An Isekai Into Your Own Trauma

Well hey!

Welcome to the juice bar :)

--

I'm kinda starting this as my own personal yap-zone. I find it kinda stressful to post on social media sometimes. Not to mention I immediately get stuck on social media as soon as I open it. I want something with less of a character limit and more of a soul to it (double meaning on "character limit" goes here. like. it limits your character. get it?), I guess. Plus, I feel like I just communicate better via text. Like I can express things easier. So this will also double as a... proof-of-life. Or perhaps, proof-of-thought. Because I have those I promise!!!

Anyway I guess all of that to say that this blog won't necessarily have a theme or anything. Think of it as a livejournal mixed with a game reviews website mixed with a travel journal mixed with a recipe blog mixed with tumblr mixed with deviantART mixed with

You get it.

Kinda just a whatever is on my mind and I feel like yapping about.

--

And right now that's

Yeah I just beat UNBEATABLE about an hour ago now. I wanna process it and talk about how I felt about it. There's gonna be spoilers for sure just a heads up. 

First of all let's get one thing straight:

RATING THINGS IS OUT

I hate giving things numbers and stars. If something is worth experiencing then it's worth more than a ?/10 quick-click on google or steam or whatever. A quick glimpse at a rating doesn't get down to the soul of a piece of media and what the experience is like. So I think in 2026 I'm done with ratings! I am gonna talk about things I liked and disliked personally about stuff without feeling the need to categorize its goodness. Okay anyway!

UNBEATABLE!

I finished this game and immediately texted my spouse and said "Hey so is UNBEATABLE just an isekai into one's own trauma?" and they very quickly replied "YES!"

B (my spouse) and I first played UNBEATABLE many years ago at MAGfest when DCELL games was just showing it off in the Indie room. B actually won an UNBEATABLE poster and shirt at MAG back then. The poster is still hung up but the shirt is long gone rip.

From 2019 or so? Still love this poster :)

Anyway we loved it we backed it it came out yada yada yada

I LOVED THIS GAME

As a fella with a long history of mommy traummy / a general displeasure with life and the world at large / mental illness / perfectionism / etc etc this shit hit my heart.

But not just in that the story was very relatable and the game was very fun to play, but honestly I think something specific that hit me about this game was kind of that it was a bit sloppy(*explain later) and I still had the emotions and feelings I had while playing and finishing this game. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A BIT SLOPPY!

*Overworld was kinda difficult to navigate, scene transition bugs, very difficult cinematic scenes/levels with a bit too much visual overwhelm so it was hard to actually play the game, some parts felt long and drawn out and sluggish, certain tutorials could have been better (repeatable? able to be found in a menu?), some dialogues were just unnatural in length and never felt like they got to the point.

--

Now here's the thing. I actually think that UNBEATABLE being "sloppy" makes it hit HARDER!!! The entire thing is about "just fucking make the art someone will like it it doesn't have to be perfect" and I almost feel like if the game was "perfect" and had zero bugs and felt like it was made by some huge company it wouldn't hit as hard. I LIKE that there are imperfections and that parts of the delivery might feel awkward during certain parts. Because that's life! Things are going to be imperfect and they're still going to be important and meaningful. 

Sometimes media hits at a very important time in your life and I think UNBEATABLE has hit during what feels kind of like a turning point in mine, and I'm glad I experienced it when I did. It makes me want to work on art and start like 10 new projects without the pressure of ever finishing them and actually just experiencing making them.

Cuz that's the best part

--

This game touches a lot on uncertainty and the concept of "wasting your time." in a way that I personally felt was very comforting. There were also multiple points in the game where characters would be trying to comfort each other and sometimes the answer was just, "Shit sucks. I don't know what to say. But I've got your back." and I think that goes back to the "sloppy-ness" for me. I think media is always trying to say the next "profound" thing. When sometimes the answer is just... disappointing. Or there isn't one. Sometimes all there is for you is uncertainty, and that's honestly ok. You have to make it ok. 

Even at the end of the game there isn't necessarily a "happy ending." Like. Beat came to terms with a lot of trauma and Quaver and the gang can play music legally again (I think?). Those are good things! But there's still more to go. We don't know if Beat fully recovers and plays music and makes money and can survive off of it or whatever and we don't know how things progress in the other world. If Crest ever quits being a cop or if Treble and Clef and Quaver and Rest keep playing music or if The Silence is still a potential threat or really anything. It's another one of those up-in-the-air endings that I always like. Up to interpretation. Plenty of loose ends. Figure it out yourself. 

You typically have to anyway!

-

セン