Review - Axiom Verge

“Axiom Verge” is a Metroidvania released on the most platforms in 2015. Frequently listed on the best Metroidvania games ever, and especially lists of those released this century, it certainly has a following among indie fans and more mainstream gamers alike.

I love a good Metroidvania and I was looking for something short to play after finishing Oblivion Remastered and Wind Waker HD. The last Metroidvania I played was Astalon: Tears of the Earth, and I really enjoyed it. Maybe it was worth checking out a few more of these indie favorites on Steam. Axiom Verge was on sale for $3.99 at 80% off. I figured at such a low price for such a well-received game, it was worth a shot.

It's very clear from the beginning that Axiom Verge is a love letter to the original Metroid and other games of the era. Even beyond retro graphics and gameplay loop, there are references that most people would only get if they physically played a Metroid cartridge on original hardware. In particular, the graphical artifacts that would occasionally show up on screen are an intentional gameplay element of Axiom Verge. Once you get past the oddity of it, it's honestly really cool.

Much of the appeal is certainly due to the nostalgia of NES games, and there are absolutely a few frustrations that should have been addressed for better quality of life. There is no form of fast travel, the map leaves much to be desired, and it can be very cumbersome to find your next destination after unlocking a new ability since you basically just have to scour the whole world again. I realize that this is exactly how the original Metroid played, perhaps it was an intentional design decision to recreate that as close as possible, but I really feel like the game would be more enjoyable with some modern comforts.

Sequence breaking is frequently possible in Metroidvania games, and I'm not sure if I accidentally sequence broke in Axiom Verge, but there was definitely a point that I thought I was soft locked. I seemed to have exhausted all possible routes toward the bottom right of the map, but I couldn't figure out how to get back up to the other areas. I finally managed to damage boost across a gap and get back to the earlier areas, but I'm not sure if I had gotten to somewhere I wasn't supposed to or if there was an overlooked way to get stuck. In either case, it only happened once, so it isn't a prolific problem.

I played through the entirety of the game and mostly enjoyed it. Perhaps I'll go back later and try to beat it faster for the better ending, but for now I'm fine with leaving it in the past.

Story - 7/10

It's neat to see a Metroidvania with a unique story. Trace's journey through a hostile alien world does have the same sort of sci-fi theming of Metroid, but nerdy scientist type just trying to survive is a nice contrast from hardened bounty hunter Samus Aran. I also like the sort of good/bad karma decisions you can make to spare certain creatures or forsake morals in the name of survival.

There are also some very Lovecraftian elements with the Rusalki and their ancient knowledge, plus the descent into madness with Athetos. I won't say that you will really understand exactly what just happened by the end of the game, but I do personally enjoy the types of stories that make me venture into the unknown with things that are much older than me, much more powerful than me, and may or may not want to kill me.

General Gameplay - 5/10

The biggest praise I will give Axiom Verge is the movement tech. There are standard options like the grapple beam from Super Metroid, and the ability to explore 1-tile gaps is provided via a small robot that Trace controls. You unlock different abilities related to the drone, as well as suits that allow you to pass through single (and later double) tile walls. This movement tech is genuinely some of the best I've played in any Metroidvania.

In addition to the movement tech, there are graphical oddities that are physical objects in the game. It's a cool reference to the quirky artifacts that old NES games would produce, but it gives actual importance to them. You can corrupt or repair these "glitched" areas for additional platforms or other exploration function. It's a really cool way to consider what it might be like of those graphical quirks were intentional.

It pains me to give a rating so low for gameplay, but the other components really do drag the game down significantly. The map is frankly awful, not giving any significant details about an area. Where Metroid and Super Metroid at least provided colored lines at doors to indicate what powerup is required to open it, Axiom Verge doesn't provide any detail. Did you just forget to go that way? Did you not notice the door? Or did it require an ability that you just didn't have yet? WHAT ability?

Besides the lack of detail, navigating the map is also cumbersome. The world is divided into regions, but you can't advance across the map to select the region closest to where you are currently. You have to cycle through a static order and hope that you were able to visually line up where you are to the appropriate entrance of another region. Once you get into the region where you want to go, it's decent for an approximate direction and distance, but don't look for anything more helpful.

So let's say you see a spot on the map that you want to go investigate. Maybe you remember you were blocked by something, and you think maybe you have the tool to bypass it now. There isn't a fast travel option, you just have to make your way back that direction. The game world is pretty substantial, larger than Metroid, so it may very well be 10+ minutes of traversal just to get to the point of interest. If you then realize that you still can't get past the obstacle, you don't have any way of noting that on the map. It's a fairly frustrating gameplay loop to painstakingly go back over the entire map for every single upgrade that you get, and then wonder if it's the right tool for the job or if it's just a skill issue.

I understand and appreciate that much of the appeal for the Metroidvania genre is exploration and going back to previous areas with new abilities and tools, but it becomes a huge chore in Axiom Verge after the first few times and gets exponentially worse as you can reach more of the map. Times like that, I would really love a fast travel station to get me back near unexplored areas without having to trek 15 minutes through the same areas.

Combat - 5/10

Keeping with the original inspiration, much of the combat is just blasting enemies until they die. Some of the later enemies are particularly fast and become more difficult to avoid, but the basic premise is the same. Variety is achieved in the form of weapons you pick up, but some feel lackluster. I do appreciate having more options than just a regular beam, a freeze beam, and missiles, but combat still isn't the strong suit for Axiom Verge.

Difficulty - 7/10

Metroid was hard, but it was hard for often trivial reasons. Starting with 30 health, no matter how many energy tanks you've picked up, and debating on whether it's worth the time to grind health drops. Axiom Verge is less hard, but still tougher than what I would say is average. Fortunately, it doesn't try to be Souls difficult the way Blasphemous or Nine Sols does, but you will die a lot.

One consideration is that you can't out-grind the difficulty. You can, the way many Metroidvania games allow, go out of your way to find upgrades and weapons to make yourself stronger, or intentionally ignore them to make the game harder. However, you can't grind enemies for levels or upgrades the way you can in some games. You are limited in how powerful you can make yourself by just how many collectibles you pick up. It's a good balance, and I think anyone who's played old school Metroidvania games will be happy with the difficulty level, but I don't want to pretend it's a cake walk.

Graphics - 8/10

Axiom Verge does a really good job of taking pixel art and making it shine. The individual assets and sprites don't look much different from SNES era graphics, but things like parallax scrolling and explosions are positively beautiful. The bosses and Rusalki are HUGE and the way the graphics are presented really turn up the uneasiness about them.

Music - 6/10

A lot of the music worked well as background noise, but it isn't a soundtrack that I would go out of my way to listen to outside the game. Plus, a few of the areas had what sounded almost like voices in the track that ended up being really annoying. It was decent, but I've heard much better music in games.

Performance

Axiom Verge fits squarely in the "could run on a potato" category. I played it exclusively on the Steam Deck, but I can almost guarantee you it would perfectly well on my Surface as well. Retro graphics and simple gameplay indie titles tend to share that, but I'm fully in favor. It allows more people to experience cool games, regardless of the hardware they have available.

My Take

The Good

Getting a new story and intellectual property in the style of an old favorite is really cool, especially for fans of that series. There's also a lot of cool movement tech that makes the game feel more modern.

The Bad

The map doesn't do a great job of pointing out particular hurdles, so it can be difficult to remember what stopped you from advancing further and where.

The Ugly

Exploration can get old if you don't already know where to go, when you're traversing the same hallways over and over with each new upgrade or item.

Overall - 6/10

If you played and enjoyed the original Metroid, Axiom Verge will absolutely feel familiar. If you don't have that nostalgia for NES games, or you aren't willing to tolerate the bare bones gameplay, it might be a hard sell.