Undertale Review
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Developers: Toby Fox
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Publishers: Toby Fox
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Genres: RPG
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Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS Vita
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Release date:
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PC- September 15th 2015
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PS4/PS Vita- August 15th 2017
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Nintendo Switch- September 18th 2018
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Playtime: Around 10 hours
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Reviewed on Nintendo Switch
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Completed a Neutral and a True Pacifist playthroughs

Undertale is, by all means, an incredible game. While it maintains a modest front with its NES-like graphics and the core of an RPG, Undertale pushes itself to the limit, with its creative combat and desire to break the fourth wall and integrate the player itself in the action. Of course, the over the top cast of supporting characters like the timid Alphys or the “persistentestest” skeleton ever (his own words) Papyrus make this six-hour-plus (the “plus” will be explained later) a truly remarkable story.

Let’s start with the premise of the game. You’re in control of an androgynous child who fell into the underground kingdom of monsters that had been sealed by humans. Now underground, the child’s only option is to explore the land and whatever lies in their wait as they look for a way to make it back aboveground or, in the context of the game, to the side of the humans. The story itself will remain fairly generic, however, it’s what is achieved with such plot that matters. Your actions will always have consequences, period. Killing certain characters can completely change the current playthrough and choices or particular actions will be remembered in future playthroughs. Sometimes you obtain an immediate consequence like when you side with Papyrus when he and his brother are discussing which crosswords puzzle is the hardest; other times it may be that sparing an opponent lets you go on a date with her later.

Of course, to see your actions have tangible consequences is something to celebrate but, by itself, it wouldn’t make Undertale as good as it is. For one, there’s the catchy soundtrack which I cannot get out of my head. Not only there’s quantity, almost a track for each situation and character, but all of these are also fantastic. The Undyne chase sequence immediately comes to mind when I hear the menacing track that plays at the time and I can’t not smile when I hear the cheery and energetic Papyrus theme. On the other hand, there are the characters you meet, from the enemies that spring up during random encounters to the secondary characters that accompany you throughout the journey. The enemies are full of personality, for example, you can fight against a flexing sea horse or a very good boy- I mean, Greater Dog, that you can interact with and have back and forths in the middle of a fight (more on this part later). The secondary characters that appear during your journey, like the aforementioned spaghetti-loving skeleton Papyrus or his bonehead brother Sans are just some examples of characters that brighten your day just by being on screen (and by throwing in a couple of puns, thank you Sans). There’s also the fact that characters love to break the fourth wall just as much as I love playing this game, so every now and then you’ll get a direct reference at you, the player, that might not even make sense in the middle of the dialogue, but will fill in perfectly because you will be distracted as little by little you start to feel integrated in the game.

Moving on to the gameplay, while walking around the world there will be random encounters (with just the right amount of frequency). As I’ve mentioned before, in these fights you’ll come across some very interesting monsters, like a flexing seahorse, a tsundere airplane, a carrot that encourages you to eat vegetables, among many others. While facing them, you have the option to FIGHT or to ACT. The former uses a simple QTE bar which, if timed properly, deals a critical hit to the enemy. However, the latter is where the fun is at. ACT allows you to interact with the opponent with context-specific options, for example, if you’re fighting a good boy- again, I meant the Greater Dog (or any of the dog characters really), you can choose to pet it, play with it, beckon it or a couple more options. On the other hand, if you’re fighting say, a Froggit, you can compliment or threaten it. In short, depending on who your opponent is, you’ll have access to ACT options unique to that enemy. These actions are what allow you to take a pacifist approach in battle: as you interact with your opponents, they’ll end up not wanting to fight anymore and thus ending the battle themselves or allowing you to end it with the “Spare” option. To put it clearly, you can play through the entire game without killing anyone ;) .

When enemies attack you instead, that’s when you’re in for a treat. With your tiny heart placed inside a black rectangle with white borders, your task is to navigate through the bullet-hell-like enemy attacks. These attacks are such a “treat” because each enemy has its own attacks: one can send a tiny “bullet” that explodes into a wave of “bullets”, another can put a tiny version of itself inside the box and jump around trying to hit you, or, in the case of bosses, they can even change the color of your heart and thus changing your movement options. One of them turns your heart blue rendering you able only to jump up and move sideways to avoid incoming attacks while another can turn your heart pink and turn the rectangle into a rhythm game.

Now, it’s time to explain the “plus” in the “six-hour-plus” length I specified at the beginning. Indeed, playing through the game the first time takes around six hours to complete. However, that’s not the end of the game. After facing that monstrosity of a final boss that made me utter a legitimate “what the fuck” at the screen, there’s room for, at the very least, one more playthrough. Your first playthrough will, most likely, be a Neutral one, as you kill and spare as you see fit. But, speaking from my own experience, sticking with a True Pacifist playthrough in the second go is a very nice option. In this playthrough you can’t kill a single enemy, thus, you will need to learn what ACT options to choose for each opponent so that you can spare them or run away when it’s possible. The biggest advantages I found from undertaking a True Pacifist playthrough were that I had to face the game with a slightly different approach: ignore the FIGHT option and learn how to persuade my opponents to end things so that both of us were still alive at the end of the fight. This opened up a lot of opportunities, such as taking a cooking lesson with a certain someone or go on a date with an anime-loving royal scientist. However, the best reward from completing the True Pacifist playthrough was, without a doubt, the ending (which I can’t say anything more about for fear of spoiling the experience further). Now, ten hours later with a Neutral and a True Pacifist playthroughs completed, there’s still the Genocide route for me to complete which, as the name implies, involves doing the exact opposite of my previous playthrough…

To wrap it all up, Undertale is truly an unforgettable game. Hidden behind its NES-like graphics lies a game full of memorable moments and characters. Papyrus and his silly theme song, the combat as a whole, the final boss (either of the Neutral or True Pacifist playthroughs), Sans’ puns, the soundtrack, …, there’s just so many good things about this game that I don’t think I can forget it about any time soon. It’s games like these that make me truly appreciate the medium of video games.
You are filled with determination.