Lab Zero (Skullgirls) announce Indivisible "Metroidvania” w/ Valkyrie Profile combat"

AWESOME! I've always loved this team's art direction and animations. They really know what they are doing, pour a lot of love into their creations. I've never been a big player of fighting games, but this is right up my alley. Will definitely support!
 
Ravidrath said:
While we haven't designed all the party members, fanservice is not going to be a focus in this game.
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The character design in the OP pretty much told me this would be the case, but its still a bummer to hear it made official.
A game like this with someone like Eliza as the main char, would be pretty sweet.
 
SolicitorPirate said:
Actually, since this is based specifically on VP1, can I make a request?

Can the characters yell ridiculous engrishy bullshit when they use their special moves? Purify Weird Soul was the dopest shit.
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To this day, I still think he says "BICYCLE DISASTER"! (I think it's "icicle" but WHATEVER).

Hoya Destroyer said:
The character design in the OP pretty much told me this would be the case, but its still a bummer to hear it made official.
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On the contrary, this is great news and I'm actually interested now. :)
 
Wow :D, that looks awesome. Hope this game is a success for them and I look forward to see how this all turns out :).
 
Ravidrath said:
If the CF portion of the budget is successful, we're going to need to roughly double the team to make this game.

So... hopefully?
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Okay, that's good to hear. The reason why I had asked, is that when I was doing a clean up test for the Skullgirls project, I couldn't submit my test, as the Zero Labs website had closed applications.

Exactly who should I contact, with regards to sending in my design samples, resume, & such?
 
This is a bit off topic but where's the best place to play Valkyrie Profile? I always knew it was a good game, but it sounds even better than I thought.

On topic, I'm curious about how ambitious this project is compared to Skullgirls. We've all been educated on how expensive a fighting game character is, but I assume a typical RPG or Metroid/Castlevania monster is significantly less complex (probably still not cheap though, and you'll definitely want a huge variety of monsters). I'm guessing this is pretty ambitious, but I suppose we'll know when we see the indiegogo goal.
 
ZoronMaro said:
This is a bit off topic but where's the best place to play Valkyrie Profile? I always knew it was a good game, but it sounds even better than I thought.
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There's only two options - buy the PS1 game or buy the PSP port. From what I hear from fans, the PS1 version is generally better. Unfortunately, neither option is available digitally.

On topic, I'm curious about how ambitious this project is compared to Skullgirls. We've all been educated on how expensive a fighting game character is, but I assume a typical RPG or Metroid/Castlevania monster is significantly less complex (probably still not cheap though, and you'll definitely want a huge variety of monsters). I'm guessing this is pretty ambitious, but I suppose we'll know when we see the indiegogo goal.
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Really depends on how they're handling combat. Generally non-boss enemies in RPGs don't have very many moves and some moves (like spell casting) can use the same animation. If it uses a separate battle screen (like VP did) and the enemies only have to face one direction that saves a lot of work as well.
 
Love labzero, but not a fan of the art on this so far. I'm sure I'll own this game at one point anyway because they make such amazing games.
 
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
There's only two options - buy the PS1 game or buy the PSP port. From what I hear from fans, the PS1 version is generally better. Unfortunately, neither option is available digitally.
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Dang, that's what I thought, quick ebay search shows I'm not playing that game anytime soon.

Really depends on how they're handling combat. Generally non-boss enemies in RPGs don't have very many moves and some moves (like spell casting) can use the same animation. If it uses a separate battle screen (like VP did) and the enemies only have to face one direction that saves a lot of work as well.
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Good point I wasn't even thinking of how this style of game could potentially allow them to cut some corners. I was thinking more along this lines that for Skullgirls they needed 200K per character so 1) how many monsters could you make with that same money and 2) how many monsters will this game have? Obviously this is discounting the main character, and important bosses who might be closer to on par with a fighting game character. Also I'm ignoring how open world is certainly more expensive then a handful of stages, although you can recycle stuff there too.

tl:dr I want to know how big the budget is, and how it's being used, although I realize I'm not getting those answers till September, if ever. Lab Zero is nothing if not open to their fans though I'll wait.
 
Main character doesn't look oversexualized, so it's already looking 10x better than Skullgirls!

Disclaimer: i love skullgirls for the gameplay, but goddamit, i cant stand 80% of the designs.
 
I like the premise, the dev and the super metroid/valkirie profile.

I also like to play as a girl but the main character design seems a little bland :(
 
Lab Zero + Metroidvania + impeccable art direction + gorgeous soundtrack + well-designed female protagonist? I think I may swoon. In fact, I may currently be swooning as I type this. This is a swoon-type.
 
Definitely no mistaking the composer in the trailer. Sounds a lot like a piece from Seiken 3. Excited! Game sounds great too.
 
Oh my, an Action RPG / Metroidvania by Lab Zero?

h8BA4A435
 
Ravidrath said:
...
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.
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That's like, exactly what I wanted to hear.
 
This was quite unexpected. With GAF acting wonky, I had wondered why this seemed to be mentioned so late in the night, and at such a random time...

But getting to watch and hear the trailer, it's quite interesting! I'm honestly enjoying the amount of things that feel as far from Skullgirls as possible; it's cool to see the team hasn't settled into a single, expected style, but can possibly embrace something that has it's own unique drive and background. If SG makes me think of Deviantart fan characters with freaky powers from a modern world, our lead here looks more like a character I would have seen in a show like "Cities of Gold" back in the late 80s / early 90s. We get a tanned-skin, modestly-dressed young lady as a lead to a game, and people really think she looks "boring"? I find it quite pleasant. Hopefully her personality and mannerisms will really make her memorable.

All the characters that flash in the background definitely seem more SG-like; as if alt designs on the games cast and rogue gallery. But this isn't bad for something so early, and I still like the mix seen back there. No 2 characters really seem to fill the same archetypes, which is a good start.

The Music feels very SoM, which is great. Already had me thinking a bit about that game, before the mention of the talent behind it was revealed. Very nice.

The promise of VP-style combat within a Metroidvania outer shell... I could really like that. This isn't too different from Child of Light's fusion of genres, and it's a great thing to see someone carry on such a torch. It's annoyed me since the rise of XBLA and PSN, that more Japanese companies didn't take to making things like Saga series, Mana Series, or Shining series game in the downloadable content game space.

Come to think of it, does this mean it could play a bit like Project X Zone as well? Because that also sounds pretty cool.

Ravidrath, a few questions if you're around:
  • Any plans to make this episodic / constantly patched and changed? Or will this product mostly stay as-is once shipped?
I enjoy the idea that Skullgirls gets so much support and growth, but there's also a negative side to that; it often feels daunting to return to the game, when so much shifts about constantly. Not just character balances, but basic building blocks of the gameplay and match flow. Should be expect similar modding and meddling with this game too?
  • Any kind of Multiplayer thrown around? Local Co-Op?
It'd be pretty cool to be able to assign characters in your party to another player, and try to sync up attacks. I enjoyed the bit that Child of Light had (with a second player able to control Igniculus), and the idea of being able to share an adventure with a friend is one that's great whenever it occurs (from Multi-player SoM, to the ability to use 2 or more controllers in Final Fantasy VI, Wild Arms, Lunar, and Arc the Lad...)

Oh, and Glad to see this should be coming to XB1 as well. Would like to have Skullgirls on it too. maybe later (or through BackCompat?)

Anyway, looking forward to seeing what comes with the Indie (a) GoGo!
 
Metroidvania with Valkyrie Profile combat.

Wasn't that what the original Valkyrie Profile basically was?

I mean the dungeons in VP were 2D sidescroller platform-eqsue with multiple rooms, and the unique aspect in that there was doors for foreground and background accessible rooms.

Unless they mean Metroidvania in the specific progression that you slowly unlock additional platforming abilities such as double jump and whatnot.

Valkyrie Profile had one of my favorite combat systems, tying individual buttons to each character and being able to tap them in sequence to form a combo chain.

I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this project.
 
Yeah, totally into all of this. Love the music and the overall premise. You guys did good.
 
I like it because she is a darker skin lady. As I am black and it is nice to see more characters of different colors.
 
Yeah, I'm in. Sounds like a really exciting mix, and as someone who doesn't really like fighting games I'd love to support them. My one question would be platforms though; I'll back the crowdfunding campaign if they're doing keys for PS4 copies.
 
Ravidrath said:
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?
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Do you have more words about the setting?
 
Ravi, MikeZ, Kinuko and Alex already have my money.

SoM music just seals the deal.


Aaaand, I'm seeing a very Kamen Rider-esque character on that teaser...
 
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