Recent reviews by Robodav

I think Masayoshi Yokoyama being put in the director's chair is objectively the worst thing that has happened to this franchise

In a year flooded with great rhythm games, Unbeatable stands out from the rest as a uniquely story-driven experience, placing the "hit the buttons to the music" part of itself firmly in the backseat. I hadn't heard a peep about this game further out than 3 months before its release, but it didn't take much for me to join the hype train as a fan of rhythm games and anime, not to mention how similar this was looking to Hi-Fi Rush, one of my all-time favorites.

Unbeatable is visually and auditorily breathtaking. Its character designs are top-notch, and its animations are gorgeous. And I don't mean that in a "for an indie game" sort of way, it's just all-around objectively fantastic to look at. The soundtrack is excellent, as it should be for any rhythm game; hours of high-energy punk rock dripping with blood, sweat, and tears. It's a nice reprieve from the more typical happy-go-lucky J-pop you're more likely to experience at the cabinets in your local arcade.

But I had a nagging feeling not too long after I booted this game up for the first time. One that I tried to dismiss, but that grew more and more difficult to ignore as story mode's first episode reached its conclusion. This feeling was the unfortunate realization that while most of this game's components were amazing, they were being delivered in a fundamentally broken vehicle. Unbeatable's greatest weakness lies in the fact that it is a video game.

I first tried playing on my Steam Deck, and while it does technically work, it also has far too many issues to be a good experience there. I waited for a patch, and even though a couple have come out since release day, it is still noticeably worse than playing on a PC. A bit disappointing, but I have a good desktop anyway, so that's what I ultimately played the game on, start to finish.

Unfortunately, technical problems aren't exclusive to the Deck. Early on, I was soft-locked when a transition from exploration to dialogue wouldn't complete itself because Quaver had gotten herself stuck in an environmental collision box somewhere. This was, to be fair, the only soft lock I would run into in my playthrough, but I've heard these aren't exactly rare throughout the rest of the game for many others.

It doesn't feel entirely fair to criticize Unbeatable too heavily for its technical jank, as the game (and punk music in general) is kind of about not seeking perfection in art. I don't generally like when art lampshades its shortcomings as a way of asking you to forgive said shortcomings, but this is a small project and wrinkles can be ironed out in future updates, so I'll move onto more foundational issues with the game design itself.

The end of episode 1 introduces the Rhythm Heaven-esque "chase" sequences, differing quite a bit from the core arcade playstyle. These are cool to look at, but always feel a bit flimsy, as there isn't much feedback for how well you're actually doing. It kind of feels like you can just set the controller down and the game will play itself, though I didn't actually try and see if that would make a difference.

The arcade playstyle itself is overall pretty fun, but takes a lot of mental effort to get used to. You're clicking L1 on your left and R1 on your right to hit notes coming from the bottom and top respectively, even when the lanes switch between your left and right side. This breaks my brain a bit and makes it hard to get into a flow state, but not impossible.

I really disliked the "combat" version of this playstyle though, where dashed whole notes float in from the top and bottom of the screen in ways that often overlap with my eye's blind spots, leading to some disappointing note misses that don't feel fair. It is especially bad when the game mixes the two styles, since there's no real indication when the style switch is about to happen.

Ultimately though, Unbeatable's biggest flaw is its pacing, both in its gameplay and narrative. Rhythm segments are way too few and far between, especially in the opening chapters. Episode 2 is really where the game loses steam, as you're suddenly thrust into a suffocating prison section a la Yakuza 4. It's easy to get lost walking around, and you're forced to suffer through a non-rhythm minigame inspecting dampeners (which I quickly figured out comes with no consequence at all when you simply approve or deny every single device that's placed in front of you). It feels like a big waste of time as I'm constantly wondering why we aren't taking this opportunity to figure out what Beat's deal is.

I did end up loving the story Unbeatable has to tell in the end, but it was rough getting there at first. NPCs talk in circles to avoid explaining the whole "music is illegal" situation to Beat, and she asks infuriatingly few questions. Nothing wrong with a narrative playing its cards close to its chest, but the player should be given an idea as to why their questions aren't being answered for the time being. Not to mention I never really knew just how much more or less Beat knew than me at any given time.

I think Unbeatable has the potential to be better than it is, but I'd still wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of the genre. It's practically outsider art game design-wise. That comes with pros and cons, sure. You're going to run into technical issues, narrative frustrations, and some confusing gameplay. But you're also going to see a capital-P Passion Project made by artists who put everything they are into something they really believe in. Like thumbprints on a stop-motion clay model or a boom mic in the shot of an amateur film, you'll see flaws, but you'll also see a lot of heart. It's astounding what this tiny team pulled off, and if their quick response to technical feedback is anything to go by, it's only going to get better with time.

Amazing narrative, storytelling, and performances. I went in skeptical of what seemed like just another pretentious "I'm 14 and this is deep" game, but quickly fell for its outstanding presentation and heart. I'm stoked to see what sunset visitor produces in the future.

Latest update replaced the FMV cutscenes with AI upscaled versions of the GameCube cutscenes and they look awful if you can believe it

EDIT: Seems like they listened to feedback and added an option to enable/disable the upscaled videos that defaults to "off", which is great! I'm still going to leave this review at not recommended though as I'm frankly disgusted by the idea of these "enhanced" videos being an option at all.

Playable Daigo Dojima

Cassette Beasts is a Pokémon game that treats you like an adult, both in its relatively mature themes and its gameplay. It respects your time - dialogue and menus are a breeze to cycle through, you can reference a type chart at any time, and the world map is intimate and easy to navigate with a great fast travel system.

This philosophy even carries over to the battle system, which features a replenishing per-battle SP mechanic that eliminates the migraine-inducing "run back to town just so I can use this one move again" loop. Grinding is also practically non-existent as levels are tied much more strongly to your base characters than the titular beasts, putting you in a great spot to take on the final boss as soon as the option is there.

Also, refreshingly, the playable characters are all grown adults who you can romance no matter your gender identity, and they all have interesting backstories you can unravel by spending time with them. This is backed by some great, though admittedly sparse, voice acting, a feature The Pokémon Company seems to write off as a mortal sin.

I'll admit the creature designs leave quite a bit to be desired, and that's really where Pokémon still reigns supreme. You're probably not going to be drawing any of these beasts in your notebook while you're bored in class or a meeting, but I'd overall describe most of them as "pretty cool."

And it's difficult to get completely invested in this world where every inhabitant seems really uncomfortable with the idea of Cassette Beasts existing in the first place; a far cry from the majority of Pokémon's population falling in love with - and often dedicating their entire lives to - a wide cast of cuddly companions.

If you're an adult who's felt disenfranchised by Pokémon's inefficient hand holding and laser focus on the younger market, definitely give Cassette Beasts a try. You'll get a short and sweet RPG monster-collecting experience that gives you a firm handshake and buys you a drink. Just don't expect a juggernaut universe that becomes your next personality like its grandfather before it may have done for you back when "2nd recess" was a regular part of the daily itinerary.

GOTY dropped really fast this year

Slime go boing

Loading this up on the Steam Deck gave me the Ratatouille flashback to 14-year-old me playing P4G on the Vita. Was honestly worth the price for that alone.

Broken and has Denuvo :(