Indivisible - Metroidvania RPG from the people behind Skullgirls

[Vemsie]

I've posted about this before in the Kickstarter thread, but even though the game is crowd-funded it's not actually on Kickstarter (it's a fixed funding project on Indiegogo instead) and that thread perhaps doesn't give it the exposure it deserves. The game is in its last week of funding and still needs about 300k at the time of writing, so any help is welcome at this stage,

So what is Indivisible? In short, it's a hybrid of a 2D Metroidvania game (in that it has a large interconnected map, platforming, areas that are locked off until you have certain items or skills, secrets and even some sequence breaking) and an RPG, most notably in its party management, leveling and battle system. Combat is heavily inspired by Valkyrie Profile in that each character in your four-person party is mapped to a button, with directional inputs adding more moves. Combat is not turn-based. You can attack as long as you have meter, so meter management plays an extremely important role in combat.
The game is made by Lab Zero Games, the team that brought you Skullgirls.

Here's their campaign video:

This is by no means final, but what is cool is that everything you see in there is already playable. Lab Zero released a free playable prototype for Linux, Windows, Mac, Steam and PS4. Even though it's just the tip of the iceberg, it plays really well and has some cool stuff for expert players in it, like a secret boss and sequence breaking for speedruns and pacifist runs.

If you want to read what they plan on adding, this post from the design director goes into great detail:

http://indivisiblegame.com/blog/building-on-the-indivisible-prototype/

Combat is already pretty damn fun and you can see how much the additions above will add to the strategy. The way attacks link, with certain attacks setting enemies up for juggling, attacks having different status effects (like putting slow down on an enemy) and the different effects for the supers of each character can all be glimpsed in the prototype, and that's without all the additional characters, weapons, stat differentiation and tech like guard breaks, buffs/debuffs and so on.

Other things of note:
- Your party consists of your character and three Incarnations, Now what's cool about these Incarnations is that they - like the enemies - are based on a wide variety of mythologies and cultures from all over the world. This results in an incredibly diverse cast of characters. You can read all about the Incarnations that have been revealed up to this point here:

http://labzerogames.com/indiv-incarnations/

- Music is composed by Hiroki Kikuta, most famous for Secret of Mana.

- The game will have many crossover indie stars that will be playable, including Juan from Guacamelee, the Drifter from Hyper Light Drifter and Shovel Knight. The final one will be revealed tomorrow, with some people expecting it to be Miriam from Bloodstained or one of the characters from Undertale. We'll see.

Here are the ones revealed so far:


There's tons more on their campaign site, including a cost breakdown, the different tiers etc.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/indivisible-rpg-from-the-creators-of-skullgirls#/

So, please help if you're interested.

[angel]

[Qazimod]

I backed Indivisible not too long ago. I don't think I ever really played much of the Valkyrie Profile style games before but it looks like fun and I'm already a fan of DEM SPRITES and that animation and all of the Z-Engine fanciness with the lighting and everything. Seems like it'll be pretty close, but I really hope it finds the funding it needs.

[JohnnyRyall]

I couldn't see it mentioned in the OP but there's a free prototype of this available on PS4.

Definitely worth a look. It plays brilliantly, and it sounds like the team want to do some really interesting things with the genre, by incorporating fighting game mechanics and reducing the emphasis on levelling and stats.

[FargalEX]

Backed this immediately when it was announced - the world needs more games like this. Hope it finds the rest of its funding before the end of the week!

[robdood]

This looks neat as hell. I'm totally backing. Hope they make the target.

[Vemsie]

Nice.

Final days always have the biggest push and the final cross-over that will be revealed soon will probably lead to a nice boost, but still 250K to go.

EDIT: final cross-over character is Red from Transistor.

[Vemsie]

Yesterday was a good day. A very good day. It's at 90 percent funded now, so a little over 150k left in 4 days.

Unless something goes terribly wrong, this is all but funded.

[Tailfly]

Backed this about a week ago, really enjoyed the way the prototype played on PS4 and urge any RPG fan to try it out.

The combat and Art are really well done and do capture some of the magic from its inspiration Valkyrie Profile, I just hope its story also takes cues from that game. Its been a LONG time since i played it but still remember listening from the sky above and choosing who to 'help' or not and those stories being really well done, with nods to loss, hardship and grief that I haven't seen dealt with in any other JRPGs.

[Vemsie]

Funded.

[Hitcher]

Not sure the 2 genres will mix very well - breaking the flow of exploring for a fight could get very annoying.

[Vemsie]

Not too worried about that, based on the prototype, but I know that combat system won't be for everyone.

Stretch goals:

$1,650,000 - More Music by Hiroki Kikuta
Indivisible is currently budgeted to have between 60 and 90 minutes of music from Kikuta-san, and we’d like to expand that by at least another hour!

$1,900,000 - Animated opening by Titmouse and Mystery Anime Studio
We’ll partner with Titmouse and a mystery anime studio to create a high-octane opening animation! Titmouse will storyboard everything, and it'll be executed by the anime studio!

About Titmouse
Titmouse Animation was founded in 2000 by husband/wife power couple Shannon
and Chris Prynoski, producing absurdist, dynamic 2-D animation that hungry college kids with twisted sense of humor just can’t get enough of. It has since evolved into a full service production company developing content for even the wee ones, and employing over 200 gifted artists in LA, NYC, and Vancouver.

About Mystery Anime Studio
Unfortunately we can't reveal who the mysterious anime studio is yet. We have a commitment from them, but until things are a little more nailed down they've asked that we hold off on revealing who they are.

Also, they keeping knocking it out of the park with their Incarnations:

Even as a child, abandoned on the monastery's doorstep, Sangmu had been...unusual. She did not often cry, seeming only to desire long stretches of contemplative solitude, and resented any disturbance, even meals. As she grew she did not play or socialize, and talked so seldom that for months the monks worried she could not speak at all. But young Sangmu knew differently - mere words were not the language of her heart.

In the summer of the year she turned ten, Sangmu first witnessed the meticulous creation of a sand mandala. From the moment she saw the intricate design taking shape, the change in her demeanor was striking. Aloofness transformed into rapt attention, her focus so intense that the monks were forced to remind her repeatedly to eat and sleep. In those days and weeks, in that place, her life changed.

Since that time, Sangmu relentlessly devoted every waking hour to perfecting the painstaking creation, and the equally beautiful destruction, of mandala and other sand sculptures. Her naturally gifted use of Iddhi and unique, unrestrained outlook quickly made her a virtuoso without peer, able to literally breathe life into her creations. Through her sand-painting tool, the chak-pur, the ephemeral artistry of the cosmos spoke to her: in the sand, Sangmu has found her language!

[Qazimod]

Yessss last time I checked they still had quite a target to meet in the time they had, so this is a pleasant surprise.

[JohnnyRyall]

Wow, really glad this made it. It looked like a lost cause only a week ago.

Wondering if I want to upgrade my pledge to a PS4 copy...

[robdood]

TRying to try the prototype on PC. It's not finding my controller (360 wired pad)? :/ Anyone suffered the same?

[robdood]

Ah well, connecting PS4 pad via USB worked! It's pretty cool, I find it a bit hard to get my head around it, but I like it!

[Vemsie]

Try to climb out of the cave after beating the boss.

[mrpranny]

Backed this at last, with a few hours to go. This has slime girls in right?

[Vemsie]

 

[Azrael]

Watched that trailer and was liking the look of it until the battles started. Then thought "turn based? Not for me" but then reading the thread is see it isn't turn based. I'm interested again now but not entirely sure I understand the battling mechanics. Hopefully it'll get a Switch demo at some point. 

[Qazimod]

Preview codes are being made available for backers.  

 

If you're like me and forgot to fill out your survey, you should still be able to do that and then go back and claim the preview.  I did one playthrough and got a rubbish completion percentage because I must have missed some stuff, but it looks better than ever and the battle system is satisfying if a bit overwhelming at times  

[Vemsie]

Yep, completed the preview as well yesterday (and also missed quite a bit of stuff) but it plays beautifully, looks gorgeous and the music is fantastic. Ginseng and Honey are easily  my favourite party members so far.

[Qazimod]

As well as having an awesome visual design, G&H's healing move was invaluable - I'd often try and make sure I had a spare turn with them to get out of trouble.

 

I think the other day I was using Dhar, Qadira and G&H by the time I was at the final stretch - Dhar and Qadira providing the damage, G&H mostly healing or attacking if everyone was okay, and Ajna being an all-rounder (thanks to her Iddhi ability healing the party.)

 

 

[Qazimod]

Another one pushed back to '19.

 

 

I'm happy with this - the demo shows a lot of effort's being put into it... so if they need the time, it's all good.  

[Adrock]

That's a shame, I was really looking forward to this. At least they aren't rushing it out.

[Vemsie]

 

Gorgeous.

[Qazimod]

The updated backer preview came out earlier today and it's really good. It's pretty much an extension of the last preview, with some clearer tutorials on the flow of battle and character mechanics, some added dialogue between characters, a brief look at the "inner realm" (where Ajna meditates to level up stats and stuff), a little bit of sidequesting (when Ajna meets Ginseng and Honey you have to collect some lilies before they join your party) and a new boss encounter.

 

If you played the last preview you should know where to go and what to do, but it's just much more polished all around. If the whole game is like that, it could be excellent.  

[Vemsie]

Even though we recently had some impressive reveals for big titles like Sekiro, Devil May Cry 5 and Cyberpunk 2077, this remains one of my most wanted games.

 

 

[Qazimod]

October 8th.

 

 

I thought things were a little quiet in terms of news and half-expected this to end up being a 2020 release, so this is a nice surprise.  

[Lovelyman]

This looks great