It's really, really good! Tougher than the first game, but that's a welcome change. After about ~10 hours of gameplay, I already feel like it's the best sequel I've played.
That's pretty much what God Mode is. The option that gives you a small permanent defense % boost after every single death. I'm too old to git gud so I've used it to boost my progression in Hades. The feature seems to still be present in Hades 2.