As those who have played games like Persona 5 know, working against a time limit can be an exciting challenge. This is especially true when player choices about what to do with limited time come to influence the story and the player character's personality. While its principal focus is on fast-paced rhythm combat, the upcoming game Unbeatable also spends time following its protagonists as they explore the game's sci-fi-inspired world. Thanks to the implementation of a day-night cycle similar to Persona 5, players with need to decide how protagonist Beat should spend her time—with potential consequences for the story later on. Game ZXC spoke to D-Cell Games to learn more.
While its teaser trailer shows Unbeatable's high-octane set-pieces, the time between set pieces will make players experience more complicated emotions playing through the game. The game's developers want to build a more nuanced world; RJ Lake, one of the game's creative leads, notes that the game will ultimately convey a "very strong tinge of melancholy that is an undercurrent to the whole experience." In order to make that possible, Beat and her allies will explore areas of the game world between music sequences with a day-night cycle in effect. As with games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, players must choose what to do carefully, as they cannot complete every piece of side content in a single playthrough of Unbeatable.
While exploring, Beat can choose from a range of dialogue options. D-Cell invested considerable time into creating a dynamic dialogue system that simulated organic conversations. Side characters might interrupt Beat, or make rude asides, as friends might in real life. While these features may seem distant from the rhythm game genre, according to Lake "all of that stuff is really important to just getting the flow of the dialogue to feel more natural, even if it is just text most of the time." The player's choices help to determine social stats for Beat, not unlike the social stats in Persona 5.
At the same time, Beat is very much a pre-established character who is her own person. In the world of Unbeatable, singing is illegal, making Beat a rebel. According to the developers, Beat enters her adventure with the mentality that she doesn't need to worry about anyone else's wellbeing, in the style of classic aloof protagonists- and yet, according to Lake, "she's just completely unable to actually let herself do that." Given that Beat has a personality independent of the player's actions, it's not surprising that the game's story will mostly be the same regardless of player choices. That said, the player's actions will change some context for later scenes, with different characters appearing.
As an example of a potential consequence, D-Cell notes that Beat and allies can play concert lineups at certain points in the story. At one point early on in the story, Beat and her companions might look for a place to practice in anticipation of an upcoming concert. If other activities end up consuming Beat's time, the outcome for the concert might not be ideal, according to Lake:
"They will have much sloppier instrumentation, and the characters will be slightly out of time and out of practice."
Unbeatable is currently in development. A standalone demo, known as Unbeatable: [White Label], will be available on April 10.