"That's the way it is."
Axial Disc 2 is a 2023 Role Playing Game developed by Sawyer Friend and published by Gem Games. The game follows the antagonists of the previous game, Chip, Ania, and Ciel, and unveils their side of the plot occurring simultaneously to Axial Disc 1 for the first half of the game, before continuing the story from the perspective of the entire cast of both games after the ending point of Disc 1. It is the second part in a two-part series.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Chip's father, Swed, is constantly verbally berating him. It is later revealed that he used Chip as a test subject, and Chip's failure to meet expectations lead to resentment. This tends to be treated by the game as an explanation for Chip's aggressive tendencies in Disc 1.
- After the End: The story literally catches up to the ending of the first game, depicting a ruinous Stardust City after the fall of Astral Point.
- Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: During the final encounter with Axis, the background flashes between previous locations with a galaxy pattern torn between them.
- Anti-Hero: Chip, serving as a primary antagonist in Disc 1, now takes up the mantle of the game's central protagonist.
- Arbitrary Head Count Limit: Upon recruiting Amara, Chip points out that his party is already full, and that most RPG parties cap out at 3 people.
- Armor of Invincibility: Kwadle's ability to equip multiple accessories allows him to equip the Wonder Guardian (which sets his HP to 3) and the Champion's Medal (which prevents KO when HP is over 50%). This setup allows Kwadle to survive any attack and can be retained indefinitely if he is healed afterward.
- Artificial Human: While most Axials are created from humans in some degree, Chip is a clone of Sai and Axis is made entirely out of Axis Cells.
- Artistic License – Biology: The concept of "Axis Cells" utilize a lot of scientific jargon but ultimately aren't based in any real science.
- Battle in the Rain: A large chunk of the game occurs in Stardust City, which is always raining, and as such many of the fights in the game are battles in the rain.
- Beam Spam: Many of Chip's attacks are honing magnetic lasers that he fires multiple times per turn. His FINAL, Coilgun vNull, can hit up to 11 times in a single turn.
- Body Horror: The Eaters, as well as some of the more extreme Axials, are fleshy, wrinkly monsters covered in cavities and tentacles.
- Bookends: The opening of the final boss theme is lifted directly from the title theme of the first game.
- Bonus Dungeon: The game features several optional dungeons, including a redux of the Tefka dungeon from the first game.
- Boss Bonanza: Among the many superbosses in the game is a boss rush of 7 suped up bosses from the first game.
- But Thou Must!: In Sai's Dreamscape, Chip will ask you if you want to play video games with him. If you select yes, he will ask you if you're sure, continuously cycling this question until you eventually hit no.
- The Cameo: Each of the summons are cameos from "other worlds", notably including Nova from Anodyne 2 and Del from EndCycle.
- Childhood Friends: The first party member recruited, Ania, is Chip's friend since childhood.
- Chekhov's Skill: In an early game flashback, Chip mentions that he calls his signature attack "Coilgun v1.0", as he intends on developing stronger versions (which he later succeeds in).
- Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends: During the Ancient Train chapter, when the cast is asleep by the fire, Sai and Amara finally profess their mutual feelings.
- A Day in the Limelight: During the final dungeon, several obstacles require specific party members to join the party temporarily to proceed. The Water Tower and Power Plant dungeons also require Oli and Chip respectively, and feature them as central characters to those dungeons' stories.
- Dead Person Conversation: During Sai's Dreamquest, Sai is able to interact with imaginary incarnations of Sidney and Swed, who he has emotional closure with.
- Degraded Boss: Several Eater bosses are later reskinned as normal encounters, often with higher stats than they were originally faced with due to Power Creep.
- Good Morning, Crono: The game opens with Chip in his bed, pretending to be a silent protagonist, being woken up by Ania.
- Government Conspiracy: The Eaters are actually genetic experiments created by the Agency, but this fact has been covered up.
- Gravity Master: After his character arc, Sai acquires the ability to manipulate Space Magic, which includes gravity.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Lux joins the party early in the game, but vanishes after The Fall only to be seen again in the final dungeon as a boss.
- Healer Signs On Early: Ania, the first party member, happens to be the most dedicated healer of the party, with her special gimmick revolving around healing potency.
- Kick the Dog: Axis appears several times with no specific intention other than intimidating and tormenting the party. After one of these occasions, when Amara asks where Axis has gone, Chip remarks that he's "probably looking for a dog to kick."
- Old Save Bonus: Upon beginning the game, the save data can be transferred from Axial Disc 1, carrying over all equipment and party member stats.
- Optional Boss: The game features a large swathe of optional bosses in the 7 Doppelganger fights, Tefka, Jean, the Composers, and Ren.
- No Kill like Overkill: Ren, the game's superboss, has a signature move which deals 9,999 damage to each party member, although the maximum HP a party member can have is only 999.
- Patrick Stewart Speech: During the final battle, each member of the cast pronounces to Axis what their purpose is.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Amara, as well as other Axials, are intended to be used as superweapons that can fight crime and preserve peace.
- Perspective Flip: The game begins with the perspective of a different group of characters than the main protagonists of the first game, whose story takes place concurrently with theirs.
- Scarf of Asskicking: Upon rejoining, Oli continues to wear her signature scarf.
- Secret Art: While many characters are able to utilize magic, it is revealed in this game that only Chip has mastered the ability to utilize magnet magic.
- Secret Government Warehouse: Astral Point, the large omni-purpose government building in Stardust City, keeps a giant science lab filled with Eldritch Abomination experiments hidden on its unreachable 13th floor.
- Sequential Boss: Several story encounters fit this bill, most notably the final fight with Axis which begins in his base form and branches off into Overflow, or Stardust, depending on which ending you got.
- Superboss: The game features several bosses that could be considered superbosses, especially including Ren, a Level 99 boss that can only be faced in the postgame.
- Take Your Time: Even though Axis threatens to destroy the city "at any moment", this never actually occurs no matter how long it takes for the party to finally defeat him.
- Two-Part Trilogy: The game is the second of two parts, with the first ending on a cliffhanger and the second ending so conclusively that a follow-up doesn't seem immediately likely, despite the sequel hooks from the superboss in the second game.
- Villain Opening Scene: The game opens on a monologue from Axis, the main antagonist of Disc 2.
- Walk on Water: Once Oli rejoins the party, she can skip across water using ice platforms.
- Water Is Air: Somewhat subverted in the Sea Floor dungeon, where the boss's punches are so powerful that they create air pockets for the party to walk through.
- Water Source Tampering: While never shown onscreen, the party notes that if the Eaters threaten the Water Tower, it could lead to the whole city's water supply being jeopardized.
- Wham Episode: After the Mas arc, the turning point of the story known as The Fall occurs, where the game picks up where Disc 1 left off.
