The Invincible | How Accurate Is It? | Game vs Book Comparison | Story Explained | Stanisław Lem

In this video I explain the similarities and differences between the game and the novel.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:49 - "The Invincible"
02:40 - Regis III
06:06 - Atompunk
07:59 - The Cloud and its origin
11:15 - Inconsistencies
13:54 - Story
16:35 - Lem's Legacy

[@milagrosalfonso2501]

This game is so underrated, wish it can have more publicity. I wanna know what happened to Yasna in the novel

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Yes, I'm trying to do just that with my videos: add publicity to "The Invincible". Yasna does not appear in the novel. The game is a prequel to the book.

[@kevinmunoz3321]

@@anglahelgaming7217whhhhhat the game is a prequel they wrote for the book that’s awesome!?!? Now I have to read the book

[@Pecisk]

Game is kinda parallel story track happening with first ship struck on planet and mentioned in the book. Everything else is basically picked out of the novel, game is very very faithful.

[@agauerm]

it does not sell very well because it's basically a short walking sim, and the price is high for what's offered...

[@seraphimaschannel4001]

​@@agauermooh I disagree, it takes the mind on a journey, that's priceless...

[@Halucygeno]

A very good summary! That said, I thought I’d add a few interesting things which you didn’t mention: 1) In the novel, the crew of the Kondor was ambushed by the swarm and wiped out before they could learn anything, which made their deaths an additional piece of the mystery. But in the game, the Kondor is filled with notes and research showing a good understanding of the microbots and how they function. If the book followed what's established in the game, the mystery would be solved the moment the crew of the Invincible found the Kondor. 2) It’s worth mentioning that the game seems to loosely adapt the final section of the book, where Rohan goes out into Regis III to search for four missing crew members. In the game, this is moved to the start of the story instead, with Yasna looking for Marit, Krauta, Koval and Gorsky BEFORE she figures out what the swarm is. I think this is a very significant change, as the rescue mission in the original book was more symbolic than practical. The whole ethical dilemma was this: both Rohan and commander Horpach had very little doubt that the missing crew members were dead. Sending someone out on a rescue mission would only risk further casualties and give the swarm more time to attack the Invincible. However, if they decided to cut their losses and leave immediately, it would set a precedent, teaching the rest of the crew that they can be abandoned the moment they become a strategic liability. As a result, Horpach has to make the difficult decision to send out Rohan, unnecessarily risking the astrogator's life just to show that he won’t give up on his men while there’s still some hope of rescuing them. Rohan is initially unhappy with this idea (understandably so), but as the commander opens up and explains the problem, he understands and volunteers for the mission. While the scene at the start of the game shares some superficial similarities, the context is completely different, so both the moral dilemma and character development from the original are missing. That said, this is understandable, as I can’t think of a realistic way to reincorporate this plot point into the new story told by the game. 3) In the book, there is a scene showing a device called a "grave tapper" ("grave sounder" in the 2006 Bill Johnston translation, "corpse-spy" in the 1973 Wendayne Ackerman translation) being used on one of the corpses from the Kondor which ended up frozen by coincidence. The game mentions this device only briefly in a conversation between Yasna and Novik, where they discuss the possibility of using it on Marit's body. I think it makes sense that this scene was omitted, as the images seen by Rohan end up being a red herring with little relevance to the story. If I recall correctly, in the game, there's also a note inside the Kondor which explains how the device works in more detail, similarly to how it's described in the book. 4) The way force fields are depicted in the game is somewhat inconsistent compared to how they work in the book. In the novel, they essentially coat the environment around them, but don't cut through it. (One of the arguments the scientists make for the swarm not being intelligent is that if it was thinking strategically, it would learn that it can bypass force fields by burrowing through the sand - which shows that these fields rest on the surface and don’t extend underground.) But in the game, force fields are often depicted seemingly melting or cutting the rock around them, which is quite confusing. Why would they destroy rocks, but not sand? 5) There seems to be some inconsistency in how the game localises the novel for an English audience. All the visible text on textures like signs and posters is in English, and Polish names like Kowal and Jasna are spelled in adherence to English phonetics (Koval, Yasna). The one thing which seems to be an exception is the Kondor, which is spelled with a “K”, even though translations of the book have consistently spelled it “Condor”, with a “C”. 6) Some of the game's dialogue has tongue-n-cheek references to Stanisław Lem's other books, “Fiasco” and “Fables for Robots”. Inside the Kondor, there’s also a note next to one of the corpses which mentions “a theory of a white hole”, which has nothing to do with the story of the Invincible. I don’t recognize it, but the description is so specific that I’m sure it must also be a reference to one of Lem’s other novels. Finally, the brand of cigarettes Koval smokes is obviously named after the author himself. None of this is really essential, so it's not a criticism of your video. I just thought I'd add some trivia you might have missed.

[@robertobryk4989]

Also, there's a reference to Eden (in the story that the astrogator tells during one of the first buggy rides about an earlier mission that crashed, met a planet's inhabitants, and managed to somehow repair their spacecraft).

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Sorry, I'm so late in answering, but you wrote a very long comment with lots of good information. So I absolutely must answer! :) 1) Yes, the game is not very faithful to the book. But I mentioned this in my review: the crew in the book gets wiped out before they can do any research. 2) I did not like the beginning of the game. It would have made more sense and also would have been more fun for Yasna to be with her crewmates exploring the ocean, being an astrobiologist. They could have added a mini-game where you would have to catch a fish. Then the "evil" bots (perhaps together with a sand storm for more "epicness") would attack. And then Yasna would wake up alone in the desert. 3) I actually was disappointed that we as players would not be able to use the "grave tapper" to read the minds of the deceased. This would have been so cool! 4) I did not realise there was a difference with how the force field/energy shield works in the book. I simply overlooked it. Makes sense to use non-destructive force fields when you move through a canyon, as they did in the book. 5) It makes sense they changed the written form to avoid wrong spelling issues with non-Polish speakers. Why they had to change Condor to Kondor (ship insignia) is beyond me though. Especially since in the subtitles it is always "Condor." 6) Yes, there were certainly some references here and there. They made the astrogator use the term "fiasco" on purpose. Haha, I totally overlooked the cigarettes. A big thank you for taking your time and sharing your thoughts with us! :)

[@III_three]

I just finished the game. Gonna come back after reading the book. I really enjoyed this game. A very solid sci-fi adventure.

[@pashauzan]

I wish more space-faring games followed these kinds of atompunk style. I really want to see a similar or even connected games to this one, even If it's reaching outside of Lem's work

[@Anarchiusz]

Thank you for promotion of game and Lem's books!

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Thanks to you for watching the video! Lem is awesome!

[@ireneuszpyc6684]

@@anglahelgaming7217 from scientific point of view, Solaris is not accurate - it's Hollywood-ish

[@MrMartechi]

I wish the game had explored the narrative freedom granted by being a prequel (like you mention in the video) a bit more. As it stands, the game offers mostly a re-telling of the original story, which makes it feel a little bit redundant. A big part of "The Invincible"''s appeal, for me, was always the sense of this massive vessel and crew having to utilize all the resources and technology at their disposal to try and uncover that mystery - ultimately learning the lesson that "some things aren't for us". Having Yasna come to the same conclusions second-hand, and participating in the battle only second-hand somewhat cheapened that impact for me. Personally, I think I'd have preferred it if the game deviated from the book a little more and offered a more unique perspective on the issue. It is really great to see "the invincible" re-imagined as a game, yet at the same time I'm not sure how well it's suited to introduce new people to the book.

[@anglahelgaming7217]

I think the devs went for a walking simulator because it is quicker and easier to produce. Imagine having 20+ characters on the Invincible with lots of side quests and an open world. More or less like Starfield, but on just one planet. But, all in all, this version is well thought-out and does its job quite well. A missed opportunity and deviation from the book could have been an attempted communication with the Cloud. I also did not find the beginning of the game good. Yasna should have been with her team catching that fish in the ocean (using a submarine drone). That would have been an awesome mini-game! Then the Cloud would attack, and she would somehow become lost, or the team mates would wander off.

[@TJ-vo3rv]

Yooooooo, didn't know about this game. Stanislaw Lem is my favorite author. This is sick!

[@anglahelgaming7217]

You should absolutely play the game!

[@kleszczoros4885]

Hey some of the inconsistencies might be due to launguage/version of the books In audiotekas Polish audiobook Invincible (and kondor) are ships of the second Claas ,Crusiers not flagahips, the star is in fact described as being barly Potter than a Red dwarf it also says that the controller were bathed in pink light of the distant star. Im also quite sure antimats werent relly a thing. There was one spider Like Walker with a laser,i think there was one antimmater Cannon and of course there was the Cyclop wich was way stringer in the book(Like rly in the game minutes before we see cyclops fight we use 3 antimats to tbh a better effect.) Like hell when cyclops shot the Invincible it shook the entier ship and its battle with the cloud felt waaaay longer. In the book when antimatter was used it was a moment when you knew shot hit the fan but on the game its just too common. Also we had invincibles antimatter attack (and no mention of nukes)

[@cetakc]

I'm polish, thanks for this video - great job!

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Thanks! :)

[@piotao]

I live in Poland and I've read "Niezwyciężony" a dozen of times. This is a wonderful, deep book, full of specific scientific mood. Lem perfectly described humans struggle with unknown while having limited knowledge and resources. Fails are very natural and logick. In fact, this story could very much happen, because everything is just probable, withing limits of physics and human psychology. Another great book, where humans meet with unknown planet and strange, misunderstood civilization is Eden. I highly recomment it - it's even more moody, even less is explained, but still it is full of interesting story of the crew crashed on foreign planet. Very similar yet very different. Both those books leave something in the reader, something smilar to nostalgia for a more wisdom, and a remarkable study about humanity struggle, weakness and heroism. Read EDEN too!

[@III_three]

Lem is now another addition to my favorite Eastern European authors, along with the Strugatsky brothers.

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Cool, thanks for the info! I somehow managed to overlook "Eden." Some of Lem's books are kind of "hidden" for the non-Polish readership. Now I have to read it! Hopefully someday in Polish (I understand only about 10% as of now).

[@IAmAnAnne]

I didn’t realize this game was related to a book. Thank you for enlightening me to it’s existence:)

[@ireneuszpyc6684]

11 Bit (the developer) is a Polish company; Mr. Lem was a Polish author

[@BUFFAL0S0LDI3R]

I just read the book and I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure he calls the sun a red sun multiple times, and there’s references to how the light it provides the planets surface is dim and red and barely provides any warmth, all consistent with it being a red dwarf

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Yes, that's true. But even if it is a red dwarf the perceived colour would not be necessarily red. The same applies to our Sun. It is considered a yellow star (scientific term), but appears as white while in space. And orange and red at sunrise and sunsets. In some very rare cases it can also appear as GREEN. And on Mars due to a lot of sand in the atmosphere the Sun becomes BLUE at sunsets! Very weird but also very cool! The atmosphere composition and daytime are the main reasons how we perceive a star's colour.

[@BUFFAL0S0LDI3R]

@@anglahelgaming7217 that is cool, but it’s not what I’m disputing at all. I think you just made a comment that we didn’t know if it was a red dwarf for sure. But in the book I believe he outright says it is

[@anglahelgaming7217]

@@BUFFAL0S0LDI3R Yes, it is a red dwarf in the book. The star must be a "lucky pick." Normally red dwarfs tend to have sudden and rapid solar flares. It's like dropping a nuke a few kilometers above the ground. And there can be no warning against them as the solar flares travel at the speed of light. Life as we know it would only be able to survive underground or deep in the ocean. The microbots would also potentially have troubles. But they probably would have adapted in the correct way to somehow protect themselves against solar flares.

[@adriang3492]

Great video, thanks mate!

[@Nestor.555]

Well done mate! Very interesting as I've never read the book. Super surprised that there wasn't this plot of two rivaling factions in the original book. It would have made total sense from the perspective of an author in the 60s. So kudos to the writers of the game as I very much enjoyed that aspect of the story. The only "inconsistency", as you described it, which I didn't like is the fact that Yazna somehow seems to not be affected as much by the cloud as others. A simple pondering about gene difference would have sufficed for me as an explanation. Or to go the more complicated route, that the swarm intelligence somehow detected no ill intentions from Yazna and therefore spared her? idk, something like that

[@anglahelgaming7217]

To follow the logic of the novel Yasna just got lucky with her character. She is not very panicky, quite phlegmatic actually (a cliché of a scientist). The same as Rohytra. That's why she survived the attack with "intact" (difference to the book) memory. We don't know how intelligent the Cloud is. Since it is completely alien to us humans, it makes sense that it could not really tell Yasna of its true intentions towards her. Gene difference is theoretically possible, but she could not test for it simply by running around the planet. For that you would need a full-scale laboratory, and probably a team of scientists. Something she did not have at her disposal. But yes, the devs could have let her use a lab on the Condor for doing a gene test or something similar. You should read the book! It's awesome! ;)

[@Pecisk]

To be fair, Lem had rivaling factions - mimic splintered world of 20th century - in lot of other books, so they are not entirely alien. Some of his space traveling books implies social utopia, but mostly he kept it very vague, as he certainly was not a communist and took a bit nuanced view to the world.

[@anglahelgaming7217]

I agree! :) @@Pecisk

[@Ninja323pl]

Wait, I swear stumbling upon them explaining Yazna's resistance in the game. Something about her already being in a stupor upon first contact (because she nearly knocked herself out falling off a small cliff right after landing) which caused the swarm to mark her as already neutralized.

[@bariole]

It is explained in game. Yazna hit her head knocking itself during her first interaction with flies. Flies thus marked Yazna as "done" and "nonthreatening". She wasn't the only one as at least one Condor crew member was in same position.

[@NoSTs123]

I find the idea of electromagnetic fields interacting with a persons mind really intresting.

[@Man.Of.Obscurity]

Chuck McGill would not survive 😂

[@ingenium5831]

I have stumbled upon a game review and I got somehow hooked and watched a no commentary playthrough... I found the world and the story fascinating. Currently, I am going through the actual novel (I am more than half through it) and I like it 🙂 I came across your video when I was looking for some artist impressions of the cyclops as described in the book. Interesting machine. Good job on the video, keep up!

[@ingenium5831]

P.S.: spoiler - I could imagine that Rohytra is the body that the crew of the Invincible finds in the hibernator... P.P.S: I have only now noticed that the game is from 11bit studios who did also Frostpunk (which has also such a nice setting) and This war of mine (which I still need to buy and play)

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Thanks! I'm glad you are reading the novel! Keep it up!

[@kinganarkzie]

I'm going to come back to this video once I finish the game.

[@NoSTs123]

You made a great video. I wonder if there will be more video game adaptions of classic scifi novels, as it stands The Invincible is a one if a kind experience.

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Thanks! Another adaptations I can think of would be those of Frank Herbert's Dune.

[@ireneuszpyc6684]

@@anglahelgaming7217 Dune is a fantasy with religious elements, not real sci-fi

[@imreallytired431]

Thank you for making this! I had gotten the game because it looked interesting to me, but once I found that it was based on a Novel, I wanted to know more. Outside of this video, I didn't see anyone else tackling this subject and I thought it was sad that no one really seemed to care. Once again, thank you. You've sold it very well, and I'll be reading the novel before I play the game.

[@anglahelgaming7217]

This is one of the best novels I've ever read. It was a matter of honour to make this video. I may have been just the first one to upload such a video. But, yes, it also involved lots of work. Channels not specifically specialised on game reviews probably won't feature this. Glad you liked it! Yes, reading the book first is a good idea! Not only will you know more about the world of Regis III, but also detect dialogue lines taken directly from the novel, which is quite nice.

[@imreallytired431]

I've just finished the novel. It was fantastic. I found the beginning a little hard to get into with all the terminology it throws at you, but once I got into it I really liked it. Thank you for inspiring me to read the story. I'm very excited to play the game.

[@anglahelgaming7217]

@@imreallytired431 Hey, buddy, I'm so glad you experienced this great novel for yourself! This means I did my job right! I only wish there were more novel adaptations, the case of the Invincible is very rare. Only Frank Herbert's Dune is another one I can think of. Cool, you are now fully prepared to descend to Regis III! Convey my greetings to the Cloud! ;)

[@III_three]

​@@imreallytired431Yup I, too, struggled with start of novel. After reading the first chapter I dropped the book. Eventually came back to it after a 3-4 months and just read through it.

[@featsbeatsgames]

Found this video after playing the game. Really liked the game and the video. Will definitely be checking the Book out sometime as well as exploring the other endings to the game! For the record the ending I went for in my 1st playthrough was the one where I waited for The Invincible. Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it!

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Thank you! I tried to do my best! I highly recommend the book! It is also rather short, should be a fast-read. ;) I also have a video with basically all possible endings, some of which require you to play the game a second time: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn3TlX-aiM6Siac Good luck in space!

[@crooster1]

For the ppl who went in blind, thought like me that the Astrogator was a figment of the protagonist imagination OR was the bad guy in all of it, playing a cruel game of sorts.

[@III_three]

😂

[@Sidaik]

amazing video!

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Thanks! :)

[@LEPERCOLONY1]

Thank you brilliant review! I loved the book.

[@JohnArktor]

This is a very underrated game, not enough people have played it. Yet again, not enough people are interrested in real SciFi of the olden times. To the displeasure of some very pedantic personas, this game is very much a good - a very good even - tribute. I am certain Lem would have loved it, and those "inconsistencies" are more creative freedoms the design of a game need to be relevant as this medium (a game). Very good, will recommend

[@anglahelgaming7217]

I agree! I only object to the game's beginning. Yasna should have been with her team exploring the ocean of Regis III and catching an exo-fish. I wanted to go fishing! If games like this one came out at least once a month, my career on KZbin would be certain! :D Games about science and sci fi literature are almost non-existent. The other big exception is Dune. But Dune, while certainly dabbing into scientific ecology, is mostly a space opera. Subnautica is also very scientific, although not derived from a book, as far as I know.

[@JohnArktor]

A red star is red from space as well. As is a blue star blue and a yellow star like Sol, yellow. The atmosphere has not a lot to do with it. Other than that, nothing to add :)

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Ok, I researched it a little. Thanks for your correction!!! Yes, the stars have definitely hues, which could be seen with a naked eye (provided we could somehow teleport close enough to them) and you probably would clearly see the differences in colour, if you could put them close to each other. But these are not psychodelic strong colours like stars in No Man's Sky for instance. The depiction in the Invincible is definitely not entirely correct. The star should appear much brighter when looked upon, considering how well-pronounced the shadows are during daytime.

[@fortheemperor4754]

Where can I get this game, it looks cool Never mind I found it, have added to my list of games to buy

[@Uzair823]

This game has 11 different endings, I got the one with rohytra in the condor waiting for the invincible and then he dies. The aesthetics and atompunk style is fantastic havent seen anything like it before. The novel by Stanisław Lem is also a great read. Man was truly ahead of his time

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Wow! I did not know this ending existed! What do you have to do to trigger it? Yes, Lem is awesome! Atompunk aesthetics can be seen in the Fallout series as well.

[@Uzair823]

@@anglahelgaming7217 Im not 100% sure but Its to do with convincing rohytra not to drop the bomb and not attacking the flies when youre in the condor. You then also have to choose to stay with rohytra on the condor waiting for the invincible. I think the most important thing is that the bombs dont drop. I had that ending and then after that I saw her go to the flies and they make themselves appear as yasnas face. She releases the vial of the flies that were captured for research. So they were conscious/intelligent of themselves after all! , atompunk is amazing 😍😍🥰🥰

[@anglahelgaming7217]

@@Uzair823 Now I got it! About you mentioning Rohytra's death: Rohytra did not die. He simply fell asleep in the cryo chamber after getting some medicine syringe from Yasna.

[@flute136]

how the hell did the flies 150 lightyears away on Zeta Lyra get to Regis III?

[@anglahelgaming7217]

It is briefly explained in the game, and a bit better in the book. The flies evolved on Regis III, from robots that must have come on a space ship, about 20 ly distance, not 150 ly. Then there was a war between robots, a kind of a competition for scarce resources like metals and solar energy. The microbots, being very small and energy efficient, survived this war.

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

Man of Steel most probably based metallic goo on this, so did The Matrix

[@anglahelgaming7217]

The creators of these movies could have read the book. Unfortunately I don't know anything about it.

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

@@anglahelgaming7217 because there is absolutely nothing like it in preceeding canon (like there Was some inspiration/precendent to the memory crystals before Donner-Lester (actually was even before that in Puzo script) movies came out), except the notion that original creators ripped off Superman from everything they saw cool in sci-fi of their time ie 1930 Gladiator and John Carter book, etc + David S. Goyer could probably be like "well I took up some stuff from one Invincible (Kirkman's comics, some collateral damage scenery, Kal vs Faora = Mark vs Anissa, etc), might as well take up from another". I don't know, just my own speculation but it is fact that it is nothing that was in comics itself, just like Giger inspired Krypton architecture was never in comics (well, okay, maybe in Superman vs/and Batman vs Alien vs Predator comics crossovers but still not related to Krypton). And I can't think of any other fiction with such concept preceeding Lem's work.

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

@@anglahelgaming7217 also it is crazy that this game is only instance of an actual adaptation of this book that ever came out. Also premise of The Invincible reminds of of There be Tygers .

[@anglahelgaming7217]

@@FirstnameLastname-my7bz Actually it is absolutely normal to "steal" from others. This applies to every aspect of our lives, technology, agriculture, literacy, language... we live off the workings of previous generations. Nothing comes from nothing. To be a good writer or musician you have to study the works of your predecessors and competitors.

[@anglahelgaming7217]

@@FirstnameLastname-my7bz Yes, it is strange. Lem's Solaris was adapted two times already (Soviet and American versions). Hopefully there will be a movie about the Invincible at some point. You could even make a mini-series out of it.

[@moonbind]

nothing like book

[@weapsalot]

the use of the phrase 'over and out' in the game was very dumb. Did the dev's not understand that noone would say that? "Your turn to speak but I'm ending my transmission." idiots

[@Volke_]

Sorry but as an avid fan of The Invincible, this is horrible portrayal of Lem's ideas and the whole book it shamelessly takes the name from. What is shown in this game isn't retro futuristic, it is 50s, or more really 40s (because modern day people somehow think space age is the era of bulbous cars, spoiler it wasn't) in "future", retro futurism is creating an image of the future by people of today in a way people from the past would imagine it. And Invincible is not retro-futuristic, because it imagined future as through the zeitgeist of a person literally living in the heigh of the space race, it isn't a modern potrayal of how people would imagine the future, it is literally the idea of the future from the past. Biggest sin of this game is adding this whole plot about Condor crew surviving YEARS on Regis, where there is nothing to eat on the land, and the swarm is a constant threat, this goes against the WHOLE IDEA of this book, Condor crew was all identity killed, and left for dead, the book is as straight forward as it can be about this, this goes against everything that is written in it. Not to mention this whole idea of the swarm being intelligent when the book is quite clearly showing us it is not, about reprogrammed machines which were always just fried beyond use, not keeping to the designs (wtf is that Cyclops even? it looks like some flying mushroom) portrayed in the book. And this whole idea about factions??? Who the fuck came up with this? It is a blessing this game flopped, starward should be never allowed near any Lem creation ever again.

[@JohnArktor]

Not everyone is your level of butthurt, thankfully. And your kind is not in control of what games are made, also thankfully. That I despise the likes of you would be an understatement, you mr or ms pedantic and misguided purist.

[@III_three]

Ok...I finished the book and I loved it !!! Such a gem of a sci-fi novel. One I really enjoyed about the game was the Cold War dynamic. The tensions between the Alliance and the Commonwealth. Reading the book answered all my questions that popped up while playing the game. I have to say that the ending of the book was....𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵? It just ended. Mhmm...I guess I have to give it some thought.

[@anglahelgaming7217]

Yes, the Cold War is the game addition. It did not appear in the books. In my opinion, the book ending is perfect. Being used to modern movies and games, we kind of subjectively expect a great battle and a glorious victory/breakthrough at the end of a story. But there can be none on Regis III. And why even fight the robots? There is nothing to gain here except perhaps decoding the microbot technology. The ending on the one hand signifies the defeat of humanity but on the other hand shows that people can be reasonable enough to accept their defeat and simply conclude the mission. "Not everything everywhere is for us."