Axiom Verge 1 & 2 Double Pack

Axiom Verge

Version 1.0.4. Patch is available to version 1.0.5 at the time of testing (March 2024). Per devs, this patch fixes the display for the Russian language. Russian does display incorrectly on the cart.

Completed the game 100%, which includes beating the story, finding all notes, all weapons, all health upgrades, all tools and found every portion of the map.

Noticed no major issues.
There may have been a little stutter here and there but nothing super noticeable. The game runs and plays just fine.

Additionally, speedrunner mode and randomizer mode are included on cart. While we didn’t fully test these modes to their full capacity, we did start a few sessions on both modes to ensure they worked and everything worked as expected.

One potential annoyance though. This game automatically sets the controls with B being jump/okay and A being unknown 3/cancel. (Note, A does get used for an item later on in the game, but for spoilers sake, we won’t reveal that item as it’s not available immediately at the start of the game). The reason why this is an annoyance, is because of the “okay” and “cancel” portion of these buttons. While B works perfectly as a jump button, it becomes a nuisance in menus, options and other screens.
In a lot of games, the B button is the "back" button within menus, while A being the "okay" button. These are reversed in this game. B is okay and A goes back. It can cause quite a bit of confusion.
While there is a way to configure the buttons to your liking, "jump" will always be coupled with "okay" and the "unknown item 3" will always be tied to "cancel".

Accessibility options: None

Difficulty options: Normal and Hard.

Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.

No DRM. Played only in handheld mode.

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Axiom Verge 2

Version 1.0.20 on cart.
No patch available at the time of testing (March 2024). Game is currently complete on cart.

Completed the game 100%, which includes beating the story, finding all journal notes, finding all weapons, finding all health upgrades, upgrading and purchasing all skills, and found every portion of the map.

Did not notice any major issues but there were some minor ones.
At one point, we noticed some enemies getting stuck to the environment for a few seconds. This also could occur with the character the player controls. It didn’t cause any issues as it only lasts for a few moments, so it’s only a minor inconvenience.

Also noticed some stutters throughout the playthrough. Unlike the first game, in which it is not very noticeable, it definetly catches the eye here. The stutters do not affect gameplay in any way, but nonetheless they are there.

Unlike the first game, the A/B issue doesn’t exist here. Within menus, B is cancel and A is okay, as it typically is in most games. The buttons can also be configured to any button layout, and it will not affect the menu button configuration in any way.

Another issue encountered affects reaching 100% of the item completion. We collected one health upgrade and about three skill upgrades before entering the final boss. Unfortunately, we did not save before fighting this boss, and when we finished off the boss fight, those items were taken away as if we never collected them. This could be an even bigger issue for someone that doesn’t save consistently. With that being said, we highly recommend to save often, and to save before fighting the final boss. We also recommend for those trying to complete the game 100%, find all collectible items and save before entering the final boss.

There is also another minor thing related to 100%: The map completion. Just like collecting all items provides the player with 100% completion, there is also a tally for the map areas discovered. Prior to fighting the final boss, the player can locate every single part of the map and it will count for 99% completion. The area where the final boss is, counts for the remaining 1%, therefore making it 100%. This in itself is not an issue. The minor issue that arises is after beating the boss. After beating the boss and watching the final credits, the player is presented with a final stats screen, which will state the map is completed at 100%. But once returning to the title screen and selecting the save file, it only mentions the map being complete at 99%. This is because of that final boss area. For some reason, it doesn’t count it for the title screen save file. This was not an issue on the first game at all, but it is here on the second game. Nothing major; but worth mentioning for completionists.

Additionally, speedrunner mode is available on cart. While we didn’t fully test this mode to its full capacity, we did start a few sessions on the mode to ensure it worked as expected.

Accessibility options:
*Enemy damage multiplier can be adjusted. It multiplies the amount of damage an enemy can do.
*Player damage multiplier can be adjusted. This multiples the amount of damage the player can do to enemies.
*Game speed multiplier can be adjusted. This adjusts the game speed.
*Platform contrast can be adjusted. This adjusts the contrast between platforms versus the background.
*Flicker/Strobe Reduction can be turned on or off.

Difficulty options: None

Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese.

No DRM. Played only in handheld mode.