The Invincible (2023)

I liked this one -- the story was really engaging and makes me want to read the Stanislaw Lem book that it is a prequel to. I can tell that there are multiple endings to it, and I enjoyed the ending that I got from the choices that I made along the way. It had great voice acting and they were able to make the desert planet interesting, which is a feat, and the mid-century design of the sci-fi ships and equipment is really great. If you like 1950's sci-fi stuff it will be right up your alley.

In terms of gameplay it reminds me somewhat of Deliver Us The Moon with a little less interaction. The walking speed is a little slow and overall it has a "clunkiness" to the gameplay that I think is going to keep me from replaying it to see the other endings, but I find the story intriguing enough to want to watch the other endings on YouTube later.

This is just one of those short story-based experiences that feels like a short novella; I think based on that description you'll know if it's going to be "for you" or not.

The invincible contains an excellent sci fi mystery, and if you are a fan of retro sci-fi visuals and love sci fi mystery I think you will enjoy it.

The game is a “walking sim” game with gameplay and vibe very similar to Firewatch (which is a game I loved). I played the invincible right after playing “fort solis”, another walking similar that was very bad, and in that respect, the invincible was excellent. It contains some tangible interactivity with the environment. All the ways in which the story and character work is given to you work well. Most of it is via a character you listen to over the radio and you’re able to comment to him various things you observe and choose how to respond to him. There’s some journal reading too but that’s minimal; more excitingly there are these slide reels which are how technology “records” things in the sci fi world here, which I found very charming.

Speaking of the story and mystery, they are both very good, and I won’t spoil either here. The only criticism I do have is that the pacing isn’t perfect in this game, at times it’s quite slow, which I don’t always mind, but I do think the game could have been shorter.

Overall, as long as you are aware the game is a walking sim of retro sci-fi fi mystery, which is niche, but if you fit that niche, you will like it.

Loved this game. Great atmosphere, unique world and characters. I particularly liked Yasna. She has a lot of depth and the voice actress did a great job.

This game is a walking simulator yes, with a little bit of gameplay and choices here in there, so it might not be for everyone. But if you enjoy narrative experiences focused on story and characters, give this game a try.

The endings are kinda "meh". Could've been better.

The Invincible certainly held my interest. The game's environments and technology are frequently stunning. I enjoyed the performances of Daisy May and Jason Baughan as Yasna and Novik, particularly how their communication evolves through the course of their dilemma. And the game's mystery consistently propelled me toward its conclusion.

All that said, it's pretty uneven. The human character models seem a bit wooden to me, noticeably less stylized than their surroundings. For a "walking simulator," The Invincible has a lot more driving than I would like. And I think the game's endings (I played through a couple, then watched the rest online) aim for "thought-provokingly ambiguous" but land at "weirdly abrupt."

If you enjoy science fiction and games like Firewatch, I think you'll dig The Invincible. Just go in for the journey, not the destination.

Perhaps in the future I will write more about its themes of organic versus artificial life, necroevolution etc., but for now, don't let the mixed reception turn you away from what should be an all-time classic!

I really enjoyed this game. It tingled something within me that only Outer Wilds before it did. It felt like a passionproject by group of artists rather than some mass-produced, factory assembled commodity. Highly immersive too! I loved how minimal the UI was, how the map and other equipment were physical in-universe devices, and how Yasna would use landmarks in the enviorment to guide her steps rather than some quest marker. Combined with the beautiful art direction, the moment-to-moment gameplay and exploration was a joy. The strength of the writing and dialogue was also a pleasant surprise.

Edit: By pure coincidence, i started playing Firewatch right after this since i though it was similar and has been on my backlog and, wow, lmao, i can see where The Invincible got their inspiration from. Even the dialogue system is the same.

Bland walking Sim with basic gameplay and a ho-hum story, however it has it's interesting moments... The game really feels like a weird 1960s/1970s type universe, with electro-punch cards and War of the Worlds like moon-tanks. The retrofuturism look is probably the best highlight of the game. Too bad most of the game looks bad.

There are better games than this that were much more interesting (Contrarium, Moons of Madness) but this was still cool with its 1970s inspired setting. There was just not much meat around it and for the majority of my looking-about textures were muddy and bad.

An interesting walking sim. Firewatch is the closest match in terms of gameplay and here the strong selling point are Stainslaw Lem's short story and incredible 'retro-futuristic' visuals.

Interaction and exploration are fairly limited, the game lacks pacing and the constant chatter with the mission command is frankly irritating, but all in all The Invincible is a worthwhile experience, with a storytelling register that is not at all common in videogames.

This game is pretty decent, with a very neat atompunk/"sovietpunk" style that really resonates with me. The story is intriguing int he first part and is well delivered for the most part. The one two punch of the relationship between Yasna and Novik, and the mystery of the planet and its life forms was able to carry this game, whose gameplay doesn't go beyond "tilting the stick up to advance the story", forward.

The game kind of falls apart towards the end. though. The ending came out of nowhere, with a prolonged pure dialogue infodump and didn't make any sense. The characters were facing an existential crisis and suddenly they weren't, and everyone spoke as if nothing had happened. It turns out that there are 4 main endings, with 11 variations and the seams show very clearly.

As a heads up, these 4 main endings depend on 2 decisions and one of them you make at about halfway point in the game. The lack of manual saves means that to get all the endings you need to play the whole game all over again, and there's no option to skip dialogue.

The gameplay is very much old-school walking simulator. Interactivity is limited to walking around and pointing at stuff to report to the voice in your head. Environments are mostly linear with some branching paths that ultimately lead to the same place. There are no puzzles, nor anything you need to deduce to move forward. Any mystery or information you might get from the environment is immediately spoken out loud by the main character.