An RPG Where Killing is Not Necessary [Undertale – Game Review]

Undertale is a role-playing game where you don’t have to kill anyone! Undertale was created by Toby Fox and was released on September 15, 2015. The demo can be downloaded and played from the official site for free, and the full game can be bought on Steam.

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Gameplay [9/10]

Undertale share the same mechanics of a classic RPG, but with a little bit of difference and uniqueness. The battle system is one of the unique feature of Undertale. It seems that this type of battle system was inspired by bullet-hell-games, and I don’t know what that term means.

Ok, I looked it up and here’s what it means:

Bullet Hell

A sub-genre of video games in the side scrolling shooter genre, where the screen is usually COVERED in bullets.

These games usually consist of your player character at the bottom of the screen, dodging waves of bullets and shooting at enemies, until you reach the end of the stage where you are greeted by a difficult boss with even more dangerous bullet patterns.

These games are strangely fun in a masochistic kind of way.

Not to be confused with Bulletstorm.

Touhou is an example of a bullet hell game.

(Source: Urban Dictionary )

 

The protagonist’s Soul is represented by a red heart, in which the player needs to avoid the attacks of each opponent. There are a lot of different kinds of obstacles for each of the attack of the enemy. Every enemy has a different attack pattern from each other, some are hard and some are easy to avoid.

During the player’s turn, the player has 4 choices of move: FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, MERCY. Using Fight to defeat an enemy is not necessary in this game. The player can either use ACT to end the battle without killing the opponent. But, it’s up to the player if they are going to fight the enemy or Spare them (Spare can be accessed through the MERCY option, once you have used ACT to change the mood of the opponent, you can use the MERCY option to spare them. Note that killing an opponent or sparing them will affect the ending of the game. EXP and LV is earned by killing an enemy, and GOLD is earned by either killing or sparing them. It is possible to complete this game without killing a monster, but it’s up to the player’s choices of actions.

The game also consists of puzzles that the player needs to solve in order to progress.  In my opinion, the puzzles of the game are really easy, and can be solved really quickly. In a certain case, some puzzles are disabled when you’re doing the Genocide Route (Completing the game by killing everyone). Instead, the player needs to grind (kill every single monster of a certain stage) in order to progress to another stage.

The game is really humorous and really likes to make puns. Well, that depends on the player’s actions. The game is really humorous if you’re doing the Pacifist Route (Completing the game without killing a single monster) or Neutral Route (Completing the game by killing and at the same time, sparing monsters). But, if you’re doing the Genocide Route, the game pretty much gets really dark, and a lot of dialogues will alter. This game is known for breaking the fourth wall. Yep, it really blew my mind and made me love this game even more.  There’s a SAVE feature for this game. So, if you die, you have the chance to go back to the previous save point. But this is where the game breaks the fourth wall. Some characters remember the player’s previous course of actions even when the player attempted to reset the game.

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Story [8/10]

Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: Humans and Monsters. One day, a war broke out between the two races and after a long series of battle, the humans were victorious. The greatest of their magicians sealed the monsters to the Underground with a magic barrier. However, this barrier is not a perfect barrier.

Many years after the war, in 201X, a human child climbs Mount Ebott for their own mysterious reason. It is said that those who climb the mountain never return. The child discovers an enormous hole in the mountain and falls in while trying to get a closer look. Now, the story begins.

The protagonist, who is suggested to be named after the player, starts off their adventure in the Ruins and shortly meets Flowey, a sentient flower who attempts to kill the protagonist for his own amusement. He is later thwarted by a motherly monster named Toriel, who teaches the child how to solve puzzles and resolve conflicts in the Underground. After a boss fight with her, she allows the child to exit the ruins.

(Source: Undertale Wikia)

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Animation and Sound [10/10]

The game art is pretty good and it’s ok for a classic RPG, but what made the game stood up the most is the amazing and beautiful soundtracks. The soundtracks for the boss fights made the gaming experience for the player to be attached to the game. There’s a sense of sadness and happiness at the same time (Kill or Spare). Add the soundtrack and BOOM!, one ticket to Feelsville. I personally liked the soundtracks of the game. I had the sense of nostalgia every time I listen to the soundtracks of the game.

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Overall [9/10]; Enjoyment [10/10]

All in all, this game really made me become attached to the characters.  The game consists of 3 endings: Neutral, Pacifist, and Genocide. The game’s ending depends on the player’s actions. As of now, I finished the Neutral and Pacifist, and I have to say, the Pacifist Ending is the most satisfying ending yet. For now, I’m doing the Genocide Route and I can easily notice the difference of this path from the other paths. Some say that this route is harder and I can confirm that, it really is harder. Overall, this game is really enjoyable and really fun to play.

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Buy the game on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/391540/
Note: Tissues not included.