The Invincible and the Power of Loneliness

There's something about the vast emptiness of space that's inherently terrifying. The horrifying nature of space has obvious culprits: the lack of breathable oxygen making existence outside of delicate and expensive space suits a literal death sentence, black holes forming on the edges of our observable universe distorting time and challenging our understanding of linearity with the possibility of pulling us apart by the threads of our very own physical existence, even the literally incomprehensible distances between celestial bodies. There are endless reasons as to why space scares the hell out of us, but I think one aspect stands far above the rest: the unknown. Being lost in the infinite void that's ever present above our heads is a fear that most human beings can, to some degree, relate to.

This brings us to the The Invincible, developed by Starward Industries and published by 11 Bit Studios. The Invincible is an adventure game/walking sim based off of the science fiction novel written by Stanisław Lem of the same name. The game follows Dr. Yasna, a biologist who wakes up in the desert on an alien planet. Her equipment, along with her short term memory, are shot, and she must explore the planet's surface to find out not only why she's there, but what events transpired that put her in the precarious position she currently finds herself in. Along the way she comes in contact with her Astrogator, Novik, who is on a ship in orbit of the planet, who helps guide her through the trials and harsh conditions of the planet's surface.

Being lost in the infinite void that's ever present above our heads is a fear that most human beings can, to some degree, relate to.

Walking sims like the Invincible are a genre of game that tends to be hyper story-focused, with the "game" portion usually being light puzzling and exploration over pulse-pounding action or highly interactive environments. Due to the mechanical limitations present in walking sims, the environment is everything, from environmental storytelling to the way it funnels you through the world it provides. If a walking sim doesn't get the environment right, it has a very good chance of being the one thing video games should never be – boring.

The Invincible, thankfully, nails its environment right from the get go. Dr. Yasna wakes up in the middle of what appears to be a high desert, with multiple celestial bodies hanging in the sky, including a harsh sun that appears a little more red than we're used to on our native terra firma. She is surrounded by deep cavernous valleys, massive rock formations, high cliff faces, jagged rocks, sand, and a beautiful blue sky. Despite being developed on Unreal 4 instead of the more updated Unreal 5, The Invincible's vast landscape is as breathtaking as it is oppressive. You truly do get a sense of scale looking out at the massive wastes and the huge planets in the distance, letting you know right away that the planet you're on is not friendly and will not be kind to you.

This sort of environmental storytelling is where The Invincible really shines. There's something about how The Invincible looks and feels that's instantly appealing. The characters and equipment are all designed with a retro-future aesthetic, looking like a more colorful version of the technology from Alien. All of the equipment Dr. Yasna uses looks like relics of the past that are capable of performing futuristic feats. The tracker Dr. Yasna has on her uses a simple circle of individual lights to pinpoint exactly where someone is in relation to her. Highly sophisticated drones use live camera feeds that are viewed on old cathode-ray tube monitors. Equipment used for excavation are huge bulky steel monsters, not sleek and understated machines like you would assume futuristic technology to be. It all blends together to paint an alternate timeline where the space race resulted in the ability of technology to outpace the aesthetics of it, and it's surprisingly believable and immersive.

The Invincible, thankfully, nails its environment right from the get go.

The Invincible is, at its core, a textbook walking sim. The gameplay boils down to walking to different locations, listening to what your Astrogator (the "guy in the chair," so-to-speak) has to say, responding to those comments, and having extremely basic interactions from the environment. The story is pretty fantastic, with an incredible amount of intrigue and suspicion sprinkled in for good measure. The voice actors do an incredible job selling the suspension and comradery found throughout The Invincible, with Daisy May (Dr. Yasna) and Jason Baughan (Astrogator Novik) being stand out performances. You really feel how much they care about each other throughout the run time, and it draws you much closer to the characters as a result.

Good dialogue can only get you so far though, and with The Invincible's runtime being filled with extremely basic gameplay, there's one major thing that kept me coming back to find out more about what happened to Dr. Yasna: the atmosphere. Everywhere you look, the environment is dripping with atmosphere. The planet that you are stranded on is horrifying in its own right, being a harsh desert world filled with dangerous conditions. However, the true horror doesn't come from any set pieces. It comes from the fact that you are terribly, horribly, and utterly alone. No animals skitter through the sand or cling onto rocks. There is no movement in the distance as you make your way through the desolate world. Your only lifeline, the only thing that reminds you that you aren't the last human in the universe, is your radio contact with Astrogator Novik. Despite the fun art style, the beautiful world, and the surrealist nature of retro-futurism, this loneliness gives The Invincible a pervasive – and frankly threatening – sense of unease. Human beings generally dislike the idea of being alone, and the lack of concrete evidence that there are not only no humans, but no life on the planet you're stuck on transcends the notion of survival. Regardless of where you are on Earth, whether it be the deepest reaches of the Amazon or the frozen tip of Antarctica, you know that there are other sentient creatures somewhere on the blue marble you're standing on. In The Invincible, nothing feels so certain, and that lack of knowledge is crushing. Every time the wind howls through the empty caverns you're exploring, it is a reminder that you are on your own, and it chills you to the bone each time.

The planet that you are stranded on is horrifying in its own right, being a harsh desert world filled with dangerous conditions. However, the true horror doesn't come from any set pieces. It comes from the fact that you are terribly, horribly, and utterly alone.

If you're a fan of the storytelling style of Firewatch and like walking sims in general, than I can't recommend The Invincible enough. For an indie game, $30 USD is a little bit steep of an asking price, but there are 11 different endings to experience and enough exploration and intrigue to warrant that price. I was able to have a conversation with some of the people who helped developed this gem at PAX West 2023, and they're good people who are really passionate for this project.

So suit up, and explore the wastes of The Invincible.

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