#Axiom Verge 2

[cordate-chordata]

Commission of Indra and Amashilama from Axiom Verge 2 :D

Alt. bg and transparent bg under the cut

[cheesieblr]

The Axiom Verges

(Axioms Verge? I ‘unno. Spoilers)

This metroidvania duology is a neat little couple of games I’m happy to have happened upon. I beat the first game a few years ago and just this week beat the second one. I shall talk about both.

As I understood, Axiom Verge stood out by having some cool, non-traditional MV upgrades. No double or wall jumping, no crawling or balling, and some unconventional weapons. I liked it. My prior MVs were almost entirely Metroid and Castlevania, so the freshness was extremely welcome. Not to mention that AV’s pixel art is INCREDIBLE! I LOVE giant bio-mechanical beings and I LOVE every gross, writhing detail of their bodies. It makes me wanna puke in the best way possible— like Akira. I don’t really remember the story… but the final boss was interesting, unconventional and rather skill-less to fight.

Axiom Verge 2 was much of the same; still fun and still an enjoyable experience. Again I don’t get much of the lore, even if someone explained it to me. All I understood was that the protagonist is a dirty billionaire, but she cares for her daughter— and prevented the Murder of the Universe ;) i guess. Balancing felt good, didn’t feel like I got too OP too fast, and the exploration was really neat! I liked going into the breach as the drone a bunch; great way to discover little secrets here and there. Pixel art is amazing once again! I would say something about the bosses except there really weren’t any :\. They were more optional combat “challenges” than a true obstacle that stood in your way. I am not for that choice too often. I want a boulder in the path; a fucking steel door. Let me bash my head into it for 3 hours trying to figure out the strategy !! (only slightly exaggerating)

It was clearly left open for a third game, and I will certainly play it if/when it comes out!

[maeve-is-annoying-about-books]

Wakes up in a cold sweat

Axiom Verge 1 is a subversion of the classic masculine power fantasy, while Axiom Verge 2 subverts the classic feminine one.

Hear me out. First let's define both really simply. The masculine power fantasy is essentially one of becoming one's own self, and exerting their power upon the world in their name. The feminine power fantasy is one of union, nurturing and caring for another. We can further simplify these ideals into two lines. The masculine power fantasy is to kill the father. The feminine is to save the daughter.

That's the most barebones description but it's just to get us off on the right foot. Essay below the cut going into detail

In AV1 we follow Trace. All along we're set up with a simple idea, Trace must survive, grow to master his environment and his abilities, and go on to slay his foes. The Rusalki.

Wait what?

Yes, the Rusalki are a controlling force on Trace. For him to fight his way into the masculine power fantasy he must use his power to buck the control of another and choose for himself what is right. But that's not what happens. In fact, he works with them. Why?

Athetos is the final position, the ultimate masculine form of Trace. He makes clones of himself and each fail to become. They're stripped of name and identity and these "lesser selves" are now subservient only to Athetos. The Father. The Master. If Trace wishes to become a man, he must prove himself unconquerable and stand evenly with Athetos.

That's the nightmare segment. We see Trace literally chasing after an ideal self he can't keep up with. We see him become one of the failed clone monsters and experience being a puppet, it's the masculine nightmare. He is a failure, he will be subsumed, he must become his perceived ideal self.

But it's all a trap. Trace doesn't just man up and beat the toxin that's mutating him. He has help from Ophelia. See, there's been a secret this entire time in the background, have you caught it?

When Trace finds his mutated other selves, he tries to reason and they will not listen. They're caught up in the masculine narrative and there are only two ways out of it. Destroy Athetos, or change the script.

Trace, who has been nurturing and healing the Rusalki despite their power over him. Trace who has to use his understanding, and for whom a boss fight isn't glorious single combat. Trace who bears the ultimate yonic symbol in the Axiom Disruptor. Guns are generally phallic symbols but this one's design but this one disrupts (heh) the narrative symbology to a different one.

Empathy, sacrifice, and grace are often hallmarks of the feminine power fantasy. There is much to be said about whether these are healthy themes but for now, in present moment, that's often what they are. It is in showing empathy to his failed clones that he finds purpose beyond meager violence to face Athetos. It's through empathy that he connects with Elsenova and the other Rusalki who then grant him the power of making connections to defeat his foe. He sacrifices his own pride and it allows him to see the world for what it truly is rather than a playground to be remade in his image. The address disruptor may seem a tool to do just that at first, but in actuality it cannot change what has not already been changed. Most of all, he sacrifices his ultimate masculine form in Athetos, refusing to become powerful to become understanding. His method is not to subjugate his potential lesser selves and become the standout example but simply to be, in the world he is in.

Indra is taken by the hand along the path of the feminine. She comes to rescue her daughter and must work under the mercy of the Arms. A class of people who have power, and power over her as a kind of patriarchy. Indra! A world-class CEO is now a victim of a system and a culture that simply doesn't value her for what she is.

And just like Trace, the further she goes along this path the more misled she is. She is expected to sacrifice everything, even her life for her daughter. She must care for Damu and balance catering to the desires of the figuratively-masculine Amashilama.

Trace suffered being the victim of toxic masculinity. Becoming isolated and dejected and discarded. Indra becomes the victim of toxic femininity, sacrificing until there is nothing left to give. She is used for her body and her mind is a discarded, useless thing. But it is from that mind that Indra flips her own script.

She remakes her body in her image, as she likes. Have you noticed the hacking tool that makes her the master of her demesne? The phallic symbol of the ice pick? Each tool she has leads her closer to her destiny and the more she makes a name for herself the more empowered she becomes, to the point she makes her own name for herself in the world. Everything Indra is given puts her in the position of that brave and empowered masculine, even and especially, the ending.

Should I talk about how Indra's body is used so that Amalshilama can get at her real goal? The next generation of Arms. How she is literally used to produce and bequeath the next age to the patriarchal Arms? At how Indra's past self takes on the feminine role of sacrifice and fulfills the idea of motherhood by reuniting with her daughter, and how that leaves our mechanical Indra free to pursue her name? (Presumably Ophelia?)

Indra's pursuit saves her life, in a sense, and she becomes greater than the simple story she was placed into. As Trace did. As they both did and in so doing did not become victims of masculinity and femininity. In fact, all throughout their games they win by pushing past the constraints humanity would place on them.

And just. AUGH. The symbolism! The way Trace carries larva on his back being "injected into". The way Indra is given actual soldier's weaponry. The way Sudra is still until the Disruptor is picked up, almost a symbol of beginning life. The way Indra seeks a way to allow Damu to build a body and follow in her example. To literally make himself.

Axiom Verge is so good actually.

[atwas-gaming]

So, I had this in my drafts for about a month. I've been building theories off this post that I never posted:

My entire understanding of Axiom Verge changed when I found the Breach Attractor. As it turns out, this was NOT Athetos' invention, but a Sudran device.

I've stated before that Athetos must have built his devices based on Sudran tech. For one thing, I don't think Athetos designed all the upgrades for the Axiom Disruptor; I think it's more likely that he designed the AD to be compatible with Sudran upgrades (we know, for instance, that the flamethrower, or "dinger-gisbar" is a Sudran device and not something that Athetos built).

This also explains something that puzzled me all throughout the first game: how did a theoretical physicist manage to engineer biomechanoid technology??? These involve multiple different skillsets and fields of study and expertise. Even if Athetos had hundred or thousands of years to learn, it's still somewhat doubtful that he would have been able to do it by himself.

BUT it would have been a lot simpler if he was using Sudran texts and blueprints to work from. We know from AV2 that the Sudrans merged human minds with their "Arms," and that they invented the drone technology that we know and love from AV1. We also know that it was even more sophisticated than what we saw in the first game, with the ability to transfer from human to drone and back, without the somewhat janky mechanics of the drone teleport.

Over the course of several hundreds or even thousands of years, due to the way the Breach slows down time, Athetos was able to both learn and translate Sudran text (as well as Vykhyan). But Athetos also mentions, in one journal page, that the Sudrans also invented a programming language.

(If there actually is an IRL programming language called "Sudra" or "Sudran," let me know. I looked it up and couldn't find anything.)

So it's not impossible that Athetos learned how to work with the Sudran programs, and just designed the AD around those programs.

He probably got the Breach Attractor from Ophelia. She's the one who had it first.

[art-spectre]

a followup to my axiom verge poster. same composition, different game

[knackeredforever]

Doing my first stream today im streaming axiom verge 2

[lurkdragonstuff]

It is 2021, and there is time for Axiom Verge 2!

Ultimately I think Axiom Verge was the better game in terms of its appeal to me, personally. I felt like the story was paced better, if nothing else. That said, Axiom Verge 2 has its charms, and I was never mad at it, just kind of disappointed at where the story cuts off. I feel like I had to look up a few more solutions than I did with the first one, too, but that might be an artefact of my changing habits regarding looking things up.

Reading up on lore speculation and getting 100% map/item completion has made me appreciate it more. I also like how the fact that it makes your drone form the more fun one to explore with, what with its better movement capabilities, ties into its transhumanism themes. And I always love a good alternate realities mindfuck.

About the only complaint I have besides "wow, that was fast" re: the story is: why was this track not the title theme or at the very least included in the game somewhere instead of being relegated to a bonus track on the OST?

A remix of the first game's title theme in an Ancient Mesopotamian style, matching the new (and fantastic) direction of the music? With the same gloomy vibe? Come on!

The existing title theme is catchy, but much too cheerful, I think, and doesn't really reflect the music of the game proper, which mostly alternates between Ancient Mesopotamian/folky and NES-style chiptune.

...But anyway, I recommend it for fans of Metroidvanias and the first one. I enjoyed my time with it.

[fancypantsrecords]

Thomas Happ - Axiom Verge 2 Original Soundtrack | Limited Run Games | 2022 | Black

[vaporwavechaogarden]

[sparkylurkdragon]

Monsoon - Thomas Happ ft. Mayssa Karaa, Axiom Verge 2 OST

[ypso21]

do you ever start a videogame and then stop playing it midway through and then pick it up again 3 years later barely understanding the story or mechanics anymore, but then you finish the game and get obsessed with it and wonder why you stopped playing it in the first place??

[ladymczee]

Just a friendly reminder that the Axiom Verge 2 soundtrack FUCKING SLAPS

[prnsn001]

Procession Of The Anunna; Axiom Verge 2

[kyostarrtv]

Going Live With Axiom Verge 2

We are on the boldest body retrieval mission in Axiom Verge 2 today!

Twitch: KyoStarr

[atwas-gaming]

Leitmotif analysis:

Alarms are used in Trace Rising, Apocalypse, and Indra Internal (feel free to check the rest of the OST's for both games and see if I missed any). The alarms are practically the first thing we hear in all of these songs. All of these are boss fights in which the protagonist, whether Trace or Indra, are fighting their doppelgangers. I am not certain yet whether this is simply a style choice, a message to the players, or just a coincidence. Perhaps future AV games will provide more insight (hopefully??? this simply can't be the end of the series, there's too many unanswered questions).

[mrmegamanfan]

Unboxing the Axiom Verge Collector’s Edition!