I love some metroidvania games. I've played so many of them and liked most of them. Some have too many gimmicks and others not enough.
Axiom Verge is a rare mineral amongst a pile of valuable rocks. It's a one-man show, music, graphics, story, programming, all made by this one genius who deserves all the praise he can get. I was looking forward to playing this game long before it came out and when I finally got to play it, I was in love. It's a great game, more people should play it, more people should enjoy the music, the pixel-art, the minimalism, the story, the flow of the game, the incredible discoveries and most of all, the ending of this game just left me wanting more of it. In fact, ending this game was sad because I had to wait until the sequel came out before I could enjoy more from the creator. Well worth the time and all the money.