Undertale is a truly remarkable experience that manages to be thoroughly enjoyable in both its unique RPG gameplay, and surprisingly deep and powerful narrative.
Undertale
Developer: tobyfox
Price: $9.99
Platforms: PC (reviewed) and Mac
Undertale is the kind of game that only comes out once in awhile. What started as a simple Kickstarter campaign, has become a great game that manages to be both an homage to the great RPGs of the past, and a powerful experience by its own merits.
The plot of Undertale is as deceptive as the characters that inhabit it. You play as a young child who, while climbing a mountain, falls into a hole that turns out to be an entrance to a world full of monsters that once inhabited the Earth alongside humans. After falling, your character meets Toriel, a humanoid goat-like monster, who takes the child in, and offers to raise and protect them. Against Toriel’s wishes, the character decides that they want to travel deeper into the world of monsters, in order to find a way back to their own world.
Along the way, you’ll meet countless unforgettable characters, from the hilarious skeleton brothers sans and Papyrus, to the aggressive but charming knight Undyne. Every single character in this game is memorable in one way or another, and I guarantee players will find themselves getting emotionally attached to at least of few of the characters.
Though the plot and characters may seem simple at first, Undertale manages to completely subvert all expectations by the end of the first playthrough. The game manages to transition from a straightforward quest to “find your home” into a powerful and surreal adventure that makes you feel truly responsible for the game’s outcome. There are three separate paths the story can eventually take, depending on the player’s actions in battles. Each route has a different final boss and ending, with each ending feeling incredibly poignant in its own way. By the end of my second playthrough, I had realized that there are few games that can evoke the amount of guilt, sadness, and pure joy that Undertale can.
Undertale‘s overall length is somewhat short at 5-8 hours, depending on how much you explore, but this actually works in the game’s favour, as Undertale rewards you for playing through the game more than once. For example, one of the game’s paths can only be done on a second playthrough. This playthrough has one of the most touching game endings that I can remember, which makes playing the game again entirely worthwhile. Characters will even comment throughout subsequent playthroughs about feelings of déja vu, which vary depending on the choices made during the first playthrough. This attention to detail turns the game’s short length, a fault in most games, into a strength.
The game’s sense of humour is one of its strongest points. Whether it’s petting a dog into submission in battle, or enduring sans’s enjoyably poor puns, the game balances its heavier emotional themes with a great dose of silly, surreal, and often clever humour. I found myself laughing out loud numerous times, and smiling at the most random lines throughout the game.
Undertale‘s gameplay is truly unique, thanks to its mechanics, and masterfully incorporates each battle into the narrative. The game uses random encounters for battles, but in a refreshingly different way. Not only is the encounter rate pleasantly low, but battle transitions are quick and painless. This helps to make random combat more fun, and less of a chore than it is in most RPGs.
Battles are presented from a first-person perspective, akin to games like Earthbound and Dragon Quest. When in combat, the player is given different options for defeating enemies. While you can fight each enemy and kill them, using a timing-based hit system, you can also resolve each battle more peacefully, by sparing your enemy. Depending on the specific enemy, the player can choose from a number of less confrontational options. Some enemies can be hugged, petted, taunted or ignored. One memorable encounter had me flexing muscles with a mermaid horse man-thing to see who can flex best, while another encounter with an oddly shaped blob-person named Jerry had me and the other enemy onscreen ditching him. These creative options will either make your enemy leave, or allow you to “Spare” them.
After acting or attacking your enemy, you’ll have to dodge their attacks. Dodging employs an entirely different gameplay system, where you control your character’s heart in a confined area of the screen. What follows is a minigame similar to something you might see in WarioWare, in that you must control the heart to dodge the enemy’s attacks, to avoid taking damage. At one point, the dodging system practically becomes a game of Space Invaders, while at times, feels like Gradius. Each enemy and boss has a couple of unique attack patterns to dodge, which keeps the combat from getting stale.
This is one of the few games that manages to extend outside of the game itself to immerse you. Without going into specifics, a character near the end frequently crashes your game, and addresses it when you open the game again. One character even uses save states in battle, in order to trip you up. These features go a long way in making the game even more immersive, as it feels as though the game and its characters are playing you.
Undertale‘s visuals are sprite-based, with a very Earthbound-inspired style. In battle, enemy sprites are remarkably detailed, even in the monochrome black and white palette that battles normally use. The final boss of the Neutral playthrough is especially stunning, as it has a completely unique and explosive visual style that is unseen until that point.
Outside of battle, the game’s colour and design are absolutely beautiful. Each main area of the game has a unique style that really stands out. Whether it’s the festively snow-covered Snowdin, or the calmly ethereal Waterfall, the locations you’ll visit throughout this game perfectly compliment the tone of the story at any given time, and help you feel completely immersed in the game.
Undertale‘s soundtrack is easily one of the most memorable to grace a video game in recent years. While some of the calmer arrangements are audibly inspired by games such as Pokémon, Dragon Quest, and Final Fantasy, the more intense battle themes and boss tracks give off something of an Anamanaguchi vibe. Each song perfectly encapsulates the emotion of each fight, whether it’s an exciting random encounter, a silly dating-”battle” with a friend, or an intense final battle to the death. After finishing the game, every single combat theme was permanently ingrained in my head, alongside the calmer songs that play outside of battle.
The Final Word
Undertale is an absolute masterpiece that blends gameplay and story in an original and poignant way. Its visuals, sound, and gameplay are all refreshing and memorable, while its story is one of the most emotionally powerful in recent memory. In the end, Undertale is an utterly fantastic game that anyone who enjoys video games should experience at least once.
-MonsterVine Rating: 5 out of 5 – Excellent
