Why The Invincible Created New Characters Instead of Using Rohan – GameRant

The Invincible is the debut title of Starward Industriesa narrative-driven sci-fi adventure based on Stanisaw Lems 1964 novel of the same name. While Starward Industries reveres Lem's source material, they are still taking some liberties from the original novel, introducing a new cast and POV character for players to control. Releasing on November 6, The Invincible tells a mature, hard sci-fi story taking inspiration from games like Firewatch and Road 96.

Game Rant recently spoke with Starward Industries' art director, Wojciech Ostrycharz, about adapting one of Lem's celebrated sci-fi novels into a video game format and why the team ultimately decided to introduce the game's protagonist, Yasna, in favor of the book's main character, Rohan. As a fan of Lem himself, Ostrycharz is keenly aware to readers' attachment to Rohan, and Starward Industries did not make the decision to exclude him lightly. Rather, the hope is to honor its source material by making a game good enough to stand on its own merits.

Ostrycharz explained that Starward Industries wanted to tell Lem's story from a fresh perspective to be as widely accessible as possible. Starting with a different character gives longtime fans of Lem something new to enjoy, while those who have never read Lem's novel do not need to worry about not having read the original book. Even more important, however, was Starward Industries' desire to avoid misrepresenting Rohan:

"We also didn't want to translate Lem's character Rohan directly into the language of the game, precisely because we know how significant the character is to readers, and the gaming medium comes with its own opportunities and limitations."

If Rohan was portrayed faithfully to the book, players might feel like their autonomy in the game would be at odds with the character's authenticity in the book. Deviating from Rohan's actions in the novel might make the game feel like fan fiction. Worse yet, watering down Rohan's personality to make him more broadly accessible as a POV characteror turning him into a silent or semi-silent protagonistwould be a disservice to readers' memories.

The "opportunities and limitations" Ostrycharz refers to the potential benefit of an adaptation, and the distinction between games and novels as storytelling media. For the purposes of portraying philosophical concepts and beliefs, these media can take the same subject and reach very different conclusions, with distinctions as significant as those between Atlas Shrugged and BioShock. Given those stakes, it makes sense that Starward Industries would want a new perspective for a new medium.

Despite the shift to a new medium, Ostrycharz believes Lem's work, and The Invincible's messages are timeless:

"Both the book and the game strongly reference anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, the limits of human knowledge, and respect for nature, even if it's alien and incomprehensible. Regis III is an alien planet, but it could also be an Earthly jungle inhabited by an unknown species into which we enter with our tanks without a hint of humility."

Ostrycharz's evocative analogy drives home The Invincible's broad appeal to modern audiences. Whereas BioShock and other narrative sci-fi games tell violent horror stories, The Invincible appears to focus on horrors in a more cerebral and less celebratory sense. Ostrycharz also stated the game's tagline, "Not everything everywhere is for us," is a tribute to Lem and his work, and ultimately, that's something worth thinking about.

The Invincible is a story-driven adventure game, adapted from the hard sci-fi works of Stanislaw Lem. Players will explore Regis III as Yasna, use tools to search for her missing crew, and face unforeseen threats.

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Why The Invincible Created New Characters Instead of Using Rohan - GameRant