Axiom Verge was the first MetroidVania I played on stream. Although I was a fan of the genre, I think this was the turning point for me. I had played game in the genre prior to it like both Ori games and a few others. This game however started me down a path of MetroidVanias become my favorite genre.
The story is really neat. There are some twists and turns. But still pretty typical. The story isn't really at the forefront of most MetroiVanias though. It's the exploration and world building. This game sure has that.
The world is just so strange. So mysterious. Very colorful and varies a lot. Those you meet along the way are interesting. Especially what's on the cover of the game.
Exploring is genuinely fun. Traversal is mostly good. Although one specific traversal move requires you to double tap a direction. I hated this. It didn't work well to be honest. Might have been user error. But I personally hated it. I never got it to work consistently. The game controls well enough but can be a bit jank.
Combat is fun. You get a variety of ranged attacks. This game lean heavily on Metroid side of things. Once I found a weapon I liked, I stayed with it. Rarely changing unless forced.
Challenge wise, it fine but had odd difficulty spikes. There are a few early bosses that were really hard. But for the most part the game is well balanced.
One last complaint is that some enemies are either too small or blend in too well to the background. That was extremely annoying not knowing something was there and getting beat up for something that was not my fault.
The music is absolutely amazing. Like in my top 10 game OST amazing. Axiom Verge as a series as very good music and I highly suggest you listen to it. Music is really important in the genre as you will be going backtracking a lot.
I have given this game a lot of praise. It's such a great game. A bit jank. A bit unbalanced. A few late game collectables are well...not fun to get. They require a mastery of the controls and I gave up. But most can be obtained without a mastery. The dev even put in a few super funny trolls and jokes.
Play this game if you love MetroidVanias. Play it if you love Metroid. It leans so much on Metroid. I love this game, but I personally lean more towards Castlevania than Metroid. It's a great take on Metroid without all the things I hate about Metroid. Please play it.
The story is really neat. There are some twists and turns. But still pretty typical. The story isn't really at the forefront of most MetroiVanias though. It's the exploration and world building. This game sure has that.
The world is just so strange. So mysterious. Very colorful and varies a lot. Those you meet along the way are interesting. Especially what's on the cover of the game.
Exploring is genuinely fun. Traversal is mostly good. Although one specific traversal move requires you to double tap a direction. I hated this. It didn't work well to be honest. Might have been user error. But I personally hated it. I never got it to work consistently. The game controls well enough but can be a bit jank.
Combat is fun. You get a variety of ranged attacks. This game lean heavily on Metroid side of things. Once I found a weapon I liked, I stayed with it. Rarely changing unless forced.
Challenge wise, it fine but had odd difficulty spikes. There are a few early bosses that were really hard. But for the most part the game is well balanced.
One last complaint is that some enemies are either too small or blend in too well to the background. That was extremely annoying not knowing something was there and getting beat up for something that was not my fault.
The music is absolutely amazing. Like in my top 10 game OST amazing. Axiom Verge as a series as very good music and I highly suggest you listen to it. Music is really important in the genre as you will be going backtracking a lot.
I have given this game a lot of praise. It's such a great game. A bit jank. A bit unbalanced. A few late game collectables are well...not fun to get. They require a mastery of the controls and I gave up. But most can be obtained without a mastery. The dev even put in a few super funny trolls and jokes.
Play this game if you love MetroidVanias. Play it if you love Metroid. It leans so much on Metroid. I love this game, but I personally lean more towards Castlevania than Metroid. It's a great take on Metroid without all the things I hate about Metroid. Please play it.