Unbeatable Brings a Charming 1990s VHS Anime Style to Life
Many anime-inspired games follow a similar formula, which makes outliers somewhat unique. Even among anime-inspired games that aren't fighting games, few have such a unique lineage as Unbeatable, the upcoming rhythm game from D-Cell Games. The game's developers recently spoke to Game Rant about the anime series that inspired them, and how this impacted the game's art style, pacing, and tone. Specifically, seminal anime series from the 1990s and early 2000s played a major role in influencing the game's aesthetic, which the developers compare to watching a 1990 anime on VHS.
When citing their influences, Unbeatable's developers were quick to name a range of widely popular anime from around the turn of the century, as well as niche favorites. These included the works of Hiroyuki Imaishi, such as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann; the works of Masaaki Yuasa, such as Kaiba; and the works of Mamoru Hosoda, director of films like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. They especially pointed to Hosoda's Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! as an aesthetic influence. Other inspirations include FLCL, serial experiments lain, and Haibane Renmei.
The frequently recurring theme of "coming of age" in anime from this time period played a major role in influencing the story and pacing of Unbeatable. While coming of age stories are common in games, Unbeatable stands out as a result of its pacing and overall message. RJ Lake, one of the game's creative leads, drew a comparison with the FLCL anime, which conveys a very melancholy and reflective tone despite its famous over-the-top action scenes. This reflects on the story-driven exploration segments that take place between rhythm sequences in Unbeatable, setting up the game's kinetic action with context and stakes. This will make the faster-paced moments more memorable, as "they actually have something that’s powering them beyond just an adventure."
The journey that protagonist Beat will experience in Unbeatable is also more complex than a coming-of-age story. According to Lake, many anime from the 1990s and early 2000s reflected less on "learning who you are as a person," instead discovering "who you were as person" at an earlier, less complicated time in life. Facilitating this is the fact that protagonist Beat has a clearly defined personality of her own, and players are...
Rather than just being a stand-in for the player, Beat has her own discoveries to make, and given that she is a musician in a world where music is illegal, those discoveries are sure to be high= stakes. While Unbeatable always had clear roots in anime, earlier iterations of the project had a slightly different vision.
Andrew Tsai, lead artist and animator, noted that the initial vision for the game was "a weird story about a Japanese pop idol rebelling against her producer." Over time, the game began to focus on jumping from world to world in the style of Alice in Wonderland or Paper Mario. The aesthetic was initially much more heavily goth-centric as well, bringing to mind the witches from the Madoka Magica anime.
Over the course of generations, video games have surpassed and molded the definition of what a video game could be plenty of times. Big AAA games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Last of Us 2 are just a few examples of how intense and impactful narrative could be in video games, whereas smaller titles like What Remain of Edith Finch have utilized the potential of this interactive medium, unlike anything else.
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