Replay Hades in Hades 2 with Zagreus Journey
If you have put dozens or even hundreds of hours into Hades 2 and feel like you have seen almost everything, there is a new way to keep playing without waiting for official updates. A fan made mod called Zagreus Journey lets you replay the entire original Hades campaign from inside Hades 2.
Instead of booting up the first game separately, this mod plugs the full Tartarus to Styx run straight into Hades 2. You keep playing as Melinoë, use her combat kit, and build around Hades 2 style boons and systems while fighting through the classic biomes and enemies from the first game.
It is a clever crossover that essentially turns Hades 2 into a launcher and gameplay framework for a remixed version of the original roguelike.
How Zagreus Journey Works
Once the mod is installed, it adds a new route at the Crossroads, the hub area where you normally start your runs. Alongside your regular options you will see a Chaos Gate labeled Descend into Nightmare. Choosing this sends you directly into the realms from the first Hades.
You will begin again in Tartarus, then push onward through:
- Asphodel with its fiery hazards
- Elysium with its armored enemies and champions
- The Temple of Styx with its branching tunnels and poison traps
The mod even carries over the original game’s soundtrack, so the music and atmosphere feel just like Hades 1. The difference is that you are driving all of this using Hades 2’s mechanics.
You control Melinoë rather than Zagreus and can bring one of her familiars along for the ride. You also equip one of her keepsakes so your usual build strategies from Hades 2 can come into play.
Boons and god interactions are based on Hades 2’s pantheon. That means you are getting magic focused, hex and cast heavy options rather than the more straightforward kit from Zagreus’s adventure. If you have built up a library of favorite Hades 2 builds, this mod lets you stress test them against the enemies of the first game.
Combat, Balance and Odd Little Glitches
Melinoë’s style in Hades 2 is more about spells, channeling and careful positioning, while Zagreus relied more heavily on dashes and quick melee strings. Despite that, the author has tuned the original biomes so they still feel challenging when attacked with Melinoë’s arsenal.
Enemies have had their health and numbers increased to stand up to the kind of endgame builds Hades 2 players will likely bring. The idea is that you should not simply steamroll Tartarus because you are coming in with late game level power. You will still need to manage space, read attack patterns and use your boons smartly to survive.
Boss encounters are where things get especially interesting. The dialogue sequences still feature Zagreus in the cutscenes, just like in the original game. However there is also a ghostly Melinoë standing behind him, which gives the scenes a strange but amusing double protagonist feel, almost like a meme image come to life.
The mod is not absolutely perfect visually. One known issue is with the Lernaean Bone Hydra. In this version its necks show up as invisible, leaving the heads seemingly floating. It is a cosmetic glitch more than a gameplay breaker, but it is worth being aware of if you were expecting a perfectly clean port of that fight.
How to Install and What You Need
Zagreus Journey is not a simple reskin. It uses content from both games which is why the mod has one important requirement: you must have both Hades and Hades 2 installed on your PC. The files from the original game are what let the mod bring over those biomes, enemies and tracks.
You can download the mod from popular mod hosting platforms:
- Thunderstore in the Hades 2 category
- The project’s GitHub repository
The mod’s page includes instructions on how to install it properly. One key recommendation from the creator is to remove any other Hades related mods before setting this one up. That helps avoid conflicts and weird behavior when the game tries to load overlapping changes.
If you are comfortable with basic mod setups and file paths, installation should be straightforward. Make a backup of your save data first, then follow the steps provided by the mod author.
Why This Mod Is Worth Trying for PC Gamers
For PC players who enjoy modding and squeezing extra value from their favorite titles, Zagreus Journey is a smart way to extend both games at once. It essentially gives you a fresh challenge run built from two separate releases but wrapped inside the Hades 2 framework you are currently playing.
If you only started with Hades 2 and never played the original, this is an especially fun way to sample the classic biomes without leaving the newer game’s feel behind. On the other hand, if you are a long time Hades fan, it is a nostalgic tour through Tartarus and beyond filtered through a new combat system.
With roguelikes it is often about finding new variants, challenge modes and remix content to keep runs interesting. This mod delivers exactly that. As long as you are on PC with both games installed and you are happy to experiment with mods, Zagreus Journey is an excellent reason to jump back into the underworld all over again.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/theres-a-mod-that-lets-you-play-hades-1-in-hades-2/
