PAX West Spotlight: Indivisible
Indivisible is a game that has been on my radar for a long time because of its flashy animated art style and unique combat system. With an upcoming release of October 8th, Indivisible is definitely a game worth paying attention.
You play as Ajna, a strong willed and often brash young girl who awakens an acient power inside her, allowing her to encounter and absorb different incarnations to fight beside her. Each of the over 20 different incarnations has its own unique look, personality, and mythos, making it more of a collection of friends than a gathering of pokemon.
The world of Indivisible is beautiful and stylishly animated. The focus on Southeast Asian lore as a basis for the magic of the game is a refreshing change of pace from many modern fantasy stories. It is clear a lot of effort was put into making each environment, character, and enemy look both striking and interesting.
In terms of gameplay, Indivisible is a real-time turn-based action platformer RPG. Despite sounding like six games thrown into a blender, the combination is wonderfully cohesive. Outside of combat, you run around a 2D environment using wall jumps, spear bounces, and dashes to access new areas. When you see an enemy, you can attack them repeatedly to enter combat.
Combat in Indivisible seems almost simplistic at first, but has a surprising amount of depth. Each character is controlled with a single button and can attack whenever their attacks come off cooldown. Some characters will be able to charge up three attacks while others may only be able to charge up one. While you could just hammer away at the buttons until an enemy dies, harder combats will require you to use your special bar which increases when you perform normal attacks but decreases when you block enemy attacks. Using one charge of the bar will power up an attack slightly, while using three charges turns a normal attack into a doomsday barrage.
The risk/reward of using your special bar forces you to think strategically during combat instead of just mashing attack until the enemy is dead. Do you block the enemies next attack, reducing damage but also stopping you from using your more powerful attacks? Do you use one bar of your special to heal your party with Razmi or do you charge up for her powerful AoE smite? These decisions can affect whether you win or lose the fight, but also have to be made quickly, as enemies will attack whenever their attacks have come off cooldown.
Between the simple yet complex combat system, the colorful cast of characters, and the unique artistic style, Indivisible is one of my most anticipated games of 2019. You should definitely add Indivisible to your own watch list!
Check out the trailer below:
