Axiom Verge

« That said Axiom Verge is a game that absolutely nails exploration/discovery and that’s an experience that people deserve to have for themselves. After three full playthroughs I can’t think of many other games that have proved to be as rewarding as this. It’s the kind of game that, just when I thought I figured it out, it would surprise me again and again. »

« It looks great, controls really well, and has a level of difficulty that makes things challenging without making them overtly frustrating. If you've ever been into this sort of action-adventure game, Axiom Verge is positively terrific. »

« Although it closely follows the Metroidvania blueprint, the brilliantly designed and executed Axiom Verge adds enough new and original features to make it a truly great game in its own right. An absolute must for retro fans. »

« The exploration loop is incredibly satisfying, and combat feels both tight and adaptable, like a complex dance where the partners both accentuate each others strengths, allowing any weak points to fade into the background. »

« It’s as much a living homage as it is a natural successor to Nintendo’s 2D Metroid games. »

« Throughout my time with Axiom Verge I was constantly excited to explore strange worlds, gain game-changing powerups, and fire off a new gun for the first time. Almost everything you pick up feels meaningful, unlike collecting overabundant missile-capacity expansions that you don’t even need. I heartily applaud Tom Happ’s first solo effort. It’s incredible that he was able to nail every component of game creation in one package. »

« Axiom Verge is a constant surprise to gamers. The surroundings are interesting and change often. The weapons and items are rewarded with perfect timing. It's brilliant. »

« At its apex, Tom Happ's brainchild unequivocally proves just how far video game development has come in such a short space of time and that you can in fact teach an old dog new tricks. »

« Metroid fan game with terrible combat and design choices. Story had some unique ideas but dialogue was indie cringe. This game was way over hyped. »

« THIS is supposed to be one of the best Metroidvanias? Nah, man. Color me not impressed. Combat is straight-up awful with most weapons (and why there are so many of them in the first place??), movement often feels super-clunky (ESPECIALLY the grappling hook) and the world design is kinda meh, which also hinders progression and navigation, since your chances of remembering that one obscure hindrance in some forgettable room you visited an hour ago are nigh zero (unless you take to taking real-life notes, which, fun...), so you either play with a guide or have to put up with large stretches of just aimlessly wandering around the map (and getting around isn't exactly enjoyable in this game). The music ranges from pretty great to terrible (Kur theme makes my ears bleed) and the enemies are some of the most annoying I have ever encountered in a Metroidvania. For some godforsaken reason, the dev seems to have an obsession with tiny little dots you can barely aim or differentiate from the background doing tons of damage. In conclusion: This game has some neat ideas, but the execution is lacking in pretty much every aspect. »

« The game feels too boring to play, and the unlocks, despite their availability, don't provide any new experiences or opportunities for exploration. It's disheartening to invest time and effort into unlocking content, only to find that it doesn't significantly enhance the gameplay or offer fresh challenges. »

« A great Metroid(Vania) like, emphasis on the Metroid. Lots of really cool and super unique weapons that are fun to use. An fantastic story to boot. Also has some really cool looking pixel art that stands out in a sea of similar looking games. Well worth your time. »

« The best modern Metroid or Metroid-style game. I'd say it's an easy pick for that distinction, but the sequel is as good - this one gets the nod by way of seniority. The music, pixel art, environments & mood capture exploring an ominous, alien world through a retro-futurist lens flawlessly. »

« This game has a lot of potential. It's fun but there are some negative points like the quantity of guns when you actually need like four, the enemies thar are too easy once you learn how to play and the progress of searching objects in the map. Obviously, it's not a bad game, but I want to see Tom Happ getting better so we can get an exceptional game. »

« A great metroidvania which entices the player to search for every item and weapon. The soundtrack is particularly impressive. The only places where the game falls short are the ease of traversing the map and the plot (which probably warranted more breathing room than the game gave it). Overall it's a splendid effort, all from the mind of one person. »

« The best metriodvania I've played. Well, slight correction there: There's almost no Castlevania in this one; It's a better and more mature version of Metroid. If you're into intelligent and vague stories, then this one has a great one. While performing an experiment with your research organization, there's an accident that seems to cause you to be transported to a different world or dimension. There, you're tasked by the dying electronic/robotic giants with saving them (by restoring power, releasing repair drones, etc.). Well, exactly what happened, what you're doing, and even your existence is up for interpretation, which you'll have fun trying to figure out as you find documents and progress the story. A great part about this, is that while your protagonist isn't the smartest guy around, his actions are believable and he's got a good moral compass. This makes his ending choice make sense, even though it's a shame you can't choose the other option. This is a story you'll want to uncover for yourself, so I'll stop the story explanation here. The game is excellent gameplay-wise. After playing roughly 10 metroidvania games, I got a bit bored of the same repetitive level design, tools, and ways to open up new parts of the map. This game takes things in a different direction and seems to scrap everything from the past 20 years and starts over with Metroid as its base. For example, you get a high jump early on, but you still can't jump high enough to reach some areas. You'd expect that a higher jump or double jump is next, but no.. The game offers three completely different skill-based solutions for getting higher, two of which I've never seen before. Using your own abilities isn't the only way to progress and find secret areas. You get a sort of hacking skill that modifies your environment in various ways (in addition to making you wonder whether you're in a digital world - just one of many of the game's thought-provoking elements). You can also hack enemies, with each one reacting differently, and unexpectedly per standard video game logic. There's multiple digital aspects to the world. In addition to hacking, there's passwords to find and enter (game genie-style), and glitched secret areas that are beautifully broken. Getting close to a secret area and entering it has various random effects that you'll be familiar with if you've played NES games. The game expertly integrates these segments into the gameplay and story. I won't talk more about the gameplay because experiencing these unique mechanics blind is one of the reasons the game is so good. The only real downsides to the game are its length (10-15 hours based on how much stuff you try to find), and how it presents its lore. The lore that you'll uncover (or maybe not uncover) its random because much of it is hidden around the world map. The lore would would work better if told in order or after certain story segments. But that would go against Metroid mechanics, so I see why it wasn't done that way. So with its excellent mechanics and mature sci-fi story, the game is a must-play for intelligent story lovers and metroidvania fans. I just learned there will be a sequel, and it's a definite buy for me. »