Axiom Verge 2

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this game is trash compared to AV1. it doesn't have enough controller support options and only half the buttons work with my xbox controller even though it was fine in AV1. everything was backwards when i got in the game. can't even get past the menu after i tried to configure it through steam. i wont be playing AV3 after this experience. also trying to sideline AV1 plot for something totally random with a super ugly map system didn't help at all.

I started the game just after finishing for the second time, in a long time, Axiom Verge 1 , and although I need to remind myself that I could review this game on its own, cleansing my palate so the flavor of the first dish doesn't interfere with the second, the name of the game is literally Axiom Verge 2 , and I think I could expect at least a similar level of enjoyment that I had with the first.

The visuals are great; the game looks great. They are cohesive, and all of them blend together. If you have problems differentiating the background from the walkable platforms, there are accessibility options you can mess with - thank you, Thomas, for that. The music is good; however, its placement is weird. Music and its cultural elements are used as an instrument to introduce us to a story... So why is it playing this ethnic, Mediterranean, acoustic song if I can see snow, ice, and gray rock? Other songs would've fit better in different areas. Most of the time, it can be pretty jarring because the traveling is extensive, and you not knowing where to go means that you will be hearing it on loop. But I've listened to other songs from other areas, and they're good; it's not like I only heard the first. The singing voice would be much better if it was lowered in volume, though.

The mechanics of the game are dogwater, simply put like that. Combat is now reduced to a short, clunky melee attack, and the ranged option is a boomerang, meaning you can fire it once and wait for it to return - you can also hit it away again, but ain't nobody got time for that. It is just not designed to hit enemies which fly away or are half your height anyway. I know this wouldn't be a problem on its own, (I 150%'d Blasphemous , and that game is all hack and slash), but here the enemies are fast, erratic, and overly aggressive. You definitely will find yourself launching your remote drone to clear your path upfront because it does it faster and it has its own health pool, then going in human form later. Oh! And why!? Why do you have to interrupt the movement of the human character when it does the melee attack!? I don't care whichever -vania this is from; how do you even playtest and still think this is a good idea? I am absolutely sure that other players also abused the drone launch+teleport trick in AV1 like me because that was really fun while still challenging in some places. Here, it feels like it's backward - you play a drone which happens to have a human you can also use. The upgrade you get to climb ledges is not swift enough and doesn't respond to diagonal input, only straight up (another score for Blasphemous ), and I stopped the first session with frustration after I fell into a place where you can only get out by activating a platform with the drone using hacking - for the second time. Ah yes, the hacking! I quickly realized that this would be the only playable option left for me with the human character, and I just sprint through enemies, hacking them and doing somewhat of a pacifist gameplay. But then again, why can't I satisfyingly shoot them like we did in AV1? This issue is magnified because you will be traveling back and forth, up and down, with a tediously slow character... God, you'd think you got a puzzle figured out, just to realize you have to walk across the world again to unlock something else elsewhere. It surprises me that in this game, there is an equivalent of a water level, but it is surprisingly good... for one reason that would've made the game better: there is an upgrade which makes you move faster. I also stopped after the second session because, after a switch puzzle which opens the passage of the lake, there is another one elsewhere I don't know.

Comparing to AV1, the story of the game is thrown at you all at once, along with the atrocious choice of font we get. Instead of slowly unfolding the events and showing us the world (something that AV1 did masterfully), from the very start, you learn that there was a bankrupt company, a CEO woman who bought it, and that somehow she is looking for her daughter that she doesn't even mention once through half of the game. In a game where you're not seeing the faces of the characters, all of the connection with them is done via text and images in cutscenes and their interactions with both themselves and the world. Here, you, the player, are unsettled; however, the protagonist does not find it weird how: a) she got herself inside a hollow Earth, b) there is advanced technology merged with ancient Sumerian figures, c) she fucking died and got resurrected by some technology which was inside of an urn, d) the NPCs don't fucking care either. The inability to predict how the player would feel seeing those things happening and not expressing it through the character makes the whole experience really flat - you don't really care much about the story or the ones involved because you don't feel depth. (In Hyper Light Drifter , due to lack of verbal storytelling, the background itself is used to communicate to you that there were events in the world that you should care about - specially referring here to the wolf soldiers in the west.)

I don't know what was tried here, but it is just not enjoyable. I don't care about the protagonist; I can't be arsed to run hell and back across the world. I'll borrow Reggie's words: If it is not fun, why bother? If it is not a battle, where is the fun?

Just not good. Enjoyed the first game, found the forced drone stuff in this one extremely tedious.

I liked the first game. It wasn't anything revolutionary, just a solid retro-style Metroid game. I had no trouble playing through it enough times to 100% complete it. This one though... I really had to force myself to keep going. I didn't care for the story, it's convoluted and hard to keep track of. The protagonist sucks; a rote, cliched girl-boss tech wizard/CEO with a bitchy attitude and poorly written dialogue. Combat sucks, it's very frustrating most of the time. The hacking mechanic is kind of cool because of how many different ways it can affect enemies. Visual design is quite good all around. I like the Assyrian trappings and the enemy and environment designs are intricate but still clean and easy to read. The superb visuals helped make exploration a bit more tolerable even while the labyrinthine map made it another point of frustrating.

Overall there isn't much to recommend here other than some nice visuals and an interesting hacking mechanic.

I played it for six hours and I decided to stop playing. I'm not even stuck; my willpower simply packed its bags and left.

I don't want this to be a comparison against its predecessor, but it's worth using it as an example of where this games fails.

While both games feature confusing and complex plots, the original at least had the decency to ease you in. You start as a scientist who gets sucked into an alien world. Simple, effective, intriguing. And a few hours later you're invested in the insane plot. The sequel, meanwhile, hits you with a lore firehose before you've even encountered your first enemy. Alien names! Ancient civilizations! Cryptic documents! It's like being dropped into the final season of a TV show you've never watched.

Yes, it's a sequel, but even as someone who enjoyed the original years ago, I couldn't remember a blessed thing about its story. A brief refresher would've been nice before drowning me in proper nouns and interdimensional politics.

The gameplay itself suffered many setbacks as well. And it just goes to show how fickle game dev can be, because the flaws are subtle and very hard to articulate. The level design is more organic and rooms are larger. And you can tell the devs were aware of how it made navigation harder and duller, because the player now has a beacon on the map indicating where to go next. But the balance is still off.

The combat is also less interesting. You have a melee attack and a uselessly weaker range attack. Every enemy takes too many hits. The hacking mechanic, while interesting, adds nothing to it. I eventually resorted to just sprinting past enemies, taking the hits and healing at the next saving station.

Despite my criticism, I recognize that some players have deeply enjoyed this game; there are positive reviews praising elements I found frustrating. The developers clearly poured their hearts into this project, and there are genuinely clever ideas scattered throughout. This is not a cheaply made game. There is honest artistry on display that deserves to be experienced by those who will enjoy it. However I am not one of them, and if my criticism resonated with you in any way, you might want to disregard this recommendation and invest your money on something else.


PS: I changed between recommended and not recommended a dozen times while writing this review.

Excellent game.

The most infuriatingly frustrating experiences usually come from games that do a lot of things right, but have some significant flaw that looks surmountable initially, and only prove to be fatal after the player spends hours trying to overcome it. For me, several metroidvania games eventually fall into this category, and much to my disappointment, Axiom Verge 2 is one of them.
The first game is a bit of a cult classic with its distinct visual style and unusual choice of mechanics - it's one of the rare sort of metroidvania that uses shooter combat instead of the standard sword-and-(techno)sorcery. The second game maintains the visual style, adds an even better soundtrack, but reverts the combat to melee-and-not-much-more. It was shocking enough in itself - however, what really put me off was that the game is full of fast moving enemies, against which the combat toolkit feels woefully inadequate. Fast movement helps somewhat - and then the game introduces the one feature I really didn't like in AV1: the grappling hook, which works even more haphazardly than it did in the first game. At that point, after a brief and unheroic struggle, I had to resign myself to giving up on the game. I'm really sad about this, but when a game doesn't feel fun, it's best not to play it...

I really hate when games don't respect my time. I quit this game because of it.

There are too many unskippable animations...
5 secs every game continue, every fast travel, and every respawn (+2 for death).
5 secs every jump between worlds/dimensions via the red portal, or 15 secs for the sliding garage/hangar doors.
2 secs moving between screens.
5 secs every skill point retrieval. It also shows the same description (Something Zelda: Skyward Sword also irritatingly does, but at least that game at least waits until a new play session before showing you duplicate descriptions).
5 secs every retrieval of unique items, but those are forgivable since they're unique and few and far between.

Enemies are sponges. That would be forgivable if enemies were sparse or didn't respawn (they seem to be on a timer).

Other cons
Audio inconsistencies. I.E. the weapon charge sound is way too loud and annoying. Weapon hitting objects/enemies too loud. Low health indicator too high pitched and plays for too long. Etc
I didn't care for the music, but that's subjective.
The character is made to be a badass by always cursing, but it's cringe.

Decent game but I like the original.

The first game leaned heavy into the 'metroid' half of the term 'metroidvania'. This game leans into the second half a lot more. A much more tighter and better crafted game than it's predecessor, with some small concessions to push us along. Insane OST, just as fun to play as the first game, and once again doesn't overstay its welcome by dragging things out.

Good Game!

Absolutely incredible game. If you loved the first Axiom Verge, this one makes an excellent sequel. It's similar enough to the first game to warrant the Axiom Verge title, but different enough to make it feel like a fresh injection of blood into the series, which is what I love most in a sequel.

In case you aren't familiar, the original Axiom Verge was like a love letter to Super Metroid - in gameplay, yes, but even moreso in capturing that weird, ethereal alien beauty that Super Metroid captured so well. Both Axiom Verge games use a gorgeous pixel art style to create fascinating alien landscapes reminiscent of HR Giger paintings, mixed with splashes of eastern cultures (Russian, Indian, Kazakh, etc). Atmosphere plays a huge part in the charm of both games, and 2 delivers in spades on that front. The music was especially good!

I was a bit ambivalent at first about the change from gun-based combat to more of a melee focus, but you learn to get over that quickly enough, and as the game's story comes together, it makes more sense contextually anyway. The core gameplay loop is still intact regardless, hitting just the right mix of collectible-hunting, experimenting, hacking enemies to change their behavior, and accidentally discovering speedrun tricks along the way. Everything comes together in a very satisfying way.

What else can I say, really? I was super pumped to learn about this sequel, and now that I've finally gotten to sit down and play through it, I am super pumped to say it was fucking worth the wait!

yes

An improvement over the first Axiom Verge in every conceivable way. Creative powerups, great puzzles, enemies with interesting behaviours. Everything you could want from a metroidvania. Except for boss fights, which in this game range from interesting ideas executed in the most basic way possible, big enemies that can be shredded by mindlessly attacking, and fights where you seemingly cannot lose, as you get immediately respawned in the boss room while keeping the progress on the fight you've made so far.

At no point was I ever able to successfully guess what upgrade I'd find next. The most inventive metroidvania I've ever had the pleasure to play (and replay).

I honestly enjoyed this more than Metroid Dread - I think because its exploration is more in the player's control, and almost every boss is optional. Also, the soundtrack is really cool and unique.

Overall I really liked Axoim Verge 2, most of the upgrades were fun a unique compared to other Metroid-vania styles.

Frustrating gameplay, the Player is stuck with using a pick axe that is a pain to connect and a boomerang which might as well be made of paper. Enemies are all either ranged or are far more aggressive at melee than the Player making it frustrating to approach them for a close quarters strike.

Uninteresting protagonist. A Female CEO who begins her quest wanting to know what happens to this other female CEO but quickly wants to leave. That's all her motivation is. The creator probably assumed that having two girl boss CEOs as characters was enough 'character development' and didn't bother taking the effort to write them well.

Boring map: the first game offered a truly unique alien world. This game gives you ice, a lake, a mountain etc.

I think I enjoyed this game more than the first.

Of course, it has a different and distinct mood, and is a radical departure from the first while retaining it in some ways. It's very easy to make comparisons. I found the process of exploring, and particularly completing the game's map and finding everything, leagues more satisfying. The actual traversal was really fun for me, and even backtracking somehow didn't have as much of a bluntness to it as I am used to even in most metroidvanias in general. In the first game I know that was one of the things that had me frustrated the most, and enemies felt like hitches of uncomfortable friction making me stutter on my path. Here, the abilities given usually gave me such a step up that the feeling of added freedom was very noticeable.

In the first third or so of the game, my experience felt about average, but my enjoyment increased significantly with the introduction of more abilities; I like this.

The combat was also very fun, though really much too easy. I also feel that while the weapons I got were satisfying, unfortunately too many of them were more like variations of each other than the exotic and diverse options we had to choose from in Axiom Verge 1. Still, I really enjoyed the combat. I even more enjoyed that bosses weren't the usual boxed-in encounters, which always feels gamey and like a staple gimmick, but rather exist in the world just chilling out, and you can go past them if you want. This was a brilliant idea. I just wish I could learn some more about these interesting machinations, and also, again, these minor 'bosses' , if you can call them that, were way way too easy and short to defeat.

I really liked the new setting, but wish we could get more variety in... texture? Something felt a bit underwhelming. I think it's just not being used to the huge leap from blocky chunkiness to the smooth fine vistas of this game. I like the visuals more in Axiom Verge 2, but it's like I can feel some sort of potential to be filled, and it leaves me mildly perplexed. Some areas I really loved. There was this greenish one which with the accompanying music was a great delight to be in.

Speaking of music, it was lovely, as expected considering how the first game also had a really great soundtrack. Very pleasant and interesting, pulled me into the world very neatly.

The story and surrounding information I cannot speak too much to. I did enjoy it, but I get the different characters, groups, and locations mentioned in notes mixed up. I have a vague general understanding, but to reach for specifics or extract backed up speculations is something I'm not quite confident with. I almost wish for more to read, since I am intrigued, but there's so many perspectives that I just want to envelop deeper into it. Also, I think the interpesronal relationships in the game, like between Indra and her connection to her daughter, did not feel fleshed out. Would have been nice to talk more, have more to talk about or with.

Oh yeah and the enemy and character designs were really great. Less huge set pieces to steep in the mood of than in the first game, but everything present was really really good and I approve lol.

I would say all in all Axiom Verge 2 is awesome. The exploration in this game is pretty ace, so if there is a third entry, that standard should be kept up, and I would hope for better improved difficulty and variety in combat, while retaining the neat ideas like having bosses not be tethered into a strict encounter. I would recommend this game.

Not as good as the first one but still pretty good. Worth the purchase if you enjoy metroidvanias.

Axiom Verge 2 is not exactly the same type of game as the first part, but it feels much more refined. The breach system with 2 overlapping maps was a great take on the Metroid genre. Great visuals, great soundtrack, great platforming. Highly recommended. Please make part 3 asap! 9/10.

A solid game with some creative powerups that really get you thinking. Looking forward to the next game.

Summary: Great metroid-style game that has evolved from the first title into something unique for its sequel.

AV1 hit all the notes of Metroid (NES), blended with that creepy HR Geiger style art. The game was good, but exactly great. But people were still excited for a sequel. Mixed reviews seem to come from people wanting this game to have been the Super Metroid evolution to AV1, and it's not.

This game takes you back to contemporary Earth? -- Gone is the weird alien vibe, but only briefly. The game blends ancient civilizations, barren landscapes, ruined ancient and modern civilizations for its art style. Your character also doesn't fight with futuristic guns, but with a pick axe and boomerang?

So the game starts out slowly, but catches its stride, and actually far surpasses the first game. The movement becomes better, exploration becomes actually interesting (you get an alternate form that helps you explore the map similar to the ball, but also there's an alternate dimension in parallel to the "real" world).

So is this a directly sequel to AV1? No. But in my opinion, they did something different, and the game actually has its own identity now other than "Metroid clone".

The bosses are quite easy, (the game as a whole is technically easier overall), but that's then not really the point of this game. This game is more about exploring and traversing the world -- using the mechanisms of a Metroid style map and some similar mechanics.

The game is not for everyone, it's not amazing, but I liked it more than AV1. I understand people who wanted a sequel that explored an even weirder alien world with even more crazy alien weapons, but I'm glad the devs decided to try something different, the experience is more memorable for it.

If you want to a more pensive experience (slower paced in some senses, set to beautiful environments on Earth giving you a bigger feeling of isolation), with some legitimately good exploration (after you put up with a bit of a slow start), then AV2 is a great title.

This missed making the front of my queue for a looong time due to a lukewarm reviews. Come to find out the it's largely due to this game diverging down a path of prioritizing tactical approach over twitchy combat. Wish I'd known sooner! I am LOVING this game. More than the original.

Masterpiece as good as the 1st one, but in a pretty different way!
This time, the grapling hook is awesome!

7/10 !!

Honestly, you should've just made a game about the drone!

Both movement and combat are kind of sluggish and boring as the main guy, but fast and fun as the drone. The main guy gets a Knuckles-like slow climbing ability, the drone gets a grappling hook that locks on to ledges and makes platforming sections really fun. The main guy has to stop to attack, the drone can just spam attack while moving. I even prefer the dedicated drone areas to the main overworld - they feel more focused and also have better music. I found the ooOOooOOOoo type of music in the overworld really distracting and annoying!

The platform contrast option is really helpful! I found it really difficult to tell the foreground apart from the background, but thankfully cranking the contrast made that a lot easier. I think you definitely should've increased the contrast a bit by default, because it also makes the game look better and less flat!

The story? I lost interest in it very quickly and just started spamming A through the dialogue and lore, so I can't say much about it. The font definitely didn't help, I thought it was a bit hard on the eyes.

Unfortunately, this one didn't really click with me. I did really enjoy the previous game, though.

Very nice indeed, need a third now.

Has everything a good Metroidvania should have, while also have a really cool soundtrack and great storyline. This will keep you going for a hours.

I don't want to criticize this just because Lighting couldn't be captured in a bottle twice, but there just isn't as much game
here. (obligatory "I wish there was an option to rate this between a Thumbs up/down" goes here)

I Hope Thomas Happ is doing well, and I hope he enjoyed making this, but I'd only try this one out if it's on sale.

so much more fun than the first axiom verge. eagerly looking forward to playing part 3.

It's a very good game on its own, but the gameplay is kinda disappointing if you expect a sequel.

Not only does it go from a Shooter to Melee, the combat is remarkedly simpler and dumbed down, the movement is a lot more constrained with the lack of any kind dash/dodge equivalent, and in general fighting enemies is just usually "Hack if needed > Charge melee > Spam fast melee", without much variation.

The hacking does make the boss fights interesting in their own right, but feels heavily underutilized by the rest of the level design and enemy locations. For example, changing the allegiance of enemies very rarely will be worth the 100 points it costs, because there are no other enemies nearby.

And while I know it's basically a prequel of sorts, I don't exactly appreciate being left on a half-decade cliff-hanger, only for the protag to be replaced on the next game, I would've rather this story was told on the third game of the series.

So only complaints so far, why the positive review?

I had a good time with the game, most of its problems lie in with the expectations created by the previous game, not by its own merits.

The music is great and even better than the first game.

The quality of the sprite graphics has been improved from the last game, but I sorely missed the giant bosses with super detailed sprites (they are kinda still there, but the scale is kind of 50% smaller)

The drone's sling is a joy to control, and I kinda wish you had gotten it earlier on. In general, exploring the map is FAR more fun with the drone than with the human mode.

The story remains solid, pretty great worldbuilding (althought the new MC is kinda boring, Trace was much better), the only problem is that its delivery remains designed specifically for people who enjoy autistically piecing together things that superficially seem only vaguely related together... So if that's not your personality type, you will be better served by watching a 1-hour long summary of the story AFTER finishing the game.... and that's something I don't like.

To me a good narrative should be delivered by the game itself, not the community. Story and world-buidling: 8/10. Narrative delivery: 3/10.

The map is a lot more enjoyable to traverse than the first game's, although you might dislike it if you wanted more bizarre alien worlds like in the first game. I don't mind the more normal-ish environments.

I would say the game on its own merit is a 7-8/10, but it might be a 6-7/10 for people who expected a direct sequel in all aspects of the first game, not just a narrative expansion.

pure metroidvania joy, the game is better in many aspects than the first one, but i really missed the shooter mechanics from the first.
totally recommendable. more on the castlevania side than the metroid one, but an excellent game.

Plays plenty differently from the last game (more melee-style than ranged-fire), but still every bit a trip of a game. I enjoyed the scenery/art style (a source of some complaints/negative reviews. Well, duh, it's not taking place in Sudra; like the last game did. There's still plenty of other cool stuff.), and the music is pretty good, too (definitely some good ones to have stuck in your head). Another fun adventure of a Maze-Hunter/Metroidvania game. If anything else, it does much more world building of the Axiom Verge series than the last game did. Well done.

A significant step backwards from game 1. The plot is made of incomprehensible text logs. While the first game had a ton of interesting power ups, most of what you get here is basic stat increases. It took 7 hours before I got something interesting and the game ended 3 hours later.

30 minutes of sci-fi story, 10 hours of boring platforming, and a crash on the last boss.

Screw it. This game looks nice, but sucks. Without the hard crashes, it's anodyne.

This is an easy skip. Don't waste your time.

I was pleasantly surprised by this game. I liked the first one, but the only things that stayed with me is the story and the world and visuals.
I was looking forward to this game, but I didn't buy it on the steam release to protest the exclusivity where the only store you could've bought it from was the EPIC store only.

Aside from the weapons variety, the gameplay of the first game was good but unremarkable. The same can be said for the second one, though if you liked the first one gameplay might be a downgrade, since it has less of an emphasis on fighting in general. I see this new direction as a successful experiment in incentivizing the exploration and avoiding unnecessary fights, which is complemented with the ability to hack robotic enemies (which are the majority) to make fight easier or converting them to a an ally. This change made me enjoy this game immensely, because for some time this type of 2D exploration focused games were beginning to stagnate to the point where playing any new game became tiresome, even if the other aspects of such game is immaculate.

Overall it is a recommendation from me, but be beware of points raised in previously before deciding.

amazing story, solid metroidvania gameplay.

after playing this game I am now more enlightened and able to microwave hotpockets using only my mind.

Waiting for the third part

Game feels like Tom Happ went to the Himalayas, came back, and coded Axiom Verge 2.

It starts out pretty slow and bare but like any good metroidvania, the quality of life upgrades marginally enhance the experience. In due time, a flow state is achieved which is what enthusiasts of the genre seek.

Like the first entry, AV2 thrives on the soundtrack.

My body got stolen recently.

I was pretty bummed out about it.

But I think whoever stole it was probably more happy to get it than than I am sad to lose it.

(the total happiness in the world increased)

So, whatever.

I was a bit on the fence with this game. going straight into it from the first game, you take that one and...completely ignore it for the most part. Swapping from a variety of blasters to a sword and boomerang felt like an extreme shift for a series to make. The setting is no better, moving from an alien metroid like world to the ancient ruin/technology mix was a strange one. It was a jarring experience hopping from the first game to the second.

Overall, I'd say if you seek a game on its own merits, this is a fine game to play. If you are seeking a sequel that continues the feeling from the first Axiom Verge, you may find yourself dissappointed.

First off, It stunned me how well-made the atmosphere was done. Very beautiful.
I've bought this game with skepticism, as it differs so greatly from Axiom Verge 1. My childhood contained Metroid but no Castlevania and I never liked it. And I think it goes without saying, that this game is more Vania than Metroid, compared to the first one.
So to the important stuff...

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

The positives:
+ The gameplay/movement was much better than expected, and the switch between human and drone form is so much fun and glitch potencial (no Metroidvania is complete without some game breaking glitches)
+ The music brings tears into my eyes, like literally. However it disappointed me that many songs have a rather positive atmosphere. I love the depressing piano styled "lost on an ancient civilisation planet" music from AV 1. But this one has some of those too.
+ A Castlevania - Symphony of the night that plays in a Mezopotamya-Punk world. What a creative setting!
+ Every trace of "Trace" has chilled down my spine!

The not-so positives:
- As mentioned, i rather preferred the depressing space atmosphere from AV 1, meaning both music and Metroid-styled gameplay (but it's rather subjective)
- now the very big negative: What's up with the enemy/boss balancing? Literally no boss has made any effort. AV 1 had this issue already but there I tended to die at some of them. Here, not even at the final boss.
- Speaking of, there was not legit final stage. AV 1 had a really awesome final stage. Here, there is literally none. Not even a boring one. This game ended way too fast and too boring. I realize it was an open ending and i instantly googled about any sign of Axiom Verge 3 (which made me happy). However it literally ended mid-story. Not sure if it was a good idea.

Anyways it is still a very beautiful piece of art and I'd play it again. Also I highly encourage to continue the story!

My favorite genre of video games are the metroidvania style games, and this one not only adds on to the first game with some of the same mechanics, but also really checks the box for a good metroidvania. A lot to find, do and explore! 10/10 if I could give a number rating.

Very good game

axiom verge 2 is... okay. i don't think it's bad, just ehhh. for one, the combat is VERY different than in the first axiom verge. instead of a gun with multiple ways of shooting, you get melee combat instead with a ranged weapon that feels more clunky to use. and that's also how the melee combat feels at times, especially when you come across one of the many flying enemies that shoot projectiles. so you're forced to awkwardly throw a boomerang at an angle that'll force you to walk into a projectile anyway. or you just swing your melee weapon and hope that you hit the thing. but the times when i wasn't doing combat and actually exploring were the best parts. the world looks gorgeous, and the music is also very good. especially the music for the breach. and the story is fine, not too much to say about it, though i did find it a little hard to follow sometimes with the lore, but that's just me.

if i had to choose which axiom verge to play, i'd HIGHLY recommend you play the first one instead if you had to choose one. i'd only recommend axiom verge 2 if you're really itching for more axiom verge. i'm only giving this a "recommended" because i didn't hate it.

Massively disappointed with this follow up. Felt more like Castlevania than Metroid, unlike the first one, and with worse abilities, a worse map, a worse story and way too much focus on switching between human and drone, light world and dark world mechanics.

Muito bom

I liked it as much as AV1 as a Metroidvania, good music too, but the ending was very underwhelming in contrast to the first game, it left me with a feeling of 'is that all?'.

I still recommend it, it just lacks a lot on the plot department.