For me it had been down to Ghost and Hades until I realized Ghost is simply decade old game layout and mechanics just with almost perfect execution; while Hades derives design and mechanics from much newer and"market" theories and implements them in a way that had not really been done until

I have played those old flipped established roguelikes and h&s games for years, Hades may be a hybrid but to me it doesn't feel like because it uses so many other apparently arbitrary things like visual novel/relationships gameplay, resource management to creating up the halls, only a very few weapons, and it relies on fresh rogue like mechanics (fans, curses, development, etc.) that have really only been popularized recently with stuff like Slay the spire

This is the reason why I don't even bother picking #1's and #2's or calling things"my favorite". I would concur that both are just two of my favorite games from this past year. It might need to 100% depend upon which I feel like playing at a given instant.

I agree 100% with everything you stated. However, as someone who loved the storyline of LoU2, that game made me feel things mentally that few, if any, ever consume. So I have to give that one particular recognition.

TBH I do not understand how AC celebrity has lasted as long. I thought I would be OK with all the time gating initially but it quickly started to frighten me. It simply seems to me that the time gating is there to hide how little there is to perform, particularly early on if you have a super-fast grind and also a lot of waiting.

I understand I am in the minority here but after about ten hours or so of playing Hades I was already bored due to small quantities of weapons that are readily available. I only liked maybe 3 of those weapons also. Didn't care too much for the story either, as that is not what I look for in roguelike games.
The details of the game information in https://www.acbells.com/