The Metroidvania genre is not defined by Metroid’s thematic elements. It exists because Metroid’s unique and unmistakable design philosophy for a 2D platformer game resonated with a bounty of prospective video game IPs. Castlevania, a peer of Metroid’s on the NES, decided to channel Metroid’s idiosyncrasies with Symphony of the Night all while maintaining its core identity as a lavish, gothic experience. Symphony’s boldness and astute understanding of Metroid’s intricate interpretation of the 2D platformer opened the floodgates for several new IPs to follow in its example, and most of the notable ones understood the homework assignment like Symphony. However, perhaps many developers attribute Metroid’s impact to its science-fiction latent alien environment and its cold, hostile atmosphere. They’re not entirely wrong, but honing in on Metroid’s thematic elements and crafting a new IP using them as a muse may result in something a bit misguided. Axiom Verge, a prominent title in the new wave of indie Metroidvania games, is a game that presents an vital understanding of the Metroidvania genre’s design philosophy. However, I’ve never seen one of Metroid’s many children share such a strong genetic resemblance with one of its parents.
Evidently, Axiom Verge is an extravaganza of science fiction-oriented video game thematic properties as the game’s introduction where a fatal experimental accident occurs in a laboratory and blows the place to Kingdom Come is fairly reminiscent of Half-Life. The setting of this scene is even in New Mexico, for fucks sake. Actually, where the explosion blows our brainy protagonist, Trace, is to the odd, extraterrestrial world of Sudra where he now must contend with its abstract environment and the hostile creatures that inhabit it. Sound familiar already? Actually, besides the eerily similar setting to Metroid catalyzed by something that recalls Half-Life, the comparisons between Axiom Verge and Nintendo’s sci-fi series become alarmingly apparent through its aesthetics and general layout. If Lovecraftian is a legitimate term used to describe something akin to cosmic horror, then I propose categorizing something that resembles the artistic works of H.R. Giger as “Gigerian.” The Swiss artist who brought the Xenomorph to life for the first Alien film was a prominent artistic influence on Metroid’s fear factor and intergalactic coldness, but what happens when Axiom Verge follows up the chain of inspiration stemming from Metroid? Gigerian maximalism at its finest, even if I’m dubious if Axiom Verge is familiar with where Metroid’s iconography is rooted. Each area of Sudra is distinct from one another, but they all exhibit that sublime, industrially interstellar aesthetic. Eribu is a meaty, crimson red whose prominent foreground characteristic is these clumps of blood bubbles that regenerate when they’re popped. Zi exhibits a bevy of industrial activity juxtaposed with possibly the most vacant, dark backgrounds. Kur is an earthier realm on the eastern side of the map whose higher elevation will lead to a consistent snowstorm as the player climbs upward past all of the cryptic, primordial caves in between. The unnatural moody blue aura permeating through the night sky of Edin and Ukkin-Na is quite pleasant to the visual senses. Still, I emphasize the word unnatural to hone in on the extent of how alien everything is to a fault. Yes, I realize that an alien planet possibly existing in another dimension should look bizarre and otherworldly, but take a gander at the Elsenova machination that beckons the player toward her at the beginning of the game. If Gigerian was in the dictionary, a picture of Elsenova or her fellow Rusalki sisters would be displayed parallel to it on the page. Also, there are far too many narrow vertical sections where the formation of ascending platforms are literally crawling with insectoid enemies along the bars, which is Metroid level design 101.
At least Axiom Verge shows some restraint with its Metroid siphoning and doesn’t include a female protagonist at the helm of the adventurer role through Sudra’s alien planes. The man in question, however, doesn’t exactly exude the demeanor of an intrepid warrior like Samus Aran. I hate to be presumptuous, but Trace here gives me the impression that he’s a self-inserted character by the developers. I’d wonder which of them drew straws to implement themselves into the game, except that I can safely place the blame on Thomas Happ as Axiom Verge’s single developer a la Cave Story. Does Mr. Happ think that Trace is a badass, or is he an example of a character forced to grapple with a situation way out of his element? The latter of possibilities is plausible considering he’s an ineffectual, scientific type, but Trace consistently combats all of the crazy creatures on this planet with Joe-Schmoe stoicism as if he isn’t really affected. I think the real answer boils down to the fact that Trace has no charisma or personability. His character icon that pops up in dialogue boxes has a terrible resting bitch face and if Mario grew out sideburns like Trace has, it would be a PR disaster. Then again, progressing through Axiom Verge’s convoluted story reveals that Trace is the younger clone of the oppressive lord Athetos who rendered Sudra’s inhabitants as the malformed monsters that roam around the vicinity via the expulsion of a noxious pathogen. If Trace has the potency of a supreme dictator as another form of himself(?), then certainly the developer intended to create a badass rogue capable of grand destruction. Still, there are so many reasons why I’m not following Trace as this cool bad boy as intended. He’s perhaps one of the most indigestible gaming protagonists I’ve seen in a while.
An admirable emulation of Metroid’s formula that Axiom Verge exhibits is its sense of progression. One of the most effective aspects of Metroid was the lack of illumination of where Samus’s objectives were located, and I’m not only referring to the pitch-black hole of space displayed in every background. The first Metroid game on the NES was so cryptic that not having the Nintendo Power issue with the walkthrough at every player’s side was comparable to going spelunking without a flashlight. Axiom Verge does not mimic Metroid quite to that extent, but I appreciate the fact that Axiom Verge respects the intelligence of its players. Admittedly, too many modern Metroidvania games rely on icons to signify where the main objective is located, similar to an open-world game. These titles tend to forget that the modus operandi of the Metroidvania genre is exploration, which can only be facilitated through a vague sense of direction. Axiom Verge trusts that the player should think to check every unexplored spot on the map after they acquire a new power-up, which is a core strength of the design philosophy that attracts me to the Metroidvania genre. I especially enjoy accidentally stumbling upon the spots in Axiom Verge where Trace finds himself in a “secret area” where all of the topography is twisted into what can be described as a malfunctioning simulation, and I likely wouldn’t have known these existed if my main objective was concise. One modern aspect of Axiom Verge not present in Metroid or most Metroidvania titles is that upon dying, any new upgrades and uncovered land on the map will still be retained once the Nanogates flying inside of Trace send him back to the previous save station to preserve his mortality. An argument can be made that this is an example of the modern perks of gaming making Axiom Verge too accessible, but believe that this application mitigates some punitive tedium. Axiom Verge is plenty difficult as a test of endurance between the save stations, which are located with an appropriate amount of space between them.
I’m glad that Axiom Verge incentivizes blind exploration throughout because taking any of the various paths on a whim will almost always lead to a new secret. What lies behind the obscured crevices of Sudra could be a smattering of goodies. The gadgets needed to venture further through the game are usually rewarded on the beaten path after a turning point of progression, such as the drill that cracks the grainy rock formations and the remote drone that can dig through the tightest of corridors. I’ve been told that the grapple gadget used to swing from the roof is taken from Bionic Commando instead of Metroid’s grapple beam, but I’m not that gullible. The most interesting gadget found in Axiom Verge is the “address disruptor” that subverts the matter of enemies and certain obstacles into a pixelated frenzy. On top of the eclectic mix of gadgets, the range of offensive weapons in Axiom Verge is bound to make every gun nut salivate. With diligent searching, the player can collect a whopping total of twenty different weapons that all have unique attributes. My selection that got me through most of Axiom Verge’s obstacles were a roulette of the electric shotgun Kilver, the elongated Ion Beam, and a Lightning Gun that locks onto enemies from above for a connected stream of shocking energy. One also has to appreciate using the classic flamethrower to turn the field into a burning holocaust. The impressive arsenal in Axiom Verge is a blast to experiment with, even more so than in any Metroid game.
Because Axiom Verge offers a treasure trove of unique weapons, using the most suitable one to conquer the game’s bosses is like a glorified puzzle. All of Axiom Verge’s enemies are relatively equal to Trace’s human size, but every boss is appropriately the size of a behemoth to signify its greater significance. Their general intimidation is also intensified when they scream DEMON at Trace upon mistaking him for Athetos) when he enters their domain. Because their misplaced grudge against Trace fuels their fury, none of these boss fights are sitting down to die. From the scorpion Gir-Tab, and the stinging wasp Ukhu, to the sentinel first boss Xedur, all of Axiom Verge’s bosses are not to be taken lightly. Uruku is so astronomically massive that Trace is but a bouncing flea in his arena, which makes fighting him difficult on account of the player not being able to see Trace at all times. However, the one boss in the game that is unfortunately underwhelming is the main man Athetos. All that Trace has to do to defeat the vile version of himself is fire upward to destroy a vulnerable tab in the ceiling around four times, and the constantly spawning droids that shoot lasers are the more formidable foes. I expected this wizened ghoul to burst from his cryogenic fluid chamber into something awesomely beastly for a second phase and was disappointed that the game’s final boss simply amounted to the extent of the first one and nothing more.
Axiom Verge, or “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Metroid!” excels in understanding why Metroid’s gameplay and mechanics are effective. As far as a Metroidvania experience is concerned, Axiom Verge is a well-oiled machine. The extensive array of gameplay pertaining to its level design, fair difficulty, gadgets and weapons, and challenging bosses are more than enough to entice anyone who is a fan of the genre. However, all of the meritorious aspects of Axiom Verge are packaged in what appears to be a clear Metroid homage, judging from its uncanny artistic and thematic choices alone. Axiom Verge’s lack of discernible identity, unfortunately, leaves the whole experience as coming into one ear and immediately out of the other. All of its thematic and narrative elements amount to making the entire experience somewhat forgettable. It’s a shame considering the labor of love that was put into its gameplay attributes. A clearer vision would’ve drastically aided Axiom Verge.
------
Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
Evidently, Axiom Verge is an extravaganza of science fiction-oriented video game thematic properties as the game’s introduction where a fatal experimental accident occurs in a laboratory and blows the place to Kingdom Come is fairly reminiscent of Half-Life. The setting of this scene is even in New Mexico, for fucks sake. Actually, where the explosion blows our brainy protagonist, Trace, is to the odd, extraterrestrial world of Sudra where he now must contend with its abstract environment and the hostile creatures that inhabit it. Sound familiar already? Actually, besides the eerily similar setting to Metroid catalyzed by something that recalls Half-Life, the comparisons between Axiom Verge and Nintendo’s sci-fi series become alarmingly apparent through its aesthetics and general layout. If Lovecraftian is a legitimate term used to describe something akin to cosmic horror, then I propose categorizing something that resembles the artistic works of H.R. Giger as “Gigerian.” The Swiss artist who brought the Xenomorph to life for the first Alien film was a prominent artistic influence on Metroid’s fear factor and intergalactic coldness, but what happens when Axiom Verge follows up the chain of inspiration stemming from Metroid? Gigerian maximalism at its finest, even if I’m dubious if Axiom Verge is familiar with where Metroid’s iconography is rooted. Each area of Sudra is distinct from one another, but they all exhibit that sublime, industrially interstellar aesthetic. Eribu is a meaty, crimson red whose prominent foreground characteristic is these clumps of blood bubbles that regenerate when they’re popped. Zi exhibits a bevy of industrial activity juxtaposed with possibly the most vacant, dark backgrounds. Kur is an earthier realm on the eastern side of the map whose higher elevation will lead to a consistent snowstorm as the player climbs upward past all of the cryptic, primordial caves in between. The unnatural moody blue aura permeating through the night sky of Edin and Ukkin-Na is quite pleasant to the visual senses. Still, I emphasize the word unnatural to hone in on the extent of how alien everything is to a fault. Yes, I realize that an alien planet possibly existing in another dimension should look bizarre and otherworldly, but take a gander at the Elsenova machination that beckons the player toward her at the beginning of the game. If Gigerian was in the dictionary, a picture of Elsenova or her fellow Rusalki sisters would be displayed parallel to it on the page. Also, there are far too many narrow vertical sections where the formation of ascending platforms are literally crawling with insectoid enemies along the bars, which is Metroid level design 101.
At least Axiom Verge shows some restraint with its Metroid siphoning and doesn’t include a female protagonist at the helm of the adventurer role through Sudra’s alien planes. The man in question, however, doesn’t exactly exude the demeanor of an intrepid warrior like Samus Aran. I hate to be presumptuous, but Trace here gives me the impression that he’s a self-inserted character by the developers. I’d wonder which of them drew straws to implement themselves into the game, except that I can safely place the blame on Thomas Happ as Axiom Verge’s single developer a la Cave Story. Does Mr. Happ think that Trace is a badass, or is he an example of a character forced to grapple with a situation way out of his element? The latter of possibilities is plausible considering he’s an ineffectual, scientific type, but Trace consistently combats all of the crazy creatures on this planet with Joe-Schmoe stoicism as if he isn’t really affected. I think the real answer boils down to the fact that Trace has no charisma or personability. His character icon that pops up in dialogue boxes has a terrible resting bitch face and if Mario grew out sideburns like Trace has, it would be a PR disaster. Then again, progressing through Axiom Verge’s convoluted story reveals that Trace is the younger clone of the oppressive lord Athetos who rendered Sudra’s inhabitants as the malformed monsters that roam around the vicinity via the expulsion of a noxious pathogen. If Trace has the potency of a supreme dictator as another form of himself(?), then certainly the developer intended to create a badass rogue capable of grand destruction. Still, there are so many reasons why I’m not following Trace as this cool bad boy as intended. He’s perhaps one of the most indigestible gaming protagonists I’ve seen in a while.
An admirable emulation of Metroid’s formula that Axiom Verge exhibits is its sense of progression. One of the most effective aspects of Metroid was the lack of illumination of where Samus’s objectives were located, and I’m not only referring to the pitch-black hole of space displayed in every background. The first Metroid game on the NES was so cryptic that not having the Nintendo Power issue with the walkthrough at every player’s side was comparable to going spelunking without a flashlight. Axiom Verge does not mimic Metroid quite to that extent, but I appreciate the fact that Axiom Verge respects the intelligence of its players. Admittedly, too many modern Metroidvania games rely on icons to signify where the main objective is located, similar to an open-world game. These titles tend to forget that the modus operandi of the Metroidvania genre is exploration, which can only be facilitated through a vague sense of direction. Axiom Verge trusts that the player should think to check every unexplored spot on the map after they acquire a new power-up, which is a core strength of the design philosophy that attracts me to the Metroidvania genre. I especially enjoy accidentally stumbling upon the spots in Axiom Verge where Trace finds himself in a “secret area” where all of the topography is twisted into what can be described as a malfunctioning simulation, and I likely wouldn’t have known these existed if my main objective was concise. One modern aspect of Axiom Verge not present in Metroid or most Metroidvania titles is that upon dying, any new upgrades and uncovered land on the map will still be retained once the Nanogates flying inside of Trace send him back to the previous save station to preserve his mortality. An argument can be made that this is an example of the modern perks of gaming making Axiom Verge too accessible, but believe that this application mitigates some punitive tedium. Axiom Verge is plenty difficult as a test of endurance between the save stations, which are located with an appropriate amount of space between them.
I’m glad that Axiom Verge incentivizes blind exploration throughout because taking any of the various paths on a whim will almost always lead to a new secret. What lies behind the obscured crevices of Sudra could be a smattering of goodies. The gadgets needed to venture further through the game are usually rewarded on the beaten path after a turning point of progression, such as the drill that cracks the grainy rock formations and the remote drone that can dig through the tightest of corridors. I’ve been told that the grapple gadget used to swing from the roof is taken from Bionic Commando instead of Metroid’s grapple beam, but I’m not that gullible. The most interesting gadget found in Axiom Verge is the “address disruptor” that subverts the matter of enemies and certain obstacles into a pixelated frenzy. On top of the eclectic mix of gadgets, the range of offensive weapons in Axiom Verge is bound to make every gun nut salivate. With diligent searching, the player can collect a whopping total of twenty different weapons that all have unique attributes. My selection that got me through most of Axiom Verge’s obstacles were a roulette of the electric shotgun Kilver, the elongated Ion Beam, and a Lightning Gun that locks onto enemies from above for a connected stream of shocking energy. One also has to appreciate using the classic flamethrower to turn the field into a burning holocaust. The impressive arsenal in Axiom Verge is a blast to experiment with, even more so than in any Metroid game.
Because Axiom Verge offers a treasure trove of unique weapons, using the most suitable one to conquer the game’s bosses is like a glorified puzzle. All of Axiom Verge’s enemies are relatively equal to Trace’s human size, but every boss is appropriately the size of a behemoth to signify its greater significance. Their general intimidation is also intensified when they scream DEMON at Trace upon mistaking him for Athetos) when he enters their domain. Because their misplaced grudge against Trace fuels their fury, none of these boss fights are sitting down to die. From the scorpion Gir-Tab, and the stinging wasp Ukhu, to the sentinel first boss Xedur, all of Axiom Verge’s bosses are not to be taken lightly. Uruku is so astronomically massive that Trace is but a bouncing flea in his arena, which makes fighting him difficult on account of the player not being able to see Trace at all times. However, the one boss in the game that is unfortunately underwhelming is the main man Athetos. All that Trace has to do to defeat the vile version of himself is fire upward to destroy a vulnerable tab in the ceiling around four times, and the constantly spawning droids that shoot lasers are the more formidable foes. I expected this wizened ghoul to burst from his cryogenic fluid chamber into something awesomely beastly for a second phase and was disappointed that the game’s final boss simply amounted to the extent of the first one and nothing more.
Axiom Verge, or “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Metroid!” excels in understanding why Metroid’s gameplay and mechanics are effective. As far as a Metroidvania experience is concerned, Axiom Verge is a well-oiled machine. The extensive array of gameplay pertaining to its level design, fair difficulty, gadgets and weapons, and challenging bosses are more than enough to entice anyone who is a fan of the genre. However, all of the meritorious aspects of Axiom Verge are packaged in what appears to be a clear Metroid homage, judging from its uncanny artistic and thematic choices alone. Axiom Verge’s lack of discernible identity, unfortunately, leaves the whole experience as coming into one ear and immediately out of the other. All of its thematic and narrative elements amount to making the entire experience somewhat forgettable. It’s a shame considering the labor of love that was put into its gameplay attributes. A clearer vision would’ve drastically aided Axiom Verge.
------
Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com