If it came down to vibes alone, I think UNBEATABLE would be a 10/10 game. The soundtrack is phenomenal. There can be some clever quips from beat. The character designs and 2D folks exploring 3D environments pops. If there were an FLCL game, I think it would be like this. But while all those elements exude style, the execution of the narrative and some gameplay elements feel a little flimsy and in need of some patches.
One day, when a pink-haired girl with a guitar was laying in a field, she looked up and saw a younger, blue-haired girl. Upon Beat meeting Quaver, the latter was shocked to see the instrument and spirited her away to her home. However, this was only temporary, as Quaver then used Beat as an excuse to get away from her house and gated community to head into the city to visit a stadium. When Quaver got up on the stage to “perform,” a cop showed up and was followed by a strange entities known as Silence. While dealing with these monsters and cops, Beat and Quaver head out to form their own band.
Like I said before, the narrative and atmosphere of UNBEATABLE very much reminds me of FLCL, and not just because they both feature pink-haired protagonists and a killer soundtrack. There’s a sense of rebelling against authority, determining who you are, and even a coming of age element for Quaver. There’s also a similar sort of attitude, with sharp quips and many characters having an edge to them. (In a good way, though!) It’s clever and stylish in every way, especially when it comes to its incredible music.
As far as the rhythm element goes, it’s solid both in the main campaign and arcade mode. This involves two lanes of notes, with some Silence indicators showing up in the upper one and others in the lower track. The game begins with a timing input check, to ensure we aren’t dealing with lag. There are the typical types of note patterns with the Silence that come up, with some involving hitting both at the same time or held notes. In Arcade Mode it gets especially enjoyable, since there are tons of challenges and both standard and remix versions of songs from the game.
So the main gameplay issues that got in the way of really enjoying UNBEATABLE involved some jarring transitions in story segments and sometimes even conversations. The big ones would come in going between one area or story beat to another. The first happened after the introductory segment, and I know it was intentional. But others seemed like maybe they weren’t. When Beat and Quaver were about to leave Quaver’s house, the game cut in the middle of a conversation before I could finish and I was just outside on the street with the two of them. When the two of them were in an arena and a police officer came up, there was another one of these sharp transitions that abruptly left the duo outside in the midst of a police chase.
These kinds of awkward elements came up in conversations too. However, in this case it seemed like sometimes navigating dialogue options wasn’t as smooth as they should be. In one conversation with a security guard not long after Quaver and Beat meet, when I was making a selection, an issue with responsiveness and transitions meant I “chose” a dialogue option that I didn’t actually choose. Also, while unrelated, these text balloons can sometimes overlap in a way that keeps you from being able to read things, which gets annoying.
The other gameplay elements that felt fiddly mainly popped up during exploration segments. There’s a forced camera perspective. In some situations, there might be some light climbing or moving across platforms, and it could prove challenging to stay atop without falling due to the view. (This doesn’t come up often.) While the standard rhythm game works well both in the campaign and arcade mode, as well as feature a lot of tracks, rhythm segments that don’t follow that two-line perspective with standard note indicators don’t always feel as immediately easy to figure out the timing and direction. I found the initial police chase one was the worst offender and another that was basically like dealing with a batting cage situation was best. But there are times when the more innovative rhythm segments might not hit in the same way as the traditional ones do.
UNBEATABLE absolutely offers tons of style and an exceptional soundtrack, but sometimes I felt a bit let down by the execution of the story and its rhythm game elements. The idea behind the narrative is amazing and I love the plot, but I hated the sharp transitions that sometimes made it feel choppy. The traditional rhythm game moments are fantastic, especially in the arcade mode when you can savor all the tracks and take on challenges, but sometimes the rhythm minigames missed the mark for me. It very much feels like a title where, while it’s quite enjoyable now, I think it will be even better in a few weeks after some patches.
UNBEATABLE is available on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
UNBEATABLE
UNBEATABLE absolutely offers tons of style and an exceptional soundtrack, but sometimes I felt a bit let down by some gameplay issues. PC version reviewed. Review copy provided by company for testing purposes.