Indivisible - platformer/RPG from Skullgirls dev

[LESS T_T]

https://indivisiblegame.com/





GOG: https://af.gog.com/game/indivisible?as=1649904300

Spoiler

Indiegogo page: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/indivisible-a-2d-rpg-for-ps4-xb1-win-mac-linux

---

Lab Zero Games, creators of the critcally-acclaimed Skullgirls, is thrilled to announce their next project, Indivisible!

Indivisible is a new action/RPG IP, starring Ajna (AHZH-na), a girl who sets out on a globe-spanning journey to discover the truth behind her mysterious powers. On her quest she’ll be joined by a variety of unique heroes and gain new abilities to traverse the environments and defeat the enemies they’ll encounter along the way.

Indivisible is inspired by classics like Valkyrie Profile and Super Metroid, but with the unique characters and gameplay depth Lab Zero is known for. In addition to a fresh spin on action/RPG gameplay, Indivisible features a deep storyline inspired by southeast Asian and other world mythologies, Lab Zero’s trademark feature-quality 2D hand-drawn animation, and a lush soundtrack from legendary Secret of Mana composer Hiroki Kikuta.

Indivisible does not yet have an ESRB rating.

Follow Indivisible!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndivisibleRPG
Twitter: http://twitter.com/IndivisibleRPG

 

[Rahdulan]

They're name dropping the correct things so far.

 

[Martius]

I have no idea how they want to combine Valkyrie Profile and Super Metroid but that sounds interesting. In theory first one already has simple platforming in dungeons but fights like in that game could break the pace of game. Well, I hope they will show some prototype.

 

[Gozma]

Mike Zaimont (the lead/main programmer on Skullgirls) slapped together a fully functional beat-'em-up mode for his very good fighting game engine overnight on a whim once (including stuff like platforming). The gameplay engine and feel stuff should be pretty perfect if he's not leaving Lab Zero. It's level/RPG design stuff that's the question.

 

[Excidium II]

Sounds p. awesome.

Also thighs, eagerly waiting for the r34

 

[Gozma]

I thought I remembered Valkyrie Profile being a platformer that would go into a single-encounter beat 'em up when you touched an enemy, but I was partially thinking of Star Ocean. Is VP turnbased? If so I kinda suspect Mike is leaving.

 

[LESS T_T]

CEO of Lab Zero is answering questions at NeoGaf: http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=170756177#post170756177

Spoiler

The crowdfunding and playable prototype will be coming soon, likely in early September.

The actual game will be out around 2 years later.


Real question: platforms?

PS4, Xbox One, Windows/Mac/Linux.

Possibly more.


Just curious, why did you guys decide to go with Indiegogo again?

Their smaller cut and the speed is still important. The differences in take can still be, like, a whole person's salary for a year.

We're also going to get a lot of PR support from them, since they still really want to get a big game CF campaign under their belt.


...Hesitantly excited! What they've shown looks cool but I've pretty much avoided Skull Girls for its reputation as a fanservice game. Hopefully this one isn't. The main character looks really cool.

While we haven't designed all the party members, fanservice is not going to be a focus in this game.


The blurb doesn't specify it's the combat that's Valkyrie Profile-like. It's described as an action-RPG, while I would consider VP's combat to be "turn-based", even though it's very atypical and you can, like... "combo" your turns. I suppose the game overall is a lot more action-based than a typical JRPG from that period though, so that could be what they mean.

The combat will be inspired by Valkyrie Profile's, but we're going to put our own spin on it. Sort of like MvC2 was a starting point for Skullgirls' gameplay, but we took it a lot of different places from there.

I mean, if you think about it in the context of us, the party in VP1 is basically a single customizable fighting game character. So expect combos, lots of ways to build your perfect team, etc.


Does using crowd funding mean you don't have to deal with a publisher and all the hassle that brings with it?

Can't get into this too much yet, but...

We have a publishing partner, ala Bloodstained and Shenmue. Unlike those campaigns, though, they'll be front and center. They just weren't ready to handle the PR for this right now, with the holiday, SDCC, etc. but will be announced before the campaign starts.

We went with a publishing partner because it's a good deal for us, and we didn't realistically think we could raise the entire budget for this game ourselves, and we really wanted to make it.

They're the ones funding the playable prototype we'll be distributing to drive the campaign, too. They're all in.


Can you guys speak on why you decided to go with a female protag?

Was it the VP influence? Maybe the current fight to have more female representation? Did the story dictate it? Or did you guys just wanna make a lady the protag?

Edit: One more question -

Why an ARPG? Its rare to see a team that does fighting games move on from that. Usually studios stick to a certain genre and it's sub categories. ARPGs and Fighting Games have some cross over qualities but in the end are very very different.

It ties into the story, but I guess it's just what we wanted to do?

While some of the VP influence ties into the gameplay, it didn't influence the character's gender.

This original pitch happened because a publisher asked us for "something like Child of Light." We boiled that down into platformer/RPG, which immediately screamed "Valkyrie Profile" to us. As we began working on the story, the mythos, characters and Metroid-y elements started creeping in.

Also, like I noted before, combat in VP1 is sort of like your whole party is a single customizable fighting game character. So if you think about it that way, it plays very well off of Mike's combat chops.


Could you describe what happens in battle?

We're still working on it, so can't really get into specifics yet.

But it's heavily inspired by VP1's combat, and we'll have some of own twists on it.


Wasn't valkyrie profile turn based? Is this going to have tb combat? Confused by their use of "action/rpg"

We're still working on it, but I'd sort of say we'll be ATB-ifying VP1 combat and working in some additional combat depth. All of that could change, but that's the direction we're currently moving in.

I understand the confusion a bit. But VP1 has more action-y combat than most RPGs, even though it's still turn-based.

So we'll be upping the action in combat a bit, and I think we're going to have more of a focus on platforming, too. So it's an RPG with platforming and Metroid-y progression stuff, but both the exploration and combat will be amped up a bit compared to other games. If that makes any sense?

 

[StaticSpine]

Is VP turnbased?

Yeah, at least the one I played - Lenneth had turn-based combat.

 

[Tehdagah]

...Hesitantly excited! What they've shown looks cool but I've pretty much avoided Skull Girls for its reputation as a fanservice game. Hopefully this one isn't. The main character looks really cool.

 

[Excidium II]

Fucking faggots giving them shit for good character design

 

[Abu Antar]

While the name of the game is bad, I hope this turns out to be good. I've been waiting for something similar to Valkyire Profile for a long time.

 

[SCO]

Yeah, i didn't complain over much about VP combat, even with its twitch combo elements (stolen from Xenogears anyway). The corny combat voices made it strangely entertaining. The dungeon music could be horrible though.

I'm more worried about the platforming. Not too much if they actually do the metroid part justice. The VP ice ability, although admittedly useful, can't produce the level design and sequence breaking that would do justice to metroid, so i hope there are upgrades in the right places that do more than just open doors.

 

[e-mailio estevez]

To me, Valkyrie Profile's combat system can be boiled down to every character acting as a Marvel versus Capcom assist call. I found it satisfying to figure out different ways to string combos together, especially when you start working in attacks that seemed useless initially. Arngrim's backhand or the dragon girl's kick come to mind.

I never played Skullgirls but it takes a lot of inspiration from MvC from my understanding, so this would seem like a perfect fit for them.

 

[LESS T_T]

This will be published by 505 Games (of Payday 2, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Terraria for consoles): http://www.505games.com/lab-zero-and-505-games-bring-you-indivisible

Currently, Lab Zero is developing a playable prototype for Indivisible, funded by 505 Games. Once that prototype is complete, we’ll release that to the public and launch a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo in September to fund the full game. If we meet or exceed our goal, 505 will contribute the remaining development budget, and full production will begin in earnest.

So, up until the initial goal, 505 Games will effectively be matching your contributions. And the more money the Indiegogo campaign raises, the better the game gets, and the better the deal is for Lab Zero.

To be clear, this isn’t a campaign to “gauge interest” – Indivisible represents a more equitable funding split, where your support directly influences not only the game, but also the post-release benefits Lab Zero receives. Indivisible will not happen if we don’t hit our goal. But should the campaign succeed, Lab Zero will have a better outcome than we would’ve gotten through a more traditional publishing deal – that’s the risk we took, and we feel it’s a worthwhile tradeoff.

Lab Zero has learned a lot from our previous Indiegogo campaign, and so we expect that to go more smoothly this time around, especially when it comes to manufacturing and shipping physical rewards. And, perhaps most importantly, thanks to 505’s involvement we’ll be able to offer a physical release of Indivisible on the platform of your choice.

http://indivisiblegame.com/

 

[LESS T_T]

Looks cool.

Character animations:

Spoiler

 

[Luka-boy]

I'll wait until I see a proper gameplay video or play that future demo, because after watching everything and reading every bit of information available, I still don't know exactly what kind of gameplay this game will have. And it's starting to seriously irk me.

I mean, they speak about Metroid and platforming which together with the vibe from the videos would imply your usual Metroidvania (which I'd love) but then mention VP1's combat, ATB and ARPGs and things get more vague. Possibly because some details about the system seem to be undecided. I think I would be satisfied if they just clarify if the game will have a separate combat screen.

 

[Tehdagah]

No panty shots?

 

[Abu Antar]

Devblog: http://indivisiblegame.com/blog/introducing-zebei/

 

[Archibald]

To me, Valkyrie Profile's combat system can be boiled down to every character acting as a Marvel versus Capcom assist call. I found it satisfying to figure out different ways to string combos together, especially when you start working in attacks that seemed useless initially. Arngrim's backhand or the dragon girl's kick come to mind.

I really liked dragon girl and really hated that her finisher was just one big hit.

 

[Abu Antar]

Here’s an (obviously very) early look at ‪‎Indivisible‬’s battle system! Green meter is for turns, yellow is for health.

All the gameplay systems are in, at this point, so it's time to finalize the art and UI!

We don't have a transition into battle like most RPGs - when you collide with an enemy, the camera will move in, the music will transition, your characters will pop out, and you'll fight.

When it's over, we zoom out and you're running around again.

So they do more or less take place on the field, we just seamlessly switch between exploration and battle.

We're trying to make everything very fast and streamlined whenever possible.

You are speaking my language Ravid.
So many game designs include poor UI and transition, and as a veteran gamer it can really be a drag. So it's good to see that something like this is focused on.

We're trying to streamline and be efficient wherever possible.

So, for example, we want the post-battle screen to just be a transparent overlay so gameplay isn't interrupted by it. And right now, the only menu we're planning is the one to change your party. Everything else will be handled... differently.

And we're trying to keep loading to a minimum, too. We're pretty confident that we can get an entire zone, battles and all, to go without pausing to load.

 

[Luka-boy]

Finally. At least now I know exactly what to expect regarding the basic combat and exploration mechanics.

 

[Abu Antar]

Devblog: Exploration and Platforming
http://indivisiblegame.com/blog/platforming-and-exploration/

 

[Abu Antar]

New character

 

[Siveon]

Dat smooth scrolling. Dat animation. Wall jumps and axe...grabs.

Cautiously

 

[Jack Dandy]

Looking fucking good.
Haven't had a grand time with an axe girl since Ys Origins!