Topic: Axiom Verge

I'm really late to the game on this one. News of the forthcoming sequel made me finally pulled this one out of the backlog and I'm loving it.
I am a huge Metroid fan (Super Metroid is probably my all time favourite game or at least a top contender), and this game scratches that itch for new 2D Metroid.
It really follows the Metroid formula, but has its own identity. Level design and art is great, the backtracking doesn't feel like a chore, power ups are great and plentiful (the drone is a neat little thing), the music is really fitting and well done and I really like the boss designs. It's not olding my hand telling me where to go either, which I really like. It's giving me just enough info and tools to figure it out on my own. I've barely put it down since I started.

This is how you do a love letter game. Make your own, make the changes and improvements you like, make your own story and characters, all without "borrowing" the IP you are trying to pay tribute to.

Playing thru the game for the first time now and I've had a really good time thus far. 8 hours in and it says I'm only about 40% of the items and 60% of the map uncovered. I feel like I've explored every nook and cranny that I can, with the exception of a couple spots due to not have a certain tool yet. I checked out a video on YouTube and saw how to access a spot I couldn't figure out earlier the game, but after that, I'm really not sure where else to go. Hoping I don't get really stuck as I'd like to see this game through.

What ended up working really well for me is to not expect the game to give you hints or make it self-evident where to go, but rather to look at your map and find the unexplored spaces. Go as far as you can in those areas, and when you hit a "wall," find the next one nearby. You progress in the game naturally when you do that.

@megasean yea I've been doing that quite a bit. Hit some road blocks then found another way. Played another 3 hours or so last night and found a couple more power ups/guns etc. I can only think of 1 more area I can reach now with my abilities and 1 I can't. We'll see how it shakes out later today. But I feel like I'm close to finishing the game.