98% positive hides
the real story.
When it comes to decision making, the game industry heavily relies on sales, playtime and positive reviews.
Dig deeper than that — and you get a different picture.
Hades
Defy the god of the dead as you hack and slash out of the Underworld in this rogue-like dungeon crawler.
98% positive→79% real satisfaction
79%Satisfaction by group
Satisfaction by topic
Combat breakdown
Combat feels fast, responsive, and satisfying — the core loop that keeps players coming back.
Weapon aspects and boon combos offer real variety, though some clearly outclass others.
Boon synergies and weapon tiers give combat surprising depth for those willing to experiment.
Early-game difficulty feels unfair until you unlock key upgrades — a grind gate, not skill.
Certain builds are dramatically stronger than others, making alternative playstyles feel suboptimal.
Repetitive room layouts and recycled enemy formations make mid-run pacing feel stale.
Steam says 98% positive. VGInsights says 8M copies sold. Looks like a near-perfect game.
Count what reviews actually say — not just the thumb.
Still looking good, but already not "98%" kind of good.
Split by group. Narrative and aesthetics shine; gameplay drags the average down.
Split by topic. Now we can see that progression and combat drag the rating down.
Combat feels fast and pleasant — but players flag repetition, imbalance, and recycled bosses.
When a project like this hits, a wave of clones copies the 70% combat and the 64% progression — while being unable to pull the 92% narrative and 96% aesthetics that actually made it land.
Mappex shows which parts of the game are actually good or not, so you don't make strategic mistakes.
Most tools stop at the surface.
Mappex keeps going.
Playing a game yourself gives you one perspective - yours. Reading reviews gives you ideas, but no sense of how widespread they are or how much they matter.
Mappex covers thousands of reviews and surfaces structured insights, grouped by game system - combat, onboarding, story, difficulty. Every insight is sorted by significance and shows its impact on review scores, playtimes, and player retention.
From: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 player reviews
Why use Mappex and not X?
Covers all player feedback
- ✗Playing the game — You experience it, not read it
- ~Reading forums — Loud voices, not representative
- ✗Asking ChatGPT — Context window limits
- ✓Mappex — Every review, every signal
Reliable signal counts
- ✗Playing the game — Single perspective
- ✗Reading forums — No way to quantify
- ✗Asking ChatGPT — Makes up proportions
- ✓Mappex — Real counts, real patterns
Organized by game system
- ~Playing the game — Only if you take notes
- ✗Reading forums — Scattered across threads
- ~Asking ChatGPT — Inconsistent structure
- ✓Mappex — Per-system by default
Understands game context
- ✓Playing the game — But costs 40+ hours
- ~Reading forums — If you read enough
- ✗Asking ChatGPT — Hallucinations + cutoffs
- ✓Mappex — Purpose-built per game
Design-level direction
- ~Playing the game — You have to derive it
- ✗Reading forums — Complaints, not solutions
- ~Asking ChatGPT — Generic suggestions
- ✓Mappex — Grounded in player evidence
| Playing the game | Reading forums | Asking ChatGPT | Mappex | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Covers all player feedback | ✗ You experience it, not read it | ~ Loud voices, not representative | ✗ Context window limits | ✓ Every review, every signal |
Reliable signal counts | ✗ Single perspective | ✗ No way to quantify | ✗ Makes up proportions | ✓ Real counts, real patterns |
Organized by game system | ~ Only if you take notes | ✗ Scattered across threads | ~ Inconsistent structure | ✓ Per-system by default |
Understands game context | ✓ But costs 40+ hours | ~ If you read enough | ✗ Hallucinations + cutoffs | ✓ Purpose-built per game |
Design-level direction | ~ You have to derive it | ✗ Complaints, not solutions | ~ Generic suggestions | ✓ Grounded in player evidence |
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