Lab Zero Games made quite a name for itself when it first came onto the scene with the launch of Skullgirls about eight years ago, where it demonstrated a remarkable penchant for smooth 2D animation and tight combat design. A few years after its success there, the studio launched an Indiegogo campaign in which it revealed its next major project, Indivisible. Billed as an RPG that would blend in elements of Valkyrie Profile and Super Metroid, Indivisible quickly accrued its campaign goal and then some, and saw its initial release on other platforms just this past fall. Now, Indivisible has (somewhat unexpectedly) made its way onto the Switch, and we can confidently say that it has been worth the wait.
Indivisible follows the story of Ajna, a fiery teenager who grew up in a remote village, trained in martial arts by her mysterious and stoic father. Life is peaceful in the village of Ashwat, but things very quickly go awry, however, when the forces of an evil warlord named Ravannavar burn down her village and kill her father. In the ensuing chaos, Ajna also discovers that she possesses mysterious magical powers, chief among them being the ability to effectively absorb other people and deposit them into a pocket dimension in her brain. Eager to avenge her fallen father and home, Ajna sets out on a journey to kill Ravannavar, though her quest for revenge very quickly begins revealing secrets from her family’s shrouded past.
It’s a rather clichéd premise to be frank, and this isn’t helped by the sometimes lightning-fast pace at which the plot moves forward. For example—in the very beginning of the story—Ajna’s father’s introduction and death happen mere minutes apart from each other, which considerably dampens the emotional effect of the traumatic event. Moreover, the man who kills her father becomes the first “Incarnation” to be absorbed in Ajna’s brain, and she regularly talks to him with a begrudging sort of respect mere minutes after she’s just buried what’s left of her dad. To be fair, it’s easy to see how the story is often being fast-tracked in favor of putting gameplay first. Still, for a game as story-focused as Indivisible, the internal logic of the narrative is too often cast aside just because it isn’t immediately convenient.
Even so, the story remains one of the strongest aspects of Indivisible, and this is due in large part to the excellent writing on behalf of the characters. Ajna is a likeable, yet over-confident and sometimes selfish main character, and she’s surrounded by a strong cast of characters that—though occasionally one-note—each have something unique to contribute to story beats. Each of these characters are greatly boosted, too, by the near constant humor in the party interactions, which is consistently entertaining. Razmi the witch, for example, always plays the devil’s advocate and solves most of her problems by setting things on fire. Then there’s Dhar—a lieutenant of Ravannavar—who acts as the ‘Meg Griffin’ of the party, constantly the brunt of jokes and taking everyone else’s abuse. This is an effective and charming cast of characters, and with so many different personalities on display, it makes for conversations that stay dynamic and interesting.
Speaking of dynamic and interesting, the battle system utilized in Indivisible strikes a fascinating balance between live action and turn-based, while also showcasing Lab Zero’s experience with fighting games. Up to four characters at a time can be on the field at once, and each has a set number of action points that govern how many attacks, heals, or other actions they can use before having to wait for a spell for their points to refill. Each character is bound to a face button, and inputting either 'up' or 'down' when you press their button can allow you to use more of their moveset. For example, when Ginseng the healer goes with her neutral attack, she pulls out her pestle and mortar and does a little bit of damage to the enemy while charging her heal. Using her 'up' attack, then, casts her heal while also damaging any enemies nearby.
Each character has something unique or interesting in their moveset, and judicious spacing of their abilities can lead to fights in which the enemy team can’t even get a shot in. The combat system favors juggle combos, and the player is often encouraged to try to keep the enemy in the air or otherwise stunlocked for as long as possible via well-timed attacks from the crew. Combat becomes more satisfying over time, then, as you become more acquainted with the different animation lengths for each character and the unique strengths and weaknesses they have. Considering that there are a couple dozen characters you can have in your party, there are also a lot of interesting compositions to explore and experiment with as you move forward. In short, it’s pretty tough to get tired of Indivisible’s combat, which remains constantly fresh and exciting throughout the whole 30-hour campaign via both the regular introduction of new characters and the generally fast, but thoughtful, pace.
In between fights, you’ll find yourself guiding Ajna through an overworld that could best be described as Metroidvania-lite. While at first glance it might seem like there are all kinds of paths to take, the reality is that you’re following a mostly linear route for the adventure, punctuated by the occasional side path hiding a collectable. Along the way, you’re tasked with overcoming all sorts of platforming challenges, which admittedly don’t leave much of an impression. Most platforming sections are easy, but there are random spikes in difficulty every now and then which can be jarring and unpleasant to say the least. Indivisible’s platforming is never bad, but considering how you spend effectively half the game doing this, it’s a little disappointing that it comes off as feeling like a bit of an afterthought.
Speaking of afterthoughts, it also feels like the RPG elements of Indivisible are a little too toned down for their own good. Battles are immensely fun to participate in, of course, but the rewards for completing them are a little less compelling. Though you collect experience and level up, there aren’t any visible stats or notable growth gains to be seen other than HP, and the ‘heart points’ that your Incarnations gain in lieu of levels aren’t even explained to you in-game. The most noticeable progress you can make is via collecting “ringsels” hidden away in the overworld, which can be traded in to get more action points per character or bolster defense, but this is considered a separate system from your leveling up. The issue being, Indivisible often seems like it wants to be an RPG, but doesn’t really want to lean into featuring many elements of the genre. In this way, you could say that Indivisible is rather reminiscent of, say, Paper Mario: Sticker Star in that it’s ostensibly an RPG, but often feels like a watered-down take on one instead.
We’d be remiss to critique Indivisible without taking some time to talk about the positively fantastic presentation on offer. The Southeast Asian-inspired world you explore has a diverse series of interesting locales to see—like the stunning neon-dripping Tai Krung City—and the Shantae-esque blend of 3D environments with hand drawn 2D characters makes for an interesting contrast. Animation quality on the sprites is top tier, with there being plenty of expressive and exaggerated movements to sell the cartoon-y look of the drawings, and characters each have distinctive and memorable designs to differentiate them from the rest of the somewhat crowded cast. All these visuals are backed by a catchy soundtrack and some excellent voice acting, which elevates the character interactions substantially. There’s a sense that each of these voice actors were really getting into their roles, and that passion regularly shows through in the delivery.
Conclusion
Indivisible is an ambitious game, and there are moments where it seems to buckle somewhat under that ambition. The oddly-paced story, watered-down RPG elements, and inconsistent platforming indicate that this one maybe could’ve used more time in the oven. On the other hand, the beautiful visuals, excellent voice acting, great writing, and top-notch combat prove to be strong elements of an argument in its favor. Indivisible may have some rough edges, but these don’t prove to overly hinder the generally enjoyable and charming nature of this adventure. It may not be perfect, but we’d still recommend you give Indivisible a look; this one’s certainly worth your time.
Comments 36
Unfortunately for this game there are many, many other better RPGs ahead of it in the queue.
Really excited for this, but I'll wait until they patch it to the current version on other platforms. I played the demo on ps4 a while back and love the combat system.
Going to have to pass on it too, it's not really convincing me to buy it at full price, or at all really.
It's one of those "style over substance" impressions unfortunately. I still enjoyed it, and the shortcomings don't take away how gorgeous the game looks in action.
This game rocks! The sequel will be even better!
I'm a little sad, because I was hoping this one would be a 9 or at least an 8.
@Phostachio I’m waiting for the update too. Although, I flat out bought the game. It’s just sitting there in limbo until this fabled update arrives. Which they said was ready May 1st, when the game was supposed to be released. What happened with that..?
@CurryPowderKeg79 Honestly same. The aesthetics are great, but the overall experience isn't as consistent as I hoped. One of those games where if they ever do a sequel, I'm sure it'll be incredible.
Has that should-have-been-Day-1 patch released yet? Or is this based on the unintended early release version?
I plan on grabbing this asap. Been waiting a long time for it. The cheap price on the eshop, offsets the lack of the latest update for me. Which by the time I'm done with this, will probably be out.
I see you share the same query as I do. Yup. Where is it?
"Fantastic writing" and "oddly-paced story" are to points you don't normally find in the same review
May wait for a smaller sale price to happen in the future.
Thank you for the review.
An RPG with little to no economic motivation for the player to engage in battles is a problem if battles are a main part of the content. If the battling is where a lot of the content made is, but there's an economic motivation for the player to avoid it, then if what's left isn't good, you're encouraging the player to skip the game. Sticker Star was a problem because it encouraged skipping battles and didn't have satisfying story, puzzles, or gameplay. All that was left was the graphics. This game at least looks like it has a story and characters, but if the gameplay discourages the player from fighting battles and the platforming is average, I'm worried about what's left?
The opposite problem from this or Sticker Star is most 80s and 90s menu based RPGs, where the random battles were often snoozefests (you're not usually going to use cool abilities against giant bug number 2095, so random encounters often are about spamming fight), but provide so much reward to the player that beating the game without grinding them is impossible. The balance, of course, is giving a good enough reward for battles and also making them fun.
@Pip_Pipston I can think of a lot of novels which have poor pacing but great writing. There can be a lot of really well written characters and scenes, but the author isn't great at judging which scenes need to be in the story (or simply disagrees with the reader). To a point, a reader will usually overlook it if the rest is good.
@CurryPowderKeg79 it is a 9 out of 10, dude. I’ve had the game for a while and it’s way better than this review suggests. Plus, every other review I’ve seen has given it a 9. Heck, even IGN gave it 8.9 when it was originally released.
Unfortunately, Nintendo Life have been making a habit of down-scoring great games and giving 9’s to absolutely average ones. Take a look at their review history and see for yourself. Having said that, this is the first time that I’ve disagreed with Mitch, who’s usually pretty much on point. Just goes to show how subjective reviews are I guess.
@RPGamer No, it looks like that won't be till the end of next month. Amazon says June 30th. Hopefully it'll also contain that patch that this digital version was supposed to come out with.
@The_Pixel_King you're countering his opinion with... your opinion;)
@jobvd Errrm, Touché man! That’s actually a pretty great point! 😂
Though it isn’t 'just' my point. It’s based on my gameplay and the reviews I’ve personally read.
I agreed with the review pretty much. I see the potential in combat (I'm maybe three hours in) and the writing is fantastic, but the story itself...Ajna is oddly cordial with the man who murdered her dad and very quickly accepts what's going on with her brain. Way too quickly. That being said, the game is never boring. It's a nice hybrid of genres and I don't really see it as an RPG, but something of a different animal. Not the greatest, but nothing particularly damning about it.
@Snaplocket Oh I’m not so silly to make such a comment after seeing a single digit, without reading the content of the review. I read every single word, and noticed the many positives. For the most part, I just didn’t happen to agree with the negatives.
As for other reviews. I’ve only read those from IGN, Bonus Stage, Digital Fix Darkstation and Daily Star, which were all overwhelmingly positive. Perhaps I should have checked more before posting, but as you know, we gamers can be a passionate bunch 😉
Eh, I'll think about this. I wasn't a fan of the demo I played on PS4 due to its combat (though if the combat has received improvements from the demo in the final game, then cool) and...wow, the RPG elements really do seem watered down.
It's a shame that the Switch version's 2D art is all noticeably lower res than other versions of the game. It's especially noticeable with the main character during exploration/platforming sections.
i really want to get this but the big error on the version released at launch is forcing me to wait. even worse i might have to go the ps4 route if there’s no word on the switch update .
@Pip_Pipston I think that's mainly on the character interactions, rather than the story itself. It does fit with some thoughts I heard from friends on the game who loved most of the characters (save Ajna, and not for the usual 'MC's kind of bland' reasoning) and mentioned nothing about the story.
Most reviews are giving it a 7+ which seems pretty solid in my book. The art looks fantastic and gameplay seems different enough. Maybe wait for a sale on this then snag it? Anyone have actually gameplay impressions? I like to get a lot of impressions
“The oddly-paced story, watered-down RPG elements, and inconsistent platforming indicate that this one maybe could’ve used more time in the oven.”
Well that’s a bit disappointing. I could’ve swore I downloaded a demo on PS4 back around the consoles launch. It seems like I’ve been waiting for this game forever already.
I am 5 hours in. For me personally, it is an 8/10. The gameplay is really fluid, the graphics are really pretty, the fights enjoyable. I think the game is not great at explaining its mechanics tbh and I agree that levelling up is really shallow, however, I enjoy the first "plot twist" 5 hours in and I can see the story's potential. Another positive is, if u play it on the go, there are many save points so you can easily play 15-20 mins and progress in a satisfying manner.
I don't regret buying it for 20 bucks
I was enjoying the game until I got to Maha Ravannavar. I'm unable to get past him- he just whittles my four characters' health bars down to nothing in short order while he takes forever to die. Any tips?
EDIT: Nevermind, I was able to beat him by using the team of Ajna, Tungar, Ginseng & Honey and Dhar.
This is an 8/10 game for me. The combat system is fast, fluid, and unlike anything I've played before.
There's another important reason why you should support this developer. They made a labour of love in Skullgirls and supported the hell out of it for years after release, engaging with the fans for feedback and for ideas on what additional content they wanted. In spite of all that, the publisher still hasn't paid them years worth of owed royalties: these guys deserve to succeed.
Excited to hear more of the voice acting! glad to hear it's pretty good
I played and finished the game. I loved the graphic and animation. The gamplay is ok. the problem with this game is that it looks like 2 different team were involved in it's development that didn't communicate at all between them. the end game it's a torture! i dont suggest this game to anynone that have little patience
May download someday.
7 is too high. I spent a good 7-8 hours into the game, then came to the realization I wasn't enjoying myself anymore. The platforming is just meh, the combat is a cool design, but there is so much missing, it feels like the game needed more time in development. There is zero gear, no money, no shops, no explanation to leveling up. I just returned the game for a refund, not worth the time once you get past the pretty graphics.
This is the greatest game of all time in my opinion.
@Dyna-Z It's definitely one of the best ones and I can easily see it slipping into my top 25
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