However, compared to its clever dual-world exploration, Axiom Verge 2’s combat is fairly one-dimensional. Meanwhile, Indra only grows more fun to control over the course of the journey, consuming a steady diet of power-ups that transform her over time from humble platforming heroine to shapeshifting Swiss Army Knife equipped to scale almost every structure in her path. Any backtracking I did was typically with a clear purpose, to return to that suspiciously fragile-looking wall after I’d unlocked Indra’s shockwave power, perhaps, as opposed to pacing back and forth across multiple rooms because I had trouble distinguishing one from the next. Each area of both maps feels far more distinct in terms of terrain, and a compass found early on subtly steers you towards your next objective.
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Not being able to see exactly where you’re going does introduce some trial and error, but the ability to fast-travel to any previously discovered save point gave me the freedom to experiment with blind leaps between worlds, knowing that I could beam back for a do-over if I accidentally blinked into the wrong spot.Įven with double the map to cover, I found Axiom Verge 2 to be far more intuitive to explore than the original game. Initially, you can only shift from one world to the other at predetermined Breach gates on each map, but eventually Indra is given the ability to both reveal hidden tears and also manipulate the placement of a tear in order to crossover to more precise areas.
It’s also a mechanic that continues to evolve over the course of the journey. Orienting yourself in two places at once inspires a degree of non-linear navigation that’s a consistently absorbing challenge as a result. Not only do you need to puzzle your way to unlock gates and uncover hidden power-ups within each separate world as per the tried-and-tested Metroid template, but you also use interdimensional tears to hop back and forth between realms to circumnavigate obstacles in one dimension by finding an alternate path in the other. This contrast doesn’t just make for appealing shifts in aesthetics, it brings a literal extra dimension to navigating your way through Axiom Verge 2.
Each side of the dimensional divide has its own unique map structure and feel Indra’s world features arcane ruins and dimly lit caverns to explore, while the more abstract Breach consists of chunky, hypercolour platforms and pulses to the sound of a bouncing chiptunes soundtrack. Into the BreachĪxiom Verge 2 may feature an entirely new lead character and setting, but what really sets it apart from the original game is the ability to phase in and out of the Breach an alternate dimension running parallel with the main overworld sort of like Stranger Things’ Upside Down if it was being emulated on a Game Boy Color. That’s really all the setup and motivation I needed. Lingo-heavy lore aside, I found the basic plight of its main character, Indra, more than enough to propel me forward through the roughly eight-hour adventure after she arrives at an Antarctic research base looking for her missing daughter, one thing leads to another and she suddenly has the power to absorb the unique abilities of nanomachines known as Arms. Axiom Verge 2’s story is fleshed out by countless hidden notes and computer terminal messages, but I won’t even attempt to summarise it since it’s dense with the same sort of pseudo-scientific technobabble that pervades its 2015 predecessor.
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