Rhythm of Resistance is the “world’s first” rhythm metroidvania

I’m not entirely sure if their announcement of it being the “world’s first” truly holds up, but I can’t say I’ve seen anything like Rhythm of Resistance.
The game is expected to arrive sometime in 2026 so it’s a while away but the trailer grabbed my firm attention. The way you use the tunes as your weapon to change your surroundings, enemy behaviour, reveal hidden paths and solve puzzles certainly sounds like music to my ears.
With music being the key feature here they’ve pulled in the Swedish bands ABU NEIN along with Underground Fire. With more to be announced as the game development goes on. Joel Fjällsby, Founder & Creative Director at Nethermoon Game Studio said, “I wanted the music to be real songs with lyrics and everything. Like an old track you could actually find on a forgotten cassette tape. With this in mind, I reached out to bands that felt like a great fit — and everyone so far has fallen in love with the project.”
Check out the announcement trailer below:
Joel Fjällsby, Founder & Creative Director at NetherMoon Game Studio said, “I’ve always been drawn to dark music, dystopian worlds, and of course Metroidvanias — so this project is the perfect fusion of everything I love. Honestly, I’m surprised no one’s made a game like this before. It’s a massive undertaking, especially for a new studio, but I love every hour of it. Seeing this dark, mysterious world come alive is incredibly rewarding.”
Highlights:
- World’s first rhythm based Metroidvania where every beat defies the void, and your playlist is your weapon!
- Wield the force of music to unlock exciting features and abilities.
- Discover 20+ forbidden cassette tapes,each one distorting reality in strange and surprising ways while dynamically changing your game experience
- Choose your tracks wisely to alter enemy behaviour, reveal hidden paths, and solve musical puzzles.
- Stay on the beat to stay alive! Attack, parry, dodge, and unleash powerful abilities in sync with the dark pulse of your chosen song.
- Traverse a vast interlinked world of cathedrals, catacombs and factories to uncover clues of a long-forgotten past.
- Collect spare parts to upgrade your music player and unlock new abilities.
- Featuring a haunting gothic darkwave soundtrack from a range of underground artists.