Where have you been all my life?? Axiom Verge tops so many lists for good reason. It took everything that Metroid did to the extreme. And polishes it to the most lusterous sheen I've seen in decades. I love drilling for secret paths, hacking enemies that are difficult to deal with, swapping weapons to get the job done right... It's just an amazing experience. Graphically it's superb, the sound is also done justice. My only complaint would be that the sound of the drill takes me back to sitting in a dentist's chair. I cringe a little bit at the sound, which is unfortunate since many secrets will require a ton of drilling to find but that's just one of my personal issues. Maybe I shouldn't eat so much candy. Instead, I'll sit down with the sweet treat that is Axiom Verge.

There is always something to critique in games and although I had to dig fairly deep, I would change just a couple things in this title. Namely the shooting... While none of the enemies present too much of a problem the shooting in Axiom Verge still feels rather clunky. 8 directions simply isn't enough. This is almost remedied by the addition of being able to lock yourself in place, but I'd much rather lock my shooting position and still be able to move since in Axiom Verge you will often need to be moving in some way. Still, the solution is functional and it really is a minor complaint that is buried under a trove of retro-styled nostalgic goodness. I can't believe I've waited this long to actually sit down and give Axiom Verge a try... This should've been on my channel during its release.

We are living in a golden age of indie games and Axiom Verge is definitive proof of that fact. Metroidvanias are almost never done by larger companies anymore, so I rely on indie studios to get my fix... And boy, do they deliver! Chasm was sitting at the top of my list as the most enjoyable Metroidvania in recent years but the tight action and refined mechanics of Axiom Verge have put it up and over. Don't get me wrong, Chasm is a fantastic title... But it can't hold a candle to Axiom Verge. So much thought has gone into Axiom Verge, backtracking isn't a slog as there are tons of items to pickup with your new abilities. You literally can't go 5 rooms without tripping over some sort of powerup. That is glorious, and keeps me thirsting for more. I'm sure that Thomas Happ has been told 1000 times, but congratulations on a masterpiece.