What I'd like to know is if getting started for a gamer is more expensive now than it was 4 or 6 months ago when AXS was relatively cheap.
You're totally wrong about that.
4 months ago AXIES has been reaching the peak price and it needs a lot of money to buy 3 axies to be able to play the game. That's different with the current condition when you can get axies floor very cheap from the market
https://marketplace.axieinfinity.com/axie? You can even check it directly on the market. A few months ago an axie floor cost around $500 - $600 but this time it's only cost you $110 - $150. that's almost 4x less.
A solid team ( which you need to purchase to get started ) costed about $800 or so a few months ago.
it might be more than it. I remember that it will cost you around $1800 - $2200 to get a team to play axie infinity.
Has that changed now that the AXS token is more expensive ?
It has changed now as more utility for axs available. You can also use axs for staking to get passive income as well. The thing has changed slowly.