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Axiom Verge 2

You may have played Axiom Verge, or heard it referenced as a benchmark for indie “metroidvania” adventures. Axiom Verge 2 is part of the same story as Axiom Verge 1 but is a completely new game: new characters, new powers, new enemies, and a new world. You can play it before or after the original.

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In this sequel to the critically acclaimed Axiom Verge, you explore an alternate Earth-like world, replete with the ruins of an ancient, high-tech civilization. But something else is lurking just past the fringes of reality, waiting to pull you in. Meet Indra, the mysterious billionaire behind the worldwide Globe 3 conglomerate. What is this world she’s found? Who are the voices that seem to be calling to her?

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Mostly Positive

907 Steam reviews

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Chinese (Simplified)	—	Y	Y
English (UK)	—	Y	Y
French	—	Y	Y
German	—	Y	Y
Italian	—	Y	Y
Japanese	—	Y	Y
Portuguese (Brazil)	—	Y	Y
Portuguese (Portugal)	—	Y	Y
Russian	—	Y	Y
Spanish (Mexico)	—	Y	Y
Spanish (Spain)	—	Y	Y

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Keywords

metroidvania pixel graphics

Reviews

907 total

≥h

Steam User 3836STEAMRecommended

Contrary to what seems to be a popular opinion, I much preferred Axiom Verge 2 to the original after playing them back-to-back.

First, this game has everything I look for in a metroidvania: interesting exploration, lots of secrets, and a progression full of 'aha' moments.
It also has plenty of clever ideas, such as the dual-world system, which definitely reaches its full potential by the end of the game, or the hacking system, albeit limited, which I wish we could see more often. The list goes on.

Compared to the first game now, the environments and soundtrack are much diverse and pleasant.
The controls, while they might take a little time to get used to, end up being more fun. No more double tapping, or anything clunky of the sort!
Finally, some people criticize the limited range of weapons compared to AV1. Personally, I found the variety of weapons in AV1 to be artificial, and only ever used 3 or 4 of them at most while playing on hard mode (necessity wasn't a factor here then). As for the melee combat in AV2, it was neither good nor bad. Not that it's the main appeal of the game anyway.

In short, this game is definitely recommended to any fan of the genre!

Mar 28, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 6362STEAMRecommended

I really enjoyed Axiom Verge 1, so I had to scoop up the sequel. It sat in my backlog for sometime, but I'm glad I got around to it.

I didn't really care for the story at all, I was more in it for a fun platforming metroidvania, and they really nailed the exploration mechanics - the switching between the four-legged mini spider-like robot and the human[oid] was unique and fun.

When it comes to metroidvanias like this, I often give up on them if the exploration becomes dragged out over time or if they lack a lot of direction, but I think they did a good job with compromising the two - they don't hold your hand as much as I personally like, but it really didn't go too long without finding a path or item I needed to progress. I did have to look up a walkthrough near the end, but I was able to enjoy most of the game without it.

I think both AV 1&2 both warrant your time if you're looking for a good metroidvania at a good {on-sale] price - but I just think there are other games of the genre I would rather play instead and I find to be just better overall.

Score - 7.4 / 10

Mar 25, 2026·12h·Verified

Steam User 3842STEAMNot recommended

Unnecessary swearing and lords name in vain after only playing for like 8 minutes. Bagging this game and getting a refund.

Mar 25, 2026·1·Verified

Steam User 7610STEAMRecommended

Juegazo

Mar 22, 2026·26h·Verified

Steam User 9379STEAMNot recommended

Boring, and a lot of mindless wandering. Enemy placement is terrible, story is terrible, upgrade system is terrible, bosses are boring, I now understand why this wasn't in my library when it came out as the original is one of my favorite Metroidvania games. This feels like a demo for the sequel instead.

Mar 21, 2026·3h·Verified

Steam User 5870STEAMRecommended

Fun breezy metroidvania with an interesting story of consciousness and what is self.

Mar 19, 2026·8h·1

Steam User 7810STEAMNot recommended

No idea why I bought this game in the first place, it looks and plays nothing like the first game, I quickly lost interest because the gameplay was really boring and the plot not interesting enough to keep me going

Mar 15, 2026·1h·Verified

Steam User 5602STEAMRecommended

prior to buying i saw reviews that said it's inferior to the first. while different, i wouldn't say it's inferior. i enjoyed it just as much

Mar 5, 2026·53h·Verified

Steam User 2289STEAMRecommended

Mar 3, 2026·19h·Verified

Steam User 0473STEAMRecommended

A nice and well-received sequel, this game has more difficult "regular" enemies than its predecessor in the form of mini-bosses and some nice extensions to the overarching story and lore introduced in the original game. Similarly to the original, it was a very enjoyable metroidvania platformer game for its gameplay mechanics governing battle, exploration, and solving puzzles regarding how to defeat enemies or reach secret locations. I appreciated the story just as much as the story of the original, which I mean for the reader to understand as very high praise in light of how often different parts of a sequel (especially the story) will usually end up feeling like a rather simple re-imagining of the original with very little expansion or variation. It did not feel derivative, and felt like its story and gameplay shined on their own and came together well to make a very enjoyable game. I would even recommend players to play both games, especially if they are fans of the metroidvania platformer genre!

Feb 27, 2026·19h·1·Verified

Steam User 7902STEAMRecommended

クリア日: 2022/08/20
👍️……🤔

Feb 23, 2026·13h·Verified

Steam User 6217STEAMRecommended

So it took me about 2 playthroughs to finally enjoy this game. Basically, I got stuck early on my first playthrough and I gave up, came back literal years later for my second, and now I just beat it a few hours ago writing this.

Look. I get why people are a bit disappointed, but I've seen a *lot* of hyperbole thrown around - "This game is ♥♥♥♥", "Worst game ever", etc, I know "Worst game ever" is thrown around a lot but, still.
Am I a bit disappointed? Yes, honestly, a little. This game's actual *combat* isn't as good as the first, and I chalk that up mostly to the boss fights. There's one ACTUAL "Bossfight" right at the end, and the rest are entirely optional minibosses that can usually be avoided quite easily, and most of them aren't hard.

The early game is a bit of a slog, and that's largely because you're weak and, honestly, your weapons kinda suck. IT gets better as you get further, until you eventually end up with a fair few upgrades, statistically and weapon-wise, under your belt. In a way, I think that makes me appreciate the stronger weapons you find a lot more.

However, what this game lacks in its combat, I think it makes up with its exploration, atmosphere, and general mood. A lot of the art is fantastic, so much better than it was in the first game. The music is also, absolutely fantastic. It possesses such an incredibly unique mood and it *fits* how this game feels perfectly. The story is, also, I reckon, pretty good. I'm not sure I'm as pulled by the protagonist's story as much as I was in the first game, but there's a lot of elements to Indra's story, and the story of the world and culture you're constantly walking through, that are interesting. In parts, the story of the world is really interesting and cool to discover, and some of it explains parts of 1's story more.

This games strengths are in its exploration. It has a lot more fun with the drone and how you actually navigate, there's a lot more done with Breaches, etc. It feels pretty good to pull a portal to another dimension to you, discover an entire new section of a Breach-World, and exit said breach to end up in an entirely closed off part of the main world you're in, and finding a nice little power up. This game absolutely does that and general backtracking (thank god for the teleport) better than Axiom Verge 1.
The hacking in this game is... unfortunately not as interesting as glitching reality and enemies in 1, but still. It's occasionally interesting, sometimes does fun things, and usually lets you sabotage enemies or make certain parts of the game easier if you need it - and that's fine.

I don't think it's bad, no I think it's pretty good actually. Whether or not I like 1 more is a hard question, I absolutely have fond memories of 1, but I liked the *combat* in that a lot more and I feel like people are often driven to think of their fondess with a game purely in the "Did I have fun shooting bad mens" category. This game at least has a power-curve that makes me appreciate how powerful I get towards the end game, but Trace starts off with a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ gun that disrupts an entity's being until it ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ explodes because the fabric of reality around it is so unstable. Indra has to beat robots to death with an icepick.

Also I think the writing is alright. I like its story and characters.
But, really, if I had to pick the BEST thing this game has? The art direction, the music, and the feel. Those are stellar. The music, good lord I enjoy it. And the vocal performances from Mayssa Karaa are wonderful.

Feb 19, 2026·11h·4·Verified

Steam User 4767STEAMRecommended

bem maneiro! assim como o primeiro axiom verge

Feb 16, 2026·13h·Verified

Steam User 3856STEAMNot recommended

Truly baffled by this game.
It looks and feels completely unrelated to the first game, not even the name makes sense as the story never mentions it.
I actually didn't have any fun.

Remember the cool gun you get on the first game with all these wacky fire modes? Gone.
All you have is an axe and a boomerang.
Melee sucks. Ranged sucks.
Melee is very short range and lots of enemies seem to stay away from you.
The boomerang is very slow and requires you to wait it to return before you can throw again.
There are almost no upgrades, and the few that exist feel the same.

That said, there isn't a lot of enemy variation.
Most seem to be blobs that walk slowly or some drone that hovers above you.
Bosses are few and look more like big enemies. Even the final boss is pathetic and all you do is press a button 4 times.
A huge downgrade from the boss of the first game.

Story seems unrelated to first game, maybe I missed something, because nothing seems to be related to the characters of the first, including the cliffhanger.
One small note is related to the story of the first game, marking this as a sequel, but actions make it seem like this is a prequel.
Music is better than the first, but gets REALLY annoying as there are giberish lyrics and they drive you crazy when you are looking for the right way to go.

Most of the game is either climbing or using the drone.
There is too much climbing, almost every room requires a climbing skill, and there is no double jump to reduce that.
Near the end of the game you get a flight power, but it uses so much energy that you might be able to use it for 5 seconds before you run out.
You are also required to use the drone power, one of the few things returning from the first game, to walk around. A lot of rooms require the drone, as it has a different set of climbing tools.

One annoying mechanic is having to cross between two different maps.
While you can move from map B to A with a power, going from A to B requires finding a portal.
Lots of rooms and powerups require you to move between these maps to find routes and locks.
And map B forces you to use the drone, so its more forced drone gameplay.

The game is very confusing on where to go. While it gives you a marker, you most often than not have to take a detour to get a skill, or bypass a locked door.
I got stuck on a part with no way to progress because the game decides to change the rules without saying so.
In the first game, there is some glitched stuff that you can't destroy until you find a special upgrade. Here you also find some purple stuff that can't be destroyed, but only in the real world, as you can destroy it on the virtual world.
That is never elaborated, and if you tried to destroy the purple stuff and didn't manage to, you would have no reason to try again on the other dimension.

The entire story is also rather short, maybe 4 to 6 hours long if you know where to go.
Almost no upgrades aside skill points, which only give you more health or damage. The only useful upgrade is higher level hacking and longer hack distance, as some doors require it.
100% completion is a chore, as the maps lack the Metroid mechanic that tells you an item is on that tile. All you get is a small checkmark saying if you got all items in an entire zone.
Achievements also have a lot of padding. Destroy 1000 plants? Why?? You don't even find plants outside two or so zones, and there are maybe 10 or so scattered.

Overall, a game that removes everything the first one had and replaces with worse mechanics, non-existent story, lame power ups, boring fights and lots of climbing.
Just skip it.

Feb 15, 2026·8h·3

Steam User 5302STEAMNot recommended

Mild recommendation to avoid. I played through Axiom Verge 1 fully on the Switch, and gave this one 90 minutes.

It's a very classic-feeling Metroidvania. I slowly picked up upgrades, new abilities, the drone, found a mini-boss, and, well ... none of it is very exciting. It's very exploration focused, which should be a plus, but combat, ugh. It feels terrible and clunky. I had to ask myself, do I really want to be swinging this ice-pick and throwing this awkward boomerang another 10 hours while I have dozens of games in my steam queue? And the answer is, no.

If it was the only game I owned, I would play it. It's not bad, but I don't care to see more.

Feb 15, 2026·2h·4

Steam User 7782STEAMNot recommended

Teil 1 gefiel mir sehr gut, deshalb war klar, dass ich mir auch den zweiten hole. Dieser gefällt mir aber wiederum leider gar nicht.

* Nervtötende Oriental-Musik als Dauerbeschallung im Hintergrund. Was soll das?
* Man kämpft die meiste Zeit mit Melee-Waffen
* Beschissene Abschnitte zum Speichern
* Gegner häufig unbalanced und dadurch zu stark

Feb 14, 2026·3h

Steam User 4808STEAMRecommended

Metroidvania, muito bom. Seguindo os passos do primeiro, é um ótimo jogo.
Para quem gosta de platinar, é tranquilo, tem apenas uma conquista perdivel, que é a de usar todos os hacks pelo menos umas vez, nos mini bosses são 2, superaquecer e sobrecarregar, pois se mata-los, já era não tem volta, fica a dica.

Feb 8, 2026·21h·1·Verified

Steam User 5416STEAMNot recommended

Если первая часть была сомнительной, то это намного хуже.

Куда идти - хз, вот тебе кирка, против летайющих противников, которые ещё взлетают над тобой, ну иди ищи куда идти

Скучно, неинтересно, душно

Feb 7, 2026·1h·Verified

Steam User 5362STEAMRecommended

better than the first, more coherent and the breach layer is fun to explore through

Feb 5, 2026·12h·Verified

Steam User 0933STEAMRecommended

I have some experience with video games. I grew up with the Sears Sports Center (APF TV Fun Pong Console), the Coin Arcades, Mattel Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari, Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System (with R.O.B. and Zapper), Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx 16 and the PSP 1000. I've played Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Dig-Dug, Mr Do's Castle, Zaxxon, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Bonk's Adventure. It was a great time to be alive!

Seriously, don't let this one slip by. It is what a video game should be: Just pure fun.

Feb 4, 2026·1h·1·Verified

Steam User 7631STEAMNot recommended

Like it's predecessor, it starts out okay, but it quickly becomes dull. It's just not very fun and it should be a helluva lot of fun. Ah, well.

Feb 2, 2026·Verified

Steam User 8711STEAMNot recommended

Despite the Mixed Reviews, I really tried to have fun with this game. The whole journey felt like a drag and I had to force myself to keep going.

Unfortunately it´s just not a fun game.

Feb 1, 2026·9h

Steam User 7835STEAMRecommended

gameplay was better than first season. it was quite difficult to finish it without a walkthrough tho. music peak. recommended

Jan 23, 2026·14h·1·Verified

Steam User 3391STEAMRecommended

Эта игра крайне противоречива. И хоть я склоняюсь ближе к положительной оценке, тут есть огромное количество проблем.
Проходил на Steam Deck Offline из-за чего поломался счётчик времени в игре.
Данный проект ощущается крайней экспериментальным. Большой акцент на ближний бой, отсутствие боссов как таковых (кроме финального), увеличение важности дрона вплоть до половины геймплея, система взлома и некоторые незначительные мелочи.
На самом деле то, что полноценных боссов заменили на просто сильных врагов, выступающих не преградой, а банкой с прокачкой я понял только во второй половине, поскольку мир изучать интересно. Лучше первой части.
Система взлома наконец является полезной механикой, а не странной способностью для открытия дверей. Ну, так ощущалось в начале. Но после середины игры взлом очень просаживается ввиду не таких уж полезных функций.
Противники стали намного умнее, а их роль в комнате ощущается продуманнее.
Очень хорошей находкой является система Разлома. По сути альтернативной картой, схожей с основной.
Упразднили коды и теперь секретные двери открываются движением персонажа. Казуально, хотя коды в первой игре местами были совсем умудрёнными.

Jan 19, 2026·1h·1·Verified

Steam User 9844STEAMNot recommended

Inferior al Axiom Verge 1 en absolutamente todos los aspectos.
La progresión está bastante mal, con algunos puntos en los que es realmente difícil encontrar el camino a seguir y la variedad de armas brilla por su ausencia.
Lo peor sin ninguna duda es el combate, es de lo más básico que he visto nunca. No puedes hacer un combate prioritariamente melee con tan poco feedback de los golpes, para eso era mejor mantenerlo a distancia. La IA de los enemigos es terrible, se bugean muchas veces y empiezan a dar vueltas sobre sí mismos sin atacarte, incluidos los bosses, los cuáles son ridículamente fáciles, en parte gracias a esto. A algunos bosses los he vencido sin darme cuenta de que eran bosses, ni uno solo me ha matado, algunos ni me han quitado vida porque casi ni te atacan si usas el dron.

El dron es lo mejor que tiene el juego, tanto la movilidad como el combate son más satisfactorios que con el personaje, lo cual es un poco triste

Jan 17, 2026·11h·1·Verified

Steam User 0258STEAMNot recommended

Yikes, I don't know what happened between 1 and 2 but this game just does not do it.

Jan 14, 2026·7h·Verified

Steam User 6039STEAMNot recommended

the game feels weirdly rushed.
from the story to the progression to even the combat. it feels like they started with ALOT of great ideas that get you hooked in the first third of the game but it gradually becomes so weirdly watered down that i can not recommend this game to anyone.

play AV1, it still holds up (and actually feels like a sequel to this game imo lol)

pee pee poo poo hihixd

Jan 14, 2026·8h·Verified

Steam User 0285STEAMRecommended

Juego hermoso! increible! disfrutable!!! No te lo pierdas!!!

Jan 13, 2026·5h·Verified

Steam User 6257STEAMRecommended

9.5/10.
I need a third game for the series.

Jan 12, 2026·14h·1·Verified

Steam User 4081STEAMNot recommended

玩了4个小时的存档没了

Jan 11, 2026·4h

Steam User 7056STEAMRecommended

Отличное продолжение первой части, спаибо разработчикам, порадовали скуфа!!!)

Jan 9, 2026·11h·Verified

Steam User 8028STEAMNot recommended

Like many other reviewers, I did like this game, but I cannot recommend it. Maybe, you will like it too.

Unlike AV1, AV2's world is not of Metroid-like claustrophobic labyrynth type, but when it is an improvement, sometimes it's also a flaw. There are many abilies to find and use, but you probably, just like me, will spend the most of a play time trying to figure out, where to use them and where to go next. And often you will find a secret room instead of the path further.

Combat feels easy, almost like it's non-existent, but enemies are frustrating enough an will kill you just because there are almost no means to hide from attacks or attack efficiently. Boss fights are too easy and most of them are not even necessary to progress.

The story is... let's say, its not captivating. It's present, though, like the lore is, uncovered in the hidden everywhere notes. The names for characters and things are of Sumerian origin and for most people, I believe, they, sadly, do not make any sense. Like "Usan Rah", "Barash", "Ninhursag".

The ideas behind the gameplay are very good. I just didn't like their realization.

Jan 9, 2026·10h·3·Verified

Steam User 5412STEAMRecommended

赤完1直接赤2，实在赤不下了，我边看速通视频边打，卡极限完成4小时内速通成就，1的全物品及全地图100%收集已经十分折磨了，别想再折磨我第二次了！！！！！！

Jan 9, 2026·4h·Verified

Steam User 6187STEAMRecommended

Axiom Verge 2 stands up strong alongside its predecessor, and I don't think people gave it a fair chance.
While it's a stark departure from the first game, I found the exploration and combat a lot more fun and engaging throughout. Unlike the first game, this isn't trying to be a modern take on Metroid 1, and it's much stronger for it.

The writing is a bit stiff, just like in the original, but I was more emotionally invested in the player character than Trace from the first game. The worldbuilding is also really strong and I loved learning more about the wider multiverse beyond what we saw in Axiom Verge 1.

I do think the first game had a stronger visual identity, but this game is still quite pretty to look at, with really well done art and animations.

As for the ending, I think it was fine. [spoiler]This game is a prequel to Axiom Verge 1, not a sequel, so the lingering plot threads it hints at in the ending are all stuff we see the results of in Axiom Verge 1, so I didn't have a problem with there being some ambiguity as to what happens next.[/spoiler]

Definitely recommend, just don't expect it to be another Metroid clone.

Jan 9, 2026·9h·7

Steam User 8558STEAMRecommended

Uber-fun 👌

Jan 8, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 8106STEAMRecommended

Продолжение очень хорошей игры. Механика с новым дроном крутая, но бывают софтлок. Запутанность карты - это ♥♥♥♥♥♥. Слабая история, мотивация героини 0, какие ♥♥♥♥♥ казахи.

Jan 5, 2026·11h·1·Verified

Steam User 5963STEAMNot recommended

Malheureusement, non, le jeu n'est pas du tout à la hauteur du premier.
Je ne comprends pas ce qu'il s'est passé !
Alors bon, s'il est en très très forte promo, allez-y, sinon laissez tomber et retourner jouer au premier.
6h30 de jeu, pas un seul boss en vue. Une structure de metroidvania vraiment étrange, une histoire bancale et pas vraiment intéressante.
Une ref sympa au premier opus, peut-être qu'il y en a d'autres après ? Je n'ai pas fini le jeu, je suis proche de la fin je pense. Pourtant je ne pense pas y retourner.

Jan 4, 2026·6h·1·Verified

Steam User 2144STEAMNot recommended

AV1 was a lot of fun, somehow the controls in AV2 became absolutely trash, and the art is much worse.

Jan 3, 2026·2·Verified

Steam User 1598STEAMRecommended

I have mixed views on this game compared to the first but would overall recommend it. Still great but just in a different way. Unlike the first game, there is more of an emphasis on stealth and exploration as opposed to gunning everything down like you do in the first game. In fact, most of your weapons are melee and your only ranged weapons are boomerangs that to horrible damage (except the final one), so unless you need to, it is best to just avoid enemies if you can. This is easy to do since there are indicators telling you their FOV and if you have been spotted. So sort of like Metal Gear Solid in that regard. You can also hack enemies which is pretty cool to give yourself an advantage if you do need to fight.

Pros:
- Worlds are massive. Took me about 16 hours to beat the game and almost 20 to get everything.
- Tons of power-ups to collect in a borderline open-world game. Some are tough to find, but fair. There was only one that I needed to look up how to find via a walkthrough,
- Pixel art and music are amazing.
- There is a new sill tree system that is used which i actually kind of like.

Cons:
- Story was kind of meh. Also you play as a cranky old lady. lol.
- Since there is more emphasis on exploration rather than combat, I find myself using the drone a lot more than the protagonist because it is smaller and more mobile.
- Not a whole lot of replay value once you do get everything. There is no hard mode but there is a damage modifier in the options menu. Also no randomizer option which would have been an amazing addition.

Jan 1, 2026·19h·1·Verified

Steam User 1307STEAMRecommended

cool game

Dec 29, 2025·8h·Verified

Steam User 2410STEAMRecommended

I loved Axiom Verge (AV1), as it really felt like a 2D Metroid game - a true spiritual successor.

Unfortunately Axiom Verge 2 (AV2) falls short of AV1 in my opinion and I'm not sure if call it a Metroidvania. I wish I could give it a middling review.

If you're looking for a Metroidvania then I don't recommend this one.

If you're looking for a pseudo-openworld, pseudo-metroid experience you might like this one.

I have chosen to rate this positively because I don't think it bad enough for a negative review; the mechanics that are here work well and it has some interesting lore which might be all people want to know to decide if they want to buy it. Whether or not it's like 2D Metroid may be of no concern.

My review focuses on explaining why I don't think this is a Metroidvania and is mostly a comparison to the 2D Metroid games, because that's what I hoped this game would be like.

AV1 felt very tight as it's environment was mainly inside a facility. AV2s map is very open as it's mostly outside but this leads to the mechanics feeling a bit floaty and the world feeling unstructured. In AV1 it wasn't always obvious where to go but after backtracking a while you'd come across an area you couldnt access before but now have the item to do so. As AV2s map is so open I kept getting lost and couldn't remember which areas had inaccessible doors to return too.

AV1s pickups worked like a Metroid game where they upgraded either the weapon or health. AV2 has health pickups but now it also has containers that give you ability points to upgrade via a skill tree. I didn't like this for a Metroidvania because having limited pick ups adds to the streamlined feeling and every upgrade has weight.

The ability tree needed me to save up for certain abilities so I didnt feel I was getting stronger with every pick up making them fell less impactful and more like just collectibles. Also there were a lot of options which again makes this game feel less like a tight Metroidvania and more like an open world, I was never sure which upgrades would be the most beneficial to me right now. The tree felt like it was included because every other game has one rather than because it's actually necessary for this game.

Towards the end of AV1 there's an item which greatly increases speed and you can zoom throughout the map. Not so for AV2, which makes the character feel slow. I find this an odd decision considering it's a more open map and could really benefit from a speedy item. I collected all the items in the first game but I couldn't be bothered here as my character feels so lethargic.

AV2 appears to only have one mandatory boss with all the others being optional. Again this adds to feeling that this game is very loose and unsctructed. None of the bosses I fought were a challenge - I defeated most of them on my first try by just spamming attacks.

According to the achievements I have missed one boss but I've got no motivation to face it. Also you can't die to the final mandatory boss, or you can, but you respawn in the room and continue the battle; the fight does not reset which is not challenging.

Overall, I didn't enjoy AV2 anywhere near as much as AV1 and that's because AV2 is, in my opinion, not really a Metroidvania which is what I wanted from it.

Dec 29, 2025·11h·1·Verified

Steam User 3100STEAMRecommended

Naprawdę dobra gra, ma inny klimat i mechaniki niż pierwsza część (która moim zdaniem jest lepsza) i polecam z czystym sercem - chociaż dla mnie to bardziej spin-off a nie prawowity następca.

Dec 28, 2025·11h

Steam User 8919STEAMNot recommended

I was very enthusiastic for the sequel to Axiom verge, unfortunately combat, exploration, story and ost range from bad to mediocre, i don't think it would be worth your time even for free.

Dec 27, 2025·12h·6

Steam User 1569STEAMRecommended

非常に面白かった。前作未プレイです。
気になるところを探索していると、どんどん気になるところが増えていき、寄り道をしたくなります。
序盤・中盤は結構な頻度で新しい能力が入手でき、探索範囲が広がっていきます。
これぞメトロイドヴァニア！と思わせる作品でした。

戦闘は序盤が特に難しいです。が、新しい能力やスキルポイントで強化していくとサクサク進められるようになります。難易度を下げて探索メインでも十分楽しめると思います。

Dec 27, 2025·10h·Verified

Steam User 3919STEAMRecommended

This game is so different from the first game that your enjoyment of Axiom Verge 1 probably won't be much of an indicator as to how much you'll enjoy this one. I still had a decent time with it though! While I don't think it's quite a home run, I very much respect them trying to really shake up the formula with this one and set it apart from its inspiration.

I guess if I had any advice, go in expecting an experience closer to Flashback or Castlevania than Metroid.

Dec 27, 2025·7h·1

Steam User 9433STEAMNot recommended

Поиграл немного в этот продукт. Не знаю, смешанные чувства, может я наигрался в первый, который мне очень понравился. Тут же швах полный по сеттингу, скучнейшие роботы, боссы которых зачем-то можно скипать? Зачем они нужны? Мне не понятно.
Игра из метроидвании стала скучной бродилкой с ужасным левелдизайном, когда непонятно куда надо идти и без быстрых переещений между точками возрождений, это основной минус игры. Очень нехватает возможности телепортироваться между "чашами", чтобы преодолеть огромные скучные локации.
Первая часть позволяла тебе обходить не особо шустрых врагов и была отличная хаб локация в центре, которая позволяля перемещаться в любую локацию по желанию довольно быстро.

Тут отняли возможность сражаться в дальним боем, (бумеранг не в счет он ужасен), борьба исключительно киркой, сражаться против огнестрельных противников ужасно неудобно. Ладно бы можно было приноровиться, но из-за того что приходится постоянно бегать по огромным картам туда сюда, с ними еще меньше желания сражаться и убивать время на уничтожение, теряния хп, смерти.

В общем игра крайне унылая и душная, будто специально растягивает свой геймплей.

Добавили элемент РПГ, зачемто, я не против, но чувствую долго буду прокачиваться, пока на самом деле почувствую себя какимто сильным и мне не будет душно убивать противников.

Зачемто добавили стелс механику... Вот это я вообще не понял, мне предлагает игра либо долгие сражения, либо долгий стелс по обходу противников? Причем его почемуто нельзя прокачивать, чтобы тебя враги не так быстро замечали, хотя если они заметят они все равно к тебе идут, в общем я не понял этого прикола, это какойто совершенно лишний костыль.

Самое неприятное это смена сеттинга, когда из непонятно Гигеровской вселенной попадаешь на заснеженный пляж с роботами или под воду к роботам, одни придурошные унылые роботы. Скучно, очень скучно.
Основные враги воры Казахи. Союзники сверхтехнологичные Индусы, смешно наверное, ну да ладно. Когда в прошлой игре ты вообще не понимал кому можно верить, а кому нет. Вообще сюжет прошлой игры был на голову выше, он тебя заставлял разобраться что там происходит и главный герой вызывал симпатию.
А тут изначально ты играешь за абсолютно негативного персонажа, который является мультимиллиардером и эксплуатирует работяг, увольняет их недоплачивает, и в одиночку! без охраны, без наймитов идет куда-то за своей дочкой, самый унылый сюжет который можно было придумать. Я уж не говорю о том что это пожилая женщина, допустим пожилая Лара Крофт, тут можно сделать поблажку. В такого персонажа просто невозможно поверить, даже глупо для сказки.

В общем я все плачу о том какая шикарная была первая часть... Может когда нибудь вернусь, попробую допройти и поменяю свое мнение, но сейчас желания играть точно нет.

Dec 26, 2025·2h·Verified

Steam User 6274STEAMRecommended

It's unfortunate that people seemed to have disliked this game compared to the first Axiom Verge. I think a lot of things about this game show clear improvement in the gameplay design and great maturity in the dev's aesthetic/style, in ways where the first game was mostly in the shadow of its Metroid inspirations.

The exploration in particular was implemented excellently, in not only the quality of life features implemented around it (better mapping, save point fast travel being present, having map markers & waypoints available that allow for rough guidance without spoiling the "answer"), but also in terms of the way the world and rooms were structured, that allow for the player to be able to uncover rooms of the map in a funneling manner, rather than large stretches of retracing steps & manual backtracking for padding.

In a place where the 1st game failed in this regard, I think Axiom Verge 2 does much better in minimizing moments where the next place of progress is arbitrary located with respect to where the player found the ability that unlocks that progress. As an example, the progress block that is gated by the drone hover is unblocked by funneling the neighboring area, which is consistent with how the map design of this game drives the player to explore anyway, whereas in the first game such an ability might have been located on the other side of the map, and with no proper fast travel.

This being said, there were still some moments in Axiom Verge 2 where it was unclear what map locations the player was supposed to have taken note of as something that can be unblocked by a progression ability later, such as with the destructible blocks and with hidden breach portals. I don't think a player can reasonably have foresight to preemptively mark each one they come across to come back to later, as it isn't signposted in the best way for the player to draw the connection. To fix this in a future game, I think the dev can take a page out of Metroid Dread's book, where certain points of interest or potential progress walls are marked ??? on the map, until the player has an ability that can meaningfully interact with them. This can still be done in a way that doesn't spoil the natural exploration the player is to do, while still being natural to intuit. Regardless though, this is a testament to the thoughtfulness and creativity of the progression abilities themselves in this game, since they aren't your typical "double jump" or "ground pound" type of deal.

Other noteworthy things about this game: the music is absolutely fantastic, even over the first game's already great music. I can't think of a single track that I did not like, nor one that did not pair well with the theming of its respective zone or the game overall. The spritework, backgrounds, and presentation of the story I think are all stellar improvements from the first game as well. The story itself still leans pretty heavily into crazy scifi territory, but definitely easier to follow than the 1st game. Perhaps one thing I would mention is that it was sometimes hard to distinguish platforms you could land on with platforms that were merely decorative. I did not realize until pretty late into my playthrough that there is a "platform contrast" accessibility option, which I am thankful is in the game.

There were some abilities and combat options that left a little to be desired, especially with the RC boomerang and combat boomerang, which weren't too useful or interesting. It would have been cool to see the melee weapon get further add-ons in a similar vein to the multitude of weapon options the 1st game had, but given the primitive (and annoying) nature of the enemies, and the lack of bosses, it felt like it wasn't as much of a focus as the exploration.

One of the coolest things about this game is the systems around entering/exiting the breach, and manipulating the portals' locations to do so. It felt very Zelda-esque in the way it was handled, and also reminded me of Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance a little bit. It is definitely something the developer can expand upon further, as I felt the ideas that were present in Axiom Verge 2 were suppressed slightly. Maybe this was a good call though, since once its potential registered in my brain, I was afraid it would either overshadow other aspects of the game, or be utilized in a manner too dull to be worth its inclusion. In hindsight, for what was required to beat the game, it was just the right balance.

I would overall recommend this game. It's a big step up from the first game, and is one of the better metroidvanias in an indie space saturated with endless Hollow Knight-likes and others.

Dec 23, 2025·8h·3·Verified

Steam User 1556STEAMRecommended

我怎么觉得二代还不如一代呢，比起一代操作手感游玩体验的确提升了很多，但是引导比一代还离谱，拿到新能力你最起码在主线需要使用的地方提醒一下啊，游玩时间里面起码又一半时间在迷路真是无语了

Dec 22, 2025·10h·Verified

Steam User 2070STEAMNot recommended

I'll start by saying even though I don't recommend this game, it's not necessarily a bad game. Once I got past a strong standing "Where do I go, what am I supposed to be doing?" stage or two, I did enjoy the time I had playing this. My biggest problem is that its admittedly inferior to its predecessor in varied degrees and ways.

Doesn't feel like there's as much to collect or explore.
Combat is so, very much, weaker.
Story feels rushed. It's not bad, but feels kinda distracted and jumpy. It feels like a well written essay, with lots of thought put into it, then hastily shortened because of a forgotten word limit. I can kinda say that for the rest of the game, too.
Lastly, final boss is lackluster and ending feels abrupt. I was surprised to see the ending cutscene and credits only after the 5 or so hours I spent on my playthrough, and apparently there's more content in the ending if you beat it in less than 4!

I cannot suggest to anyone to play Axiom Verge 2.
I can, however, excitedly recommend Axiom Verge 1 to anyone.
Go play that instead. I'm likely to boot up a new run soon after posting this.

Dec 16, 2025·12h·5

Steam User 4203STEAMRecommended

Хорошая игра, не хуже первой части. Исследовать мир стало интереснее, первая часть тоже награждала за исследование, узлами силы или здоровья, но чаще всего выдавала тебе фрагменты усилений, которых нужно целых 5 штук, чтобы увеличить характеристику, что отбивало желание куда то лезть. Если точка твоего интереса находилась далеко, чаще всего нужно было потратить минут 5 чтобы дойти до неё и увидеть, что ты получил 1 фрагмент и тебе нужно ещё всего лишь 4, до которых также нужно идти, а какой кайф было понять, что у тебя ещё нет нужной способности, чтобы пройти дальше и ты зря сюда шёл, а ведь потом ещё нужно возвращаться в локацию, которую нужно исследовать чтобы продвинуть сюжет, а быстрого перемещения нет, именно из за этого я при прохождении первой части довольно быстро потерял интерес к изучению мира. Также стоит отметить одно довольно странное решение первой части, в которой разраб почему то по приколу решил некоторые секреты спрятать в случайной точке локации, за случайным блоком, разбить который можно либо опять же случайно, либо проверяя все стены на своём пути на предмет секретов. Вторая часть в этом плане намного лучше. Она награждает игрока выдавая новое оружие или флаконы которые заменили узлы и которые тратятся на увеличение хп героини или её бота, их урона, скорости атаки и тд. Мне например хотелось прокачать способности по взлому врагов, из за чего я часто шёл исслледовать мир в поисках флаконов. Во многом на это также повлияло то, что во второй части появилось быстрое перемещение из любой точки карты к алтарям и я в любой момент могу телепортироваться хоть на другой конец карты, если там есть открытый алтарь и пойти исследовать его, или если там нужна способность которой у меня ещё нет, я просто телепортируюсь назад.
Во второй части довольно большой акцент сделан на бота, который был и в первой части, но там он использовался по большей части, чтобы добраться до мест, в которые герой не мог попасть сам. Во второй части это тоже есть, но также можно полноценно проходить за него игру, он гораздо мобильнее главной героини благодаря крюку, из за маленького размера ему проще уклоняться от атак, а также он обладает неплохим уроном в ближнем бою, я даже сумел победить за него несколько боссов, которые всё ещё как и в первой части проходятся за одну две попытки, но в этой части стали поинтереснее, так как их можно взломать и например отключить им какое то оружие. Из минусов бота у него нет дальних атак, а также меньше здоровья, чем у главной героини, но несмотря на это, за него приятно играть, и я большую часть игры прошёл за него, поскольку героиня по сюжету получает способность в любой момент превращаться в бота и обратно.
Графика стала лучше, локации выглядят живее, музыка тоже неплоха, но всё же это не уровень первой части. В первой части музыка и графика создавали поистине непередаваемые чувства. Первая часть происходит на обломках некогда великой цивилизации, кроме гг есть всего два персонажа, которые изредка будут общаться с главным героем, говоря что делать дальше, большую же часть времени главный герой один и БОЖЕ как же прекрасно саундтрек передаёт это чувство одинокого путешествия по некогда живому миру. Каким то магическим образом минималистичная графика в сочетании с музыкой умудрились создать поистине запоминающиеся локации, у меня до сих пор мурашки по всему телу, когда я слушаю саундтрек первой части. Одним из самых запоминающихся треков для меня стал Cellular Skies. Большая часть игры происходит под землёй или в помещениях, они порой довольно большие и высокие, но всё же это помещения, ты видишь потолок над собой, ну или не видишь, но понимаешь что он есть. Именно поэтому мне так запомнился Cellular Skies, который играет в надземных локациях мира. Ты видишь небо на заднем плане, слышишь этот трек, и чувствуешь свободу, обожаю его. Остальная часть саундтрека ни чем не хуже, но я хотел рассказать именно про него.
Вторая часть тоже происходит на обломках некогда великой цивилизации, но другой, не той что в первой части. И как я писал выше, саундтрек неплохой, он тоже создаёт атмосферу путешествия и исследования остатков некогда великого мира, но другую. Во второй части есть несколько других персонажей с которыми можно общаться, они живут в поселениях людей, которые как и гг попали в этот мир, также есть персонажи которые общаются с гг во время прохождения из за чего пропадает атмосфера одиночества из первой части. Локации по большей части светлые и яркие, многие из них под открытым небом, что создаёт атмосферу приключенческого фильма про попадание на другую планету, и это не плохо, но мне всёже больше нравится мрачная атмосфера одиночества из первой части.
Вторая часть лучше первой в плане исследования мира, у неё есть своя, неплохая атмосфера лёгкого приключенческого фильма и я спокойно могу рекомендовать её к прохождению, как и первую часть.

Dec 9, 2025·11h·2·Verified

Steam User 8713STEAMRecommended

This game is excellent. Going by the number of reviews compared to AV1 it's a slept on game. It shouldn't be.

It's great. it's worth your time.

Dec 7, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 3824STEAMRecommended

no mejor que el primero, pero cumple

Dec 7, 2025·14h·Verified

Steam User 4658STEAMRecommended

The gameplay is excellent. The first game is better than the sequel, but I still really enjoyed this one.
Playing on Ubuntu and Steam Deck with cross-save was awesome.

Nov 29, 2025·6h·3·Verified

Steam User 1600STEAMRecommended

Honestly, I had a lot of fun, but it just wasn't for me I feel. It gets a bit experimental sometimes and even if I love it, some parts overstay it's welcome or don't push the ideas further enough to be interesting.

What hurts it the most to me, is how linear the game is. Aside from a few short moments, it can be a really A to B moment for the mayority of the playthough unless you want to go out of your way to maybe search for more lore, upgrades or weapons (which I didn't really feel the need to do).

This also I feel ends up affecting a lot of the really cool ideas the game haves and encapsulated them so that it can be as linear as possible, not having room to grow and experiment. Again this is how I feel about it after just finishing it and I might change a bit my opinion once I let it rest.

I'm glad Thomas took the chance to experiment and do something different for the sequel. Even if I feel it wasn't for me as much as the first game, I had a lot of fun and I'm really glad I got to finally play it! Can't wait to see what else they will make in the future.

Nov 29, 2025·7h·Verified

Steam User 3691STEAMRecommended

Un juego atrapante de principio a fin

Nov 27, 2025·17h·Verified

Steam User 4840STEAMRecommended

One of my favourite metroidvania. Better than Animal Well in story and narrative. Worse than Animal Well in exploration and secrets.

Nov 26, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 9542STEAMRecommended

Surprisingly excellent metroidvania with how people talked about it. I thought the general consensus from fans of the first game was disappointment, and I can see why, it has a very different focus. That game is very combat-heavy, with traditional bosses, an interesting variety of enemies, and a comical amount of weapons. This game has no bosses that I would call very 'fun' and combat situations are satisfying enough but usually go the same way every time. What makes this game a better experience than the first (in my opinion, though I would like to revisit it as it's been a while) is the exploration. The various abilities you get are extremely creative and lend themselves well to the huge, interconnected world that's been created. The lore and narrative are just as convoluted as the first game: if you like sifting through lots of notes to build a picture of an obviously well-thought out world, I've heard these games are pretty special at that, but I might save that rabbit hole for a later date.

Nov 18, 2025·7h

Steam User 0236STEAMNot recommended

♥♥♥♥♥♥ graphics , wastes my time, to many hidden things like Metroid !!! To small, needs unreal 6

Nov 15, 2025·11h

Steam User 9543STEAMRecommended

Great game with a very interesting setting, it was quite satisfying to play. It is important to note, however, that it is NOT more of the first game, as far as gameplay goes; no run-and-gun stuff, one must either evade enemies or plan one's attacks carefully(at least, early on) and remember that the hacking ability is your friend.

Nov 14, 2025·24h·Verified

Steam User 2955STEAMNot recommended

Too many dead ends on the map, there are 'breach' areas to explore with no way of knowing why your there in the first place. So you'll find yourself going to the same dead ends looking for something you missed, and entering the same breach areas for the same reason. Eventually you get fast travel, which really doesn't help since you generally will have to clue where to go anyway, but at least it reduces how much time you waste wandering around aimlessly.

I played for about 10 hours and just got too frustrated, and simply wasn't having fun anymore. And I'm not interested in playing a game where I'm CONSTANTLY looking at a guide trying to figure out how to proceed. This game badly needs to mark areas, or at least the breaches, as 'complete' so you don't keep wasting time going back. I have what I *think* is a quest marker on my map, which does absolutely no good since I can't even get close to it no matter which direction I try to approach from.

What a mess, and metroidvanias are my second favorite genre. Axiom Verge 2 makes a great first impression, then over time, gets extremely annoying. Others seem to enjoy it, but buy it at a discount if you decide to give it a go.

Nov 13, 2025·11h

Steam User 2836STEAMNot recommended

Terrible game and a disappointment in relation to the 1st. The game is messy, clunky, has no sense of progression, the weapons truly suck, and it plays like no regular metroidvania. The exploration and the characters are just so boring and you don't get invested in the story whatsoever. There are just many names and documents that doesn't have a common thread. It's just... So damn boring! I struggled to finish it because it has only one single moment that interested me [spoiler] a body swapping boss [/spoiler].

Aside from that, the game was extremely uninteresting. A total letdown from the 1st one.

Nov 9, 2025·15h·1·Verified

Steam User 4834STEAMRecommended

В начале вообще думал что эта часть отличается от первой части, но походу сюжета и того как его подавали у меня возник вопрос, возможно он чисто моего мнение но вдруг этот мир либо как то связан с тем миром из первой части, что от туда пришел Ламасу ( типо русалки из первой части ) или это событие до первой части, почему же у меня такое мнение. да причин таких сильных нет. По сюжету есть места которые очень сильно напоминают первую часть, но так же и Ламасу говорит свои историй игроку и такое ощущение что из них не кто не договаривает особенно доктор Хамонт, но когда увидел вторую концовку вопросов стало больше и моя теория развалилась из-за нее, но не полностью.

Большой минус как по мне так это так сказать какой сюжет был почему то он мне показался скучным, более интересным он стал к концу игры и меня почему то это обидело, я думал такой же интересный и загадочный будет сюжет как в первой части, но он не такой.
НО спешу сказать что игра мне понравилась, даже очень понравилась и все из-за механик которые были в ней, а потом уже и сюжет понравился.
Советую ли я эту игру да советую, но перед этой игрой лучше поиграть в первую часть зачем спросите меня, все просто чтобы потом по ходу сюжета этой части строить свой теории об сюжете и игре.

Nov 8, 2025·24h·Verified

Steam User 3772STEAMNot recommended

music good, game kinda ass

Nov 3, 2025·9h

Steam User 5030STEAMRecommended

(Считайте, что оценка нейтрально)

Остались очень смешанные чувства. С одной стороны приятный визуал, музыка на фоне и желание исследовать. А с другой - Очень гигантская карта, в которой пару раз запутался, чтобы пройти дальше по сюжету. (особенно во время прыжков между разломом и верхним миром).

В целом пойдет как для метроидвании, но первая часть понравилась больше.

Oct 31, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 8234STEAMRecommended

Había leído muchas cosas malas pero no decepcionó. Tiene un toque de mundo abierto que da frescura a este género, me hace volver a pensar cómo puedo usar los nuevos poderos en el orden que quiera en los lugares que quiera.

Oct 29, 2025·12h

Steam User 3719STEAMRecommended

Axiom Verge 1 was a more-than-competent 'Metroid-Clone' with the occasional weird but interesting idea here and there. A really good Metroidvania. More of the same with Axiom Verge 2 would have been totally fine and that's what a lot of people expected. But the developper tried something different. Some people were disappointed because if the formula was already good, why change it ?

The two big complaints seems to be the melee-focused combat system and the absence of real bosses encounters. Here's what I think about those:

You don't use a fun scifi gun obliterating everything in front of you in an instant in Axiom Verge 2, the game is melee focused and the occasional projectile isn't really satisfying to use. If you wanted to mod AV2 into a prehistoric metroidvania where you control a caveman wielding a club and throwing rocks, you wouldn't need to change a lot of things other than the skins. This sounds bad for a scifi game but it really isn't because the game fully embraces its anachronistic nature. A distant past is mixed with futuristic vibes in every aspect of the game. If you like that, I think the 'limited combat' becomes a logical part of it.

The bosses are just existing in the world and you can simply run past them. And if you fight them, they feel like normal ennemies but bigger and with more HP. No special music, no real phases. To re-use my caveman-game analogy, they feel like some megafauna chilling somewhere you might encounter and decide wether or not you want to kill them. This wasn't an issue for me as I just accepted it's part of the unusual world and atmosphere of the game.
A forced boss encounter to progress is a very usual 'video game thing' it isn't needed, we're just used to it. That said it feels weird as it goes against the genre's conventions. Zero big epic boss battles in a metroidvania might of course be a flaw for some.

This game doesn't look, sound or feel like any other metroidvania, it's weird, unfamiliar but it is made with the same talent as Axiom Verge 1. To me it's not worse, it's different and weird. If you're OK with that you'll have at least a good time exploring this world. But if that unfamiliarity speaks to you it might even become your favorite of the two. This was the case for me anyway.

It reminded me of Shadow of the Beast, on Amiga, one of those very hard sidescrollers from the late 80s, early 90s. I pushed through that game frustrating difficulty and bad controls because of its weirdness, I wanted to see the next ennemies, hear the next music, see how everything came together. Axiom Verge 2 isn't difficult, the controls are good and there aren't any glaring issue but I had a very similar feeling playing it and if it reminded me of such an old game it's because that particular feeling of wonder isn't something that a lot of game were able to create. So yeah, this was an enjoyable and memorable game.

So yes, it's an easy recommendation for me but it's different enough from the first game that your enjoyment of Axiom Verge 1 pretty much indicates nothing about what you might think of this game.

Oct 26, 2025·11h·2·Verified

Steam User 9727STEAMNot recommended

Terrible. The first game was amazing in every way but after playing this one, I have to say it is a huge let down. The first one was absolutely perfect, down to every minute detail: The map designs, OST, enemy designs, weapons, abilities, and hidden areas. This sequel (if you can call it that) feels like they either sold the rights to someone random who tried to capitalize on it, or their magic ran out. It is nothing like the first one, to the point where I couldn't stomach playing for more than 40 min. Don't waste your money on it. Somehow the sequel is absolute trash juice compared to the first one.

Oct 22, 2025·1h·3·Verified

Steam User 7710STEAMRecommended

This game feels like it was made before AV1. I didn't dislike it but there were so many times where I felt like poor choices were made to differentiate the two games. I knew that 1 was an homage to Metroid but after seeing the more original 2 struggle with it's attempt to be more original with design choices, it made me retroactively consider 1 to be more derivative.

Story wise I very much enjoyed the lore which gives a lot of background to the war from AV1 that led to the creation of the Rusalka. The details are convoluted but it feels rewarding to piece everything together and if the third game ties everything up nicely then I won't mind that the gameplay in this game was mediocre. Although the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying, the final bits you get to connect the two games were pretty cool. There's just not enough there for it to be really good.

Sadly everything gameplay felt like a step down. The focus on melee weapons is uninteresting. Most of the combat is very easy and I never really cared what weapon I equipped. For how distinct all the guns were in 1 I thought this game would take it further - instead you choose from maybe 1/5 as many options all of which you can just spam at enemies mindlessly to proceed.

Combat is more of an annoyance than anything else. You can choose to use your mana to hack but it's usually unnecessary when you can just run by or use the explode move for instant kills.

Bosses are the biggest disappointment of all. Gone are the awesome moments of huge boss battles that stay with you long after. In fact I killed 3 bosses before I even knew they were bosses they were so insignificant to me, along with offering no challenge. Even the final boss is supremely unsatisfying but at least a few of them have some nice pixel art.

The pixel art in general is fantastic. The references to old Sumerian statues and architecture mixed with robots is truly unique and a highlight of the game. However it just doesn't quite match up to the HR Giger look of 1. You never get that awesome feeling of apprehension that came with discovering Rusalka, not knowing if they were dangerous or truly your allies. The one large creature in the game does basically nothing outside of lore.

The music is very beautiful, the singer has done something amazing here... But it doesn't really fit with a metroidvania. Loud middle eastern horns and wild singing with big crescendos are just not "exploration" music and I got tired of hearing these tracks on repeat except for a couple cool ones like Stranded and Monsoon that felt like they set the mood properly. I'm not a fan of bit tunes type music but the breach music at least felt more appropriate in most cases. I'm still a big fan of amazing tracks from the first one like Vital Tide and Otherworld and I hope the next game goes back in that direction.

I will recommend this game solely for the story which I think it's even cooler if you read Happ's manifesto on simulation theory, but everything else left me a bit disappointed knowing it could be better. I really hope Happ takes these criticisms and improves on them for the next game.

Oct 20, 2025·19h·9·Verified

Steam User 6842STEAMNot recommended

Has some stuff in common with Axiom Verge - There's lore referencing Trace, the Breach is here. The soundtrack is *great*. This is a new setting, so far I've seen nothing of the characters and world from the first game. There are thematic similarities, it seems the player character has become embroiled in an pre-existing conflict in this world.

There's only one problem, unfortunately it's a really really big problem. You're familiar with the phrase about bringing a knife to a gun fight? The player character is a knife fighter, and many enemies not only have powerful long-range attacks, they also actively kite to keep you past arm's reach.

I'm six hours in, and debating whether I want to continue playing this game or not. Getting killed by enemies out of your reach is getting really, really old, really, **really** fast.

Oct 19, 2025·7h·6

Steam User 9347STEAMNot recommended

I enjoyed the first one despite some grievances, like the combat and the excessively reticent storytelling. Many of those grievances persist here but now accompanied by themes\atmosphere I find far less appealing. I don't think I'll ever boot it up again, leave alone finish it.

Oct 18, 2025·3h·Verified

Steam User 1175STEAMRecommended

最终主角到底算是谁呢？

Oct 16, 2025·16h·Verified

Steam User 7045STEAMRecommended

Contrary to some of the reviews here and elsewhere, I enjoyed this one way more than the first.

I'm starting to think that the guy makes these games just as a vehicle to sell his music, it's really good.

I couldn't tell what the story is about though, I don't think I got most (or any) of it, but you're in another dimension (I think?), there are some aliens, also some robots, and you slowly make your way through the map and find upgrades and power-ups, there's also something called "the breach" which is like a parallel dimension or something like in Soul Reaver, and you fight some bosses that look really good but are surprisingly easy and that's pretty much it.

The map is quite big, and there's 2 versions of it: the regular one and "the breach" (again, I think). Anyways, I enjoyed exploring it and finding everything I could find.

The bosses are ridiculously easy, so don't play this if you're looking for a challenge. Also, thanks to the developer for the fast travel power-up, it allowed me to go back and forth around the map super fast to find new things all the time, way less tedious than in the first game.

Oct 16, 2025·13h·2·Verified

Steam User 3165STEAMRecommended

it's fun

Oct 13, 2025·13h·Verified

Steam User 8899STEAMRecommended

And keeping with the thematic tone of the first game, you're whisked away to another planet/world/dimension, and as you naturally progress through the platform jumping Metroidvania gameplay mechanics, the lore unravels into a delectable plate of sci-fi spaghetti that's equal parts confusion and intrigue. And once it's done, it's done.

Oct 12, 2025·11h

Steam User 5345STEAMNot recommended

The first Axiom Verge was a hidden gem, a modern Metroid (NES) with a great soundtrack and sound design. This one feels hollow, polished but missing whatever spark the first game had. Maybe it's the change of setting?

Oct 12, 2025·1h·3·Verified

Steam User 8214STEAMNot recommended

Gonna have to be real, while there are marked improvements on combat, the direction the game takes is not a great one.
I played the original which while it had problems was a breath of fresh air and unique. Great story. the story here feels like it ends in the middle and not a final grand conclusion leaving me unsatisfied. The naming was quirky in the first game but made the game hard to follow. This time i was way ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ confused on who people were or why i should care. characters don't seem to do things in a way that makes sense. Why didn't Hammond just ask for help directly. The main characters daughter is involved which is what brought her out here in first place. she would have helped how she could. why have the subterfuge.

when it comes to the world I greatly dislike the fact that the boss battles for the most part feel entirely optional.
I'm not a fan of most open worlds and metroidvanias don't really have open worlds when it comes to fighting bosses especially. Do they feel totally linear? No. but boss battles shouldn't feel optional.

The whole game felt like they worked forever on the mechanics and not a lot on the world.

I really wanted to like this one but i cannot recommend it due to seemingly misplaced.

Play the first one its great.

Oct 5, 2025·60h·2·Verified

Steam User 6366STEAMRecommended

I played the first Axiom Verge. I thought it was mediocre at best. It was like Metroid was skinned, and that skin was filled with subversion. "Ah ha. You [i] think [/i] you'll get a morph ball, but instead you'll get [spoiler] spoiler [/spoiler]. So clever!" It was slightly cute, at first, but then just felt overplayed. It had a plethora of useless weapons. Wimpy bosses. Horrendously slow map travel... I did like the big face visuals, though (probably 50% why I bought the game in the first place).

Anyway, I'm not reviewing the first game. I'm reviewing the sequel -- the sequel that got hammered for no particularly good reason. The art? Better. It felt less derivative. The sound and music? Pretty similar to the last game. The writing... a little better than the last game. The weapon selection? Still pretty bad. The enemies and bosses. Still easy. Yeah, not really looking up, so far. But the map travel... The map travel is some of the best that I've ever experienced. After a few item acquisitions, it really speeds up. I also really liked how the "breach" and the regular world were woven into each other (unlike the previous game, which felt like an actual glitch).

Now, is the map really enough to recommend the game? Over the first one, yes. In general? In general, I think this game got too much undeserved flak, and I'm trying to shift it in a more positive direction. I enjoyed my 15-ish hours that I sank into it, and I also preferred the ending to this one. A good ending makes the journey feel worth it.

Oct 1, 2025·16h·3

Steam User 6346STEAMNot recommended

Let me start this review by saying that I think Axiom Verge 1 is a great game and I would recommend it to anyone who's into Metroid.

Now that that's out of the way, let me say that this game is awful and I wouldnt recommend it to anyone. For a sequel this game somehow made so many steps back in enjoyable gameplay that I'm honestly baffled by how did this even happen.

I'll talk a lot about this game, but I want to mention the things that this game did worse than the 1st game, as I think those will be important if you've enjoyed that game and think about playing this one:

1. Physics - In this game for some god forsaken reason, the devs decided to make the air physics awful. Where they keep some kind of momentum, which leads to you sliding in air like you're on ice, instead of being able to take instant sharp turns like in the 1st game.

2. This game is SLOW - There are animations everywhere that slow things down compared to the 1st game. One of the first power-ups is literally: Stop time, deal damage around player. Another thing slowed down is picking power-ups to use. Where in the 1st game the best comparison would be the Weapon wheel, which was great. You could assign weapon to left stick, right stick and still have a 3rd weapon by default, while the wheel was an actual wheel so on a controller you could quickly choose what you want. In this game? Yeah, just a horizontal wheel. It would be fine if it was used, like rarely. But nah, you use the freaking wheel every time you want to do anything. Which just feels so painful as they already did a system that would've worked better than this. Hacking also got affected by this, where in the 1st game it was just a gun, which honestly was a unique idea that made enemies act differently, which was interesting. In this game the hacking is an expanding circle, which leads to a menu allowing you to choose which hack to use on an enemy. Interesting idea, but ♥♥♥♥ me, it is, again, SO SLOW. The first game thrived on being fast, and the only thing there that was slow was teleporting back to egg by leaving back to menu. Here? Everything is crawling slow.

3. Power-ups - You get a power-up every 5 minutes, honestly. Which sounds fine, but it just means that you dont care about anything in this game. Why would I try to remember anything on the map and play this like a Metroidvania, if I get power-ups so often, that I have no clue where could they even be useful? It just felt better to try and get all of them before bothering with the map, which I also did in the 1st game...ON MY 2ND PLAYTHROUGH, when I knew how powerful the last Lab Coat was. Also the power-ups in this game are so damn weak. Where by the end of the game you have 2 mobility skills, and only 1 is unlocked for the main form of the character...and that one is unlocked literally one step before the last bossfight.

4. Bossfights - They're so boring in this one. Literally 90% of them can be 1-shot by a power-up you get 30 minutes into the game. Meanwhile in the 1st game you had to actually think about "How do I deal with this one?". Not all the bosses in the 1st game were great, but there were couple that could stop your progression if you didnt prepare at least a little. Here? Only 1 boss that is even threatening, and that's only on a Deathless Run.

5. Health - You start the game with like x4 times health of the 1st game, sounds good? Sure, it could be. But that makes health upgreades feel really small, meanwhile all the enemies deal x3-4 times the damage of the 1st game, as they tried to balance them to kill you in the same amount of hits. This is so bad, that the game gives you multiple 15% damage reductions, which dont really do anything. Only the last one made me notice that I dont die in 3 hits.

6. Weapons - They are so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ boring. They show more stats, which is GREAT, I really wished that the 1st game did that. But they also are practically all the same. Just a melee stab, some faster, some longer, some can even swing overhead and completely miss the enemy in front of you. Compared to the 1st game, I just rushed a weapon in the first 30 minutes of the game, and never switched it, as that one was just the best. And unlike in the 1st game, you cannot get damage upgreades or any type of upgreades for these weapons, unless you really go out of your way to do so, but that leads to not being able to upgreade hacking, which will just lead to a highier amounts of locked doors in your way.

7. Less fun modes - The 1st game had multiple options for randomizer, and speedrun mode. This game Has speedrun mode...that's it. Why add less content? It would take a bunch of testing, but I honestly think that randomizer would work great in this game. I wouldnt play it, as I dont enjoy playing the game, but it would have potential to be fun for someone.

8. Background vs. Foreground - In many locations its practially impossible to tell the difference, as its literally Gray vs. Gray, but +1 shade lighter. There is an accessibility option for making platforms more visible, but if the devs noticed that it could be a problem, why not make stuff more understandable and visible in the first place?

9. Drone Hitbox - The drone hitbox is so clunky in this game. In the 1st game you could stand next to a wall and shoot up to make a drone easily get somewhere that is high on said wall. Meanwhile here, if you try and do that, the drone just instantly hits the wall and falls to the ground, as its hitbox is wider for some reason, so you have to stand back from the wall to do something that should be simple and not clunky.

Those were only things that were made worse than in the 1st game, but there are still things that I need to complain about, as they made the gameplay expierience miserable:

10. This game is Melee - I dont mind this in concept, I absolutely love playing many difficult Metroidvanias Melee only, without spells. Not in this game, tho. As I stated before(1), the physics in air feel awful in this game, so you are waaay less precise in your movement, meanwhile the average enemy has gotten way stronger than in the 1st game? Almost all enemies are faster, are ranged, and want to run away from the player. There are even flying enemies that do that, AND YOU CANT HIT THEM! Brother, why tf do you make this game melee, and every enemy so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ fast and annoying, while also(5) way more deadly. I've never skipped every enemy in my path in another game on my 1st playthrough. It feels so ungodly punishing to fight anything, and you dont feel any stronger by the end of the adventure.

11. Boomerang - There is actually a ranged weapon in the game, but it sucks absolute balls. You dont upgreade it until the end-game location, meanwhile the base boomerang already feels weak when you first pick it up. So you CAN deal with flying enemies, but it will take you 10 hits, when they are spamming you from all sides, at the speed of light, dodging anything that you want to hit them with.

There's more(like up to point 17, honestly), but I'm limited by letter count.

That was a lot of complaining, but let me say some positive/neutral things about this game that I either enjoyed, or didnt mind.

The music in this game slaps - Same thing as the 1st game, its just great.

Story is OK - While I didnt enjoy the notes, and found the story to be less interesting than the Rusalkas Vs. Athetos. I found the concept of this game, that is basically "A world where people can be turned into power-ups for other people", to be interesting, and pretty fun.

This game also is a better Metroidvania than the 1st game, with the player having way more freedom in upgreades they decide to get. Also the game is way more enjoyable to 100% the map, but that is a low bar, as the 1st game sucked at this.

Overall, there are some positives for the game, but its base gameplay is so strictly unenjoyable, that its impossible for me to be even close to recommending it.

Sep 26, 2025·18h·21·Verified

Steam User 4033STEAMRecommended

I'd have been delighted with AV2 simply being more of the resplendent AV1 but lone developer Tom Happ decided to change things up a bit and, while not [i]quite[/i] as cohesive as the first game, this exotic and bold sequel quickly became my favourite of the two simply due to the incredible atmosphere it brings, while expanding upon the lore of the first game. It feels more...mature, more confident, more the product of an Auteur spreading his ultra-talented wings than merely riffing on Super Metroid's genius design.

One of the best changes made is making boss fights OPTIONAL, instead of funnelling you into the fights, This might not please some of the skill-challenge junkies out there but as someone who hates Boss Battles I ADORE this change. Thank you for remembering not all of us gamers want or need extremely repetitive skill-cliff choke-points killing our exploration progress!

Another genius addition for the series are the ethereal, otherworldy vocals of Maysaa Karaa. Seriously, this lady can SING.

Axiom Verge was one of the best Metroidvanias I've ever played. With the release of Axiom Verge 2 it is now one of the best metroidvania [i]franchises[/i] I've ever played. As in the best novel series each book should have it's own flavour and texture, and AV2 accomplishes this almost effortlessly. Don't even think, just Buy.

Sep 25, 2025·32h·Verified

Steam User 5759STEAMNot recommended

I loved the original Axiom Verge. But this game has very little in common with it. Sure, it's a Metroidvania and it has similar looking graphics, assets, and the sort of music you'd expect out of Axiom Verge... but this game kinda sucks by comparison.

So, the first game really took STRONG inspiration from the first Metroid game, introduced the main character, introduced an alternate dimension, gave you a gun, had great bosses, it had a huge variety of enemies as well,

But... this game introduces a whole new protagonist I don't think I'll grow to enjoy. I'm 9 hours into the game and I'm just using stupid melee weapons. You go to a different dimension, but it doesn't look like or feel like anything from the first game. The BOSSES look like really big bad guys that do next to nothing. They're easy to kill, and you get their loot. And the variety of enemies? Well... there's some... but not as big of a variety from what I can see.

I don't think that this is a natural evolution of the game. Because this feels like the replacement of the game I love... Like an appropriation.

It's like the sequel trillogy for Star Wars. Stupid characters and story, but it really sounded like and looked like Star Wars.

Sep 25, 2025·10h·8·Verified

Steam User 6849STEAMRecommended

По началу, первые часов 5-6 при нормальном темпе прохождения, игра будет играться именно так как выглядит на фото в магазине: незнакомые герои, незнакомое место, всё совсем никак в первой части и зачем я вообще это прохожу. Нормального оружия нет, саундтрек проигрывает первой части, родного черно-неонового визуала нет, вместо монстров какие-то банки консервные скучные, охота дропнуть...

Но я вас умоляю,.. нет... ЗАКЛИНАЮ, перетерпите, передушните это интро, потому что дальше на вас вывалят ТАКОЕ количество лора, отсылок на первую часть и механик, способных сломать любой мир, что вам просто крышу снесёт. Ради механик второй половины игры, красивых и атмосферных локаций и главное лора в это стоит поиграть.

Конечно есть минусы, которые нельзя оправдать:
1) музыка (мне больше первая часть зашла)
2) отсутствие портретов героев в диалогах
3) отсутствие нормального оружия (да, это так и не вылечится после "интро")
4) фем.повесточка (протагонист сильная и независимая женщина, её главный конкурент-корпорат тоже женщина, главный злодей тоже женщина, предводитель Феноменонцев... естественно женщина, и Ламассу, который выглядит как бородатый старец, тоже иногда срывается на женский род в диалогах).

Sep 22, 2025·16h·Verified

Steam User 3778STEAMRecommended

**Axiom Verge 2: Не сиквел, а смелое переосмысление**

**Рекомендую**

Если вы ждете прямого продолжения истории Трейса с его кибер-пистолетами и глайч-мира, приготовьтесь к сюрпризу. Axiom Verge 2 — это не сиквел в привычном понимании. Это скорее духовный наследник, параллельная история, которая смело отказывается от многих формул оригинала, предлагая взамен уникальный, амбициозный и глубоко атмосферный опыт, который заслуживает внимания всех фанатов метроидвании.

**Что изменилось? Новый взгляд на знакомый жанр**

С самого начала игра знакомит с новой героиней — Индирой Чоран, владелицей мегакорпорации, которая отправляется на поиски пропавшей экспедиции в антарктической пустыне. Ее путешествие быстро переносит нас в два взаимосвязанных мира: суровый, первобытный Земной шар (Earthly Sphere) и стерильный, техно-органический Утробный шар (Breastborne Sphere).

Главное отличие от первой части — геймплей. Здесь акцент смещен с дальнего боя на ближний. Ваш главный инструмент — боевой топор, а позже — бритвенно-острый бозе-лезвие. Стрельба отходит на второй план, и это заставляет по-новому подходить к боям и исследованию. Вместо того чтобы отстреливать врагов с дистанции, вы учитесь уворачиваться, парировать и наносить быстрые, точные удары.

Но настоящая звезда шоу — это **исследование**. Axiom Verge 2 предлагает одну из самых нелинейных карт в жанре. Уже через пару часов у вас появляется доступ к огромному количеству инструментов, которые ломают привычные границы. Ключевой механикой становится хакерский дрон, а позже — возможность вселяться в маленьких роботов и даже врагов. Это открывает по-настоящему головокружительные возможности для секвестров (обходов препятствий без получения нужного улучшения). Чувство удовлетворения, когда вы находите способ попасть в "закрытую" зону с помощью смекалки и доступных инструментов, — несравненное.

**Атмосфера и сюжет: Тайна превыше ясности**

Том Хэппи (создатель игры) снова демонстрирует свой талант в создании гнетущей и загадочной атмосферы. Саундтрек, как и в первой части, блестящий, сочетающий эмбиентные синтезаторные звуки с резкими, индастриал-мотивами. Миры пустынны, опасны и полны скрытых секретов.

Сюжет подается через нахождение дневников и аудиозаписей, оставляя пространство для собственных интерпретаций. Он тесно переплетается с событиями первой игры, но не требует их обязательного знания. Это самостоятельная история о технологиях, человечности и силах, лежащих за гранью понимания.

**Не без шероховатостей**

Игра не идеальна. Некоторые могут найти боевую систему излишне упрощенной, особенно по сравнению с богатым арсеналом Трейса. Босс-файты, являющиеся кульминацией многих метроидваний, здесь часто представляют собой скорее головоломки или уникальные столкновения, а не испытания чисто боевого мастерства. Это может разочаровать любителей классических схваток.

Кроме того, несмотря на гениальную нелинейность, карта временами может быть немного запутанной, а быстрая travel-система открывается достаточно поздно.

**Вердикт**

Axiom Verge 2 — это смелый, экспериментальный и безумно амбициозный проект. Это не та игра, которая пытается угодить всем. Она берет жанр метроидвания и смело тянет его в новом направлении, делая ставку на исследование, головоломки и атмосферу, а не на экшен.

**Плюсы:**
* Гениальная, нелинейная система исследования
* Уникальная механика вселения в врагов и дронов
* Потрясающая, давящая атмосфера и саундтрек
* Интригующий, загадочный сюжет
* Смелый уход от формул первой части

**Минусы:**
* Упрощенная боевая система может разочаровать
* Нетрадиционные и порой простые босс-файты
* Карта может показаться излишне запутанной

**Кому подойдет эта игра?**
Если вы цените в метроидваниях в первую очередь **чувство открытия**, тайну и желаете исследовать мир, ломая его правила, — Axiom Verge 2 станет для вас жемчужиной. Если же вы ищете напряженный экшен и сложные бои с боссами, как в Hollow Knight или Ori, — подходите к игре с осторожностью и пониманием ее философии.

В итоге, Axiom Verge 2 — это триумф авторского замысла, достойное продолжение, которое не боится быть другим. И за это Тому Хэппи можно аплодировать стоя.

Sep 22, 2025·29h·1·Verified

Steam User 9359STEAMRecommended

Yes, it’s different to the first one. I put it down quickly at launch, thinking the developer had really screwed up. Fortunately I was convinced to give it another go a few years later, and I am glad I did. Yes, it’s still different, but it’s as good as the first, for sure.

Sep 20, 2025·15h·Verified

Steam User 9185STEAMRecommended

overall recommend, but it's not as solid as the first one.

pros:
-an A+ accessibility menu. as someone who loves exploring in games and doesn't like the stress of a healthbar, the option to just turn off enemy damage is perfecto. every single game with a healthbar should have the option to turn off death, don't @ me.
-it's not just the first game again, which is worth credit. in concept it's a pro. in execution... we'll get there
-by the end your mobility options are wide open, and getting around to all the last couple of spots i hadn't poked around yet felt really slick
-fast travel between savepoints. mwah mwah chef's kiss. huge qol improvement on the first game

cons:
-i never like a sequel to be a carbon copy of the first thing, but this felt like it went a bit too far in the other direction for me? there are recognisable things from the first game, but it doesn't hugely feel like it's set in the same universe (whatever 'universe' means for this series) or much continuity or anything. i didn't 100% so maybe there were notes i missed
-there are points where you need to fall through thin platforms, and i don't think the game ever communicates what the controls are for that? (down + jump) spent half an hour stuck in a box thinking i'd have softlocked myself by getting stuck there, if not for the option to save+quit from the pause menu and respawn at the last savepoint with all your progress (returning qol from the first game, incrediblé)
-pacing of both story and exploration is off sometimes. too many gates with a switch on the other side just arbitrarily blocking you at any given moment, and in the mid-game it feels like it's limiting exploration. storywise, at one point your character gets severely inconvenienced and limited, and i got the impression from dialogue that it was an end-of-act-one-lead-into-act-two sequence, and i wasn't really feeling the idea of dealing with that limitation so i thought i'd rush story to get past it. and, uh, turns out the 'sequence' ran muuuuuuuch longer than i thought. (gameplay limitation does get fixed relatively quickly to be fair, but plot point wasn't resolved for a while after)
-writing isn't fantastic and ending is a bit of a wet fart, but i don't really play these kinds of games for the story anyway so i wasn't too put off personally
-little bit short?

i know the pros list is shorter than the cons, but i enjoyed it more than i didn't. this feels like someone's first 'okay' game before making a banger, but they've happened the other way around this time? bit weird, but i had fun. maybe wait for a sale

Sep 18, 2025·8h·Verified

Steam User 4722STEAMRecommended

For an hour or two i thought that i'll ditch it, but no. After "the event", game expands quite nicely and becomes far more fun.

Where Axiom Verge 2 shines is in how its world is interconnected and how it all works together. Although it's not even close to being as alien as AV1's world, and that can be a bit of a meh for some, but it is alien enough to stay interesting. Movement skills are fun, environmental puzzles are easy but not in a obvious way, so if you like exploration it can click with you. Lore is interesting too, deepens AV1 lore nicely.

Combat is crap tho, no other way to say it, it's crap. Clunky to the point of sapping all fun from the gameplay. After some time i just ignored most enemies. You get nothing important for defeating them and all they do is drain your resources. Combat hacking enemies is mostly useless. Bosses are mostly optional and easy.

Finished the game with 79.90% items and 96.35% map. I don't feel any interest to 100% it or search for secrets but it was far more fun than it was frustrating.

Sep 18, 2025·10h·2·Verified

Steam User 7846STEAMNot recommended

Смешанные эмоции от этой игры. Геймплейно она очень приятная, и я получил определённое удовольствие, бегая по карте в поисках улучшений. Визуал тоже неплохой, но какая же Axiom Verge 2 простая и… пустая.
Если бы не видосы на фоне, я бы сошёл с ума — девять часов бегать по огромным локациям с редкими врагами под заунывное пение.

Разработчики ещё и хотели, чтобы я останавливался почитать записки. Ну вы знаете — эти записки в метроидваниях. Не понял этой идеи ещё в первой части, но, видимо, без них не обойтись, если и во второй игре они есть.

И какая радость наконец-то встретить босса! Но как жаль, что любого босса можно закликать одной кнопкой.

Неплохая идея с переключением на дрона, отдельной картой и улучшениями для него, но глобально это мало что меняет.
За дрона бегать чуть веселее (тем более я сам Дрон), немного разнообразия это добавляет, но теперь у нас в два раза больше скучных локаций с бессмысленными улучшениями.

Прокачка персонажа — это вообще что? Никакой мотивации собирать ресурсы для неё нет. Пару раз улучшить здоровье и атаку — и уже достаточно для прохождения. Всё остальное — либо сомнительные апгрейды, которые нужны только для доступа в комнаты с ещё улучшениями, либо абсолютно бесполезный мусор.
В любом метроиде древних времён получение апгрейда имело бОльший смысл. Даже добавка в пять ракет к уже имеющимся пятидесяти там воспринимается приятнее. Как это вообще возможно?

Разочарование сплошное, а не игра. Я даже начал сомневаться, насколько первая часть была хорошей — может, в тот момент я просто мало играл в других представителей жанра. Наверное, лучше и не проверять, чтобы не разочароваться ещё раз.

Сейчас дописываю текст и понимаю, что эмоции вовсе не такие уж смешанные — разве что эта смесь на 90% негативная.

Sep 18, 2025·9h·4·Verified

Steam User 9722STEAMRecommended

short and sweet solid metroidvania, reccomend if you're big into lore and exploration.

Sep 15, 2025·7h·Verified

Steam User 6347STEAMNot recommended

Невероятная деградация по сравнению с 1 частью абсолютно во всём.

Sep 15, 2025·Verified

Steam User 1092STEAMRecommended

這代探索感很好呀，王不是我的重點

Sep 15, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 3160STEAMRecommended

I don't really want to recommend *or* not recommend this game because it isn't really bad enough that I find anything objectionable, but it isn't good enough that I think anyone in particular should play it. It kind of just exists. if you really like the story of Axiom Verge 1 and if you find the act of exploration interesting enough in itself to be a game of its own this is alright. The environments are tidy, the traversal is clean, and the world itself is pretty big.

One of the bigger issues with the game is just that combat is very underwhelming. Your tools for fighting are kinda crap, the enemies themselves tend to lean more towards annoying than challenging, you can usually damage boost your way through everything, and it just feels like there was a general lack of design focus on combat. Almost every boss in the game can be killed just by standing in front of it and spamming your main attack until it dies. Even if one of them manages to kill you before you kill it, almost in every instance you'll spawn in nearby, the boss's hp won't be reset, and you can just continue to wail on it. I barely remember any details about any of them except for this one snake thing that you have to bomb nearby rocks to damage. It wasn't particularly interesting, it was just something that required a different method to defeat. Then there is the final boss which at least has some of the trappings of being an actual boss, but once you realize there is a revival pot in the middle of the room the tension is right out the window and it just becomes an annoying puzzle segment. This really prevents the game from feeling like it ever reaches a crescendo of any kind. Most Metroidvania games use bosses as a capstone to an area. Axiom Verge 2 barely treats them as an event and for the most part they are just something you bonk your head against for a few seconds to get a very minor upgrade.

The story has pretty substantial ties to Axiom Verge 1, though you don't really interact much with the core cast of that game. The main draw that connects Indra (your main character) to Trace (the first game's main character) is a mutual acquaintance in Elizabeth Hammond. Hammond isn't a super built up character in the first game... she sort of gets mentioned. It's easy to have forgotten that Hammond ever existed just from having played Axiom Verge 1, so maybe be ready to pick up a wiki to look up characters. There is at least one mildly interesting twist that happens in the main narrative, but for the most part the meat of the story seems to be in inferences that you have to make based on the content of notes and a handful of things that might seem like eastereggs or creepy pasta nonsense at first glance. And while the implications (should you manage to think about them at all without consulting fan theory) are interesting, I just don't really think they amount to much unless there is going to be a third game at some point that explicitly sets out to tie everything up in a neat package rather than set up another dozen minor mysteries. The story focus does build a bit towards the second half, but I don't really consider the conclusion to be all that satisfying with or without the 3 second post credits scene at the end for high completion percentages. I don't know if any of it says anything.

Still, competent game, it's not too long, and if you don't mind being a little frustrated and aimless (and if you are a fan of the genre you should be ok with that), it's interesting enough to warrant a play through.

Sep 13, 2025·12h·3·Verified

Steam User 2421STEAMRecommended

Пройдена на одном дыхании.
Чутка проще чем первая часть, но это не то что бы, для меня, минус.

Sep 9, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 6874STEAMNot recommended

The writing and dialogue is pretty horrendous, same as the first game, but this one is more interesting aside from that glaring flaw. Music is strong again, as are sound effects (save for the horrible low health noises). Some of the choices this dev makes baffle me as their series could be truly great if he just hired a writer as its clear they dont know what theyre doing that department. Worth it for a few dollars though.

Sep 8, 2025·2·Verified

Steam User 0802STEAMNot recommended

I honestly can't even believe this game was made by the same studio as the first one.
What the heck happened?

The first game was an absolute masterpiece.
This one just misses the mark totally.

Sep 8, 2025·4h·5·Verified

Steam User 4197STEAMRecommended

It's a very good retro style metroidvania. I enjoyed the exploration mechanics. I think a lot of negative reviews are because it's very different than the original Axiom Verge.

Sep 7, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 4012STEAMRecommended

Very good game, but it is very different from Axiom Verge 1. Almost no shared upgrades, different combat, different design philosophy in general, different aesthetics, different music style... a bold decision that also seems to have left it with a reputation as "the bad one". Inevitable outcome of being so different, but it is not bad. If you consider map design to be the heart and soul of metroidvanias, get it, play it, enjoy it, its one of the best in that regard. If you instead consider combat to be the core, perhaps pass on this, combat is not a focus. I've played about 30 hours on other platforms, ignore the low playtime.

Sep 6, 2025·9h·10·Verified

Steam User 3088STEAMNot recommended

前期的引导做的还行后面真是越来越迷了，缝界里的探索又难又肝又无聊，目前玩过的唯一没动力全收集的类银，用手柄玩游戏还会各种乱按出错，我还以为我手柄坏了，打开别的游戏试了一圈发现没问题，就你会乱按

Sep 6, 2025·11h

Steam User 8337STEAMRecommended

Шикарная игра в которой я провел прекрасное время. Она посложнее первой части в плане "А куда идти?", но способ найти путь есть всегда. Более глубокая, вселенная Axiom Verge стала обширнее. Также имеется и связь с первой частью, хоть и события в другом месте и в другое время. За первое прохождение я нашёл почти все предметы, без каких либо подсказок и гайдов. Такие игры очень отлично развивают логику и найти способ как достать тот или иной предмет.

Рекомендую. 10 нанонитов из 10

Sep 6, 2025·22h·1·Verified

Steam User 0027STEAMRecommended

Ich habe den ersten Teil sehr gemocht und mag diesen Teil sogar noch mehr. Ich weiß nicht was viele andere hier für ein Problem mit der Fortsetzung haben.

Sep 5, 2025·11h·Verified

Steam User 1798STEAMRecommended

Axiom Verge 2 builds on the foundation laid by its predecessor, expanding the Metroidvania formula with fresh ideas, deeper narrative layers, and refined gameplay mechanics, all while maintaining the distinctive retro-inspired aesthetic that fans have come to love. Developed again by Thomas Happ, this sequel takes players on another immersive journey through an alien world, but with a notable evolution in scope and complexity. It manages to balance nostalgia with innovation, delivering a sequel that feels both familiar and excitingly new, offering an experience that will appeal to both longtime fans and newcomers to the series.

Visually, Axiom Verge 2 continues the tradition of pixel art mastery but introduces more detailed environments and a richer color palette. The world feels alive and varied, moving beyond the darker, more claustrophobic corridors of the original to include expansive outdoor areas and diverse biomes. These vibrant settings are complemented by an atmospheric soundtrack that enhances the mood without overpowering the gameplay. The audio design, including sound effects and music, reflects a polished and thoughtful approach, adding layers of immersion and emotion to the exploration and combat encounters.

Gameplay in Axiom Verge 2 retains the core Metroidvania structure of exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat, but it introduces new mechanics that add depth and complexity. The protagonist, Indra, possesses a unique ability to create living weapons from her own body, which can be upgraded and customized, offering a level of strategic choice and personalization that is more pronounced than in the first game. The controls are smooth and responsive, and the combat feels more dynamic, with enemies exhibiting a greater variety of behaviors that require adaptive tactics. The sequel also introduces a more interconnected world design, encouraging backtracking and exploration, but with a better-guided progression that reduces potential frustration.

Narratively, Axiom Verge 2 takes a more ambitious and philosophical approach, exploring themes of identity, consciousness, and the nature of existence. The story unfolds gradually, using environmental clues, cryptic dialogue, and intriguing lore fragments to create a haunting and thought-provoking atmosphere. Unlike the more straightforward mystery of the original, this sequel invites players to engage more deeply with its narrative, posing questions about reality and self-awareness that linger long after the game ends. This intellectual layer enriches the gameplay experience, making it not just a mechanical challenge but a narrative journey as well.

The game also addresses some of the pacing and accessibility issues from its predecessor by refining the map system and incorporating clearer visual cues, making navigation more intuitive without sacrificing the joy of discovery. The puzzles are cleverly integrated, often requiring creative use of Indra’s unique abilities and careful observation of the environment. This blend of action and puzzle-solving keeps the gameplay fresh and engaging throughout, preventing stagnation and encouraging players to experiment with different strategies.

While Axiom Verge 2 is a significant step forward, it does retain some elements that may not appeal to all players. The slower, more deliberate pace might feel cumbersome to those expecting constant action, and the sometimes abstract storytelling demands patience and attention to detail. However, these aspects contribute to the game’s unique charm and depth, rewarding players who invest themselves fully in its world.

In conclusion, Axiom Verge 2 is a worthy successor that respects the legacy of the original while boldly expanding its horizons. It offers a richer, more polished Metroidvania experience, with refined gameplay, a hauntingly beautiful world, and a narrative that challenges players on both an emotional and intellectual level. For fans of the genre and those who appreciate games that blend exploration, combat, and storytelling into a cohesive whole, Axiom Verge 2 delivers a compelling adventure that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining. It stands as a testament to Thomas Happ’s vision and craftsmanship, proving that a solo developer can continue to push the boundaries of what indie games can achieve.

Rating: 7/10

Sep 3, 2025·24h·3·Verified

Steam User 2011STEAMNot recommended

A huge downgrade from the first game.

People saying the combat is not the focus of the game might be right, but to me it feels like the developer just didn't put enough effort into it. Overall a downgrade in every aspect from the first game except maybe graphically although that's questionable and subject to personal preference.

Sep 2, 2025·7h·6·Verified

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