WWE 2K25 released earlier this year and added a new 2K Showcase focused on The Bloodline, while Persona 5 Tactica serves as a turn-based strategy spin-off for the main series. Green Hell is a brutal survival experience in the Amazon, and Fate/Samurai Remnant is a new hack-and-slash title offshoot co-developed by Omega Force of Hyrule Warriors fame.

Crow Country is an acclaimed PlayStation One-style survival horror inspired by Resident Evil and Silent Hill. PS5 owners can also check out sci-fi adventure The Invincible and top-down survival horror Conscript. Meanwhile, Premium subscribers will have access to Legacy of Kain: Defiance on both platforms. As a new title in the vaunted action-adventure series, it features both Kain and Raziel as playable characters.

The update also brings with it increased walk and sprint speeds in some of the locations across Regis III, as well as new Story slides that players can discover. An experimental feature that allows players to widen the game’s field of view has also been added, and a toggle for the feature can be found in the game’s accessibility options.

The Invincible was released on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S back in November 2023. The game puts players into the shoes of astrobiologist Yasna. Something has gone wrong on the planet Regis III, and it is up to Yasna to find her crewmates and figure out the planet’s strange mysteries.

For more details on The Invincible, check out our review.

PATCH NOTES:

Additional features of the Voyager update:

• Added in-game input to directly launch comics, allowing you also to dive into your unique play story with the possibility to enlarge exact frames.
• Changed flashbacks fade in/out color.
• Added an option in accessibility to turn off automatic interactions.
• Updated decal appearance to indicate the possibility to climb.
• Bug fixes for some camera movement and slides inspect mode.
• Minor animation and audio adjustments.
• Performance and UI issue fixes.
• Minor localization adjustments.

The Invincible is based on a sci-fi novel of the same name by Stanisław Lem. The game puts players in the shoes of astrobiologist Yasna who finds herself on the planet Regis 3. Something has gone quite wrong, and Yasna has to kick off her journey in figuring out the mysteries hiding in the planet, while also trying to rescue her crewmates.

A key feature of The Invincible is the fact that Yasna can form and change her relationship with the rest of her crew. Conversations in the game will often change how her crewmates respond to her, and finding new objects, anomalies, or even mission objectives will often spark philosophical conversations about the nature of science, ethics, and the planet itself.

For more details on The Invincible, check out our review. Here’s everything you need to know about the game as well.

"The Invincible is essentially a walking simulator."

There is also another small bit of baggage that warrants discussion when it comes to The Invincible—the book that the game is, in its own strange and interesting way, adapting. The similarly titled book tells the story of the crew of a spaceship, dubbed The Invincible, that is trying to figure out what happened to the crew of The Condor on the planet Regis III. Without going into too much in the way of details for the book’s plot, it’s safe to say that, while reading it might present you with some spoilers, it can also really enhance the core narrative of the game.

Since it’s essentially the least important part of The Invincible, let’s talk about its gameplay first. Tasked with finding your missing crewmates, you have to explore Regis III by making use of maps, landmarks, and other tools at your disposal. Interaction with the world is limited to spotting things, talking about them, and occasionally flipping a switch or hitting a button. In fact, for the vast majority of the game, you’re just going to be walking—and sometimes also driving—around.

That’s not to say that you’re aimlessly wandering around, however. Right from the offset, your goals are always very clear, be it making use of visible landmarks and a sketched-out map to find your camp, to using the wonderfully retro-futuristic gadgets you have to find your crewmates. There’s never really any moment where you’ll be “lost” in terms of not knowing what you should be doing, and since most of the interactions in the game revolve around observations and conversations, this minimalist approach to gameplay lets the game’s story take center stage.

" Rather than making use of a more modern screen, the scanner in The Invincible instead makes use of a circular array of LEDs, each of which can blink, depending on the position of the signal relative to where you’re standing and looking."

Setting everything else aside, the single best thing about The Invincible is its approach to futuristic gadgets. Harkening back to the art-deco aesthetics, just about everything you find in The Invincible feels like it would be right at home in a show set in the 1900s. The design of just about everything is a wonderful mix of the impracticality of classic sci-fi tropes, and the practicality of modern-day technology.

I have to give a shout out to the scanner, which lets you detect any nearby signals. Rather than making use of a more modern screen, the scanner in The Invincible instead makes use of a circular array of LEDs, each of which can blink, depending on the position of the signal relative to where you’re standing and looking. In essence, it’s basically an incredibly low-resolution screen, and by far my personal favorite sci-fi gadget design in a while. Other technology was seemingly designed in a similar way, with robot companions that feel like they belong on the cover of a pulpy sci-fi novel from the 60s, or even the metal detector essentially being a big CRT screen attached to a camera and a pistol grip.

The low-end sci-fi technology used in The Invincible goes quite well with the game’s general look. While Regis III might seem like a rather bland planet from the outset—you start out in a desert, after all—things don’t stay brown and sandy for too long. The hunt for your companions quickly takes you across a series of biomes, each with its own geological landmarks that you’ll often have to make use of in conjunction with your notebook to navigate. Since there aren’t really any big structures on Regis III, you’re going to have to work quite a bit harder to find your way around.

"The low-end sci-fi technology used in The Invincible goes quite well with the game’s general look."

As I’ve mentioned in this review, the story is quite simply the most important thing about The Invincible. The game is trying to tell a rather personal story of crewmates that get separated while out on a scientific journey. Players are put into the shoes of scientist Yasna, who mysteriously wakes up on Regis III with a broken communicator and some severe holes in her memory. Making use of her notes, players will quickly have to start making sense of their surroundings and situation.

Thankfully, the whole game isn’t really about recovering Yasna’s memories; she’s pretty good at recalling important things, after all. Rather, players join Yasna on her quest to find all of her crewmates that landed on Regis III and get off the planet. The premise for the story is simple, and ripe for quite a few twists and turns along the way.

Alongside learning the fate of her crewmates, Yasna also discovers that something about Regis III is incredibly strange. Interestingly, a lot of the intrigue is left to be pondered, and the game isn’t particularly forthcoming with answers, choosing instead to focus on some of the more philosophical aspects of its story. The key mystery, however, revolves almost entirely around the nature of Regis III as a planet, and why the only fauna that seems to have evolved on the planet doesn’t seem keen on leaving its oceans.

"The key mystery, however, revolves almost entirely around the nature of Regis III as a planet"

The quality of the writing in The Invincible is held up to quite an extent by its rather spectacular voice acting and direction, both in terms of visuals as well as audio. Every action you can take in the game feels like it has some real weight to it, and even the simple act of hopping off a ledge can feel like an ordeal on its own, thanks in large part to the fantastic audio. Yasna in particular comes off as a wonderfully believable character, even if her propensity to fall into flashbacks can start feeling somewhat annoying at certain points.

The Invincible is a game held up in large part thanks to just about every single one of its aspects aside from the core gameplay. While there’s quite a bit of exploration, the gameplay isn’t really why you’d want to play the game in the first place. Rather, it’s the story, writing and characters that will pull you through.

The simple story of The Invincible may not be the most bombastic or fantastical one out there—it is based on a sci-fi book to begin with, after all—but rather, the quieter moments of the game, where Yasna is just looking up at the night sky and wondering about things aloud that really make the game what it is. Of course, it also helps that the game has incredibly strong art direction, with one of the best executions of the art-deco-inspired retro futurist aesthetic in a video game.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Quantum Error

Early access for TeamKill Media’s upcoming horror title begins on October 31st for pre-orders on PS5. However, Quantum Error is available worldwide for everyone on November 3rd, with the story set in the Monad Quantum Research Facility.

Following an unknown attack, firefighter Capt. Jacob Thomas is sent in to rescue any survivors. Things quickly dive into cosmic horror territory, and it’s all players can do to survive. Developed on Unreal Engine 5 and utilizing the DualSense’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback for immersion, Quantum Error could be a dark horse in a year of standout horror titles.

RoboCop: Rogue City

Terminator Resistance developer Teyon is adapting the other robotic action icon into shooter form with RoboCop: Rogue City. It takes place between the second and third films and sees RoboCop tackling the gangs of futuristic Detroit. There’s also Project Afterlife, a mysterious plan that could involve the ever-shady OCP.

Along with the classic Auto 9, players wield 20 different weapons, uphold the law, help citizens, and complete various missions for XP to unlock powerful upgrades. You can even investigate and gather evidence when you’re not punching perps in the gob. RoboCop: Rogue City launches on November 2nd for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

EA Sports WRC

The WRC series is back, albeit under the EA Sports moniker and developed by Codemasters, who are no strangers to rally racing games. While it offers WRC, WRC2 and Junior WRC cars and teams from the 2023 season, you can also control about 68 classic vehicles.

There are over 200 stages to play through, spread across 17 locations, including Portugal, Kenya, Japan and Monte Carlo, with new features like Builder Mode for designing a car, Moments Mode (which focuses on racing through recent events), Career, and cross-platform multiplayer. It even has Clubs with leaderboards. EA Sports WRC launches for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 on November 3rd.

The Invincible

Some sci-fi stories are full of hope and the anticipation of exploring beyond the reaches of human understanding. Based on Stanisław Lem’s sci-fi novel, Starward Industries’ The Invincible embodies the latter but reinforces one inescapable fact – not everywhere is meant for us. As astrobiologist Yasna, players venture to Regis 3 on the spaceship Invincible.

It’s not long before she’s caught up in searching for her crewmates with the help of astrogator Novik, slowly uncovering their fate and learning about the overwhelming threat on the planet. With gorgeous visuals and branching decisions, The Invincible promises a slow-burn thriller experience when it launches on November 6th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Broken Roads

If you’ve been aching for a Disco Elysium-style computer role-playing game, Drop Bear Byte’s Broken Roads may be worth checking out. Releasing on November 14th for Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch, it’s set in post-apocalyptic Western Australia, specifically the Wheatbelt region, as players explore the Outback and make alliances to survive. All decisions fall under four quadrants in the Moral Compass, which can provide different traits to cater to future choices. With multiple outcomes, extensive lore and turn-based combat, it’s an intriguing take on the genre which we’re keen to try.

Football Manager 2024

Would it be a November without a Football Manager title (not counting titles released before 2014)? Football Manager 2024 is out on November 6th with four versions – PC, Console (for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and also PC), Mobile and Touch for Nintendo Switch. Along with upgraded ball physics and lighting, new features like the Inverted Full Back role, a Match Preparation tab in Training, new Youth System Rankings and more are included.

This is in addition to quality-of-life improvements for the Fantasy Draft and pre-match briefing feedback panel, offering out players on loan, and more. Perhaps the best part is the ability to import your career from last year’s game and continue playing.

Flashback 2

As one of the more unorthodox side-scrolling action platformers of the early 90s, Flashback is finally getting a sequel, helmed by creator Paul Cuisset. It sees Galactic Bureau of Investigation agent Conrad B. Hart searching for his friend Ian while dealing with the Morph Invasion. With vibrant 2.5D visuals that capture the original’s cyberpunk vision, new locations, new mechanics and the same pulse-pounding action, Flashback 2 looks like a modern blast from the past. It’s out on November 16th for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/S.

Super Mario RPG

For many, their first introduction to turn-based role-playing games happened not with Final Fantasy but with Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. On November 17th, it finally returns as a remake for Nintendo Switch, featuring gorgeous overhauled visuals and orchestral arrangements for the soundtrack (with the original tracks still available).

There are also several new features and mechanics, from the new Easy Mode and fighting souped-up versions of existing bosses to the new Triple Move, a super move where all three party members attack. Even if you never played the original, Super Mario RPG is an experience that can’t be missed.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

From a legendary dragon to a Joryu, an agent of the Daidoji, Kazuma Kiryu returns in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. Taking place after the events of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, it sees Kiryu partaking in various missions in Osaka and Yokohama, interacting with new characters like Akame and dealing with new threats like Homare Nishitani III, the patriarch of the Kijin Clan.

In addition to serious story missions, Kiryu also indulges in combat with the Yakuza and Agent Styles and engages in various side activities like Karaoke, Pocket Circuit, the Coliseum, and even playing classic Sega games like Fighting Vipers 2, Daytona USA 2, Galaxy Force and Flicky. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name launches on November 9th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC.

Risk of Rain Returns

While Hopoo Games eventually wants to explore other ideas outside the Risk for Rain franchise, it’s back for one last hurrah with Risk of Rain Returns. As a remaster of the first game, the side-scrolling rogue-lite shooter sports sharper visuals and 15 Survivors (two new to the roster) with unique play styles feeding into the sheer chaos possible with item pick-ups and power-ups.

Upon exploring Petrichor V, things increase in difficulty, but you can also add Artifacts for even more mayhem, like Imp Invasions every ten minutes. The best part is that along with couch co-op, the improved online multiplayer makes it much easier to team up with others. Risk of Rain Returns launches on November 8th for PC and Nintendo Switch.

The Invincible launches on November 6th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Here’s what you should know before picking it up.

New Main Cast of Characters

No spoilers, of course, but many of the major characters, including protagonist Yasna, who searches for her missing crewmates on Regis 3, are new and not in the book. There’s also Novik, an Astrogator who converses with Yasna throughout her journey, providing orders. While some characters from the book appear in the game, this is not a 1:1 adaptation. However, the book and game are meant to complement each other instead of existing independently.

As Starward Industries CFO Maciej Dobrowolski told Rock Paper Shotgun earlier this year at GDC, “When you play the game first and then read the book, you’ll find something new in the book. And if you read the book first, you’ll find something new in the game.”

Atompunk Aesthetic

If there’s one thing that stands out about The Invincible, it’s the visuals, which look stunning and almost photo-realistic. However, it would make sense for much of the technology to appear retro-futuristic. Speaking to GamesRadar, director Marek Markuszewski (who also founded developer Starward Industries) says the aesthetic is inspired by the works of sci-fi illustrator Chris Foss, artist Syd Mead and Chesley Bonestell, whose works in space art remains legendary to this day.

Markuszewski described the aesthetic of the game as “atompunk”, but a significant amount of research also went into “the original designs of spacesuits and clothing used during the Cold War, as well as spaceships, vehicles, various tools and devices manufactured in the Soviet Union.” It has reportedly resulted in a “fresh and unique retro-futuristic visual style.”

Unreal Engine 5

The Invincible is developed on Unreal Engine 5, with Starward Industries opting to use it for the Materials system and the physics-based rendering it allows and the production and workflow of Unreal Editor. It also utilized features like Lumen for illumination and reflections and Nanite’s Virtualized Geometry for supporting the design of environments.

Gameplay

So, how do you play The Invincible? It’s a first-person adventure that takes a few cues from Campo Santo’s Firewatch. You walk around the environment and are engaged in conversations, selecting different dialogue options in real time. Those same options branch off into different reactions as you explore the six different biomes of Regis 3.

However, Markuszewski told ShackNews that this idea has been “developed further” so you do more than walk around. Don’t worry – not all conversations will happen over the radio, and there will be plenty of up-close and personal encounters. Also, there aren’t “missions” in the game but different goals and tasks that pop up. Sometimes, you drive a vehicle, and others involve surviving or conducting a search and rescue.

Tools

Another major part of the gameplay is using tools. Yasna will receive a scanner for X-raying walls or utilize a homing tracker to locate radios on different space suits to aid her investigation. There’s also a handheld telescope used to identify things at a distance. Considering the mission to discover the fates of your missing crew, these will all be necessary to learn more about the events leading up to their disappearance and what’s happening on Regis 3. The equipment available changes throughout the story, and sometimes, you may need to improvise since they may not be meant for unexpected situations.

“Very Volatile” AI

You’ve probably noticed from the gameplay and demo released thus far, but there are robots in the game. Markuszewski cited Alien: Isolation as one of the gameplay inspirations, and there is some interaction with a “very volatile” AI. However, this doesn’t mean running away from a highly intelligent Xenomorph that is nigh unkillable. At least, we hope it doesn’t.

Choices and Consequences

As noted earlier, a lot of conversation is happening on Regis 3. Some of your choices can affect your relationship with characters like Novik, but there’s also a rival faction that you can interact with. Whether you work with or against them is entirely up to you, and not every decision may be correct. How these consequences manifest through a playthrough is where the appeal lies.

Playtime and Multiple Endings

Considering its various inspirations and the branching dialogue choices, how long is The Invincible? Dobrowolski told The Loadout that a playthrough can take about eight to ten hours. However, there are multiple choices, and you won’t know until later when something has changed, so the overall playtime could be much higher. There are reportedly 11 different endings, and players can treat the main mystery with hostility, investigate it or even flee the planet. Note: You can mess things up pretty badly, highlighting some of characters’ worst traits in the process.

PC Requirements

While its PC requirements are subject to change before release, the available specs indicate that it shouldn’t be too heavy. You need Windows 10 64-bit and 40 GB installation space regardless of the other hardware. Minimum requirements include an Intel Core i5-10400F at 2.9 GHz or an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 3.5 with 8 GB RAM and a Radeon 6500XT (4GB), Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 (4GB) or a GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) with DirectX 11. Recommended requirements include the same CPU, but with 16 GB RAM and a Radeon 6600XT (8GB) or GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6GB) with DirectX 12.

DualSense Support

The Invincible will use the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller, with gameplay designer Mariusz Antkiewicz being a fan of the adaptive triggers. Speaking to WCCF Tech, he feels they’re perfect for illustrating the “complex interactions with objects such as machines, tools, and equipment”, and feels that the “more intuitive and literally tactile gameplay” will help players feel more immersed. Of course, you can also expect 3D audio support, which should make some of the tenser segments that much more harrowing.

Of course, the year is far from over – and plenty of great games are just looming over the horizon. Over the coming weeks and months, the games that will be the most talked about are going to be Spider–Man 2 and Alan Wake 2 alongside a few other AAA releases.

But the one game that I am really excited about – the one game that has perhaps not seen the amount of love or hype it deserves – is The Invincible from Starward Industries. We previously covered this game in a highlight feature last year. Since then – the developer has released plenty of new details about the game and its workings that have us super excited about this upcoming release.

The Invincible is all about exploring the alien planet of Regis 3 as our protagonist Yasna crashes into this hostile world and is separated from the rest of her crew. As you can already imagine, the basic premise is as predictable as ever for a sci-fi story about survival – but that initial premise is a mere facade that hides behind it a larger narrative that touches on heavy themes like discovery and the very essence of human nature.

You see, The Invincible is largely based off of the novel of the same name and those familiar with this novel would know its penchant for marrying sci-fi elements with philosophical themes in a rather unique way. And because the developers are trying to capture the same magic as the books, there’s a great chance that the story of Yasna and her quest for survival will be one that will be a thought-provoking tale that will stay with players long after the credits roll.

CD Projekt RED attempted a similar feat with Cyberpunk 2077 that not only transports players to a futuristic dystopia but also poses heavy questions about freedom in a world ruled by corps and the meaning of existence itself. And that only works because V gets to make a choice at several critical moments and witness the consequences of those decisions right in front of him. Depending on what you choose during these critical moments, the story can take a sharp turn which makes those choices seem impactful and lets the player interpret the philosophical meaning behind it all.

Then it makes complete sense that The Invincible also features a story where your actions have an impact on the plot, and thankfully that’s just the case. After all, the medium of games is all about interactivity – and giving players the agency to shift the narrative according to their choices is a great way of enriching the experience of a novel through a video game. Starward Industries has already clarified that players will be able to make some important decisions that will dictate the character arc of our protagonist Yasna. Not only that, but these decisions will also impact the larger world around her, which will ultimately create different endings based on your decisions in the story.

However, unlike Cyberpunk 2077’s V, Yasna doesn’t seem to be a blank slate of a character. Instead, she has a fleshed-out backstory and shares certain relationships with her crewmates – which the developer says will be equally complex characters with their own motivations and flaws. Conversations in The Invincible will rarely be simple, and Yasna will have to carefully assess the situation and the ulterior motives behind each word to be able to make a decision that best suits her interest. All in all, navigating through conversations seems to be an important part of The Invincible – and the tone of writing and the philosophical nature of the overarching narrative should come together to make this simple act interesting and a lot more engaging.

In addition to how Starward Industries is handling The Invincible’s narrative, one of the more interesting things about the game is its world. As you can already see in trailers and footage, The Invincible’s flavor of sci-fi has a retro touch to it. So while you will see advanced technology fitted within the spaceships and robotic creatures roaming the planet of Regis-3, most of them still have clicky buttons and radio antennas which gives the world a rather distinct feel.

This unique art direction also extends over to the environment design as well. The planet of Regis 3 is littered with unique flora and fauna, including but not limited to weird metallic plants that grow out of this alien planet’s soil. It’s very likely that the final game will have even more of such weird flora and fauna, which should help in making a player uneasy by playing on one’s unfamiliarity with the surroundings. There are plenty of other such touches and embellishments peppered throughout the game that come together to make this world feel like a believable place, and we’re really excited to see what the developer has in store for us with the final release.

Contrary to what conventional notions might suggest, a book is always judged by its cover. And In a similar vein, a game’s graphics have a huge impact on how anyone perceives the product at first glance. The folks over at Starward Industries know this, and The Invincible does a good job of presenting its unique brand of sci-fi with a high level of visual fidelity and a consistent art direction. The game is developed using Unreal Engine and makes good use of that technology to craft a crisp image that looks pleasing to the eyes and has a level of fidelity that matches the best of AAA games.

To be honest, The Invincible isn’t doing something extraordinary. Most if not all of its ideas have been executed to great effect in plenty of other games, but what makes it so intriguing is the world it’s set in and the themes it tries to tackle with its story. Starward Industries has tried to focus on telling a very specific kind of story without bothering with additional gameplay elements or mechanics that would distract from what it wants to say. As such, it’s quite likely that The Invincible might not be everyone’s cup of tea with its slow-burn narrative and non-action-focused gameplay. But there’s a great chance that those who jive with it will find a lot to love in this sci-fi adventure.

Of course, all these praises come from someone who is hopefully optimistic about the game. But there’s always a chance that The Invincible may not live up to its potential – which is why it’s advisable to not let one’s expectations run wild before the game is even out. That said, we are less than a month away from the game’s release on November 9 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S – so thankfully we don’t have to wait too long to see whether the game is worth the hype or not. We will be checking the game out on release, so stay tuned for our review and post-game coverage in the meantime.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Based on the sci-fi novel by Stanisław Lem, The Invincible focuses on astrobiologist Yasna, who ventures to the planet Regis 3. Things have gone wrong, and her crewmates are missing, but there are also various mysteries to solve (and hints of a hostile presence). Guided by Novik, an Astrogator, players can choose to follow orders or question everything around them.

Depending on your choices, relationships can change, and you may even obtain different endings, some positive and others less so. For a better idea of how The Invincible plays, check out about 18 minutes of gameplay here. Head here to learn more about the narrative’s themes and how they’re presented in-game.

The development team discusses how the game sticks close to the narrative, as Yasna goes from following orders from Novik, her Astrogator. Over time, she must learn to trust her intuition, but there’s room for doubts in humanity, science, and herself. Players will make choices that affect the narrative and their relationship with characters like Novik.

A handful of endings will cause you to reflect on humanity’s best traits or more destructive qualities (depending on badly you mess up, we would imagine). The Invincible is releasing for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC later this year. Check out 18 minutes of in-depth gameplay here, and stay tuned for more updates.

Starfield 

Set in the far reaches of space, Starfield looks set to take the Bethesda RPG formula into an entirely new dimension – and it looks nothing short of breathtaking. You get to explore over a hundred different planets brimming with quests to track and people to meet, and the choices that you make during these quests will ultimately dictate the outcome of this adventure. Between a solid gameplay loop and impressive NASA-Punk designs, Starfield is looking to be worth all the hype and anticipation. It releases for PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 8, 2023.