A little after I visited the Indiegogo page I decided to download the prototype. Upon opening it, if you have a controller installed the game asks you to map the buttons to your controller immediately giving the player the option to make the controls suitable for him or her. After that the title screen appears showing Ajna standing by a cliff. I was waiting for the "START GAME" text to appear, but when it didn't I hit a random button, Ajna folded in her skirt, the title faded away, and I was put in control. It's a minor detail, but I found it endearing. After jumping off the cliff you follow a small creature into a tomb.
The first tutorial prompt is given here telling the player the basics of performing an attack which leads us into the battle system. This is where the influence of Valkyrie Profile comes from. Enemies appear on the same field that you traverse areas, but when you engage in actual battle in Valkyrie Profile, the battle takes place on a separate screen. In Indivisible, battles take place on the same field that you traverse, the camera just zooms in a little closer. Attacks are mapped to an individual face button for each character in your party and you can attack up to three times with each character. I have only played the first Valkyrie Profile, but there seems to be some changes in regards to the battle system. In Valkyrie Profile character turns worked on a standard turn based system, but in Indivisible it utilizes an ATB (Active Time Battle) system like in the Final Fantasy series. A bar a orange bar fills up and when it turns yellow the bar is fully allowing you to perform an attack and you can get up to three bars. It's as simple as that. There are three variations for your attacks. You have the standard button press and you also have the face button, plus pressing the direction, and the direction up. Up for most characters seem to be multi hitting moves, though that is not always the case in the point of Ajna's unarmed up attacking that's a single kick that launches an enemy.
Up attacks appear to be the most powerful, but I never felt the urge to only use up attacks. The player also has access to special abilities in combat. A separate multi color bar at the top of the screen fills up when the player performs combos appropriately. There are three bars for these as well. Pressing R1 or right shoulder button with a face button performs the special move for the corresponding character. The effect that the special move dishes out varies per character. When characters attack the screen gets an orange haze around the corners of the screen and the character that's about to be attacked flashes red. Hitting the button corresponding to the flashing character results in a successful block, but it's also noted that blocking preemptively results in a depletion of the special meter. The battle system is very enjoyable and differs enough from Valkyrie Profile to make it stand out.
For the gameplay outside of battle this is where the Metroid inspiration comes in. The level design is a large map that is interconnected and you can't access all portions of it immediately. In order to proceed you need to get a new ability that will allow you to get past that obstacle. It's a level design that creates a little bit of backtracking and exploration. It's way more ambitious than just making a linear path that most rpgs tend to have. Traversing the level felt very intuitive. Ajna controls smoothly and quickly. The ability you gain in the prototype also feels to have some weight to it and it also serves as a weapon.
The dynamic between combat and level traversal feels fresh and the demo progressively becomes deeper. The encounter with the boss at the end of the demo is quite a difficulty increase. It punishes you if you haven't quite grasped all of the mechanics so far and while I initially got frustrated with my failure like anybody else, it became easier and more satisfying once I actually concentrated and utilized all of mechanics available to me appropriately. It's a well designed boss that tests skill and strategy. This prototype was well put together and I will be playing this several more times. If you have money to support the game then I encourage it because it's looking to be quite the game.
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