Lab Zero Games and 505 Games have released Indivisible after 4 years in development. What originally started as a crowdfunded game back in 2015 has finally been released but does it deliver on its expectations? The answer to this depends entirely on what you’re expecting from the game in terms of its RPG content.
Indivisible follows the tale of a tomboyish heroine named Ajna. Ajna is the sole survivor of an attack on her village by an evil military force led by Lord Ravannavar. Things escalate and upon defeating one of the military commanders named Dhar, he gets sucked into Ajna’s mind. Ajna soon discovers she can enter her own mind as well and visit an “Inner Realm” where she can converse with Dhar. She then sets out on a journey of revenge against Ravannavar and drags Dhar along in the process.
The story of Indivisible is about as trope heavy as it gets and nothing is really explained in proper detail at first to be quite honest. There’s also an incredible disconnect in terms of character’s emotions regarding what’s going on at specific points in the game. For example, quite early in the game, you’re facing a murderer and the next minute you’re suddenly on speaking terms with them and they help you out in battle? Seems like an odd narrative choice but Lab Zero Games ran with it. Another example is when you rescue a certain character and he suddenly pledges his unwavering support for you but then, later on, shuns you for a solid segment of the game due to one specific event which directly affects him as well.
Ajna’s personality comes across as a bit of an airhead to be quite honest but I guess therein lies the charm. The other cast members you encounter throughout the game each add a unique flavour to the mix and while the writing is extremely troped heavy as mentioned above, anime fans will probably find everything on offer quite enjoyable.
In Indivisible, there are plenty of characters that will eventually join your party. As such, the game allows you to change up your party quite easily from the pause menu. There’s also a rather large number of missable party members in the game so be sure to explore every nook and cranny and do everything possible to recruit characters to your party. This is worthwhile in the end because some party members have specific skills which are absolutely indispensable to your progression in the game.
The gameplay in Indivisible is a mixture of old fashioned turn-based combat with a more active fighting game twist. Players will use the face buttons and combinations of the face buttons and left analog stick to perform combos and attacks which recharge in real-time. An element of rhythm gameplay is also introduced into combat due to the fact that enemies will attack you and you need to perfectly time your blocks in order to mitigate the damage and build your “Iddhi” gauge. Iddhi is your inner energy and when you’ve obtained enough Iddhi from attacking and blocking attacks, you’re able to unleash a super-powered attack by pressing R1 and the respective face button which corresponds to your character.
With each character having their own unique set of attacks and abilities, players will have to change up their strategy to survive in Indivisible. Some characters are way better than others at specific things such as healing or dealing damage and the right character for the right situation is necessary at some points. Swapping between characters is enjoyable and learning how to combine their attacks properly to build Iddhi in battles is a lot of fun. Using your Iddhi gauge correctly in battle becomes increasingly important as the game goes on. Indivisible does a poor job of explaining the combat mechanics though and it may take a while for players to acclimatize to the situation and get the hang of things.
Indivisible’s platforming gameplay is great and the puzzle-solving that is interspersed throughout the game is too with Ajna having to use specific in-game items to traverse areas. The game’s major downfall though lies in its uneven difficulty. At the time of writing, a recent patch addressed the uneven difficulty spikes but before this, there were multiple sections of the game filled with sheer and utter frustration due to how hard certain battles were. The fact that enemies don’t respawn so you’re unable to grind for levels means that some of these battles would be quite unwinnable if you missed out on enough exp and were underleveled. This would definitely infuriate players enough to cause them to rage-quit the game and never return but thankfully, this issue seems to have been resolved somewhat with the 1.02 patch balancing the game’s difficulty a bit more.
The soundtrack used in Indivisible is excellent with a lot of memorable tracks used as themes for specific locations. The voice acting is unique in that each character has a specific accent and mannerism of speech since they all hail from different parts of the game’s world. Seasoned voice acting veterans make up the cast of Indivisible and they’ve all performed their roles really well. However, some character’s lines may grate players based on their personal taste and level of tolerance for trope heavy writing.
Graphically, Indivisible is filled with eye candy. The 2D environments and backgrounds are vibrant and colourful and the battle effects are excellent. The game’s anime aesthetic is one of its best features and the animation is fluid throughout.
Overall, Indivisible is a good game that suffers from some minor hiccups. At launch the difficulty spikes and unbalanced gameplay was disappointing but as it stands right now, the game is great and will keep you entertained for quite a while as you get through the rather lengthy story. Just be sure to fight every enemy you encounter should you pick up the game. Can’t miss out on that precious exp!
Developer: Lab Zero Games
Publisher: 505 Games
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems
Enjoy the review? want to read more of our reviews? then click right here to be whisked away to the realm of our opinions.
You must be logged in to post a comment.