It might seem odd that I demoed Indivisible at PAX West 2019. After all, I also demoed it last year, and my colleague Justin tackled it at PAX East recently. But I’m really drawn to lovely things, and the art in Indivisible is breathtakingly beautiful. So of course I had to go and play it again, even though I’m already familiar with the game and generally try not to double dip. Keep reading to see what this demo of the game had to offer.
For one thing, the location was different in this demo. It took place in Tai Krung City, a lively and metropolitan location full of neon lights and dangerous enemies. Though I was still armed with my trusty hatchet from the last demo, which let me scale walls with satisfying thunks, this time I had some other skills at my disposal. One was a dash move that let me get around much faster. Also cool was a rod I got that let me fling myself upwards as well as bounce off dangerous surfaces, ala Scrooge McDuck. There’s a lot of tactile platforming in this game, which I love. It gives Indivisible a light Metroidvania feeling. But you really come to this game for two things – the art and the combat.
Last time I talked about how one of the main artists behind Skullgirls is the lead creative force in Indivisible, and that’s still true. But this time I actually saw her in person as I demoed the game! I was a bit too intimidated to introduce myself, since I really respect her body of work. But regardless, the animation in Indivisible is just wonderful. It’s colorful, lush and dynamic. Which are all factors that contribute well to the combat being a lot of fun. It plays a lot like a turn based RPG with action prompts, and each button controls one of your team of 4. There’s a lot of characters you can recruit, and each one plays differently. This time I had a new one, a young woman with a musical instrument that could heal my entire group. I instantly liked her, and made sure to protect her from harm. Returning faces were Ginseng, and her adorable mushroom minion, as well as the fantastic Tungar, who can juggle hordes of foes with ease. Razmi was also on my team, and the tiger mage helped make short work of foes with fiery spells.
There was a plot revolving around most of the town being addicted to something called Ohma, and my team was trying to find the source of the problem and stop it. Being the gamer I am, I managed to get lost, and found myself in a grassy pit area that I couldn’t get out of. But that was minor, and a little more signposting would easily fix this. More importantly, it didn’t prevent me from enjoying my time with Indivisible. Lab Zero Games and 505 Games have a tremendous hit on their hands, and best of all, the initial release date is just around the corner. Indivisible is slated to release on PC, PS4 and Xbox One this October 8th, and will launch for Switch later on. I personally can’t wait til I can play it on my Nintendo console.
Please stay tuned to oprainfall for more details about Indivisible, as well as the rest of my PAX West coverage!
