Undertale, at its core, is a game about patience.
Every battle is a new opportunity to foul up, the game teasing you with easy KILL ALL THE THINGS solutions when, in reality, sometimes you just need to chill and go with the flow. The game, like it’s message, can drag on at times, with certain jokes rambling just a tad too long, the difficulty curve from fight to fight varying like Blaine Gabbert screen passes, and some of the chance meetings being just a little TOO serendipitious to be believed.
Despite all that, though, I loved Undertale. It is an absolutely incredible game. If you have the patience to forage through its long, labyrinthine Underground, the experience that you will have is unmatched by any other video game that has come out in the past fifteen years.
At the start of Undertale, you are dropped from the heavens above onto a bed of golden flowers, a fallen human in a world full of monsters. These creatures were driven from the surface in a battle years ago, and have made a new home for themselves deep within the Earth’s core. It is your goal to escape, by any means necessary – although, the game makes clear that pacificsm is the ideal way to go.
Undertale styles itself as “The RPG Where You Don’t Have To Kill Anyone,” and, to the game’s credit, it is quite hard to find too much of a reason to hate any of the characters that you will meet on your journey. They are all flawed in their own ways, but agreeable enough. There’s a spark of humanity that permeates each and every one of them. They pine for attention, for glory, for love. Despite their disparate exteriors, there are human elements about them. If you hurt them, the pain is evident. If you spare them, there is an opportunity for a true connection to be forged.
The game’s battle system is familiar yet novel, a new take on the 8-bit bullethell genre. Each monster has a unique attack that you, as the player, must dodge. For instance, a penguin with an unhealthy cleanliness obsession attacks with bubbles, whereas frogs utilize flies as their weapon of choice. When it is your turn to make a move, you can either Fight in an attempt to destroy your opponent, or Act to try and solve the battle through a more peaceable means. Once you have calmed your opposite number down enough, you can mercy them, allowing for them to escape unscathed.
Undertale’s battle system allows for the setting and story to take precedence – and while the narrative seems a bit simplistic from the outset, the lore in this land is rich, and the presentation is absolutely spot on. There were points in this game when I had to take a deep breath and step away for a second, contemplating the magnitude of my actions and the emotion that this experience was making me feel. Every sprite, every dialogue tree, and every conversation had evidence of the love and care that creator Toby Fox and team put into this experience, and it made this game an absolute joy to play. The ending that I got after completing my full True Pacifist run (not killing a single creature) is one of the most fulfilling experiences that I’ve ever had in a video game. It filled me with warmth and glee, and was the cherry on top of the best presented video game story that I have ever played. From the brutal bossfights to the totally explorable environments to the awesome soundtrack, there is simply not a better made video game on the market right now. Period.
For me to evangelize people over something like this game is not typical. However, if you have $10 and Steam, I urge you to give Undertale a try. The first playthrough should not take you more than eight hours, but as you venture through the Underground, talk to everyone. Make friends where you can. Check every path. Call characters on your in-game cell phone. Instead of trying to impose your will on your opponents, go with the flow and see what happens.
Undertale is less of a game than a world to explore, to discover, and to save. And if you have the patience to fulfill your mission to completion, you will be handsomely rewarded.
Ethan
Latest posts by Ethan (see all)
- The Hammertime Podcast - January 21, 2016
- Video Game Review: Undertale - January 18, 2016
