The Invincible

Как любитель книг Станислава Лема, искренне рекомендую данную игру с её незабываемой атмосферой. Прошёл на одном дыхании.

Summary: Gorgeous setting for a slow paced, narrative driven walking simulator. Most players are going to find this game incredibly boring. Full disclosure, I did fall asleep in the final act while playing. There are several moments throughout the game where it feels like there is some kind of danger or suspense, but many of those moments just fizzle out. I found the ending in particular to be very lackluster (there are 11 endings, I have heard the others are similarly abrupt). That said there is a particular type of gamer who will enjoy this game. The setting is absolutely gorgeous and it's not hard to get immersed in the story. If you're very into hard science fiction literature and don't mind a meandering pace, then you'll probably appreciate this game. This game is a prequel to the book "The Invincible" and this game should be treated as an appetizer to the book. If you want an immersive walking simulator experience though, I'd recommend Firewatch over this game for all but the most hard core sci-fi fans.

The Invincible is a narrative lead scifi adventure game, and one that I enjoyed greatly, more so than I was even expecting. It is primarily a walking/ driving simulator, but with plenty of narrative, and crucially narrative choices, which, while they don’t drastically change the path of the game, do effect the narrative and can result in one of 11 different endings, which all do vary. In terms of graphics and sound, it’s excellent. Graphically it looks beautiful, and while I’m not a massive fan of the 50s/60s retro scifi style, I adored the sweeping, desolate scenes on the planet. The game is fantastic at making you feel small constantly, really delivering a sense of scale, and adding to the atmosphere. There’s maybe some muddy rock textures, but it’s hardly noticeable, and you are getting a full 3D game with what seems like no compromises. Despite a focus on loneliness, the game doesn’t cut corners like some smaller indie titles and hand wave away character interaction, or confine it to just a voice on a radio and includes at various points interacting with well animated characters with good facial animation. There’s a full set of graphics options, including DLSS, though it caused a weird ghosting with the characters, and I was pleased to discover that I could get a rock solid 120fps the whole time with all the settings on max. The music is good, often at times with a melancholy note, at other delivery droning elements that build on the sense of dread. The voice acting is pretty excellent, particularly the main character, who sells the tiredness, loneliness and desperation that they are experiencing for much of the story. The atmosphere, as mentioned, is impeccable. There’s a real sense of mystery, and despite the setting of Regis 3 being a desert devoid of organic life, the game does an excellent job in delivering a variety of environments that keep it interesting. There’s also a real sense of dread I found in much of the game, to the point where I felt it slipped into full cosmic horror. There’s a point in the game where you are traversing a massive dormant or dead alien structure, with no idea as to it’s real purpose or what it really is, and I really felt like the game was getting across the idea of touching the incomprehensible. The game also has a couple of very well executed jump scares that come when you least expect it, but don’t descend into a slavering monster either, in no small part because the game does not present itself as a horror game from the start. The gameplay is nothing to write home about, but keeps you engaged enough. You traverse the surface of Regis 3, on foot at first, and then via rover, searching for lost crew and looking for answers. You interact with various parts of the environment, machines, interfaces etc, but these can’t really be described as puzzles. There’s a couple of moments more of ‘action’ but it’s pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. The games areas are quite open as the game progresses, and driving in the rover is actually pretty fun. There’s a number of the typical documents and devices to inract with that give you more flavour and story. What is important though is making dialogue choices, which can massively effect the narrative and the outcome. The game then lives and dies on it’s story, and fortunately fully delivers here. I’m only familiar with Stanislaw Lem in a limited fashion, but the games story seems to adapt his idea from the original story effectively, and seems keen to engage with the deep scifi themes of the original story, and the ideas of the possibility of machine evolution, and interacting with what may be somewhat incomprehensible alien elements. The game also, from what I understand, builds on the original story, by adding in two rival human factions who appear to be in a cold war like situation. It’s not fully explained, but enhough detail is hinted add to add to the world building and story to add additional flavour. I found the characters interesting and likeable as well. The game avoids quips or relationship drama. The characters are seasoned scientists and explorers, and as such have a professionalism and curiosity about the world around them. Over time as the situation becomes desperate, things begin to break down, but again the character interactions and dialogue makes sense for who these characters are. The game is effective at showing the character’s mental state, early on the dialogue is very professional, and it’s only in the last half of the game they actually start swearing, as the situation gets worse. Overall it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, taking me 8 and a half hours to complete while stopping to admire the views at multiple points. It might take longer if you want to experience the different outcomes though. Overall it’s a very engaging scifi narrative experience, and definitely pouts the developers on my radar for the future.

★★★★☆ (4/5) The Invincible is a game that really impressed me. The visuals are absolutely stunning, and they do an amazing job of bringing the mysterious sci-fi world to life. Every environment feels carefully crafted and atmospheric. The story is easily the game's biggest strength. It's incredibly well written, especially considering it's based on a classic sci-fi novel. The mystery kept me engaged from beginning to end, and I genuinely wanted to uncover what had happened on the planet. The only downside for me was the pacing at the beginning. It takes a while to get going, and the opening hours felt a little slow. I also felt that my ending was a bit abrupt at first. I didn't replay the game to see every outcome, but after watching the different endings on YouTube and realizing there are at least 11 possible endings, I appreciated the game's branching story much more. Overall, The Invincible is a beautiful narrative adventure with fantastic visuals, an excellent story, and meaningful player choices. If you enjoy story-driven sci-fi games, I can definitely recommend it.

Мне понравился сюжет, пейзажи и персонажи, но конечно это не отменяет многих других проблем (причем вполне серьезных!) Можно начать с глупых анимаций ходьбы как главной героини, так и второстепенных персонажей, огромное количество визуальных ошибок: вся земля усеяна квадратами изза ошибки текстур, были замечены камни, которые становятся полностью черными если на них смотреть без увеличения, был пойман баг, когда активированные диалоги не проигрывались и просто были проигнорированы игрой, очень непонятно куда может подняться героиня (не уступ, а именно ровная поверхность земли), при виде от третьего лица при управлении авто - камера очень сильно трясется и постоянные зависания игры. при переигрывании финального диалога стало понятно что часть фраз Ясны не всегда зависит от выбранного диалога (все три выбора вели к одной и той же фразе) Конечное мнение: игра определенно стоит того чтобы играть в нее, но ее определенно нужно обновлять...

神，非常喜欢它的科幻剧情和很多暗喻，经常会有和作者心意相通的感觉。角色塑造很生动，有时台词略显浮夸，但在如此宏大的背景下也算自然。内容上控制论的部分非常有意思，一点点揭开谜底的过程很好。美中不足是动作系统不够流畅略难受，但是为了剧情和文本可以忽略，整体体验仍然极佳。

画面不错，节奏略慢但不至于无聊。[spoiler]看了老半天无敌号搁哪呢？[/spoiler]