Undertale (2015)

Even though I've played Undertale countless times since I was ten, every single time has been just as enjoyable as the last. It still baffles me to think about how far the game has come (now even more, since Deltarune has already come out as well), and the five-year anniversary feels like it happened yesterday.

I could rant and go on about how much Undertale has shaped me in a lot of ways even if it sounds corny as hell, but it really did inspire me to be hopeful about chasing my dreams no matter how big or bizarre they may seem. It has a quirky yet charming cast of characters and a story that seems simple at first, but after you stop and think about it, it really does teach you a lot. It blew my mind then, and it still does now, even if it makes me physically feel all of the years that have passed since then.

Toby Fox can make magic with very little, can he not? I still wonder what goes on in that head of his to make it work so beautifully. But I guess the charm in it is that we'll never know, and that just leaves us all to imagine it ourselves.

Happy 10th, Undertale. I feel incredibly old!

UNDERTALE

Undertale is a game everyone should at least have heard of. Undertale is known for the popular characters and the ability to spare enemies, which truly influences the gameplay. But what if you kill every character/enemy instead of sparing them?

Genocide Route

In the Genocide route, you kill every enemy in the game and this has a huge impact on everything in the game.

The story changes, the characters hate you for murdering their friends and are afraid of you, the music slows down massively, disturbing dialogues appear, difficult secret bosses and so much more. What I love about it is that the game really shows you the consequences of killing people in the game. You really feel like a true, unstoppable psychopathic monster.

Here are some pictures from the genocide route:

Undertale is.. an experience. One that I think should be played first-hand, and not experienced through someone else playing it. A moderately sized, retro-style, story-driven RPG, with a lot of personality.

When I first played this game, I interacted with EVERYTHING I could press B on, and almost, if not all of the things that gave me a prompt, I didn't regret pressing on. Every joke, every interaction, every fight, every SONG?? is AMAZING. You could spend 10 minutes, just interacting with every character in Snowdin, and you won't regret, going to every character, and seeing what silly thing they'll say. And all of the main characters as well are amazing and written rlly well. It's so immersive for being a top-down, retro styled, RPG. Every character has such entertaining and charismatic dialogue that it makes you fall in love with every character. It makes you actively not want to do a genocide, or even neutral route! Sans and Papyrus ALONE are such a good duo that bounce off of each other incredibly well, and are some of my favorite characters in all of media PERIOD.

And of course its not just the story and characters, if it was I would be telling you to go read a book. The fighting encounters are ESPECIALLY fun. You have to control a little heart, and dodge enemy attacks, which are all very creative and have a lot of thought put into them and how they work. And when you're not getting attacked, you can either attack yourself, or ACT! Which allows you to talk to the enemy, learn how they act, and what they like! Which can help you figure out how to SPARE them! It's genuinely a very, VERY fun gameplay loop, and even if I've fought a Ice Cap 300 times, I still enjoy going through the dialog to be able to spare it. Even though this game isn't very replayable, especially if you don't plan on doing a Genocide run, it's still an extremely fun game to come back to every few years, just to remind yourself all the silly dialog and fun the game and characters have to offer.

One of my favorite games of all time.

The major thing that I think people enjoy about this game was spoiled for me (although at the time I didn't think I would play it, so I was a willing participant)....so I can't judge the game objectively. But seeing how the different parts were executed, my only criticism would be backtracking if you forget something or whatever is a little tedious in part due to the walk speed.

If you don't know more about this game, you should probably play it.

This is the funniest game I have played while at the same time delivering earned heartfelt moments. It's hard to juggle between sincerity and levity and often times I find myself getting tonal whiplash when a movie or game tries to. It's the adage of having your cake and eating it too. It's my main issue with any Disney/Marvel movie where it feels like a serious movie with shoehorned 'funny' moments because they test well with audiences. The humor is often times lazy rather than clever.

"Look how stupid or bad this movie is! Isn't that clever/funny that we are pointing that out to you?" Why not just make a good movie?

While the combat may be a turn off for most people, I thought it was an interesting combination of retro-JRPG with bullet hell (I honestly hate this genre of games but the writing and characters kept me going). What makes the combat exceptional is the ludonarrative around it. You feel like an asshole every time you lift a finger to defend yourself. The boss fights are masterclasses in nuance if you decide to go the genocidal route. I have never felt so guilty killing a boss in my life. It doesn't feel cheap; it's earned because I have grown to either respect or like the character leading up to the fight (sometimes during the fight based on their dialogue/motivation) through careful pacing and writing. It feels tragic rather than heartless.

Most game protagonist are genocidal sociopaths that game devs ignore and present as unambiguously the "good guys." To be fair, some games do subvert this notion but it's rare and I haven't seen it with this much wit. I never thought it would be possible to have an entire RPG where you avoid all combat and still beat the game while being engaged. There may be moments where writers add moral ambiguity around a boss fight, like Riku in Kingdom Hearts, but it pails in comparison in both depth of writing and characterization. Riku is a poorly written trope. I felt nothing for his struggle.

The graphics won't blow you away, but they work given the design and budget of the game. I believe this entirely developed by one person... take that in for a moment. You can tell a ton of heart was poured into this game. Finally, the music was awesome and elevated the atmosphere.

If you don't like thoughtful games, you will probably have a bad time. If you instead like to engage with video games as art, do yourself a favor and check this out. It's not perfect, but considering it was done by one person and how much they got right... it's easy to overlook its missteps.

ENG

Undertale is hands down my favourite game. It's fun, it has an amazing story, a beautiful soundtrack and three equally exciting endings. This game made me laugh and cry and it has surprised me despite its simple appearance. I definitely recommend it because it's worth it. In fact, I have replayed it several times.

ESP

Undertale es sin duda mi juego favorito. Es divertido, tiene una historia increíble, una banda sonora preciosa y tres finales igualmente emocionantes. Este juego me ha hecho reír y llorar y me ha sorprendido a pesar de su apariencia sencilla. Sinceramente lo recomiendo muchísimo porque vale la pena. De hecho, lo he rejugado varias veces.

If you haven't played Undertale by now, please do yourself a favour. Close this window, head to your game store whether it's PC, Phone, Xbox, PS, Switch whatever and grab a copy right now.

Don't let the 8-bit aesthetics fool you, the weight of the narrative and the message hidden underneath is something you're totally unprepared for. You will reflect upon your life choices for days after completion.

Nah.. This game just isn't doing it for me. Maybe because the internet has already spoiled it so I know I'm not supposed to fight anything (though that's not exactly rocket science, since it's what the first two characters you meet tell you, also).

The music is fine. The graphics are not. The dodge-'em gameplay isn't particularly enjoyable...

I played long enough to get killed by a couple vegetables, though I suspect the game really just wanted me to sit in an empty room for an hour or so. I think I'll just tuck this back into the Game Pass library and move on.

Undertale is nothing short but fascinating. Toby Fox did an excellent job of establishing this crazy world. It's a huge nod to Earthbound. But with a twist. You are given the choice to kill or spare your enemies. This game has 3 endings. This adds a lot of replay value.

The characters are excellent. Sans, Papyrus, and many more either have me laughing or feeling guilty. The gameplay makes turn-based fighting a challenge and fun. The game looks good (for the most part). The game has almost no low points.

The game does suffer from occasional difficulty spikes, but it wasn't too annoying.

I also appreciate how self-aware the game is. It pokes fun at internet memes and stereotypes. The game knows when to be serious and funny.

I can't mention Undertale without mentioning the music. Toby Fox has had me listen to this while I do my school work, or when I'm walking my dog. It is incredible

4/5

I wanted to like Undertale. I really did. I came to this game with very high (maybe too high) hopes, and it under-delivers.

At least on the writing front it's pretty good. There's a compelling humans-vs-monsters story line, quirky characters and some sharp dialogue. I'm OK with the chunky, old-school graphics as well as this is (mostly) a one-man operation.

However, when exploring a supposedly story-led RPG (RPG lite, if I'm very generous), I'm not looking for a weird shoot-em-up! While I managed to tolerate the SHMUP-like combat sections for most of the game, as they were pretty short and quite easy, for the most part, the boss fights near the ending(s. More on that later) were annoying, difficult and completely unavoidable.

Adding to that the fact that actually getting most of the story requires multiple play-throughs and meticulous secret-hunting, this results in a game that overstays its welcome for me.

Pros:
-- Hit the retro-nostaligia-feel right on the head
-- Passive battle mechanic is a fresh, interesting method of play
-- The possibility of rich, deep story is there, if you are willing to find it

Cons:
-- Several ways to play make it easy to miss the "important" things you are supposed to see
-- Playing in the preferred/passive style can make the difficulty ramp a little more than expected
-- Too much of the game is hidden behind convoluted play-styles and replay mechanics

Check out my full review at TheKlotzNet