The rhythm and beat of a song can change someone’s mood, from hyping someone up, comforting them when they’re down, or even just being in the background when they’re working on schoolwork. And in some cases, it can be a sign of rebellion, and make you feel unbeatable.

UNBEATABLE is a rhythm-adventure game that is unapologetically unique, with an art style that rocks its world. Originally planned for release in November 2025 after eight years of development, it unfortunately was delayed to December 2025 due to a bug found when playtesting that could prevent progress in the game. 

Before playing the actual game, I tested out the demo they released in 2021,  UNBEATABLE: [white label], and it was miniscule compared to the amount of content it has now. Seeing how fleshed out this game has become from its demo, the finalized version of UNBEATABLE shows how hard the development team has worked on this. 

The game is separated into two different parts: story mode and arcade mode. I played both of these modes to get the full experience of UNBEATABLE. In both the story mode and arcade mode, I played as Beat, a woman who wakes up in a world where music is banned. In the story mode, we see Beat explore this new society. With only herself and her guitar, she meets a young girl named Quaver, daughter of two players from a band that no longer exists. Over the course of six episodes for the story mode, the player ventures out into this mysterious yet familiar world, with touches of the aftermath of an event that caused mass destruction throughout the city you explore. Along the way, players meet a pair of twins named Treble and Clef, and together they form a band and rebel against HARM, a corporation that outlawed music throughout its world due to monsters known as the Silence being drawn to music. The story also includes topics of acceptance, dealing with grief, and rebelling against negativity. Although the story is great, the free roam in the game can be a bit boring at times. I found myself wandering around the area without any idea of where to go. Another issue with this mode is it’s centered around music. Like the story implies, music is banned in this world, and unfortunately there aren’t many music segments at the start. But when they do start appearing, they come in the forms of minigames that involve timing. And when you finally play a song in the story mode, the music used does not disappoint. Every song in both story mode and arcade mode has been made specifically for this game, with over 70 songs in the game’s soundtrack. The game’s music focuses on indie rock, with original songs like “FAMILIAR” feeling more natural and experimental.

Arcade mode is what I expected from a rhythm-centered game. Reminiscent of games like “Beat Saber” and “Taiko no Tatsujin,” it only requires two inputs that are automatically set to D and F or J and K, with the inputs being able to be changed to the player’s likeliness. The beats themselves are the aforementioned Silence, with Beat striking them every time you hit the beat, regardless of accuracy. There are different types of Silence variants, with some having to be hit several times, or on different parts of the song. Songs also have barriers to jump over to keep players on their toes. The only issue I have with this mode is that sometimes the background can be a bit distracting. Luckily, D-CELL GAMES thought about this issue, so they implemented options in the settings menu to dim the background and to decrease the background effects in order for players to have a better experience to their liking.

The art style of the game heavily compliments its music. The characters have this anime style, with rigged shapes and vibrant colors giving them life and expression. The environment in story mode is this awe-inspiring 3D environment that you explore. Although you can easily get lost in the world, UNBEATABLE provides a world that’s amazing to run through. The music segments have a simple interface, with the areas where you hit the beats and a combo meter to keep track of how skilled you are.

With that being said, UNBEATABLE is a uniquely styled game that has a lot of strengths and weaknesses. Its biggest strength in my opinion is the arcade mode due to my expectations of rhythm gameplay and a really great soundtrack. I think the story mode falls short through its free-roam world. Although that part of the game is weak, the mode is still fun to go through due to its enticing story and amazing environment. People who like games that aren’t afraid to express themselves and like indie rock will appreciate what UNBEATABLE brings to the table.