Axiom Verge

I have tried soooo very hard to complete this game over the course of 3 different playthroughs. Twice with a walkthrough. I just cannot justify trying to beat this game. The main intrigue of this game is definitely the goregous pixel art and atmosphere. However its downfall is definitely the traversal, annoying bosses, and trivial upgrades. The core gameplay loop is not enough to keep me satisfied unfortunately. I love most metroidvanias, but not this one. Sorry.

Axiom Verge is, for the then previous lack of a new Metroid game at the time, the closest thing people had to a Super Metroid II. This comes with upsides and downsides. The atmosphere is unlike any other. The music is well made. The plot is Another World/Out of this World if that game was actually good & fun. Downsides, though: [list] [*] Your early game is shrouded in an extra layer of mystery due to vagueposted objectives by mission control. [*] While death is fail forward, the runback isn't. [*] Your toolkit quickly becomes a bit of a juggling act. [*] You are frustratingly fragile at the start. [*] The map uses colors, not symbols & colors. This can be less than useful at times. [*] Annoying ideosyncricies, such as being unable to set certain settings after actually going into the game, such as audio. [/list] Mind, I do intend to see this game though. There's enough weapons, [i]secrets[/i], and content to keep things going. Just that there are some sharp corners, so watch your hands.

I had high hopes for this game, the art alone had me frothing at the mouth to learn the lore, explore the world, and fight geiger-esque monstrosities. Unfortunately what i got was pretty uninspired and clunky: bad map system, wild goose chases for useless weapon upgrades, EXTREMELY bare bones and terribly paced story, boring/badly designed enemies and bosses, and worst of all, a world that feels BAD to traverse even with all the upgrades. The map: inacurate as HELL when it comes to bigger areas: will have you running around trying to fill out a single square that's probably behind a wall two levels above you when according to the map it's right in front of you. The weapon upgrades: most of these will get you killed if you try to use them and are annoying to acquire, i should never be trying to proceed with the story only to find a secret item and be disappointed instead of pleasantly surprised. The story: in my opinion it's pretty bad. It strings you along with a dialogue box or two every six hours and gives you almost nothing. No lore on the enemies, the areas, or the items. Every boss provides ZERO exposition and has the same dialogue, so why even have them speak? There's notes scattered around that provide nothing interesting, or are in an alien language that you can't even read. As interesting as the areas LOOK, the environmental storytelling here is pretty nonexistent. The bosses/enemies: SPONGY and erratic, and more than willing to take cheap shots. Nothing like being BUSHWHACKED by a turbo speeding/falling alien while just trying to make it to the next save point with zero health. This game is by no means difficult but it's definitely tedious to shoot the same enemy 63 times when you've memorized his pattern and he poses no threat to you, but if you try to walk by he WILL hit you. If you've played this game and you disagree, think back to the flying circular robots with dangling tails. The bosses are almost not worth mentioning because they're all exactly the same. They're all the same guy and have the same dialogue. Half the fun in a metroidvania is uncovering the horrors that the planet/area holds: monsters, demons, the undead, experiments gone wrong, body horror aliens etc. No such fun here, once you've seen the first boss you've kinda seen them all. There's two exceptions i can think of; a giant bug (hell yeah) and the final boss. The traversal: The glitch gun can get you stuck WAY too often holy hell. i had to restart my game MULTIPLE TIMES because i was stuck in a 1X2 glitch zone and couldn't get out. If the thing just cleared all the glitch away quickly and cleanly, it wouldn't be an issue, but the thing is so inconsistent that it's visually ambiguous where you could to a teleport or something, The controls/limitations on the teleport thing is just awful and frustrating. You WILL spend time mashing directions on the dpad because you're not sure if the teleport is just being stupid, or if the wall/ceiling actually can't be bypassed. Stacking the drone launch and the teleport together should feel satisfying and slick like Mario's hat throw in odyssey, instead it just feels like trying to do a special move on an MK2 cabinet that hasn't been repaired since 1997. I'm sure there's plenty of areas that i missed because i didn't want to spend 30 minutes mashing out an awkward frame perfect teleport/drone combo. I typically ADORE games like this (metroid, castlevania, tails of iron, blasphemous, etc etc) but this one had me FIENDING for that bland ending. The art on the Rusalki is haunting and gorgeous, it's a shame the game doesn't deliver on that vibe anywhere else in the game. I CAN however recommend buying the OST, some bangin' chiptunes here.

Um Metroidvania muito mais "Metroid" do que "Vânia", provavelmente alguém já deve ter dito isso, pois melhor e mais objetiva descrição sobre esse jogo não há. Na verdade acho que ele não tem nada de "Vânia" o certo talvez seria chama-lo apenas de "Metroid", e só por isso já deve ser elogiado. Não me entenda mal, eu não tenho nada contra os "Vanias" na verdade gosto muito, só que eles praticamente monopolizam o gênero, apesar de o nome dessa categoria ser formada pela junção do nome de dois jogos, pouco se vê de Metroid e muito se vê de Castlevania nesses jogos, então alguém conseguir fazer um jogo bom tendendo mais pro Metroid é algo louvável. E Axiom Verge É BOM! Se você ja jogou Super Metroid, ou o Zero Mission, ou o Fusion, e gostou, em outras palavras se você gosta dos Metroids clássicos que ajudaram a dar o nome dessa categoria de games, então é simplesmente impossível você não gostar de Axiom Verge.

Neat.

Прошел не особо много метроидваний, но эта довольно прикольная, хотя боссы довольно однообразны и тема с измененным шрифтом в записках ужасная, больше половину записок просто скипнул из-за шрифта

I waited way too long to play this. Great Metroid style game, controls feel smooth and satisfying, and while it might not be for everyone, I find the grim post apocalyptic artstyle of the world really interesting to explore

a love letter to metroid that doesn't copy its homework. lovely atmospheric soundtrack (third(?) area is a standout), and the way the beat of each track is incorporated into the graphics and the low-health beeps is really nice. visuals and sfx on attacks/tool use are incredibly satisfying. just play it. if you're looking at these reviews it's because you've played metroid and probably liked it, and you're wondering if you'll like this too. yes. yes you will.

Such a great metroidvania. I just had so much fun with this game, it really scratches that metroidvania itch with a great map that feels natural to traverse. Edit: Have replayed it after experiencing more metroidvanias and being older and even if still good it felt a lot more tedious. Notes not being able to be read until you found the right ones, items and paths being hidden everywhere (which can be fun but it was too much), the randomized location breach realms which made you rub every wall and just the general pathing of the exploration all made it feel tedious playing it again. If it were the first time i played it then those things wouldn't have bothered me because the pacing of the story is fairly good and that would have made the tediousness go away but when you already experienced it once it then it can't distract from the flaws of the game.