Indivisible
- October 8, 2019
- Lab Zero Games
- 17h median play time
Lab Zero's latest release looks to cross traditional platforming with RPG mechanics. Our review.
"Indivisible is a fantasy action RPG platformer with stunning visuals, an outstanding soundtrack, and unique real-time combat. Play as Ajna, a rebellious girl who absorbs characters to fight alongside her in a diverse world inspired by various cultures and mythologies. With plenty of humor, a deep story, and some grinding, Indivisible offers a memorable single-player experience, but note that it can be buggy at times."
Reviews
- The art style and animation are stunning, with beautiful hand-drawn visuals and well-executed cutscenes.
- The combat system is unique and engaging, blending real-time action with turn-based mechanics, allowing for creative combos and strategies.
- The diverse cast of characters is charming and well-voiced, contributing to an enjoyable story that explores themes of friendship and personal growth.
- The platforming mechanics can be frustrating and imprecise, leading to tedious backtracking and lengthy sections without fast travel options.
- The story suffers from pacing issues and lacks depth in character development, with many characters feeling one-dimensional or underutilized.
- The game is unfinished due to internal issues at the development studio, resulting in missing content and bugs that detract from the overall experience.
- story1,439 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story of "Indivisible" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it enjoyable yet flawed. While some appreciate the vibrant characters and engaging dialogue, others criticize the pacing, predictability, and lack of depth in character development. The narrative often feels rushed, with significant plot points glossed over, leading to a disconnect between the characters and their motivations. Overall, the story is seen as a fun, if somewhat generic, journey that may appeal to fans of lighthearted RPGs but may disappoint those seeking a more profound narrative experience.
“The story is engaging and keeps you motivated, as it encourages you to try different team compositions to experience various outcomes.”
“The story is well written enough to be entertaining, with charming characters and a good sense of humor.”
“The story has some great standout characters and moments, but isn't entirely groundbreaking overall.”
“The story rides on vibes rather than rationality, which may be refreshing for some who are looking for a more lighthearted game but was frustrating for me who wanted something a bit more gritty.”
“The story is poorly paced, the main character, Ajna, has an obnoxious personality and doesn't learn.”
“The story is a complete dumpster fire, with a weak plot and characters that lack development.”
- gameplay778 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Indivisible" is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its unique blend of platforming and RPG mechanics inspired by titles like "Valkyrie Profile." While the combat system offers engaging mechanics and character variety, it often devolves into repetitive button-mashing, and many players find the platforming elements to be clunky and poorly explained. Overall, the game is visually stunning and has a charming narrative, but its gameplay can feel unpolished and frustrating, leading to a divide in player enjoyment.
“Great art, interesting characters, mostly good dialogues, engaging mechanics (both in battle and platforming).”
“The platforming is tight, and everything that you can't reach requires something that you'll get later down the line, which encourages you to go back through areas to figure out where to use that mechanic.”
“The gameplay is really fun and challenging, even for someone like me who doesn't really like platformers typically.”
“Unfortunately, the gameplay turned out to be a failed experiment.”
“The gameplay is painfully bland with the most tedious level design possible.”
“The gameplay is broken and unfinished.”
- graphics382 mentions
- 61 % positive mentions
- 37 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning hand-drawn art style, vibrant colors, and fluid animations, often compared to the aesthetics of "Skullgirls." Many reviewers highlighted the attention to detail in character and environment designs, creating a visually captivating experience. However, some noted inconsistencies in art quality and occasional graphical glitches, which detracted from the overall presentation.
“The graphics: this is easily the best part of the game, the attention to detail in every one of the playable characters, NPCs, enemies, bosses, and environments all look amazing and animate beautifully.”
“Indivisible's strongest quality is probably its visuals and presentation.”
“The visuals are wonderful - clean designs, lots of character to the animations, and everything tends to be quite smooth.”
“On the other hand, the game's CGs are a bit lacking in many places, feeling a lot more like placeholders, especially towards the end, and certain parts of the map don't mesh all that well with the art style.”
“The dialogue is boring and sometimes doesn't flow very well, the characters are mediocre (especially the protagonist), the platforming sections are okay, the combat is shallow despite showing promise (characters only have like 1 or 2 moves to use, making experimentation non-existent) and for some reason the NPCs have a different art style design than the main characters/party members which is jarring to look at.”
“After beating the game and obtaining all of the achievements: I can say that Indivisible unfortunately fails in all its major gameplay areas (platforming and combat) but succeeds in its aesthetics (character design, art, voice acting).”
- music328 mentions
- 65 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received a mixed reception, with many praising its beauty and ability to enhance the atmosphere, particularly highlighting the work of composer Hiroki Kikuta. While some players found the soundtrack to be catchy and memorable, others noted that certain tracks became repetitive or grating over time. Overall, the music is generally regarded as a strong aspect of the game, contributing positively to the overall experience despite some criticisms regarding its repetitiveness.
“The music is beautiful and ambient to the environment, and the voice actors do a very good job.”
“The soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous and every area has such a beautiful musical score to it.”
“The music fits each environment to lend itself to a mystical forest, gloomy industrial empire or stratosphere-scraping heavenly pillar of enchanted rock.”
“While the music seemed fitting, I found it to be grating on my ears after a while.”
“Around hour 3, the music starts getting unbearable, which is annoying because I wanted to keep the volume on for the voices.”
“I ended up having to turn the music down; it's decent, but some of the tracks are so short and repetitive that I started to get a headache from hearing them over and over while traveling through each area.”
- character development153 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The reviews for "Indivisible" highlight a strong emphasis on character design, with many praising the unique and visually stunning aesthetics of the characters and environments. However, there is a notable criticism regarding character development, as many players feel that while some characters, particularly the protagonist Ajna, experience growth, the overall development is often rushed or lacking depth, leaving several characters feeling underutilized and forgettable. Overall, the game excels in visual presentation but falls short in delivering meaningful character arcs and narrative depth.
“The character designs are fantastic, the backgrounds are well drawn, and the animations for the diverse cast of characters are easily some of the best and most expressive in the gaming industry.”
“Overall, incredibly charming story and characters, I loved their interactions and the character development for some of the secondary and tertiary characters was awesome.”
“The characters are the true driving force for the overall story, Ajna being one of the biggest turnarounds for character development in a game that I have personally seen -- and that's a good thing.”
“I just beaten this game and I'm trying to find something I like, and there is only one thing, and that is the character design of the party; that's it, everything else sucks.”
“It will give you the most interesting, amazing character designs, but no character development or dialogue to speak of.”
“A lot of the characters exist because why not and do things just because, and there is hardly any character development.”
- grinding142 mentions
- 2 % positive mentions
- 3 % neutral mentions
- 95 % negative mentions
Overall, the grinding aspect of the game is largely criticized for being tedious and unengaging, with many players noting that combat encounters feel repetitive and drawn out, leading to a lack of incentive to engage in battles. While some appreciate the absence of traditional grinding mechanics, they still find the backtracking and exploration to be frustratingly monotonous, often detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game. The combination of tedious combat and excessive backtracking creates a gameplay experience that many players describe as laborious and unenjoyable.
“Combat is pretty fun and not very grindy, which is the main reason I dislike playing RPGs.”
“It's easy to know where to go and what to do; puzzles are there but aren't a pain to figure out, and the fact that there are no items or even money means there's no grinding at all (thank god for that).”
“Makes me wish there was more combat in this game or a place where I could grind levels, because there is no grinding in this game, I am afraid.”
“The pacing stumbles, a tedious waltz.”
“So fighting enemies feels extra tedious with very little incremental improvements to characters.”
“The gameplay is painfully bland with the most tedious level design possible.”
- humor112 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating the quirky, often hilarious dialogue and character interactions, particularly praising the character Razmi for her deadpan delivery. However, some found the humor forced or inconsistent, detracting from the overall tone and seriousness of the story. While the writing can be charming and funny, it occasionally veers into melodrama, leaving some players feeling that the comedic elements undermine the narrative's emotional weight.
“I love the animation and the voice acting is cheesy but it puts a smile on my face because the lines are funny.”
“There's also lots of interaction with the other fighters and NPCs, and the dialogues are well written and often very funny.”
“The game has a very quirky sense of humor that continues to be spot on for most of the 20-25 hours.”
- emotional58 mentions
- 95 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding the story and character development lacking depth, leading to a disconnection from the narrative. While certain moments and character interactions evoke genuine feelings, many criticize the writing as clichéd or superficial, resulting in a failure to create lasting emotional impact. However, there are also positive notes, with some players praising heartfelt moments and a satisfying emotional conclusion that resonates deeply, despite the overall narrative shortcomings.
“The story is excellent, with bright characters, heart-wrenching character development, and a climax that put my jaw on the floor.”
“You will grow to care about all of the characters, and the finale of the game proved to be both deeply emotional for me, but also immensely satisfying, easily carrying the rest of the experience and closing the game on a perfect note.”
“It was a beautiful and emotional ending and it helped wrap the game up nicely.”
“Unfortunately, what I found was a boring story, painful dialogue, annoying characters, sub-par RPG systems, sub-par combat, and sub-par action-platforming.”
“Horrendous controls, buggy interface, and the most boring story filled with lackluster character design and development (if any).”
- stability45 mentions
- 7 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 93 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and performance issues affecting gameplay, particularly during transitions and combat. While some players have managed to enjoy the game despite these flaws, many have experienced significant disruptions, including soft locks and crashes. Overall, the game is described as a "buggy mess" that requires further optimization to enhance the player experience.
“For the most part, I found no glitches other than maybe a cutscene messing up one time.”
“Mostly bug free.”
“An ambitious idea and massive props for trying a rare combat style, but it would be great to ensure it's as streamlined as older games, or at least as bug-free.”
“The most disappointing thing of all though, was how much of a buggy mess the game was.”
“Add on top of the fact that this game is horribly buggy and unoptimized to the point where normal screen transitions can tank your framerate.”
“This game is buggy, alt-tabs will freeze your game, there are tons of FPS drops, and characters are missing their special skills.”
- replayability22 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 32 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is largely criticized, with many reviewers noting a lack of content, repetitive gameplay, and long cutscenes that hinder multiple playthroughs. While some elements, like team composition and potential future updates, hint at limited replay value, the consensus is that the game does not offer significant incentives for replaying after the initial completion. Players are advised to wait for potential patches or DLC to enhance the experience.
“The game also has secrets and areas which leads to replayability if you are inclined.”
“These types of games work better when they are short and replayable, where each playthrough allows the player to experiment in different ways.”
“The ability to mix and match your team offers strategy and replay value.”
“Overall, it's a game that's worth a playthrough and I recommend it... but it lacks replayability due to its long cutscenes, backtracking, and sometimes frustrating mechanics.”
“This game does not have replay value due to its simplicity and lack of content.”
“You can blow through the game in about 25 hours, there's no branching paths from what I can tell, and there's no new game plus, so replayability is close to none!”
- optimization21 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received largely negative feedback, with users reporting significant performance issues, particularly in larger areas and during screen transitions, leading to frame rate drops and bugs. While some players found enjoyment in the combat system and overall narrative, the game's technical state is marred by poor optimization and incomplete features promised during its crowdfunding campaign. Despite these shortcomings, a few users noted that adjusting settings could improve performance, but overall, the game is considered to be in need of substantial optimization and bug fixes.
“Part of the enjoyment is experimenting with different combinations of characters and finding a chain of moves that optimize your performance in battle.”
“In fact, I found myself really enjoying the combat system which very much lives up to the game design creed of 'easy to learn, hard to master.' On a surface level, you can simply button mash and maybe get through fights, but as the game progresses you'll find many fights to be challenging enough that you'll want to make your party's attacks combo with each other, time things properly for either perfectly blocking attacks or positioning your characters just right to maximize their damage, and recharge their attacks in a timing that lets you pummel your foes to an increasingly optimized degree.”
“Performance could be better, but tweaking down shadow quality kept the game at enjoyable FPS on my PC basically everywhere.”
“However, it is also incomplete, with a very poorly optimized environment, a bare-bones UI system, and unfinished characters that were promised in its crowdfunding campaign but never completed for the final product.”
“Add on top of the fact that this game is horribly buggy and unoptimized to the point where normal screen transitions can tank your framerate.”
“Another major annoyance I've run into is that the game is horribly optimized; in some scenes, the frame rate absolutely tanks.”
- atmosphere21 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its vibrant graphics, engaging soundtrack, and well-developed characters, creating a colorful and immersive experience. Reviewers highlight the effective sound design and varied musical score that enhance the game's different settings, contributing to a cheerful and entertaining ambiance. However, some players noted occasional inconsistencies in atmosphere transitions and the presence of out-of-place characters that detracted from the overall experience.
“I have liked the colorful anime visuals (especially the intro) and the soundtrack, which is really good (made by Hiruki Kikuta) and creates throughout the game a fitting atmosphere.”
“The score and sound design are all appropriate for the different atmospheres the settings give off, and meaningful themes in the storytelling.”
“The music is amazing and the game is beautiful; these traits taken together create a wonderful atmosphere.”
“I love the graphics, the atmosphere, and the sound design, but the previous points gave me such a hard time (especially the co-op problem) that I got tired in less than 3 minutes after restarting the game.”
“I didn't expect the next Lord of the Rings, but usually in Metroidvania games, the atmosphere tells you the story of the world, and there are set pieces to each area that distinguish them from one another.”
“Biggest dislike: all the bizarre backer character NPCs that are completely out of place and ruin the atmosphere.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as feeling exploitative, leading players to perceive it as a cash grab rather than a genuine RPG experience, despite its marketing claims.
“Sure, sometimes there's someone you recognize (seeing Nyanners was cool at least), but otherwise it makes the game feel like a cash grab.”
“This game is not an RPG despite advertising as one; it is a failure if it considers itself one.”
Critic Reviews
Indivisible Review
It looks good (mostly), and has all the qualities that seem like it would make a great game. Not only does it fail to come together coherently, yet it also it lacks a sense of magic or "heart" that the art style would suggest it possesses. While nothing is largely technically wrong with Indivisible, it fails to be engaging as a RPG, its platforming fails to recommend it on this front, and the story never goes anywhere significant to offer this up either. This isn't bad, but it just isn't that good either.
50%Indivisible Review
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.
70%Indivisible Review
By all intents and purposes, Indivisible should have been an exceptional video game.
50%