Axiom Verge

Quite possibly my favorite game in the last year. Played front to back and barely put it down. Could not wait to get off work to play this again. well done.

This game has a lot of potential. It's fun but there are some negative points like the quantity of guns when you actually need like four, the enemies thar are too easy once you learn how to play and the progress of searching objects in the map. Obviously, it's not a bad game, but I want to see Tom Happ getting better so we can get an exceptional game.

Good: - Really nails the feel of an old-school Metroid game; doesn’t hold your hand and it’s really up to the player to figure out how to advance through the story - The sprite art really shines throughout - Upgrades are unique and fun; drastically change gameplay - The address disrupter mutates enemies which makes them vulnerable to certain weapons or changes their attack patterns entirely - There are some really well hidden secrets which feel very satisfying to find without using a guide - The game has a hard mode and speed-run mode for players who want a real challenge - Fitting soundtrack and varied throughout the different areas Mixed: - Bosses had unique designs but were often too simple - The main character’s portrait makes him look like an NPC rather than the hero of the story (lose the mutton-chops please); the actual sprite looks fine - Would really benefit from a quick-travel system but it what take away from the nostalgic feel Bad: - Over abundance of weapons; I mainly stuck with 4 guns and there are over 20 that can be collected in the game - The story is unimpactful - Mapping the teleport ability to hitting a directional button twice is annoying; It accidentally triggers all the time and is a burden when trying to use while navigating and in combat - Poor mapping mechanics in-game; Players can only use “1” and “2” to mark a square and they need to be standing in that area to put it down XXX

Metroid fan game with terrible combat and design choices. Story had some unique ideas but dialogue was indie cringe. This game was way over hyped.

THIS is supposed to be one of the best Metroidvanias? Nah, man. Color me not impressed. Combat is straight-up awful with most weapons (and why there are so many of them in the first place??), movement often feels super-clunky (ESPECIALLY the grappling hook) and the world design is kinda meh, which also hinders progression and navigation, since your chances of remembering that one obscure hindrance in some forgettable room you visited an hour ago are nigh zero (unless you take to taking real-life notes, which, fun...), so you either play with a guide or have to put up with large stretches of just aimlessly wandering around the map (and getting around isn't exactly enjoyable in this game). The music ranges from pretty great to terrible (Kur theme makes my ears bleed) and the enemies are some of the most annoying I have ever encountered in a Metroidvania. For some godforsaken reason, the dev seems to have an obsession with tiny little dots you can barely aim or differentiate from the background doing tons of damage. In conclusion: This game has some neat ideas, but the execution is lacking in pretty much every aspect.