Axiom Verge (game) : Metroidvania that i kinda love, kinda don't.

Axiom Verge is a relatively basic-looking 2-D platformer that functions in the popular metroidvania style.

If you don't know what "metroidvania" means think of what Metroid and Castlevania were like - If you don't know what either of those things are, i don't know how to help you :P

Anyway Axiom Verge at first seems a little too basic and too throwback-ish, but if you stick with it, i think for the most part you will not be disappointed.

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Now one of the first things that you will notice, because everyone notices it, is the fact that not only does this game function in a similar fashion to the NES Metroid, it looks exactly like it. It looks pretty much copyright-and-intellectual-property-theft similar to it.

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Well AV must not have broken any laws or Nintendo simply didn't care anymore because not only did they not sue Tom Happ (the sole designer of the game) but they also made Axiom Verge available on the Switch.

As you progress thought the game acquiring multiple powerups many of which do the exact same thing that they did in Metroid you will notice that one thing is substantially better than the NES or SNES.... the music. Tom Happ composed all the music on his own as well and to me this is just remarkable that one person was able to do all of this on his own.

He was working on this project in the evenings as he was already employed by a game company during the day until somehow Sony got wind of the fact that he was working on Axiom Verge and offered him the opportunity to work exclusively on the this title full-time. The only condition was that Sony was going to be the publisher. Tom agreed but didn't take on a Sony team, he still worked for the most part, completely alone. Perhaps this is why it took 5 years to complete production.

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One very interesting aspect of the gameplay is that there appears to be glitches in the game and many people have actually complained about this on various gaming forums. I will admit I had to search because i presumed it was a glitch in the code as well. However, these glitches are intentionally added aspects of the game, and taking advantage of them is kind of critical to advancing on various levels.

I would say that the only thing I didn't particularly care for about this game is the fact that at times it almost seems a bit too retro and the graphical limitations that are endearing at first kind of end up being a bit "meh" later on. However, we can't come down on this too much when you consider that it is was ONE GUY that made this entire thing.

AV has remained at the same price point that it always was ($20) and seeing as how it is already nearly 5 years old I don't expect that price to go down. Axiom Verge can be picked up on pretty much any gaming platform other than Mac and it is a worthwhile purchase... the only downside being that I think it is a bit overpriced - but to be fair I rarely pay $20 for a game.

My overall rating!