So I've noticed a pattern starting to form
as I dive deeper into the Metroidvania genre.
I'm having a much better time with modern
ones than I have with the classics of years
past.
Guacamelee, Ori and the Blind Forest, and
my latest venture (which you TOTALLY need
to play by the way) Axiom Verge.
Obviously a love letter to the Metroid franchise,
Axiom Verge wears its influence on its sleeve.
Tall shafts to climb with branching paths
outward, similar weapons and enemies, bosses
that turn red the more you damage them.
You could almost even call it a spiritual
successor.
But at least for me, Axiom excels where Metroid
lacks, and it kept all the best parts of the
series while leaving the worst behind.
In fact, probably the only thing that isn't
better is the story.
I mean, it doesn't have Sideburns here in
a bikini at the end, so that's a 0/10 amirite?!
But really, the plot is unnecessarily complicated
although it has its fair share of plot twists
and gets pretty meta about halfway through.
It even has in game explanations for things
like dying and coming back to life, which
is a nice touch.
But the most obvious comparison to its predecessor
is how the map and levels are laid out.
Axiom does an incredible job of easing you
into the size of the world slowly.
At the very beginning, you'll encounter 4
dead ends that you can't pass until you get
better equipment, like these pink barriers,
breakable blocks, and this glitch thingy.
In fact, this one you won't be able to cross
til near the end of the game.
So there's really only 1 path to go, but it's
introducing you to some of the obstacles you'll
face along your journey.
As you gain power ups, more options become
available of where to go, but the game will
also strategically cut you off from returning
to old parts of the map so that you don't
get overwhelmed.
Here you can't exit until you figure out the
mystery of seeing double.
And here it prevents you from climbing back
up until you get about 4 more power ups.
It’s giving you less space to work with,
so that you don’t wander around for hours
in the wrong area, and there's really only
1 time I can think of where it makes you go
way out of your way to get the next big upgrade,
but by that point speedy shortcuts are unlocked,
and movement itself feels responsive and fun,
that's most important.
Exploring and getting lost didn't feel like
a chore, it was enjoyable!
Except when you realize the next path was
right in front of your face the whole time
and you're just an idiot.
There’s a few other changes that I felt
were nice quality of life improvements.
In super Metroid, there are all sorts of colored
doors that only open if you use certain weapons.
But in axiom verge, every door is open, however
you'll normally encounter a dead end in the
next room.
This small change makes a world of difference
though.
Instead of climbing shafts going "which door
do I need to open again", you can quickly
look at your map and see "oh, here's a room
I wasn't able to complete yet, let's go to
it."
Furthermore they've added a 'reminder' feature
where you can drop a pin on your map to come
back to later once you have more abilities.
Instead of resetting to your last save file
when you die, Axiom Verge saves every step
of the way, so even if you bite the dust,
it will still remember everything you did,
and you just need to walk back a few rooms.
Not to mention that ammo and micromanagement
is basically nonexistent.
Tom Happ has learned from the past, cut out
tedium, and streamlined the whole process.
That's not to say the game isn't challenging.
You'll die a lot, and I like that they provide
a normal or hard mode, not an easy mode.
It's like, you're gonna play it the way I
intended, or even tougher, there ain’t no
easy way out here.
The bosses, while not overly hard, are creative
in how you tackle each one.
They have sweet spots where they’re vulnerable,
and sometimes you’ll need to deal with the
other things flying at you in order to get
a good shot.
Sometimes you’ll have to switch between
different weapons to get a better chance at
taking them down.
Learning patterns and being patient is key
to these fights.
But perhaps the best part of Axiom Verge is
the weapons and abilities you gain along the
way.
Each one is unique and unlike any others I’ve
seen in other Metroidvanias.
Even cooler however, is how there are multiple
uses for each one!
For example, the Laser Drill is used to break
open rocks, but it can also be used to damage
enemies especially ones that are immune to your blaster shot.
The Remote Drone can be launched into small
holes you can’t fit into, and normally fights
its way through tiny gauntlets to reach a
powerup or unlock a door, but it can also
be tactically used to scout out the way ahead
of you and take damage so that you don’t
have to.
My favorite though, is the Address Disrupter.
Often you’ll find glitched barriers that
need to be broken with the Disrupter to pass,
but it also can be used to create platforms
or even change the attributes of enemies.
From making them move slower, to shooting
health instead of acid, to even turning deadly
lasers into a friendly beams that kill enemies
and not you!
It’s so creative, and I loved hitting every
enemy with them to see what would happen.
It’s what makes Axiom Verge stand on its
own, as opposed to being written off as a
Metroid clone.
Real quickly, I wanted to talk about the ending
for those that have beaten it, so if you don’t
want to see spoilers, click here to skip ahead.
Okay, cool.
So, throughout the game, Trace struggles with
killing the enemies.
He doesn’t want to if he doesn’t have
to.
He’ll try to talk his way out of each battle,
but to no avail.
Now at the very end, he says he’ll shut
down the Breach Attractor as long as he doesn’t
have to kill the final boss.
He reaches said final boss and he gives him
the scpheel about how what he’s doing isn’t
really bad after all, blah blah blah, and
asks for your help.
But without any options or choices, Trace
replies “Hell no, you self-righteous jerk”
and then you fight him. It seems a little out of character for what we've learned Trace to be like.
Now, I get it, maybe they didn’t want to
have you pick an answer to ruin the flow of
the conversation, but in the boss battle directly
before this, you can choose to fight it or
just walk right past it without killing.
You even get an achievement called Pacifist
for sparing it.
So what if this decision changed the outcome
of the ending?
What if that choice triggered a peaceful solution
instead?
Nah, instead there’s only one ending, and
all this build up for a potential non-lethal
route was squandered.
It just seemed like a big missed opportunity
for something that could have been really
cool and unique.
At least the fight is pretty cool…But I
digress…
Axiom Verge might look like a Metroid sequel
with a fresh coat of paint, but it is so much
more than that.
Not only is it full of memorable powerups
to make it stand on its own, but its chocked
full of secrets that are much more than meets
the eye.
It looks and sounds great, the soundtrack
is just the right combo of eerie and catchy.
There’s a lot at stake when you make a game
with such intense homage – you’re going
to be judged pretty critically.
But it was refreshing to see a game with so
much polish, take the genre to new heights
and show what it can continue to be in the
future.
