Axiom Verge 2 Review: On the Verge of Mediocrity

 

Sequelitis is the word that comes to mind when playing Axiom Verge 2.

I'm not 100% sure of the origin. But I learned about it from a YouTube series by EgoRaptor (Arin Hanson). It's defined as the sequel of an original price of media not delivering on the same merits as the original. The idea being that the original had set bar that the sequel had to surmount. A sequel will always be judged by the piece of media that came before. And sometimes a sequel ends up failing to find critical and cult success if it is anything but better and bigger than the original in every aspect.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl suffered from sequelitis because of how much Sakurai (the creator of the beloved series) wanted to ensure his game didn't a have such a high skill ceiling as its predecessor. He wanted more people enjoy the Smash series and wanted to give new fans (that came from the huge influx of Wii owners) an entry point. So he added random tripping and removed any expert skills that were found in melee. Despite adding to the roster and giving the game a bigger adventure mode, it failed to meet fans expectations. It's still regarded as the worst Smash game in the series. 

But sequels are usually great for making a series better. To give a counterpoint from what I said previously, Super Smash Brothers Melee rocketed into popularity because of how it built on the fundamentals of Super Smash Brothers 64. The controls were tighter, the roster was bigger, and the mayhem and gameplay was better refined. Spiderman (the video game released alongside the movie) was forgettable but Spiderman 2 was amazing and is heralded as one of the best Spiderman games out there because of the web-slinging controls and fun open world gameplay. It really makes you feel like Spiderman. 

Graphics look upgraded but environments seems less interesting...

Axiom Verge 2 is to follow up to a surprisingly good Metroidvania, Axiom Verge. I bought the original on a whim. I immediately was drawn in by the art design and animations. I also enjoyed the blending of the sci-fi hacker and alien genres. It was thoroughly disturbing, but at the same time extremely interesting. Exploration was fun and the game mechanics were solid although not very memorable. While the game is pretty easy, the scares and weirdness kept me on my toes the whole time.

When Axiom Verge 2 shadow dropped (i.e. announcement trailer and release on the same day) last week, I was extremely surprised and cautiously excited. I decided to pick it up and ended up beating pretty quickly. I couldn't help but think of sequelitis during every section of this game. Each element of Axiom Verge 2 was here but...lacking. Nothing was overtly bad about the game but it felt like there was a lack of thought in how the game was put together. Was it rushed? Did it not have enough quality control? It just seems odd how much this game is made by the same developer as the first one.

Indra Chaudhari??? I couldn't tell she was Indian by looking at the sprite...if only there was  portrait of her face...

Here are some examples:

Animations and art: it's easy to see the upgrade in visuals in the pixel graphics between the original and AV 2, but there are a lot of drawbacks as well. While the environments are varied, they seem patchworked together with less gradual blending and more contrived placement. There are points on the map where Indra can access "The Breach" - another world that exists in the subconscious (or something?). I felt like the Breach was somewhat hard to look at points in the game because of the contrasting and loud colors.

Also there was just less art and animation? I don't know it felt less engaging than the last game. They even left out portraits which really removes a lot of character from each person you meet.

One other thing that disappointed me was the gameplay and powerups. AV 2 gives power ups and ability unlocks freely...almost too freely. It felt like every few rooms I was picking up something to give me a new move. With very little pacing control, I felt like I didn't get the chance to understand what to do with them. Also powerups weren't really used to fight anything. 

Enemies in AV 2 are also unforgiving. It takes like four hits to kill a normal enemy in the beginning of the game. That may not seem like a lot, but the enemies can kill the main character in less. It was maddening to get through the first few hours of this game. The removal of projectiles from the first game really makes the beginning of AV 2 a slog. The sad part is that it doesn't really get better. 

The Breach section isn't my favorite part of the game and can be relatively confusing to navigate.

The worst thing about Axiom Verge 2? The bosses. In the original game, you would explore the world until you found a point in the story where you would have to defeat a boss. The boss would have some sort of plot point associated with it (at least) and may also be guarding a cool power up just like other Metroidvanias. But in AV 2...they just exist. You'll explore the world only to have bosses appear almost at random. You also don't have to fight them either. They are all entirely skippable. And the only reward is a couple of skill points and maybe some bragging rights. They also have nothing to do with the plot. They just kind of appear. No new music, no introduction. It all feels so rushed. 

I really wanted to like Axiom Verge 2. But maybe the shadow drop release a couple of weeks ago was indicative of the quality of the game. AV 2 needs more time in the oven. It needs a bit of fixing because each part I loved about the first one seemed to have gone down in quality. I don't get why the bosses were irrelevant in this game. I don't think Axiom Verge was too hard in difficulty. It just leaves me scratching my head. 

I'd give Axiom Verge 2 a 6 out of 10. 

Ohhhh...the moral of the story right here...Thanks Axiom Verge