Undertale, the Spoiler-free Review
I suppose if anything would get me blogging again, it would be a videogame.
Undertale is a terribly difficult game to review. It needs to stand on the things that set it apart from the pack, but most of those things are the surprises that mustn't (MUSTN'T!) be spoiled. The official description doesn't explain much, and the release trailer almost explains too much. I've been reading a ton of the reviews of the game online, and I feel like I have something to say about it too. So, I'm going to try to convince you that Undertale is worth your attention while leaving as much detail out of it as I can.
On the surface, Undertale is a traditional JRPG about friendship and determination. Slightly underneath the surface, Undertale is a bullet avoidance game. Just behind that, Undertale is a logic puzzle game. And if you look behind that curtain, you will find a pair of panicked beady eyes staring back at you, as the wizard booms out "DO NOT LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN". Throughout, Undertale is a game about feelings and second chances. In short, Undertale is an onion.
How does one describe Undertale without explaining anything? Comparisons!
Undertale has been favorably compared to Earthbound. Earthbound uses cutesy graphics (also simple and sometimes blocky graphics) to examine mature concepts through a childlike lens. Earthbound drips with puns and corny jokes. Earthbound plays with the expectations of the JRPG medium. Earthbound toys with the forth wall and invites the player into its world. Undertale does all of this.
Undertale has been favorably compared to Cave Story. Cave Story was a labor of love by one developer, and it packs a ton of thought and content into a small package. Undertale does too.
Undertale has been favorably compared to Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger observes your actions and throws them back at you when you least expect it. Chrono Trigger has multiple endings. Undertale has those too.
But Undertale isn't QUITE like Earthbound or Cave Story or Chrono Trigger. It's a crockpot of ideas that famous and not-so-famous developers have touched on over the years and then abandoned, because they are difficult to design around in a full-length game.
Undertale will push your buttons. It deconstructs genre conventions and defies expectations at every turn, but it consistently follows its own internal logic. It has a strong, tightly constructed world. The characters are endearing. The music is immersive. Little details that seem thrown in come back later, sometimes as running gags, sometimes as deep philosophical statements. You may regret choices you made. You may sometimes want to go back to your last save file. You can do that. The game wants you to do that. You may want go back BEFORE your save file (deliberately, there is only one). You can restart the game, it's short. The game wants you to do that. The wizard is peeking out from behind the curtain. Or you can forge ahead, confidently. However you approach the game, it has a reaction for you. It will make you think hard about whether you can save someone with a death wish. It will also make you think hard about whether some people deserve to die.
If you like movies like The Sixth Sense, Gone Girl, or Fight Club, Undertale is for you. If you loved to hate Kefka or GlaDOS, Undertale is for you. If you ever wondered why you have to kill everything that moves in a video game, Undertale is for you.
Undertale is brief (4-8 hours per playthrough?), but it wants you to play it again. And once you've played Undertale a second time, it wants you to struggle internally about whether to play it a third time. But it costs $10, and it's worth the price even if you only play it once.
What are the downsides to Undertale? What might turn you off?
The graphics are Earthboundesque; you may or may not find that charming. The menu design is not slick (think Earthbound here too). The FIGHT option is simple and straightforward. That is by design; the care was placed elsewhere. There is only one save file, and there are save points (though the save points are numerous). If you don't like the author's sense of humor, there are sections of the game where you will do a lot of groaning. Finally, you may have trouble convincing the game to forget about you. If you don't think that's a downside now, you will understand later (or when you want to introduce the game to someone else).
Intrigued yet?
Undertale's Official Website
Undertale's Steam App Page
Undertale is a terribly difficult game to review. It needs to stand on the things that set it apart from the pack, but most of those things are the surprises that mustn't (MUSTN'T!) be spoiled. The official description doesn't explain much, and the release trailer almost explains too much. I've been reading a ton of the reviews of the game online, and I feel like I have something to say about it too. So, I'm going to try to convince you that Undertale is worth your attention while leaving as much detail out of it as I can.
On the surface, Undertale is a traditional JRPG about friendship and determination. Slightly underneath the surface, Undertale is a bullet avoidance game. Just behind that, Undertale is a logic puzzle game. And if you look behind that curtain, you will find a pair of panicked beady eyes staring back at you, as the wizard booms out "DO NOT LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN". Throughout, Undertale is a game about feelings and second chances. In short, Undertale is an onion.
How does one describe Undertale without explaining anything? Comparisons!
Undertale has been favorably compared to Earthbound. Earthbound uses cutesy graphics (also simple and sometimes blocky graphics) to examine mature concepts through a childlike lens. Earthbound drips with puns and corny jokes. Earthbound plays with the expectations of the JRPG medium. Earthbound toys with the forth wall and invites the player into its world. Undertale does all of this.
Undertale has been favorably compared to Cave Story. Cave Story was a labor of love by one developer, and it packs a ton of thought and content into a small package. Undertale does too.
Undertale has been favorably compared to Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger observes your actions and throws them back at you when you least expect it. Chrono Trigger has multiple endings. Undertale has those too.
But Undertale isn't QUITE like Earthbound or Cave Story or Chrono Trigger. It's a crockpot of ideas that famous and not-so-famous developers have touched on over the years and then abandoned, because they are difficult to design around in a full-length game.
Undertale will push your buttons. It deconstructs genre conventions and defies expectations at every turn, but it consistently follows its own internal logic. It has a strong, tightly constructed world. The characters are endearing. The music is immersive. Little details that seem thrown in come back later, sometimes as running gags, sometimes as deep philosophical statements. You may regret choices you made. You may sometimes want to go back to your last save file. You can do that. The game wants you to do that. You may want go back BEFORE your save file (deliberately, there is only one). You can restart the game, it's short. The game wants you to do that. The wizard is peeking out from behind the curtain. Or you can forge ahead, confidently. However you approach the game, it has a reaction for you. It will make you think hard about whether you can save someone with a death wish. It will also make you think hard about whether some people deserve to die.
If you like movies like The Sixth Sense, Gone Girl, or Fight Club, Undertale is for you. If you loved to hate Kefka or GlaDOS, Undertale is for you. If you ever wondered why you have to kill everything that moves in a video game, Undertale is for you.
Undertale is brief (4-8 hours per playthrough?), but it wants you to play it again. And once you've played Undertale a second time, it wants you to struggle internally about whether to play it a third time. But it costs $10, and it's worth the price even if you only play it once.
What are the downsides to Undertale? What might turn you off?
The graphics are Earthboundesque; you may or may not find that charming. The menu design is not slick (think Earthbound here too). The FIGHT option is simple and straightforward. That is by design; the care was placed elsewhere. There is only one save file, and there are save points (though the save points are numerous). If you don't like the author's sense of humor, there are sections of the game where you will do a lot of groaning. Finally, you may have trouble convincing the game to forget about you. If you don't think that's a downside now, you will understand later (or when you want to introduce the game to someone else).
Intrigued yet?
Undertale's Official Website
Undertale's Steam App Page