the rifts that allow passage between the overworld and the Breach.<\/span><\/p> <\/iframe><\/p>
It’s a great feeling to master the world of Axiom Verge 2, and uncover new routes for progress or secrets hidden within the dual-world layout. This also means its earlier hours are a little slower, and contain fewer moments of “a-ha” compared to later on in the narrative. It isn’t rough, just slow, and it’s hard to latch onto something to drive you forward.<\/span><\/p> A big reason for this, and another big design change from the first Axiom Verge<\/em>, is that almost every boss in the game is optional. Rather than opponents with big, labelled boss doors and conveniently placed save rooms nearby, bosses just sort of inhabit the world. An early one, for example, resides in the general path of your progress, but it’s just as easy to avoid it as it is to kill it. One particular boss, an underwater worm-leviathan, hounded me whenever I ventured into its domain. It’s killable, yes, but you have to solve how to do it, and it’s not necessary to take it out to see the game through.<\/span><\/p> These giant beings ended up being more like optional bosses, hidden away in special rooms, or massive beasts who I had to learn to navigate around or deal with somehow. It made them feel a bit like colossi from <\/span>Shadow of the Colossus <\/span><\/i>in that respect, which is a cool variation on the idea of bosses in a Metroid<\/i>-style game. But it also made combat feel a little less required for progression, and contributed to the fact that I spent a lot of the early game running away from enemies or avoiding them rather than fighting them.<\/span><\/p> <\/p>
Ultimately choosing to take on those bosses\u2014whether right away or later on, once you have some more tools and better weapons to work with\u2014rewards you with Apocalypse Flasks, which can also be found littered around the map. These little bottles reward Indra with points to upgrade her various abilities, and there are a fair few to choose from, ranging from health and damage to expanding the search range of her hacking ability faster.<\/span><\/p> Outside of upgrading the level of your hacking skills, which I think is a must-have early on, it’s pretty much up to your playstyle how you advance. I started out putting points into hacking, but eventually explored other branches like Indra’s axe damage and the drone’s attack speed. Indra’s offensive options are a little limited compared to the wealth of guns Trace acquires over the course of the first Axiom Verge<\/em>, but they also work well in concert, proving that sometimes less is more.<\/span><\/p> It also bears mentioning that the music and art of Axiom Verge 2<\/em> are both stellar. Happ does a great job of mixing old with the new in Axiom Verge 2<\/em>‘s score, and the design of the world(s) Indra explores is fantastic. I ended up really enjoying how interconnected the world was, especially as the Breach opened up new ways to move through it, and every area has a very distinct layout and visual style to it.<\/span><\/p> <\/p>
Axiom Verge 2<\/em> also just feels very different. If you’re looking for a fresh take on a Metroid<\/em>-style game, one that uses more melee skills, optional bosses, and layered map exploration, that’s a good thing. If you’re looking more for a traditional Metroid<\/em> inspiration, one with guns, boss rooms, and a host of weapons, this isn’t really that.<\/span><\/p> Even when Axiom Verge 2<\/em> wasn’t hitting perfectly for me, it feels different and very much its own. Things start out slow, but give it a little time and Axiom Verge 2<\/em> really gets going, playing off expectations with clever alterations of the original game’s conventions. It’s dense as ever lore-wise, and it’s got some good music and worlds to move through. It’s a follow-up to Axiom Verge<\/em> that doesn’t content itself with a simple recitation of the first game’s high points, and if what’s detailed above sounds like your jam, you’ll probably have a good time with it.<\/span><\/p> [This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]<\/sub><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":808,"featured_media":278914,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"tags":[10482,19252,19571,19111,19112,20070],"article_type":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Axiom Verge 2 – Destructoid<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n