The timing of The Invincible was, perhaps, unfortunate. Or maybe it’s the name, I don’t know, but the fact that Invincible, Amazon Prime’s highly anticipated animated show, just released is at least somewhat funny as these two have almost nothing in common. A serious, spooky sci-fi story and an unhinged deconstruction of the superhero genre are as different as they can be, and there’s no Berbeinheimer effect to save either of them.
Thankfully, I am one of the weirdos interested in both. As an admirer of Stanislaw Lem’s works, I long waited for a decent adaptation, and The Invincible looked just that. Great visuals, good voice acting (although no matter how I tried, I couldn’t change the voices to Polish on my PS5), and a decent story all sound great. Even more interesting is the studio: it’s the first game by Starward Industries, founded in 2018 by a group of creators who were instrumental to the success of several AAA franchises, including The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Dead Island, Dying Light, and Call of Juarez.
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The game starts strong, although it throws two of the big no-noes in my book: a comic instead of a cut scene and another amnesia patient as a protagonist. But fairly quickly, I was won over by gorgeous visuals and captivating sci-fi mystery. This game would probably work great as a VR experience.
Sadly, those are the best parts of the game. And after a few hours, you start noticing all the parts that don’t work: weak animations, shaky camera, and unclear instructions. Moreover, the game is slow, trying to stay realistic but ultimately only infuriating the player. There’s a lot of walking. A. Lot. I shudder to think just how much of a game there actually is without all the traversing.
And yet, I kept playing, liking the characters and the eerie vibe. Another strong point is the fact that your dialogue choices actually matter, which makes it an interesting adaptation. I can’t say that the quality of endings is at Lem’s level, but, well, it’s good that your choices actually matter.
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I like the idea of adapting the work of an acclaimed sci-fi writer — god knows we need more games with an actual story (I am still reeling after Starfield), but The Invincible is ain’t it. As a game, it’s slow, tedious, and just isn’t as fun as a good read. And yet, I am sure it will find its audience: it’s a game that knows what it is, and it never strays far from the initial idea. It might not be for me, but you might find something you’ve been looking.
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