To be honest with you guys – I’ve just beaten Undertale and I still don’t know how to feel about it. After ending up with what I presume was the worst ending, as it was quite underwhelming, I did some research online and found out that Undertale is a game that’s heavily reliant on your choices, and that your choices lead you to one of many endings. I’m not sure how many there are but there are quite a few. Let’s go back a bit though. Undertale is a game about a human who wakes up underground without any idea as to how he got there. After you do a bit of exploring, you quickly come to find out that you’ve ended up where monsters reside (all of this is…basically explained in the opening cutscenes, so I don’t feel I’m spoiling anything). After a war against humans, a war that the monsters lost, they were banished to the underground, and that’s where you are. You initially meet a flower that’s very menacing, but while that seems as for shock value at first, it reveals itself to have ulterior motive over time. See – without trying to spoil here – there’s more to this game that meets the eye. Much more. It’s a super interesting game, and while I don’t particularly think all of its themes were immaculately achieved, there’s no denying its ambition. Undertale is pretty cool, and after giving more indie games a go (I’ve kept myself relatively sheltered from them) I could easily see myself liking it even more than I currently do. It’s a great game. However, it’s also flawed.

Undertale seems to suffer from a bit of issues in terms of tone. Honestly, in between the various revelations and discoveries the game threw at me, I was often left feeling underwhelmed. The tone of the game didn’t always quite work for me. I understand that it’s a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but given the more mature themes that are implemented throughout, I find it surprising that the developer sometimes went in the directions he did with Undertale. Now – none of it is bad. That’s something I really want to stress. Undertale is definitely at the very least consistently good, and at the most really great. I just wish that it’s subtle themes were built up to in more fitting ways.

I don’t want to talk about the story more than I currently have, or at the very least I want to limit myself, because I don’t want to spoil anything. So far, no worries, I haven’t. But if I keep on going I’m afraid I’ll give too vivid of a picture of Undertale’s story. To conclude this section, all I really want to say is that it’s a game you should play the whole way through (especially considering my playthrough literally lasted me four hours or so).

Undertale has an interesting art style. My friend told me that it starts off quite ugly but grows beautiful over time, and I kind of agree. However, I didn’t feel this way to the point where I felt the game lacked some sort of cohesiveness or left an overall improved impression in terms of art style over time. It, ultimately, all looked rather similar. I really appreciate, however, that the second half of the game was filled with sceneries that were pretty well done. Some of the settings and designs of your surroundings were very creative during the second half, actually, and helped immerse you in the experience.

The gameplay of Undertale is good. The actual movement system is heavily reminiscent of an NES/SNES game, and it often looks like one as well. I wouldn’t give a game a pass for something like this, even if it’s an indie, if it didn’t fit. But Undertale, I personally believe, wouldn’t work as well otherwise. Part of the reason as to why I feel this way is because of the gameplay. The way the game is built revolves around a sprite design. The silent protagonist thing also makes the stylistic choices work better. Granted – I’m not a fan of older games, never have been. But the actual story behind this game, if released back in the 80’s or 90’s, would have been hailed as revolutionary. No question about it. That’s pretty obviously the strength of the game itself. The moral dilemmas that it presents throughout are very interesting, and you don’t have to kill a single enemy to progress through the game.

This game made me feel emotional quite often. As I was presented with certain story elements, I was often left in shock, and/or felt sad. That obviously makes the game successful, at the very least in a certain way. It really did emotionally resonate with me. Tense moments felt tense, and I was often immersed in my surroundings and the story.

The considerable praise I’ve given the game doesn’t change my opinion that Undertale is flawed. I’d still say that there’s a lot wrong with it. I feel like the potential is there, tremendously so. There is a ten out of ten game within Undertale. Remove some parts of the story, put a focus on others and add a few that works better with those others and you have yourself a fantastic game. However – as it is, it doesn’t quite reach the heights that I’d like it to, especially considering the considerable hype it got at the time.

8/10.

(New article every Monday).

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