i'm going to be making a ton of comparisons to metroid in this review because i feel like that's what this game was really trying to go for.

it took me three tries over four(?) years to finish this game and it really never felt worth it. the game excels at atmosphere but i can't say much positively about the rest.

there's a reason the metroid series' (and plenty other metroidvanias') soundtracks are mostly ambient. for one they invoke more density into the atmosphere and they're undistracting backdrops for long exploration. a lot of this game's soundtrack is beat-driven synthwave-esque dance music with chiptune inserted for retro flare and it is legitimately maddening at moments which brings me to my next point: axiom verge's sense of direction.

metroid is very guilty in making you backtrack long distances with newly acquired powerups to advance through locations you previously couldn't. it also isn't the worst thing ever since traversal and movement in metroid games are pretty satisfying and are full of additional pathways for you to dip your toes in with your new powers before you reach your destination. axiom verge suffers at its worst for failing to realize what makes metroid's backtracking and platforming worthwhile. most of your backtrack treks will be single-pathed (at least most of them will until maybe 75% through the main story) and LONG, but the worst offender is that you might not even come across the hints of where you might need to come back to. i'm personally very conservative about checking guides because i love the feeling of discovering things on my own but i have never checked a guide in any game more often than this one and never have i felt so stupefied at where i actually had to go and what action i specifically had to perform. routes aren't cryptic for the sake of leaving you to experiment, they're cryptic because of bad design, and with this i'll return to my first point: the soundtrack. i'm aware of the developer's lack of experience in music composition so i apologize... you do not want to hear this mediocre, occasionally bombastic synthwave chiptune music for the hours you (or i) will spend trial-and-erroring every potential dead-end and suspicious tile.

the game's best saving grace is its atmosphere. this game takes metroid's underlying horror aspects and doubles down on it in many locations: bug-infested corridors, massive death-machine warriors with insect-like bodies with their life support systems organically wound through its surrounding environment, towering piles of corpses and secret chambers where reality disconnects and "glitches". this game is full of harrowing and inventive world concepts that i wish were a bit more fleshed out from its confusing story and vague, almost-useless(?) notes scattered across the world. this game has an intriguing world with an odd lack of world-building.

i didn't completely hate my experience with axiom verge but it was definitely a slog to get from start to finish, even after 2 previous attempts. i'm glad i did finish it because i do believe the upcoming sequel has EVERY opportunity to rectify these issues, because maybe more wiggle room is what this game really needed.