Axiom Verge 2 is a 2D Metroidvania developed and published by Thomas Happ Games. The concept of switching between worlds and characters to explore a Metroidvania game world is a lot of fun, even if the combat and bosses aren't as enjoyable.
The protagonist of Axiom Verge 2 is a billionaire scientist, named Indra Chaudhari, who arrives on an alien world after searching an abandoned research station. The world she arrives in is overrun by machines that attack Indra on sight. It's up to the player to explore the hostile environment in search of a way home, as well as looking for information about Indra's missing daughter. Indra must master the alien technology of her new surroundings in order to survive encounters with her enemies, gain access to new locations, and learn more about the history of the world.
Axiom Verge 2's gameplay will be familiar to Metroidvania fans, with obstacles and environmental hazards blocking her way into new locations. The player gradually unlocks new powers that let them explore more of the map, along with finding upgrades that increase their survivability and combat skills. The twist that Axiom Verge 2 takes on the genre is that Indra is soon joined by a small drone, which has its own set of abilities and can be sent off to scout new locations. The drone is able to enter portals into a different world map that exists parallel to Indra's, which has a retro pixel art style. Some of the puzzles involve switching between the two worlds, in what results in some great brain teasers, while giving the player lots of room to experiment.
What lets Axiom Verge 2 down is its combat. The enemies in the game are frustrating to fight, either by being far more aggressive and mobile than Indra, or kiting with ranged attacks and hovering just out of range of a counter. The visuals for the enemies are at least impressive, and the lumbering boss monsters are an amazing spectacle. The problem is that nearly every boss battle is optional and the rewards for beating them aren't too impressive, so there isn't much incentive to fight them. Indra and the drone have an infection move that lets the player influence the action of enemies by controlling their A.I., but the AoE of this ability is slow to appear and it's tied to an MP-style meter, allowing for a handful of uses, lowering its effectiveness in combat. It's often better to just run past enemies, as there is no experience points system, with upgrades being contained in items found on the world map.
The opening hours of Axiom Verge 2 are also a little too slow. The player is always given an objective marker on the map, but the route to the destination isn't always clear, resulting in a lot of bumping against walls in search of a route. Once the player unlocks more exploration abilities, this issue dies down and searching the alien world becomes more enjoyable. It doesn't help that the overworld design for most of the early areas is extremely boring, with caves, grasslands, and snowy areas that all look the same, though there are more impressive stages later in the game, with gorgeous pixel-art alien architecture on display.
The biggest problem in Axiom Verge 2 is that fast travel is an unlockable ability and the player doesn't acquire it until a few hours into the game. Fast travel should have been available from the beginning, as it would have cut down on a lot of tedious backtracking.
Axiom Verge 2 adds some interesting twists to the Metroidvania format and it does get good once the player unlocks the drone, fast travel, and some of the special abilities. If the player is willing to sit through a slow start and some dicey combat encounters, then Axiom Verge 2 becomes a lot of fun to play, with a world that's fascinating to explore and treasures that are waiting to be found in its beautiful and scary alien world.
Axiom Verge 2 is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4. The game is also coming to other platforms in the future, including PlayStation 5. Screen Rant was provided with a digital code for the Nintendo Switch version of the game for the purpose of this review.