Undertale (2015)

Undertale (Nintendo Switch)

Opening Act: 9/10

In the opening sequence the protagonist is thrown into the underworld (of monsters), and the journey begins there. The game player will learn during the introduction about how the RPG’s battles work, how to navigate dungeons, puzzles and the inventory. These tutorial elements feel naturally integrated into the story and gameplay, and it’s not too obtrusive. The mechanics will be simple to navigate for RPG veterans, and the gameplay feels natural. The opening act itself has a very thought provoking ending within an hour--before protagonist advances to the next part of the game. The closing of the act is a very effective story hook, and players will want to keep going.

Gameplay Loop: 7/10

As Undertale’s story unfolds the player will notice how the core gameplay loop works.

1. Explore new area: includes meeting and interacting with relevant NPCs, to advance the story and/or navigate through the new area. Note that the NPCs in particular are written to have good humorous nature in many cases, and even though the protagonist is in this seeming dark underworld, the entire experience can feel quite light hearted.
2. Learn to fight the monsters in the area: random encounters and collect resources to buy items and equipment if needed. Note that “fight” is quite unique in Undertale as the player can choose to actually attack monsters in the random encounters or learn to negotiate with monsters to end random encounters without violence.
3. Overcome the final obstacle of each area: Complete boss battle or climactic event
4. Move on to the next area. Note that the game does not obligate the player to do much back tracking, and the story keeps progressing. The primary reason to back-track will be to stock up on health items. Mid game a shortcut becomes available to visit a few of the prior places. Overall the player will have feeling of continuous progression that keeps the game feeling fresh.

Hand and Eye Strain: 10/10

Undertale’s controls require moving the protagonist up/down/left/right. In battles the user will have to use a D-pad or analog stick to move their character around on a 2-dimension plane to evade enemy attacks. Controls don’t require precise button pressing sequences or use of potentially hand-straining shoulder buttons, primarily involving only the direction controls and A / B / X / Y to play the game. Visual strain is low. Due to being underground many environments are dim or dark, often having glowing plants, etc. in the background. The game is friendly to be played in low light setting but is also fine to play in brighter light settings. There are not visually intense flashing or rapid moving sequences and overall the game is easy to see and follow along. Text is large enough to be read easily in handheld or TV mode.

RPG Battle Mechanics: 7/10

Battles are not particularly strategic as a stand-alone game feature, meaning that players are unlikely to boot up Undertale because the battle-mechanic is fun (e.g. SaGa Scarlet Grace), and instead the battles serve primarily to present the player with a modest mini-game challenge, and to advance the story telling. Each battle is turn based, where the player and combatants get to pick one act. When enemies attach the player plays a dodge min-game and if successful takes 0 damage.
One very unique element is that the player can choose to Interact / Flee / Spare / or Fight the combatants and is encouraged by NPCs to interact with the combatants to learn ways to end the random-encounter without violence. This particular optionality on how to handle random-encounters is a true innovation on the part of Undertale creators.

Sound: 8/10

The soundtrack mood fits the settings, and in addition, the retro-styled sound effects match the game setting (pixel era simplistic RPG gameplay). In addition there are a few “wow” soundtrack moments & even some throwbacks to other famous RPG musical scenes (no spoiler). There are some long text sequences where the sounds being made as text-scrolls can be grating, so there is a repetitive sound here and there. But overall it’s good.

Overall Experience: 6/10 = Recommended (Worth the time)

The game respects the player’s time with a short play-through time, and without requiring grinding or backtracking. The game tells a whimsical and memorable story. The game is a true RPG since the player is given the optionality to choose how to develop the character’s equipment layout, and since the player is given freedom to choose how to act during battle encounters. The player-choice on how to handle battles, in particular, is an innovation for which Undertale will be remembered.

Ratings system note (please note most games I like are between 6 to 8)

1. The game doesn’t function
5. You may like it better than me
6. Recommended (Worth the time)
7. Highly Recommended (Fun)
8. Must-play (Fun plus unique)
9. Game-changing for the genre/Legendary/Enshrined
10. It feels like the 1st play through of A favorite game…

DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THIS GAME YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I recently decided to play through Undertale again this past weekend to prepare for the long awaited 3+4 chapters of Deltarune. I originally played Undertale back in 2019 and that playthrough quickly cemented it as one of my favorite games of all time. This review will be my experiences with this game over the years. I've only played through this game twice now, but it is a game I hold deeply within my soul.

I will never forget my first experience with Undertale. I'd like to first start off this review with some nostalgia and reflection on my first playthrough of Undertale. It was the January 2019. My final semester in my Senior Year of High School. I had heard the praise for Undertale previously and planned on playing it eventually. For whatever reason, I wanted a cozy Indie game I could play on my Switch. I bought Undertale and booted it up. I played that first night with some friends. One who had previously played the game and was watching me experience it. That first night I had gotten through the Ruins and fought Toriel . I had accidentally fought Toriel and ended up killing her, so I reset my save. After successfully sparing her, Flowey remember my actions. I knew this game was special from that moment forward. I put the game down for a few days after that, I don't really remember why. I then distinctly remember picking the game back up the following Friday night, by myself, cozied up on my parent's couch, and got through Papyrus. I don't remember why, but I failed the Papyrus fight over and over again, to the point where I'm pretty sure he ended up sparing me (or got bored of fighting me, I don't really remember the exact dialogue/path). I was hooked on discovering the rest of this world created by the brilliant mind of Toby Fox. I then got to Waterfall, and that is when the music hit me. I didn't mind the OST before this point, but Waterfall is what really hooked me. It was the first song in the soundtrack that I purposefully listened to outside of the game while on drives, walks, studying, etc. Nowadays I adore 95% of the soundtrack, even songs that occur before Waterfall, but Waterfall is what made me really pay attention. The OST is easily one of the greatest video game OSTs of all time, and I firmly believe I'll be listening to it for the rest of my days.

Anyways, let me summarize the rest of first playthrough. It took me weeks to get through, I'm not sure why as it is a relatively short game. I think it made me appreciate the game more by taking my time with it. I know I struggled for a while on Undyne, not realizing I could run away. The next wall I remember was Muffet. That fight took me an hour or so. I was falling in love with the world and characters of this game. I got to Asgore and that fight also took me a while. I love his OST so much, and the fight is really good too. One of my favorite boss OSTs. I won't go too crazy into spoilers here for those that haven't played, but my mind was warped upon defeating Asgore and witnessing the final hours of the game centering around Flowey, Asriel, Chara, etc. A truly masterful conclusion with heavy emotional themes, even more banger tracks, and so much heart. I remember feeling to good about life in general the night I beat the game. I was in a state of bliss. If I remember correctly, I think I skipped all my classes the following day just to relish and reflect on Undertale lmao. A favorite game of mine that appears to be timeless and I cherish dearly. That one playthrough over 6 years ago still feels like yesterday. I knew I would eventually replay and try different routes (including genocide), but never got around to it. Flowey says some pretty powerful stuff at the end of True Pacifist about letting our friends and the world "be", and I think that stuck with me. So I put Undertale down for years, but it's not a game one forgets. That first playthrough only took me around 15 hours, which is a short amount of time, but feels long for Undertale. The thing is, is that 15 hours is something I think about all the time. That first playthrough was special. Undertale is something I've stayed up to date on throughout the years without necessarily even playing the game again. Whether that be through videos, merchandise, and probably most notably the OST. That of course coupled with DELTARUNE, makes this franchise an all time favorite of mine. That's pretty much all of my gushing about Undertale, next I'd like to dive into my second playthrough and the gameplay itself.

My second playthrough, while great and fun to revisit, didn't hit the same as my first. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed my time with it, but I think this game is best experienced blind. I wanted to replay Undertale to prepare for Deltarune again. I have a PC now so my original plan was to play on their, but I decided to break in my Switch 2 with a replay of Undertale instead. I think eventually I plan on doing a genocide run on PC since the keyboard seems more suited for this game if I'm being honest. I didn't have it in my heart to do anything but a true pacifist run again on my second playthrough, so that's what I did.

Surprisingly, I beat the game in just a few days. I did a true pacifist run just like last time, in about half the time. I really forget how short this game is, even doing True Pacifist. It feels perfectly paced though if I'm being honest. No section really drags on for too long, though I do wish there was maybe a little more to do in the endgame area before Asgore. I guess we get some good/heavy lore dump their, so that's suitable. My second playthrough also felt significantly easier compared to my first, even after not playing for years. I spared Torial, Papyrus, and Undyne first try, and Mettaton and Asgore only took a few attempts. The boss fights themselves are as fun as I remember, even if they don't feel as challenging. One spot of disappointment I encountered this go-around was in regular enemy battles. I don't remember them being so...boring... I'm sorry. I really didn't enjoy basic enemy fights this time around. The bullet hell felt slow and I really didn't look forward to sparing regular enemies. Character/enemy designs were still just as top tier as I remember though. I also did the optional Switch fight this time around, Mad Mew-Mew. A fun gimmick fight with the joy-con controls that I haven't seen in any other games. I'm glad I finally experienced that fight. Even getting the same ending, my heart was still happy.

Overall, I can easily say my first playthrough hit harder, but this second playthrough was fun to revisit. I probably won't ever touch this file again and let our monsters live in peace. I'm not sure what else to say. Play this game if you haven't, I truly can't give it enough praise. It's one of my favorite games ever made, and is best experienced blind. I want to replay the first two chapters of Deltarune now, but will most likely do that on my PC. Super excited to see what chapters 3+4 have in store!

In Undertale you control a kid who fell into the Underground, a place where monsters were banished by the humans long ago. Your objective is to return to the surface. At least, that's how it starts off.

I think Undertale's story is rather about the monsters themselves. Like in any RPG, you can fight them and kill them. But if you decide not to, you can get to know them. You'll learn about their lives, and also how they see you. Not only you as the protagonist, but you as the player.

That shift in perspective is what makes Undertale brilliant, in my opinion. When a game gives you an "evil option", it's often an invitation to take it. If there is a bad ending, it's as if you have to see it to complete the game, so it's not wrong to go for it. Undertale works differently: it acknowledges the fact that you, the player, have an immense power over the characters, a power you can abuse if you want. But it asks you not to.

Undertale made me feel responsible, which is something no game did before. It made me reflect on my actions, regret some, and even renounce some of the game's content eventually. Which wasn't easy, because I like to 100% complete my games.

I'm not saying there is a right way to play the game, this was just my personal experience. But regardless of who you are, Undertale will present you with a problem: you can play as you've been trained to all your life, but this time you're asked not to. I expected another cool indie game with a great soundtrack, I didn't think there would be more, but here I am.

Super memorable narrative experience, interesting combat, neat art/graphics style, unique (sometimes disturbing) story and great characters. Music is also a high point - one of the few game soundtracks I would listen to outside of gameplay.

I personally could only get through one playthrough, which is pretty short and an incomplete experience. To fully see everything, you need to play through the game 2-3 times, which I had no interested in doing. I just watched the other endings and parts of the story on Youtube for closure - in my mind it didn't feel like a good investment of further time. However, I really enjoyed my time with the game, and understand why it is such an important experience to some people.

I don’t really know what Undertale is. It presents itself as an old school jrpg but feels closer to a walking simulator. The visuals are not great and the game play is rather dull. And sure - it has that unique fighting system and some moral dilemmas to face but I never felt the weight behind it so did not really feel anything while slaying everything in my path.

I did give it three attempts. First and second was quite short as I got bored with it really quick - and I mean really not longer than 15 minutes in which is immediately not a good sign. But since I heard good things about it I decided to commit and made it someplace near the half of the game I think before this time calling it quits for real.

The game has simplistic graphics, level design and controls. A somewhat resemblance of inventory management, a fine soundtrack (it was fine - not great in my opinion) and nothing that would want me to progress.

In the game you play as a little girl in the monster world. Where monsters fear humans. And you try to get out. On your way you’ll encounter quite a few characters - admittedly the skeletons were funny - that you’ll in most cases will have to fight. And it will be up to you to either kill them or spare them in the end which I think has some effect on the story but I’m not sure.

The fighting mechanic is unique that you get to either attack or talk, or otherwise interact with your enemy which can have various effects on the fight. To dodge enemies attacks you’ll have to play a little minigame where you avoid differently shaped and organised projectiles.

And that was the game for me. Walk through a linear path, talk to characters, do some fights, solve a couple of easier puzzles and repeat. I just felt bored and uninterested. Maybe it’s just not for me or maybe I’m not seeing things that others see but I’m not going back to it for the fourth time for sure.

I missed Earthbound, but I didn't realize by how much until this game. Earthbound had a great mechanic and Undertale took it and ran a marathon with it. I cannot think of a single con for this game. The music is composed by Toby Fox, the creator of the game, and they are all entirely unique to each area and I often listen to them by themselves. The characters are incredible. They are well thought out, well executed, and are truly a part of the heart of the game.

You can play this game three ways:

1. Neutral: You spare some, you kill some, you're figuring it out as you go along. The way the game is meant to be played the first time around.
2. Pacifist: You don't touch a soul and the friendships you made in the neutral playthrough now become your family. I recommend finishing all three playthroughs with this run, because it will leave you with a wonderful feeling.
3. Genocide: You kill everything you see. Toby Fox was smart when creating this run because you really really have to work to fully complete a genocide run. It's not as simple as killing everything you encounter, you have to mull around in some areas until you have killed literally everything in that area. The boss fights are significantly harder. You are given no mercy.

Play this game. You will not regret it.

Like most people, I found the soundtrack to be the best thing about Undertale. I love when music helps drive the narrative as well as it did in this game. Each zone has a distinct feel that is created by this.

The characters you meet throughout are goofy and I really enjoyed interacting with each one. My only gripe would be that most of them come and go too quickly because of the rapid fire pace of the story. This sometimes made them feel less memorable. With that said, I laughed out loud with the Mettaton act and enjoyed dating Papyrus.

What I disliked most, and this might be my fault for not being prepared enough, but most of the combat got annoying towards the end of the game because I never had enough HP. Having 20HP for the entire game seemed tedious at points, especially when going to a shop to purchase health items was nowhere in range. The style of combat was interesting for an RPG and I did enjoy it when I wasn't dying.

Overall, I enjoyed my first run through this game. "KILL OR BE KILLED."

Played on PC

After finishing Undertale, I was perfectly willing to give it 3 or 4 stars. Yet something happened the days afterwards. I couldn't stop thinking about it. The characters, the moral dilemma the game was still posing for me, all the hidden nuances and easter eggs I had overlooked on my playthrough... Without even noticing it, Undertale had taken hold of me and it feels like I never stopped playing it. I've never had any game affect me like this. Undertale created a lovely little world on my computer, that despite the low-end graphics feels more real than any other gameworld I've visited. I'm never erasing it.

On the other hand I completely understand people who come away from this game feeling heavily underwhelmed. Overhype plays a part. But more importantly, it seems that the reasons people love Undertale are very diverse. Most of all, it's very personal. It's not for everyone. But it's definitely for me.