Axiom Verge 1 & 2: Nostalgic Patterns Diverted and Conceived Anew

What Led Me to Axiom Verge, Plus the Physical Edition's Second Cover. The First One Being 8-Bit Trace and Indra I Posted to Social Media. —Taken with an iPhone 8

I grew up on science fiction—more or less thanks to my Dad who loved the Dune books to death, so falling in love with the Metroid in Medroidvanias seemed like a no-brainer. That was what happened with Metroid Prime in 2002—a game which twelve-year old me thought would be more like a zombie shooter than an in-depth exhibition on an almost uncharted planet. One kiosk session later, I was proven wrong in the best way possible and, with my Dad already being interested in the game, purchased it about a month later. Samus’s adventure on Tallon IV would bring me down a sort-of Metroidvania rabbit hole from Fusion to Zero Mission, eventually leading me to the NES and Super Nintendo titles respectively by means of the Wii’s Virtual Console. 

Fast-forward a decade and I dive back into that same niche, but with a wider variety of games—Hollow Knight, La Mulana, Horace (for a few chapters), A Robot Named Fight, and more recently Islets—but the one that I shelled out money for first was Axiom Verge. I was no stranger to that game since, much like with Shin Megami III: Nocturne, I discovered it through a stream from LoadingReadyRun and made it another game on the “to play someday” list in my head. It was to the point where I actually bought the soundtrack on iTunes long before I would finally play it, falling in love with the rough synths and the warbling theremins. The moment I downloaded the game proper to my Switch was when I could finally cross that game off the list…and cross it off once again.

One of my better action screenshots from the first game, in which Trace employs the address disruptor to scramble a mantis-like creature —Captured on Switch (Docked Mode)

Developed by Thomas Happ, Axiom Verge is a metroidvania that looks like 8-bit Metroid and somewhat acts like it too once Trace Eschenbrenner wakes up after an experiment goes awry. As he explores the planet Sudra, picking up a few new weapons for his Axiom Disruptor, the game starts to stand on its own in a similar way to how Prime did for twelve-year old me. The Disruptor upgrades are only the beginning as Trace discovers ways in which the world can be corrupted like a game cartridge to help him traverse chasms or even outwit fast enemies. There is also a lab coat that allows him to phase through walls and a spider drone that acts as a tribute to Metroid’s Morph Ball while emphasizing its own unique spin by mining through bits of rock.

Exploring Sudra does feel slightly linear, in which your lack of upgrades drives you to almost going in one direction. Yet, the exploration still feels natural. You are able to figure out where you can go and what you need to go elsewhere without a supercomputer’s authorization—unlike Adam in Metroid Fusion. Pickups, ranging from your health and power nodes to lore, do take some additional exploration to find and the payoff is usually worth the trek. 

The game’s story is deceptively larger than it initially leads you to believe as Trace navigates Sudra and assists the Rusalki supercomputers. Without spoiling much, the pixelated mess scattered across the lower caverns and planet’s surface is part of a much large phenomenon called “the Breach” and some guy named Athetos allegedly wants Trace dead. Trace, of course, wants to find his way back home to Earth, but as the story progresses, everything seems to blend together. This is far from a criticism of the story and the twists show Happ’s strength in character-driven storytelling alongside solid world-building. At the same time, those revelations may make things a little confusing on a first playthrough, even if the lore helps in patching some events together.

One of the many challenges with the sequel's emphasis on melee combat. Like in fencing, a smaller target usually has the advantage —Captured on Switch (Handheld Mode)

What Happ made here was a package for those crave Metroidvania exploration with a story that is surprisingly deep for its length. Six years later, he would do it again with Axiom Verge 2 by keeping that sense of wonder intact with changes in gameplay and a story that works in tandem to subvert the player’s expectations.

This new chapter stars Indra Chaudhari, CEO of Globe 3, who decides to investigate a research station in Jones Station, Antartica after receiving a message on a microcomputer she received from her acquisition of Hammond Corp. This communique orders her to go there for her daughter’s sake, but what she finds at Jones Station is not just a desolate facility, but a portal to another universe. 

From stepping out of the freight elevator, Indra’s life begins to change completely and that is where those changes to gameplay step fully into the limelight. Gone is the Swiss-army-knife-for-a-gun that was the Axiom Disruptor in place of melee combat by means of axes, daggers, swords, and boomerangs. There is even an augmentation that allows you to hack machines and enemies in order to gain a tactical advantage, open doors, or just navigate up a mountain. These augmentations, or Arms, allow Indra to fully transverse this new alternate universe called Kiengir, and let Axiom Verge 2 shine as its own game. 

Using some of these Arms, to hack or cause shockwaves, cost nano-machines (nano points) and the new in-game pickups help make up for these new challenges. There are still health nodes from the first game, but now there are flasks you can break to gain skill points for stat building. Luckily, the stat trees are not overwhelming and you can easily break enough flasks in order to survive by the means that best suit your play-style.

A mish-mash of pixel-art, chiptunes, and callbacks. The Breach that binds the games together —Captured on Switch (Handheld Mode) 

With all these gameplay alterations, one would think that Axiom Verge 2 would be almost indistinguishable from its predecessor as a difficult, ambitious flop. That is far from the case. The music score makes this evident from the second area onward, where the acoustics and vocals from Mayssa Karaa, make Kiengir feel like a comfortable hike on the trail or teatime on a quiet day in. The unashamedly stereotypical, science fiction ambience created by Axiom Verge 1’s soundtrack has not been fully discarded either, but instead gracefully blends in with the sequel’s calming atmosphere…at least, when you are outside the Breach.

That same pixelated hot mess that caused chaos on Sudra can now be traversed in brief by Indra as a spider drone once she meets the respective Arm. What is within is not a hotbed for a digitized apocalypse, but a sort-of pocket universe with a chiptune soundtrack full of amplitude, which manages to work almost  in parallel with the rest of Kiengir. It is an added dimension which adds depth to an already well-rounded world and mastering them both is key to fully figuring out the mysteries behind Kiengir, Hammond Corp, and what happened to Indra’s daughter, Samara.

Without spoiling too much, the drone itself plays a huge role in the story—both the Arm that allows it to manifest and with Indra herself. Players familiar with the first Axiom Verge will find themselves subverted by their expectations more so, considering what the drone could do prior. Is it just the melee combat? That is a question best answered by playing the game itself.

With all the major changes, the game maintains a reasonable length in which I could finish it between six to eight hours—more so if I wanted to collect everything. It never feels like it overstays its welcome nor does it abruptly end and leave you wanting more. Every part of the game and the storyline fulfills its role without delay, which can also be said of the first Axiom Verge. 

It's hard to tell, but sometimes, the most important items in a Randomizer run can easily be overlooked —Captured on Switch (Handheld Mode)

Which reminds me, that update in early 2021 which included the Randomizer mode is phenomenal! If Axiom Verge 2’s story made me further appreciate the narrative from the first game, this new gameplay experience gives this debut title an extra dollop of spice. What it does is in its namesake—move around all of the items, make a path based on your inventory, and defeat the final boss. If you want to up the challenge, there are two more advanced difficulties that add in more of the lore items and even move vital items to almost unreachable places. Hardcore players may get more enjoyment out of those options, but the basic level is perfect for another journey through Sudra. 

Technically a secret, but one that is best found out while playing. Not a major one, but its worth the trek. —Captured on Switch (Docked Mode) 

No matter where you start your journey, Axiom Verge 1 & 2 are adventures with nostalgic roots that branch out into their own interplanetary (and inter-universal) niches. Thomas Happ’s passion for his craft shows in every detail, from the story to the exploration elements and combat. Nothing on Sudra or Kiengir gets overlooked, even when corrupted by the Breach. 

Whether the Breach clears up or not, the Axiom Verge series is one case where the creation of a new universe was both a good and wise move.   

As mentioned previously, I'm not giving these two games a numerical rating—they would hover at an almost perfect 10. However, if you asked me which game I prefer excluding the Randomizer update, I would go with Axiom Verge 2 partly for the story, but also because of how ambitious the game was overall. 

That and the soundtrack!

This has been an almost constant earworm since I first listened to it and, for some reason, it reminds me of Amiga MODs blended with some synthwave. Admittedly, I'll sometimes have this on repeat as well...