On 6 November, we released The Invincible, a walking simulator based on the book Invincible.
This is a story about the secrets of the planet Regis III. People who arrive here lose their memory and minds. The main character of the game has to figure out why this is happening.
Jasna’s tangled fate on the desert planet Regis III
Yasna, a biologist on the Dragonfly research spacecraft, wakes up on the desert planet Regis III. The heroine does not remember how she got here and does not know where the other crew members are. Luckily, Yasna has a travel diary that records all her movements. The biologist uses it to get to the base. There, the astrogator Novik, the captain of the Dragonfly who remained in orbit, gets in touch with the heroine. Here, the girl also discovers her colleagues, but they have strangely lost their minds. After evacuating the victims, Yasna stays on Regis III to find out what is happening on this planet.
Secrets and connections to Lem’s book in The Invincible
The Invincible is based on the novel Invincible by Stanislaw Lem, but does not follow its plot. Starward Industries has created something on the verge of a prequel and a reimagining. This is an independent story that is closely related to the original. The game borrows a lot from the book, but does not repeat it directly. Jasna reveals the same secrets of Regis III and comes to the same conclusions as Rohan in the novel. Even the moral of the game is exactly the same as in the book. However, the adventure itself is strikingly different, both in terms of events and mood. Whereas Lem had a violent and dynamic space horror with a philosophical undercurrent, Starward Industries has created a kind of meditative detective story. Astronaut camps abandoned in a hurry, mountains of corpses, brainless robots that continue to perform their functions – that’s pretty much all the heroine encounters. Something truly spectacular or dynamic happens at most three times per game.
The rest of the time, Novik is in the earpiece, but Yasna has no conflicts with him either. The astrogator is sincerely concerned about the fate of his colleague and supports her in every way possible. The heroine, like the player, is left alone with the lifeless planet and its secrets – and only with them. Jasna is not concerned about the past, she does not understand her own contradictions. For her, space is not a therapist’s couch, like the character of Sandra Bullock in the film Gravity. The Invincible lacks the psychology of other walking simulators, but it’s not needed here.
Stanislav Lem and The Invincible: differences and similarities
Like the original source, The Invincible is not a lyrical reflection on private human passions, but a stern warning to all mankind. Starward Industries did not develop Lem’s thought, but repeated it just as eloquently. In this respect, the developers were very careful with the book and its message. On the other hand, The Invincible doesn’t seem to have much to offer players familiar with the original. Those who have read the book will know in advance what these metal plants are and why people lose their memory and minds. The Invincible has only one – albeit spectacular – plot twist. But an attentive player can guess everything in advance. However, the meticulous adherence to the original can delight fans of Stanislav Lem. Moreover, the game has many references to other works of the author. For example, in one of the dialogues, Novik almost retells the novel Eden and even says that he was a participant in its events. There are a lot of little things like this in The Invincible, and it’s always nice to discover them.
Gameplay specifics of The Invincible: walking simulator and its features
At its core, The Invincible is a classic “walking simulator” like Firewatch. You just need to walk from point A to point B, simultaneously talking to the astrogator on the radio. The heroes practically never stop talking: they share their observations and concerns, talk about robots and people In dialogues, you can choose answers, but they have little effect. However, listening to the conversations between Jasna and Novik is a pleasure. The characters turned out to be very lively, although they hardly ever talk about their past. Only once during the game do the characters decide to discuss why they went into space in the first place.
Actions and words in difficult situations are responsible for the disclosure, so by the middle of the passage the player has vivid portraits of the characters.But the beautifully written conversations do not save from despondency. Regis III, although it sometimes pleases with stunning landscapes, is a desert planet. Around Yasna there is only sand, rocks, caves and rare human structures. Most of the time, there is nothing to see here, and you have to walk a lot. The situation is complicated by the protagonist’s slowness: Jasna walks very slowly. She can also run, but the biologist runs out of breath in about 10 seconds and then takes a long time to recover.
Pace and obstacles: gameplay features of The Invincible
One episode at the beginning of the game is illustrative. Jasna finds her colleague and has to carry him to the escape pod. With the man in her arms, the heroine walks at about the same speed as without, but she is unable to run. As a result, the long way to the lifeboat turns into a torture lasting five minutes. And then the game offers to go back and bring another lost person on board. Needless to say, I don’t want to repeat this experience at all.
By the end of the first third, the game throws up a vehicle – a small, sturdy all-terrain vehicle. And at first, it’s really nice to ride it. You perceive it as a means of avoiding tedious walks. But with the advent of transport, the distances you need to cover also increase. So, in fact, the all-terrain vehicle does not change anything: we still take a long, long time to get to the goal, only now to the hum of the engine, not the pounding of our feet.
There is virtually nothing else to do in The Invincible except move and dialogue. Several times you are allowed to control flying cameras and press buttons, but there are no puzzles to accompany this. All active points are highlighted – just click them until the game says “enough”. At the same time, Yasna has a scanner in its arsenal, which is supposed to show interactive objects in locations and help with the search for interesting things. However, you really only need to use this tool in one short segment at the beginning of the game. It seems that The Invincible would only benefit if the developers calmed down the gigantomania and reduced unnecessary movements by half. The adventure would lose in time, but it would become more concentrated and exciting.
Retrofuturism in The Invincible: Recreating the aesthetics of the past
The novel Invincible was published in 1964 and reflected the ideas of the future technology of the time. Massive spacesuits, clumsy humanoid robots, monochrome CRT monitors, ubiquitous light bulbs and toggle switches like those in ovens – this is how science fiction writers of the last century saw the astronauts’ environment. This is how it appears in The Invincible.
Everything here – from costumes to spaceships – is designed in the style of down-to-earth retrofuturism. The protagonist’s travel journal is not an electronic tablet, but a heavy book with cloth pages, marked with chalk. Instead of binoculars, there is a huge spyglass, and instead of a device for searching for beacon signals, there is a “box” with LEDs. We have to interact with such analogue devices often. And every time it causes a kind of childish joy. The developers have thought through every small detail, every switch and cog, so you don’t get bored with clicking buttons until the very end.
A tangible world: Aesthetics and interaction in The Invincible
In general, the whole environment turned out to be very tangible. Yasna’s hands appear in the frame from time to time, pulling dusty switches, switching appliances off and on again in the hope that they will work. The front glass of the suit’s helmet gets dirty and foggy after running. All this creates an amazing immersion effect – it’s impossible not to believe in the world of The Invincible. Although everything here looks naive and old-fashioned in a good way.
It’s impossible not to believe The Invincible. Even though everything here looks naive and old-fashioned in a good way. The soundtrack also plays an important role in creating a retro-futuristic aesthetic. The lingering synthesizers set the mood in a mysterious way and seem to prepare for something eerie and incomprehensible. It’s easy to imagine how this music sounds in a 1960s sci-fi film. If you’ve read The Invincible and generally like Stanislav Lem’s lyrics, then The Invincible is definitely worth a try. This is a familiar story told by the writer’s true fans. And if you haven’t read the book, the game can surprise you with unexpected plot twists and deep morals. But after completing the game, it still won’t hurt to read The Invincible: after all, the ending of The Invincible smoothly leads to the events of the original source.
