It took about an hour or two to really get the hang of Transistor's hybrid real-time/turn-based gameplay, but once I had enough skills unlocked to really experiment with functions, I loved the combat. For a short time, I was convinced that a breach + load or a bounce + switch setup could take me through the whole game. However, new enemies and abilities were continuously popping up, so always creating different strategies was the ideal route to go. Similarly, the Limiter system is a great way to keep the difficulty at just the right level since what's hard about a game can be so specific to an individual's unique playstyle. I played with as many turned on as I could, but I always felt that I could fine-tune the challenge if needed.

From the story side, I didn't feel like I really understood enough of the setting (as uniquely beautiful as this world is), but the character biographies to go with the upgrades were nice quick lore reads. The narration was 50-50 split on whether I found it annoying or relaxing, but as it went along, I definitely connected more to his dialogue when it directly involved the protagonist. Since I already have a huge interest in Greek mythology, my delightful experience I had with Transistor makes me want to play Hades very soon.

It's been a few years since I played through the first Axiom Verge, but what stuck with me the most was the creepy yet beautiful "H. R. Giger"-esque art style and an incredible variety of weapons. I also remember being lost by the story, but felt that the gameplay was definitely fun enough to just treat the narrative as a side aspect of the experience.

Aside from also being a metroidvania, Axiom Verge 2 changes up nearly every key element from the original game, for better or for worse. Instead of a biomechanical aesthetic, the visuals follow the typical environments you'd see on most planets (rainy jungle, snowy mountain, etc.), but there's still some cool sci-fi tech popping up. There's also only about a quarter of the number of unique weapons that the original had. The trade-off here is that this game features many more upgrades to your character abilities, primarily to improve movement options with climbing and grappling. 

One new aspect in Axiom Verge 2 that I found to be a straight-up improvement is the design of the map(s). This game's world actually has a parallel universe that matches up to the general layout of the main map, but with the individual locations themselves being completely different. It might sound a bit overwhelming, but it makes sense pretty quickly when going between them. Some of my favorite puzzles were all about this mechanic and involved identifying holes in one map, then finding the right spot to traverse from one map to the other.

Like with the original Axiom Verge, this entry can get hard to follow when it comes to the story. This one splits up the narrative between short cutscenes and lore-filled notes scattered around the game. The heavier emphasis on story also brings many more character names and sci-fi terms with it, and I'll admit I was button mashing through the plot for the second half of the game. Luckily, exploring the map and discovering secrets was enough of a motivation for me to keep on playing. I usually find environmental storytelling to be at its most effective in the metroidvania genre, so I hope any future Axiom Verge games use their fantastic worlds more to tell their tales.