Despite some technical issues and repetitive gameplay, the unique exploration-based platforming and fantastic art style that Indivisible boasts make it an overall fun ride.
Indivisible
Developer: Lab Zero Games
Price: $40
Platform: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC
MonsterVine was supplied with a PS4 code for review.
Indivisible has been on my radar since trying out the demo a couple of years ago, largely because of its incredible art style and appealing gameplay. While it has some warts here and there, Indivisible is still quite a nice package, especially if you’re looking for some entertaining characters.
Indivisible follows Ajna: an energetic teenage girl who leads a fairly average life in her small rural village. After the evil empire torches her village and kills her father, Ajna discovers she has the ability to absorb others into her mental “inner space.” The mystery behind Ajna’s ever-expanding power is unraveled as she travels the world and meets new friends of all types, as is her strange connection to the world around her. It’s a fairly familiar but entertaining story for its entirety, but it’s the individual characters that really shine.
Each of Ajna’s friends has their own incredibly distinct personality, design, and combat mechanics, making them each feel like their own person. The macabre tsundere Razmi uses fire and spirits to destroy enemies and talks endlessly about murder and arson in the most deadpan, yet charming way possible. Then on the other side of the spectrum, there’s Naga Rider; a tokusatsu/Power Rangers-inspired hero who performs flashy kicks and gives inspiring speeches whenever he can. These are two starkly different examples, but the entire roster of 10+ party members (including some delightful optional ones) are a joy to travel with and experience for all of Indivisible.
“The visuals of Indivisible couldn’t be described as anything less than gorgeous.“
The gameplay of Indivisible is best described as an action-RPG mixed with exploratory-platforming like that of Super Metroid or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Throughout the story, you obtain new items and powers that let you further explore old and new areas to find secrets and collectibles. There’s an addictive quality to this type of exploration, as it feels like you’re always opening new areas and finding new things. Then, upon encountering an enemy, you’re thrust into combat.
Combat is a creative mix of real-time action and turn-based combat, where each party member is assigned to a button. Clicking the button has them attack, then retreat to the party until their action bar refreshes. Holding down different directions while pressing each button makes each character use different attacks, which can be chained together with other character attacks to really lay into your enemies. It’s a lot of fun (and very impressive to look at) for the first half of the game, but as Indivisible goes on, it starts to feel repetitive and stale. You earn more action bars, but outside of trying out new characters, combat doesn’t change very much throughout the game. I found myself avoiding combat towards the end of the game, as it felt like a slog.
The visuals of Indivisible couldn’t be described as anything less than gorgeous. The breath-taking hand-drawn animation that defines Indivisible is stunning to look at, as is the jaw-dropping opening film (animated by Studio TRIGGER of Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill fame.) There are times when the graphics won’t load properly, leading to some buggy and frustrating situations, but hopefully, these things will be fixed in future patches.
The Final Word
Indivisible has its flaws, but it can be quite fun to play and constantly exciting to look at. The strong cast of characters is guaranteed to have at least one party member appeal to everyone, and while it gets old, the combat is quite fun for a while.
MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
