While the original Axiom Verge was often criticized as being too iterative of the supposedly formulaic Metroidvania mold, its sequel completely drops entire aspects rather than build upon them. Putting aside the issue where readers shouldn’t have to do prerequisite reading or playing to understand a review, the comparison approach is more relevant when sequels are more iterative than innovative, since with iterative games the expectation is that the gameplay and other elements will evolve rather than mutate. When reviewing sequels it’s really easy to fall into the trap of making the whole essay be about “this vs that” comparing the first game to the second.