Invisible, Inc. Console Edition

Genre: Turn-Based Strategy-RPG / Stealth

Players: 1

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Review:

Invisible, Inc. is a Turn-Based Strategy-RPG that’s fairly unique within the genre, in that players don’t directly fight with enemies, but use stealth to avoid direct confrontation. Originally released on PC in 2015, this game was later ported to other platforms and finally, in 2020, to Nintendo Switch in this “Console Edition” that includes the original game’s Contingency Plan DLC, and also adds traditional gamepad controls while still allowing players the option to supplement these controls with touchscreen controls in handheld mode (though players cannot opt to play the game exclusively with the touchscreen).

The presentation here is very good, with well-animated hand-drawn visuals, solid voice acting, and an excellent understated soundtrack that perfectly underlines the game’s cyberpunk setting and espionage themes. My only frustration with this presentation is that the way rooms are displayed often makes it difficult to determine what’s a useful object that can be interacted with, and what’s just scenery. Players can cut straight to the useful information by switching to a “tactical view”, but doing so is akin to playing the Batman: Arkham games completely in X-Ray mode: It’s extremely practical, but removes much of the game’s personality.

Reimagining the Strategy-RPG genre as a Stealth game makes for a refreshing departure from many of the norms of both genres. The turn-based nature of the game means that unlike many Stealth games, players can take their time planning out their actions and synchronizing the movements of multiple characters to pull off the perfect heist or ambush. And the focus on stealth means that unlike most Strategy-RPGs, the skills you’ll be investing your characters with won’t be combat skills, and leveling them up won’t involve besting enemies – rather, progression in this game is tied purely to carrying out successful missions and looting the place as best you can while you’re there. At its best, this game is an absolutely inspired blending of these genres that makes for a thrilling game of cat and mouse.

Having said that, it takes some time getting used to the way the game does things. An action as simple as “peeking” into a room can be vitally important in a game where guards shoot on sight and have perfect aim, and this is an action that needs to be taken manually, often multiple times in a row – you might be inclined to see a door and want to take it to move into the next room, but what the game wants you to do is see the door, make note of how many Action Points you have left for movement, make note of whether your character’s taser is still recharging, move up to the door, “peek” to check the room, open the door, peek to check again, move into the room, shut the door behind you, and then move to cover. Failing to do any one of these steps could prove to be a fatal error.

Even once you start to think the game through in the meticulous manner it demands, there’s still a few other issues, namely that this game doesn’t do as good a job as it could conveying movement limitations and line-of-sight to players. Sometimes players can move diagonally from one space to the next, and at other times they can only move orthogonally (at right angles), and it’s not always self-evident when you can and can’t move diagonally until you attempt to do so. Another issue is that it’s not always clear whether a guard, standing at a certain point, will see your character standing at another particular spot. Sometimes they can apparently see you at angles, and at other times they can’t, and it would be very nice if, when moving to a spot, the game made clear from which other spaces your location will be visible.

This may seem nitpicky, but please understand that this sort of information will frequently make the difference between success and failure in a mission, and while the game does allow you to take back up to three turns in a mission, it won’t let you restart the mission outright – if you fail, you’re done and need to restart the game.

While I wish the game did a better job of conveying vital information to the player, Invisible, Inc. is still so unique in what it does that fans of Strategy-RPGs and Stealth games should absolutely give it a look. It’s a fantastic premise that’s mostly well-executed and brings a whole new kind of strategy to both genres it blends together.

tl;dr – Invisible, Inc. is a Strategy-RPG with a heavy emphasis on Stealth, having players avoiding combat with enemies and evading them instead. It’s an inspired take on both genres that really brings something new to the table, but it could have done a better job conveying vital information to the player. Still, fans of both genres would do well to give this game a look.

Grade: B

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