Axiom Verge (Wii U)

[dazzybee]

So this has just been confirmed to be coming to Wii U. Heavily (really heavily) inspired by Super Metroid, so great to see it on a nintendo system. Really wanted to play it, glad I can now wait it out and play it on Wii U.

[Dcubed]

Was JUST about to post this!

 

Very nice Been meaning to pick this up on Steam for a while... Good thing I didn't get round to it!

 

Hopefully they'll use the Gamepad for a map; it would be an obvious big benefit!

[Hero-of-Time]

Release date!

 

I’ve been waiting a long time to be able to say this: Axiom Verge will be coming to Wii U on September 1st in both the NOA and NOE regions!

 

When I first announced Axiom Verge about 4 years ago, there was tremendous excitement from Nintendo fans who had been waiting for years for a true 2D Metroid-style action/adventure/exploration game. Because of some technical issues, however, I wasn’t able to launch it on a Nintendo platform straight away. Some people were understandably upset:

 

The Nintendo games of my childhood are what inspired me to make Axiom Verge. Metroid is probably one of the more obvious influences, but it’s actually a lot more than that. Axiom Verge actually started out as an exercise in game design. I wanted to deconstruct my favorite games from my youth and see what would happen if I took the best elements of each and put them together. The Bionic Commando’s grapple hook and Rygar’s Yo-Yo in the setting of Blaster Master and Shatterhand. I wanted to see what would fit together – and just as importantly what wouldn’t work.

 

Axiom Verge truly belongs on a Nintendo platform. It was only because of Blitworks’ amazing technical skill that we were able to make that happen, and I’m grateful for their work on the pixel-perfect port. Even though the game’s been out for a little while on other systems, the Wii U version is probably the best one. It’s the only console version to support leaderboards for the dedicated Speedrun Mode. And the Wii U GamePad will allow people to have the world map viewable at all times without pausing the game – or to play Off-TV.

[Dcubed]

Good stuff! Been waiting on the Wii U version for a long time now!

[Fierce_LiNk]

I'm a bit surprised they bothered doing this. The game came out almost 18 months ago.

[Pestneb]

I'm a bit surprised they bothered doing this. The game came out almost 18 months ago.

 

yeah.. and with such a full wii u release schedule

 

It's so quiet out there I guess they figured it was worth a punt.. if nothing else it's an excuse to get the name out there again and maybe encourage sales on the other platforms.

[MindFreak]

I'm playing this on Switch and am near the end-game of it. Though it's been a good ride, I have some niggles with the game, mainly wasting a lot of time due to 1) similar areas and 2) no warp system, making it tedious to walk around to find the secrets. I've wasted too much time in the game trying to find out where to go and the map doesn't always help with this so yesteday I resorted to a guide to help me find some of the last secrets and "the way out". Furthermore, some enemies are still, even late in the game, causing me trouble because they are either hard to hit with the weapons, or they just have too much health. That's a minor thing, though.

 

Other than that, it's been a pleasure to try the game. It's quite good on a gameplay-level, and the upgrades are a nice twist to the genre. The story seems interesting but I haven't read all those notes I've been collecting. Might just read them online once I'm done with the game.

Edited October 13, 2017 by MindFreak

[Hero-of-Time]

I'm looking forward to finally trying the game. I'm staying strong and waiting for the physical version, though. 

 

[Grazza]

I downloaded it yesterday but haven't played it yet. 

 

Now personally this is how I think a dual download/retail release should be done.  The download is £10 cheaper than retail (I think), which compensates for the lack of resale value.  I would love to play Tiny Barbarian too, but I couldn't make my mind up because of the £26.99 price.

[Sméagol]

Wow.. What a shitstorm.

Part 1: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-03-15-the-high-cost-of-a-wii-u-retail-release

Part 2: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-03-15-axiom-verge-producer-files-suit-against-badland-publishing-for-usd200k

But the game is coming out! Yes! For WiiU physically! On 29 March.

 

Edited March 16, 2019 by Sméagol

[darksnowman]

This was under a fiver in a recent Switch eShop sale. The price to MB required value was too good for me to pass up.

The visuals, the atmosphere, the music (the music!) and the character movement... unsurprising for me to report that it's all fantastic as Axiom Verge has been highly acclaimed for years. And that's the character movement from the word go. The weight and speed of the running and jumping clicked with me in a big way, then after some upgrades, you're zipping all over the screen. 

Could do with going back into it for a victory lap to see what else there is to uncover. Snippets of story are as appealing to dig up as powerups. Seeing that map in the post above, I kind of want to get my mitts on something like that to sit down and go through with a fine-tooth comb and learn as much as I can about what was created here.  Very intriguing. The glitching, the code, the unexpectedly unconventional boss encounters... a lot of thought went into this game. And the post-credits scene. What's that all about!

Not sure if I finished it early or not? It's highly doubtful I pulled off any sequence breaks but it was an utter fluke that I came across the final area and boss. Actually thought I was setting off on a mid-game jaunt with my latest upgrades when I came across it. Didn't even dawn on me I was that close to the end until it happened; if at some point I was told to collect however many doodahs then head there, it completely passed me by. Or maybe the game is so masterfully designed that I was funnelled through as intended.  Better than ending up lost and frustrated, that much's for certain.

It says I racked up less than 40 deaths which seems untrue. I was dying all over the shop. Save points were so frequent it seemed right to be gungho. Probably the wee bot hogged all the deaths as I sent it out a brave bit.

Only things I can think it could have done with are warping between save rooms (could be something I didn't unlock?) and the option to have a map marker for where to go next for noobs. Took me in the region 10-15 hours which could have been cut down if I knew what was up, and no doubt seasoned Metroidvania-ers ripped through it in less than half that time. Good job the running and shooting was fun in itself or I likely would've quit long before the end.

But never mind that. My trials and tribulations with this genre are well enough documented. Suffice it to say that Axiom Verge is up there as one of my favourites along with the non-linear Castlevania games. Might get the sequel sometime if it's heavily discounted too.