I’m still impressed by what I’ve seen of Axiom Verge 2, a Metroid-style adventure game that appears to play very differently than its predecessor owing to a new protagonist. Instead of the gun you carried in the 2015 original, your character this time battles with melee weapons and a hacking abilities. Axiom Verge 2’s creator, Thomas Happ, recently delayed it significantly, but a new video from Day of the Devs on Wednesday shows that it’s nearly ready.
With Axiom Verge 2, Happ is also trying something rare for a Metroidvania—indeed, unique for any game. He structured the game so that players may avoid boss fights if they found them too difficult.
“I’ve talked to a lot of individuals who had fun exploring the environment of Axiom Verge, only to become stranded at a boss they couldn’t get beyond. That was the end of their game experience “Happ said. “They’re there for gamers that enjoy a good boss battle, and you’ll be rewarded for your efforts. However, if you choose to sprint right past them and continue exploring, it is a perfectly fine way to experience Axiom Verge 2.”
Happ elaborated on the game in a PlayStation blog post, revealing that he’s also enlarged the difficulty choices. Instead of selecting easy, regular, or hard, you’ll be able to individually alter how much damage you do to adversaries and how much damage you suffer when struck.
Axiom Verge 2 is expected to be released “later this summer.”
