Quote Originally Posted by Rynjin View Post
My ranking is usually that any game with a mandatory (either truly mandatory or "necessary to get an important upgrade item") fishing minigame gets an instant letter grade deducted from its base score lol.
Agreed, I hate mandatory fishing. Hades gets a pass because it's truly optional (well, right up until you need Poseidon approval for the story anyway) and it only takes a few seconds.

Quote Originally Posted by Ionathus View Post
Hades
Also extremely straightforward, even more so. Nice that you can watch for the giant flash, and also nice that you can press the button at the exact right timing for a "perfect catch." Other than that, it was largely extraneous. The fish just give you extra upgrade materials, and it feels very disconnected from the rest of the game, probably the most disconnected one on my list. Zagreus is in a hurry to escape the underworld -- why is he pausing to fish? He doesn't really get anything out of it.
Couple of reasons, two of which are quite spoilery:

1) Zagreus knows in-universe that his greatest hope of breaking out lies in increasing the power of his Infernal Arms, his Keepsakes, and his Mirror of Night. He doesn't mind pausing for a few seconds in the short term if it means far greater power in the long run.

Spoiler: Major Spoiler, Post-Game #1
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2) After you rescue Persephone from the surface, she and Hades both ask you to keep up appearances and pretend to keep trying to break out to fool the Olympians as well as gathering as much Nectar and Ambrosia as you can for her plan. Fishing directly ties into both objectives.


Spoiler: Even More Major Spoiler, Post-Game #2
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3) After you execute Persephone's plan and throw a party for the Olympians, Zagreus assumes his new job as Underworld Security Consultant. He's instructed to use all means possible to overcome the Pacts of Punishment and win his way to the surface. That includes any and all resources he's able to scavenge throughout his father's domain, including resources found in the Styx itself, thus continuing to fish has a story justification.