Axiom Verge
Year: 2015
Rating: E10+
Time Played: 843 minutes / 14.05 hours
As I play more and more video games, I’m finding that I enjoy Metroidvanias. Something about exploring and upgrading a character to unlock more parts of a map (for more exploration) feels satisfying to me. Axiom Verge adheres to many of the tropes that make a Metroidvania great, including mimicking the pixelated 16-bit style of one of the genre’s founders, Super Metroid. The fact that a single person created the entirety of this game is astounding, even if its edges show in a few spots.
Even though I enjoy playing through a Metroidvania like Axiom Verge, I also found myself struggling to beat the final boss of the game. Much like how I had to take a break before finishing off Hollow Knight, I found myself just barely able to keep up with Axiom Verge‘s final boss. It turns out I had missed picking up one of the game’s best weapons because it was hidden deep in a secret area that required extensive secret codes to obtain. The amount of backtracking I had to do in this game was probably more than most Metroidvanias I’ve played, and it’s why I’ve knocked a star off this review.
Despite its difficulty being unforgiving at times, Axiom Verge does have a lot going for it. The glitchy pixel art style was an interesting way to accentuate the narrative, and the music was hauntingly atmospheric. I did like the variety of weapons that I could obtain, even if I basically only used one or two of the dozen I collected during my playthrough (along with the flamethrower that I got in the endgame). The fact that a legitimate narrative runs through this game is also why I think it’s a must-play for people who also enjoy Metroidvanias.
An impressive Metroidvania with a great story, I give Axiom Verge 4.0 stars out of 5.
