Another sound design experiment. Source: variationonPPPPU.swf by minus8.
Had a few people take issue with the amount of pitch shifting and having a vocal on every beat on Rosalina and Daisy, so I toned it down and moved to half as many grunts for Shantae. Would love feedback on this new style.
Okay, I need to vent/rant about something for a bit
Who here, be they my followers or just some one browsing my page, knows about or has at least heard of Indivisible? If you have not, I don’t blame you since it’s not a game that drawn in a lot of attention (at least from what I’ve seen). To give a quick plot summary, Indivisible tells the story of Ajna as she journeys around her world recruiting allies in her fight to avenge her father after he was killed in an attack on her village by the warlord Ravannavar. Some of these allies include:Dhar, the one who led the attack under the belief it was for the greater good, only to see how evil Ravannavar is and become a fully willing ally (on his part at least). Razmi, a gloomy shamaness who joins the team after her home was destroyed by Ravannavar’stropes.Ginseng and Honey, an aspiring botanist and thier Mandragora who want to look for exciting plants all over the world. And Thorani, a Deva (species) who found, healed, adopted, and joined Ajna’s party after a turning point in the story. Their are a lot more party members, so this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are also characters who are completely optional or are there two serve other purposes that are not battle related. How do they all travel? By letting Ajna absorb them into her head.
Indivisible is an RPG/Metroidvania platformer. In the overworld, you use different abilities that you gain through out the story to traverse the world. As expected of a Metroiedvania, you are expected to use these abilities to explore parts of the world that you could not at first. The RPG element comes in the form of battle (of course). In battle , you take control of four charterers, with Ajna being the one you have in the party at all times. The battles work by assigning each character with a button to preform an attack, and each character has their own way of working. When you know what your doing, you can pull of some damaging combos. You can also use items called Ringsels that you find in the world to increase defense and how many buttons you can use to attack. Overall. it’s a fine game, especially for any one who is a fan of fighting games and Metroidvanias.
Now, why am I talking about this? Well, the game was made by the now defunct Lab Zero, who is famous for the Skullgirls series. Originally, this game was going to get so much more. A New Game Plus, Challenges, and best of all, guest Characters. Some of these guest included Shantae,JuanfromGuacamelle,RedfromTransistor,AnniefromSkullgirls, and Shovel Knight. Now, why have we not gotten this content? Same reason that Lab Zero went under. Mike Z.Mike Z (Mike Zaimont) was the lead design director at Lab Zero. In June 2020, multiple allegations were made against Mike such as verbal sexual harassment. When the Lab Zero board requested for Mike to step down, he refused and disbanded the board, making himself the sole owner of Lab Zero. This was the last straw as multiple employees of Lab Zero left and partner developers cut all ties with the company. WhileSkullgirls was safe and is still being worked on by 505 Games, any other plans from Lab Zero was stopped completely, and this included Indivisibleupdates.
So, after one last update that added New Game Plus and Razmi’s Challenges, any and all plans for Indivisible are all but dead. This is complete bullshit. Thanks to one man, this game, a game that was funded by fans on Kickstart mind you, was killed off. How is that fair? Is Indivisible a perfect game? Hell no, but it deserved better damn it. Think about it: We could have had ShantaeandShovel Knight, two well beloved Indie characters, playable in an RPG, pulling off attacks, combos, and super moves that are love letters to their home games with other Indie characters. But no, one scum of the earth human begin ruined all of that.
So please, if what I said has peeked any interest, seek this game out. It’s on Playstation 4, Xbox One, Linux, MacOS, Microsoft Windows, and Nintedo Switch. It is a game that should be recognized. Show the people who worked at Lab Zero (except Mike cause crew him) that their work was worth it, because this game did not deserve it’s fate. To any Lab Zero employee who happens to see this, thank you for making this game.
And to you Mike Z, Fuck You. Fuck everything you stand for you piece of shit. With any luck, you will never work in the Video Game world again, and the industry as a whole will be all the better for it.
Thank you for reading, and let me know if got anything wrong.
Hey guys. We just updated the Shantae Kickstarter with a bunch of concept art for stages and enemies, but more importantly.. we’d love to get Shantae in Smash Brothers! As you may or may not know, Nintendo recently opened up a ballot for voting on your favorite choice for inclusion in Smash Bros. for the Wii U. Links for where to vote are:
..Needless to say, the folks and I at Wayforward would be super stoked if you voted. It would be kind of sort of incredibly super amazingly awesome. But either way, thanks for stopping by!
Please note that I am unable to post a lot of my art here on Tumblr anymore. I am rather bummed about it, but please remember to follow my other pages below if you’d like to keep up to date with my posting~
Shantae farting by Usagaijin really highlights why we liked this gassy genie girl for 20 years; she might only be half but let’s be honest: she definitely has the poots to back herself up in being the best!
