Undertale

Are you a bit shy? 

Have you ever had trouble making friends? 

Maybe you wish the world was a little bit of a nicer place. Well, that’s definitely not the theme of today’s game, so strap in because Undertale is in the driving seat and it ain’t slowing down. 

I have no doubt that everyone reading this will have heard of Undertale at some point. It’s the most charming, subtle and most disarming pieces of gaming to date all wrapped up in a retro pixelated, chip-tuney style. For the handful of you that aren’t familiar: Undertale is a top down, retro style RPG from 2015 from the one man band developer that is Toby Fox. In Undertale, you play as a child that has died and ended up in the land of monsters. You’re found by an overly caring goat lady and tendered to until you regain consciousness, that’s where the real adventure begins. Upon escaping from the almost Misery-esc goat lady situation, you’re thrown into Undertale’s lovingly crafted, yet eerily sparse world. 

From the first moment you start up Undertale it shines: the character and level design are on point, both giving you a feeling of depth and humour without compromising the aesthetic, and the sound and music is fantastic. I mentioned the eerie nature of the world and to create that the music is leant so heavily on that it’s a wonder it hasn’t snapped in two, parts ricocheting everywhere and impaled an innocent bystander. 

Truth be told, Undertale is a hard game to explain for two reasons: context will give away spoilers but without context what I'm saying makes no sense. 

It’s a game based around your actions and choices. Combat is an option in Undertale and it’s challenging while also feeling satisfying, but it’s not your only option. The game employs a non violent route, sure it’s  slightly harder to achieve than just bashing whatever stands in your path’s brains out, but it too is satisfying. That satisfaction is based on the dialogue and personality from NPC’s and how well written it all is. The encounters have more of a general meeting between strangers than a normal fight, almost as if you’re trespassing in their world and they’re cautious of you. There’s not usually hostility is my point, and that’s where you come in. 

You see, Undertale is clever. It understands that you’ve had years of games training you to kill whatever moves and not think twice about said mover’s family, feelings or motives. However, it does a brilliant job of pulling the wool over your eyes. A lot of the monsters are just trying to get by in a weird world - like most of us are in life - they aren’t looking for a fight but they will protect themselves if they feel they need to. As you move further through the game you find that this world you’re in isn’t just a land of monsters but a living land, with communities and people and a rich lore that is woven in beautifully throughout the game, and you’re here to ruin it all. Now who’s the real monster?

Speaking of monsters, there’s an array of “enemies” and all of them act differently in terms of attacking and dialogue, every time I came across a new one I always aimed for the peaceful option just to see what they would say. The whole point of the alternative to the combat system is because there’s inevitably multiple endings depending on how you acted. All of them tug at the heart strings and give you closure to the sprawling story you’ve been experiencing the whole time, but that’s not the only thing that Undertale does well. Not only do the endings change but characters act differently towards you throughout the game, offering a unique experience every time rather than just forcing you to play the game multiple times.

The caring way the story is delivered and coupled with the very basic gameplay puts Undertale in a unique position: it’s genuinely a game for everyone. No one can complain that the controls are too fiddly or the puzzles are too hard because they’re incredibly basic, there only to emphasise the story being told and the story is so subtle yet digestible and told at a pace that suits all. The combat, when you choose to engage in it, is almost trivial and has an air of the bullet-hell genre about it. Intense yes, but difficult? I wouldn’t say so. 

Play Undertale. It’s all of about 4 hours long and definitely has replay value but above that, it’s a game that makes you think. Think about how you act towards people and how they act towards you, about differences in perspective and the will of a world. It may not leave you feeling great but it will leave you feeling deeper.