemies that are floating hands with chains attached. Passing mentions of the myth of Sisyphus binding Thanatos with his own chains and hiding him from the other gods for a time, as well as even vaguer mentions of the myth of Ares being bound and trapped in a pot. Both Sisyphus and Thanatos are reoccurring (mostly) friendly characters.
Further spoilers? Though many of the Olympian gods have many instances of sexual assault in their mythology, it is never directly brought up, nor are we led to assume that that level of abuse is necessarily part of their character, though Zeus and Poseidon in particular are still portrayed as slightly out of touch, abrasive, "ladies men" types to some degree.
there is an enemy in the 2nd area that slams down from above and attempts to crush the player. it is possible to die from this, but it is not at all graphic.
One of the various deaths Zagerus is said to experience upon successfully completing the game has him getting killed by an avalanche. This is depicted only through text, very non-graphically.
in a loose interpretation of the question, there is an enemy in Asphodel that is a big rock that floats around and falls down to crush the main character. there is no animation that depicts this explicitly but one could argue that the main characters head would have been squashed
SPOILERS-POST CREDITS CONTENT; mentions of variety of death reasons, (played for comedy to assure the gameplay loop isn't interrupted) that aren't actually depicted other than voice over and its subtitles, including falling to death
No, but the original myth of how Zagreus was reborn as Dionysus after being torn to shreds by the Titans as a child is mentioned as part of a song sung by one of the characters, however it is nonsense and meant to be contradictory to what actually happens in the game.
An item you can gain later in the game allows you to summon a character to serve as a decoy/distraction, which he does willingly until he dies. He respawns each time though, and takes death very lightly.
Due the game containing the Greek gods, Zeus has cheated on Hera multiple times, along with other other gods cheating on their significant others but this is not addressed in game
Not really. Some squelch/splatter noises are heard in the Temple of Styx, however, these are largely drowned out by the hitting sound effects and screeching the monsters do.
Zagreus can date both Meg and Thanatos, and this is shown to be a mutually consensual polyamorous relationship. Meg herself even states that this is common for gods.
There's no self harm. However, when Zagreus dashes and attacks, he leaves gashes in the ground. When he dashes, they're particularly long and straight. When a bunch appear, it can make for an uncomfortable sight.
Some autistic people have expressed discomfort with the way hypnos is treated in the game (there is a common fan interpretation that he may be autistic), but he is not confirmed to be autistic. It could still be uncomfortable for those that have experience being mistreated because of being autistic, so proceed with caution.
Throughout the 4th area of the game there's a enemy type that make hacking/spitting noises whenever they attack, there's sometimes multiple of them doing it at once
There's a single fight that has a mechanic that makes the boss room it occurs in progressively smaller until your movement is fairly limited. This might be a gray area and is only a single, if reoccurring instance.
The idea is toyed with via Achilles and Patroclus, but is never explicitly called PTSD, nor is it very deeply explored. Both make comments, usually in passing, about the effect of the ten year war in which they fought, and which killed them both.
Some might interpret treatment of characters like Zagreus and Hypnos to carry ableist connotations due to how certain struggles they face mirror those of neurodiverse people (for example, consistently being framed as incompetent for being unable to perform tasks others perceive as simple), but nothing explicit or confirmed outright
nobody is misgendered, and there's a canon nonbinary character who's referred to as "my mother and my father" as well as using they pronouns in all dialogue referring to them.
Zagreus is bisexual, and can die, though he returns to the House of Hades when this happens and it's treated as a normal thing by everybody with virtually no consequence. Achilles and Patroclus, who were lovers in life are now both dead after perishing in the Trojan War, but live on in the Underworld and help out Zagreus whenever he comes around.
no real-world hate speech against real-world minorities, but alecto refere to zagreus as a “redblood” because he is the only person in the underworld with mortal blood. theseus also calls him “hellspawn”, a “foul daemon,” or a “monster” because he was born in the underworld. zagreus jokingly says that it makes him feel insecure. theres no genuine hate speech.
One of the romance option is a character that you grew up with as your half-brother, but you quickly learn you aren’t related. Some of your relatives can be a bit flirtatious with you
Not a car, but there's a type of enemies that are speeding or exploding chariots trying to bump into you.; SPOILERS-POST CREDITS CONTENT; mentions of variety of death reasons, (played for comedy to assure the gameplay loop isn't interrupted) that aren't actually depicted other than voice over and its subtitles, including getting hit by a chariot