*Despite, what the release says I actually played this game on the Switch.

Axiom Verge 2 is decent game. Compared to Axiom Verge 1, Axiom Verge 2's highs are little lower but its lows are a little higher. It feels like a more polished but slightly less inspired sequel.

Notable improvements are the controls, which are much better and lack the jank from the first game. I'd say the visuals are little better, or at least less harsh. Its a much more colourful and varied looking game. Due to the improved controls it's superior as a platformer. The game has a lot more varied mechanics than the first one, though I found I didn't use most of them. Though I still got lost occasionally I found I had to rely on a guide very rarely to progress compared to the first one. As a metroidvania it is probably superior. The soundtrack is also great.

The game is much easier than the first one which might to be everyone's tastes. Well the story is good, I found it a little less compelling. The new protagonist is interesting but I felt like we don't see enough of her to capitalize on that. The drone from the first game is used much more heavily, which I am unsure if I liked or not.

I'd say say the game's worst flaw is it's combat. The game focuses on melee combat compared to the first game's ranged. The melee combat is quite simple and gets a little boring. Compared to the first game weapon there is very little weapon variety. There are no real boss fights, those that exist can either be skipped or you literally can't lose. Most bosses that do exist can be beaten easily by just spamming the attack button. Some common enemies can be annoying but I found just platforming around them rather than fighting them was more enjoyable by the later half of the game. The game features an enemy hacking mechanic which is really cool but because of how easy the game is I found I rarely used it. It simply wasn't the most convenient way to solve problems most of the time.

The game took me nine and half hours to beat at a moderate rate of completion. In general I had a good time. If you enjoyed the story and atmosphere of Axiom Verge 1, it's worth returning to for a go at the sequel.

So, I said something kind of strange in my Indivisible review. Comparing its complex array of platforming abilities to the more simplistic approach of games like Celeste and Big Tower Tiny Square, I said, "Indivisible, meanwhile, has decided to pair its platforming with Metroidvania-style skill acquisition."

But here's the thing about metroidvanias: they're all platformers! My absolute all time favorite metroidvania, Metroid Fusion, has tons of platforming! You can't survive most of the boss fights without it!

I think it says something about how bad the platforming in Indivisible is that it completely obfuscated how core platforming mechanics are to the metroidvania genre. Axiom Verge 2, on the other hand, is a great example of how they're done well.

Firstly, you almost never have to do 5 different moves in quick succession. At most you might have to do 3, and that's only in a few spots, and even then they're very easy to execute because they're distinct buttons with only one function and no directional modifier.

Secondly, there aren't that many of them. There are maybe 4 core platforming abilities, and a few others that aren't platforming specific but might occasionally be used in that context. It's a very easy list to keep track of, is the point, especially since, for spoiler reasons, you only have access to some of them some of the time.

Thirdly, you get clear feedback on your actions, and the level design generally dispels any ambiguity about whether you can reach a place with your current abilities. You will almost never spend huge swaths of time throwing yourself at a wall because you think maybe you're able to grab that ledge if you just time it right.

All of these are things that good metroidvanias do to mitigate the frustration with platforming. I won't say I was never frustrated (heck, I get frustrated at Metroid Fusion sometimes, particularly with the spin jump), but it was not a defining feature of my experience.

And if you are feeling frustrated, there's almost always something else to do to work out your frustration. Exploration is a key part of the game, and especially in the 2nd half you'll often find yourself just scanning the map for blank spots that you might now be able to fill in. And it's worth doing that any time you feel stuck, because frequently you'll stumble upon, seemingly by chance, a new ability that's exactly what you need to progress. It makes progression feel really natural and player-driven, though the lack of guidance from the game can be frustrating during a couple trickier parts. That being said, the 2 or 3 times I had to look something up always resulted in me slapping my forehead in exasperation at my own stupidity, because inevitably the solution was right there in front of me if I'd just spent a little more time working at it. And unlike Indivisible there are actually a number of fast travel points spread across the map, so you don't need to do the same long, frustrating sections over and over and over and over and over and over and over only to discover that wasn't even the way you needed to go.

I can see how the giant map and lack of guidance could be alienating, especially when combined with a slightly steeper difficulty curve in the early game, and I actually bounced off the game a couple hours in for that exact reason. Fortunately when I came back to it to give it one more try before deleting it, I got into a rhythm and ended up beating the game in two days. So if you're feeling overwhelmed in the early game, just stick with it. Find the empty spaces, even if they're in the exact opposite direction of your quest marker, and leave no stone unturned (or unstruck).

p.s. I don't really have much to say about the rest of the game. The story is mostly a bunch of gobbledygook but makes for good atmosphere. The music is decent, but you can probably tell what it'll sound like just by looking at the game. And "boss fights" mostly consist of just hitting the boss over and over until they die; honestly they're easier than like half the regular enemies. So really it's the satisfying exploration and progression that are the core of the game.