UNBEATABLE

And the idea changes you in turn.

I do not leave reviews on things; the last time I did (and only time, if memory serves) was a joke review on geometry dash because it wouldn’t open. Despite this, I've felt an unnatural urge to review this one just because of how impactful I feel it is. UNBEATABLE is a game about expression in a world where it's illegal. It's that simple, and yet, this has become one of the most influential games I've ever played. UNBEATABLE has moments that don't feel like they belong in a small, low-budget game; they look like the kind of thing you'd see in a AAA game made by a company with tens of billions of dollars to their name. It's the most indie thing I think I can say about an indie game; the kind of quality this game has surpassed anything a company with even infinite money and time could make. UNBEATABLE was very clearly made with soul. You can tell that kind of thing, a game with soul made by people who genuinely want to tell a story that means something. Honestly, the moment I finished chapter 2, I knew this was already my favorite game ever made. I won't spoil it, but it's one of the most cinematic, badass, impactful moments in a game I've ever played. This game is a very clear labor of love, and I cannot thank D-CELL enough for creating it. Even in the time and place we find ourselves, where Artificial Intelligence is becoming more and more prevalent while human artists struggle to find a place in the world, UNBEATABLE proves that people still care enough to make an effort. Maybe I'm repeating myself here, but I'm still genuinely awestruck by the quality of this game. And then there's the music; in a rhythm game, you'd expect good music, but this is another level. After I finished chapter 2 I found myself looping “waiting” on Spotify for HOURS. It's not a joke when I say this game kept me up at night thinking about the story or listening to the music. AND IT HAS AN ARCADE MODE??? I'm sorry, but oftentimes in the world of video games, you either get a story or a looping experience, not both. LET ALONE the fact that the story of this game is MILES better than anything I've played in years, the arcade mode is fun and a good way to test my patience (I've never been very good at rhythm games). UNBEATABLE has its flaws, but that only seems to add more charm to it. I prefer a game with flaws these days because it shows that it was made by actual people. It's almost like people who actually give a ♥♥♥♥ about the game they're making often make better games than big greedy corporate CEOs who only care about profits! Even then, some people can't understand that indie will always be better (because they buy Call of Duty every year and need to justify the expense for the same game annually purchased). Overall, 10/10. The art style is made with obvious care, the music is at quality with some of my favorite dedicated musicians, the story is generational and actually means something, and the developers are really, REALLY great people. I've been WAITING (get it) for a game like this for years. Side note; I bought this game as a birthday present for myself. That makes it even better. Thank you for the gift D-CELL I love you Side note 2, at the time of writing and posting this I haven't even finished the game. I have a vague grasp on how the story goes but nothing concrete, just enough to know it stays consistent. Peak Side note 3 reading more reviews; do y'all know that stories don't have to explain everything at you

i have never cried at a game before this. this game is a genuine masterpiece, if i could lose my memories of this game and play it again i would in a heartbeat this is the best game i have and will ever play

Never had I've ever played a game that made me get cry since Red Dead 2. UNBEATABLE changed that. The music is so good, the story is phenomenal, the art is great, AND they have a Jaimie Paige collab. I will say, the game is a little scuffed. But that is a part of the game, the little dirty marks that lets you know that they didn't want perfection, they wanted something beautiful and touching with amazing music. You can feel that there was passion poured into this game when you play it. This game really is a love story, just not like you would think anyway.

Alright. I'm half of a bottle of vodka deep into writing this review. I've played through the story, I've played through a majority of the arcade, I've experienced what I think is the grand majority of this game. It isn't a game. The way I feel, the way that all of this makes me think-- this is infinitely more of an experience rather than a game. Take away the rhythm, take away the all of the artwork, take away every single facet of this masterpiece except the sound. Some creatures worked on this for more than damn-near a decade of their lives, whether thinking about it and conceptualizing it before it even began or putting in all of the effort and work to make it real. The ♥♥♥♥ this game has made me feel in comparison to just about every other thing this existence has wrought upon me is incomparable. That's a lie, actually-- I feel like the only things that have ever come close to this was Disco Elysium before I joined the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ military or the Concealed the Conclusion Touhou fangame before I became anything of an adult. You ever bite your thumb and drag your teeth across the skin and listen to the crumple of flesh that you're crushing between your teeth? unbeatable has me doing that. UNBEATABLE has me looking at the past, present, and future like I haven't done before, or if I [i]have[/i] done before, it's only just made me realize it. This godforsaken creation of multiple human minds has me feeling things I don't think I've ever really felt before. Multiple brilliant, inexplicable-to-me human minds have over the years come up with this wonderful piece of art that has given me reasons beyond anything else I've experienced before a reason to go on. I'm not old, but in my life I haven't really found much of a reason to go past what most people would consider middle-age. I'll philosophize for the sake of philosophy, rather than just necessarily a review of the game. What is middle age? Is it the median level of our lifespan as human beings, or is it a subjective perception of how long each individual thinks it will live? I've never really believed I'd go past the age of 19, yet I've ended up getting closer and closer to twice that. What will I do at the age of 38? Will I ever do something along the lines of what the folks at D-CELL have done here? I feel like I've missed so much since the beginning of this game. From the very first moment I listened to the gameplay trailer involving MIRROR, I knew I was going into something so utterly human. For the majority of my life I've felt like I've been detached from what the experience of humanity really is. Does that sound cliche? Cheesy? Stupid? I dunno. But it's an extremely rare occasion that something ever makes me feel like I'm actually here. I feel an endless depth of sadness that I wasn't able to follow this game since the beginning of its existence within the human mind. There is an infinity of emotion built within this game that I simply will never be able to comprehend, much less able to sympathize with those that have made it. The only reason I know anything about this game is because I helped a good, close friend discover more music that they might be interested in listening to. Lo and behold, I ended up on Jamie Paige. If you don't know who she is, look her up now. If anything about this game resonates with you, then pretty much everything JamieP has made will probably click the same way. It's like a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ biblical miracle, the way I ended up discovering this game. You end up watching a music MV that's a collaboration between an excellent artist and a game you've never heard of before and suddenly it's like you've stumbled upon a goldmine. I'm not going to get so ridiculous or conceited as to say this is akin to the likes of the Mona Lisa. Every piece of art is its own genuine, unique experience. But it makes me wonder how people must have felt, seeing the works of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel paintings in the moment of finalization. What was it? Elevating? Did people in the time think that this was going to outlive their years by a magnitude of two, three, five times their own lifespans? He died in 1564 at the age of 88. How long will something like this last in the age of information? There is an endless slew of things, new and [i]re[/i]newed, in this era. As of this review, Michelangelo's arguably best work was finished 514 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ YEARS AGO. How long will UNBEATABLE last? How long will MIRROR go on? How far past the lifespans of that of the team behind all of unbeatable go? Probably the most beautiful thing about all of this is that it isn't about competing with other great works of art. It exists alongside them, and the most wonderful and greatest achievement of it all is that this game was even made in the first place. Michelangelo, I know I keep mentioning the bastard, worked entirely alone on the Sistine. UNBEATABLE has had so many brilliant damn people putting in the work behind it, I'd be remiss to mention any one name above them all. [i]"I know you're watching, don't be scared."[/i] There's nothing else like this game. I'm not going to give you a TLDR. If you've come this far, you know you feel something from this. From the very first moment I witnessed this game, I knew I felt something I didn't feel from anything else in the entirety of my life. ♥♥♥♥. I'm nearly an entire bottle of vodka into this review now. I'm correcting every typo as it comes. Take it from someone who's tried a lot of things just wanting to find something they really want to do in life. Been there, seen that, done that, been burned by that and ended up dropping that. Thought about that, didn't care about that, wondered about that, so on and so forth. There isn't much out there that really provokes such a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ reaction from me as this game has. [i]I started this review eight damn hours ago, stopped close to the end in order to go puke my guts out and then go pass out in bed wondering if I was gonna wake up to finish it. Somehow, by the grace of whatever the hell higher power does or doesn't exist, I don't even have a hangover. Go Poland. Go UNBEATABLE. Go D-CELL and Peak Divide. Still can't type right, but at least my head isn't pounding. I love you guys. Peace. If you fully read all if this review and you like what's in it, do yourself a favor and get the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game. Get it twice so a friend can have it. The story doesn't fully pick up until after episode two, but fall for it as hard as I have and you'll find yourself going back to the first two episodes anyway. For the love of god, don't spoil yourself on the story. Please. You can only play something like this for the first time once.[/i]

Somewhat flawed and rough on some technical aspects and the writing can be a little bit meandering or vague, but it has great music accompanied with rythm game mechanics that do the job, and it has an overall great story that is absolutely worth experiencing. Had me in tears at times.

this is maybe the best game ive ever played im beggng you please play it