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Axiom Verge 2 delayed until 2021

Bullet Club

Member
The Legacy of 2020 Continues

“Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.”
— Douglas Hofstadter

Predicting the future is hard and never more so than in 2020. About this time last year, I released the first (and still to date only) trailer for Axiom Verge 2, which ended boldly with the words “COMING FALL 2020” in all caps. Alas, despite doing everything I could to make good on my prediction, it will not come to pass. I apologize to all of Axiom Verge’s fans who have been waiting to learn more about this universe. For people who don’t want to bother reading the entire blog post, the closest I’ll go to making another prediction is that it will be out in the first half of 2021. Hopefully sooner in that window than later, but I don’t want to disappoint anyone so I’ll just leave it there.

So why is it taking so long? I originally based my prediction on the remaining features on my project list and how long those tasks took when I was making Axiom Verge. I don’t mean to make excuses, but there were a number of factors that led my project schedule astray.

First, the enemies in Axiom Verge 2 are much more sophisticated than those in the original Axiom Verge. Whereas in the original all of the enemies followed a set path, in Axiom Verge 2 some enemies scan the environment for you, and if they detect you, they’ll give chase.


Next, those of you who played the original Axiom Verge will recall one of its most distinctive features, the Address Disruptor tool. That’s the tool that lets you glitch enemies and the environment. I don’t want to spoil too much, but Axiom Verge 2 has something that serves a similar function but in a way that gives the player more control over the outcome.

Third, the art style for Axiom Verge 2 is far more complex than that of Axiom Verge. You’ll notice in these side-by-side views that in the first game, each tile was distinct. This created an intentionally blocky, alien world as befit the storyline. Axiom Verge 2 on the other hand, takes place on a more earth-like planet with natural inclines and dips. In order to capture that difference, it was critical to formulate seamless tiles that can blend into one another. This may seem like a subtle change, but it has far reaching implications for the design, art, and ultimately feel of the game.



Last but not least of course is that nothing’s predictable these days. On that crisp wintery morning that I released the trailer for Axiom Verge 2, I was able to do crazy things like talk to strangers up close. My hands weren’t raw from washing them every time I touched something that hadn’t been in my house for the past 72 hours. My son was making friends at his preschool and hadn’t yet started crying in frustration at how poor a substitute a computer screen is for human contact. Nor, for that matter, had any of us.

I am extremely grateful for all of the inquiries into the release date for Axiom Verge 2. I had my concerns about whether people would even care at all about a sequel coming 5 years after the release of the original. Although it’s taking longer than I originally hoped, I am going to do my best to make sure it’s worth the wait.

 

GamesAreFun

Banned
Wait, wtf happened to this game's visuals?

Thomas Happ changed the art style for the sequel, he says it has more "detail" but to me it just looks washed out & lacks sufficient tonal contrast. A step back compared to the first game, I'll still buy it though.

Shame about the delay but understandable, considering he's a solo developer.
 
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CamHostage

Member
Thomas Happ changed the art style for the sequel, he says it has more "detail" but to me it just looks washed out & lacks sufficient tonal contrast.

I think it looks better overall in general motion? The parallax and particles and foresty areas show what it's going for, but it could maybe use a lighting pass or something, and it does look more "standard" than the first game. (The first game didn't fully stand out on its own IMO either; it caught a nice wave because it was this real throwback yet weird-looking Metroid 1 pastiche, but I think either one of these games need to stand on much more than their visuals.)

 

Knightime_X

Member
I'm sure the game will be good but I can't rate the graphics any higher than 6/10.
AV1 was more vibrant and popped more.

AV1 to me looked like an advanced Sega Genesis 32x game.
AV2 looks better than NES but worse that snes.
 
New trailer from today, announcing that it's now also being launched on PS4 and PS5 and...coming soon. I can't create threads though.


In reference to what others have said, I do prefer the simpler graphics in the first game but I certainly don't hate how it looks now.
 
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