As a fan of Cyberpunk stories, particularly ones that involve hacking, I found the first Invisible Apartment an interesting if rather short experience. In it we see a young hacker named Kacey as she’s working with an AI to discover the source of a series of proxies. She meets a young man named Alex and they decide to work together to unravel the conspiracies surrounding the Central Authority. It’s only about a half hour long but it sets the stage perfectly for the sequel.

In Invisible Apartment 2 we find Kacey spending most of her time in the apartment with her AI companion that she calls “Mask”. In the first game she meets Alex’s mother who dumps a lot of information on Central into her brain and they spend the good part of the game going through and decrypting said data. And Alex continues to work at Central to help unravel whatever they’re hiding from within. It’s a deadly game that both are playing and it can mean harsh reprisal if caught.

Characters from both previous games either make an appearance in Invisible Apartment 2, or at least are mentioned at some point. I have yet to play through the “prequel” of Invisible Apartment Zero, so some of the events leading up to this one were new to me. However, we do find out that Kacey comes face to face with her past. For better or worse we won’t find out until the next game in the series.

While I originally backed Invisible Apartment 2 for the Cyberpunk themes, after playing it I discovered a story much deeper than just hacking into a government agency and leaking sensitive information. It’s about people. Who are we? Why do we do what we do? Is there such a thing as free will or are we constantly being controlled by others? Are the masks that we wear to keep us from knowing ourselves or to keep others from seeing the real us? Some real deep stuff going on here.

During the game, Central Intelligence experiences a pretty big leak. A whistleblower releases sensitive information about the agency keeping a close watch on the citizens of the city, which understandably upsets a fair number of people. Unfortunately, CI quickly suspects it being an inside job. And the most suspicious employee just happens to be Alex. Who dodges pretty much every question tossed his way to keep Kacey safe. Which puts him under house arrest.

As both Kacey and Alex struggle to make sure that their own plans regarding Central and their “sleeper cells” aren’t found out they form a bond much deeper than just co-conspirators or even friends. It’s pretty obvious by the time that the credits roll just what they mean to each other.

Invisible Apartment 2 doesn’t have many decision points, certainly a lot less than expected for a visual novel, but despite the lack of replayability it’s got a strong story. The plight of the various characters make you feel for them and wonder just exactly what is up with Central Intelligence and why they’re so gung-ho on plugging every single leak or potential leak in their organization. I certainly look forward to seeing Invisible Apartment 3 whenever it gets made.