The Invisible Hours Reviews
A brave VR murder mystery experiment inspired by immersive theatre, but the asking price is too high.
The Invisible Hours is less about solving a murder and more about appreciating the interwoven stories of its compelling characters.
The Invisible Hours is not a game for everyone and is not even one of the most immersive VR titles recently seen, but as a narrative experience it's worth a lot.
Review in Italian | Read full review
'The Invisible Hours' gives new hope to those who might have started to sour on VR games
There's a complex narrative arcing across all of The Invisible Hours, and Tequila Works found a novel way to present it. It's the rare video game that requires no real player intervention to complete. But, the best possible payoff is a result of diligently following all the stories and getting a full picture of all the proceedings. By the end, you'll feel as if you cleverly solved this murder. In all actuality, you only watched the murder solve itself. That is The Invisible Hours' greatest theatrical feat.
It's the unique way in which individual stories overlap that makes The Invisible Hours such a great game. You'll need to replay this story multiple times over in order to uncover all of its secrets, and with each run you'll come to appreciate its choreography more and more. Existing inside a living, breathing world with famous historical figures like Thomas Edison is what virtual reality was made for, and the fact that the fiction is able to deliver shocks with such frequency is testament to the quality of the story-telling on display.
A fascinating experiment that appropriates PSVR technology to create immersive theatre, The Invisible Hours is quite unlike anything else on Sony's Virtual Reality platform.
If you like purely narrative games, The Invisible Hours is among the most honest and fascinating. The charisma of some of the characters is its main strength.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It may only take a couple of hours at most to experience everything that The Invisible Hours has to offer, but it's a couple of hours well worth investing.
PlayStation VR is a flexible technology, open to innovations and different approaches on game development. The Invisible Hours is a title that takes advantage of the VR device to present an unusual game: an immersive theater in which the player acts as a ghostly presence, free to explore and observe a series of interwoven plots, all centered on the murder of Nikola Tesla. Combining historical and fictional characters in a murder mystery play, the story is very well written, resembling Agatha Christie's novels, and keeps the player engaged. With many events happening simultaneously, the player is encouraged to go back or advance on the story, in order to discover new facts by following the footsteps of different characters, which delivers several surprises and an unexpected end.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
In terms of story length, the game lasts about 2 hours, but offers a loop of playing the storyline again, so there’s lots to explore and discover in the house. From secret passages to significant items, traversing around the dimly lit corridors and rooms can be rewarding if you’re out for an interactive narrative experience.
I had a great time playing through The Invisible Hours. It was an interesting way to tell a murder mystery story and was done in a way where you can experience the plot twists from many different perspectives. With the initial experience being fairly short it caters to those that are only able to experience VR in short bursts but can always jump back in to experience the story from another angle.
If you have a PSVR and are wondering what game to buy which won't make you queasy and doesn't involve platforming or shooting things then this is for you! The story is great, a well-known one but with twists and turns which you don't expect that will keep you entertained for hours. Tequila Works had me believing I was inside a murder mystery, fully immersed more than any game, TV show or movie ever has.
I really doubt that this game will be something that people will want to play over and over again. With the wooden acting and poor character models, one play though is plenty for me. Not to mention how many times you need to watch the story to obtain the clues and see all characters. By the end of it you will probably know the story better than the characters in it. Hardened trophy hunters will find a good amount here to work through. (I commend you for how many times you will have to listen to ‘Detective Gustav Gustav’).