Platform: Switch
Publisher: 8-4 Ltd,
Developer: 8-4
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
Release Date: September 18, 2018
If you haven’t played Undertale before and have never checked the reviews, you’ll probably wonder why a lot of people like it. The game’s cover is very simple: just a pixelated “UNDERTALE” on a black background with a red heart on the R. Its elevator pitch hails itself as an RPG where you don’t have to kill anyone. And if you do decide to play it blind on a whim, you may even find yourself a little confused and underwhelmed.
So what’s the big deal?
Undertale by Toby Fox garnered its fans not because they were wowed right away but because of its carefully layered story. I admit, even on my first playthrough I wasn’t sure why people were raving about it. I killed some annoying enemies, I spared some, I petted a dog to oblivion… nothing special. Then I asked myself: what if I didn’t kill Froggit? What if I befriended Papyrus instead?
That “what if” moment is what makes Undertale shine. By making you wonder about the could-haves, you get an incentive to start over again and explore that option. You get to find out what you missed and learn things you otherwise wouldn’t have learned. Your empathy gets rewarded as each monster starts feeling more comfortable being around you. Little by little, you’ll find out that these monsters are really just trying to live their life.
Befriending everyone is not an easy task, of course. You’re a human who fell in the underground world of monsters. Most of them are indifferent towards you, but those who know the underground’s history hate you. They will do everything in their power to give you to their king so that the entire monster world can be liberated. With a reasoning as noble as that, can you really blame them?
It’s still an RPG
Story elements aside, Undertale is still an RPG. You encounter monsters to spare or kill, you fight them, you get experience and/or gold. Battles occur randomly throughout the map, which could get annoying if you’re searching for something or are trying to limp back to the nearest save point. You can buy various food items for healing, while some stores sell weapons and equipment to help increase your stats a bit.
Battles also take place inside a square with a red heart representing you. The heart is free to move around inside the square which is necessary if you wish to survive. If for some reason you wish to attack, you can do so by stopping a moving vertical bar as close to the center as possible. Stopping it way too early or too late makes you miss, while the damage output increases as you get closer to the center. You also have the option to check on the enemy’s stats, along with some clues on how to interact with them non-violently.
Meanwhile, enemies’ attacks are very bullet-hell like, with some coming at you faster than the others. There are a few gimmicks here and there, such as blue and green hearts, but they’re explained clearly ahead of time. The game never throws a new concept at you without giving vital information on how to deal with it. And if you choose to not fight your opponent, the key to surviving is reading their chat bubbles and their clues under “Check.” Doing specific actions will either please or annoy your enemy, but you need to pay attention to cues first or they won’t have the desired reaction. Depending on the actions you choose, your enemy will eventually stop fighting. Though if you do end up dying, you restart where you last saved. Save often!
And true to the RPG habits of yesteryear, each “boss” you fight have their own unique themes. Not only do they add to the battle atmosphere, they’re also wonderful enough to describe the boss’ personality. Papyrus’ “Bonetrousle” theme, for example, perfectly captures his upbeat personality as a Royal Guard hopeful; it’s even the perfect beat for marching. Meanwhile, Mettaton’s “Death by Glamour” sounds exactly that: a glamorous arrangement that evokes the high-strung life of the runway and the spotlights. And don’t even get me started on “Your Best Nightmare” and “Hopes and Dreams”…
What’s with this whole Neutral, Pacifist, Genocide thing?
You may have heard something about a neutral, pacifist, or genocide route; if not, you may have picked up on some hints about it from this review. To truly understand Undertale’s underlying tales (tee hee), you need to play the game at least twice. It’s highly recommended that you start with a Pacifist run so that you can experience the true ending. In this run, you avoid killing anyone. Instead you must check and interact with everyone you encounter, regardless of how much they want to kill you. This is a bit difficult because you’ll technically be stuck in level 1 (you don’t get experience if you don’t kill), but your reward will be worth it.
A neutral run is when you kill some and spare the rest. You still get to the end and you can still make some friends on the way, but you’ll miss out on some events. The ending will also be a bit lackluster. It’s as neutral as neutral can be.
And then there’s the genocide run. As the name suggests, this run will have you killing anything that moves. Those you haven’t killed yet will be absolutely terrified of you, and those who have some power to do so will try their darnedest to stop you. You’ll become an ultimate killing machine as you rake in the experience points and stat bonuses. You’ll need it though because the game’s toughest battles take place here. And once you finish, your save file is forever affected.
Bring It In, Guys!
Everything previously mentioned is really just the tip of Undertale’s iceberg. I could spend hours explaining why the soundtrack is amazing and how the quips are so meticulously written, but that takes away the magic of experiencing them for yourself. Everything that everyone raves about with Undertale is just the wrapper. You need to unwrap the game yourself and see it with your own eyes. You need to be the one to talk to Napstablook to understand his melancholy. You need to be the one to meet Asgore so you can truly understand how broken the situation is. You need to be the one to experience everything.
So if you haven’t jumped at the chance yet to try Undertale on PC, PS4, or PS Vita, then let the Switch version be your introduction. Open your eyes, your ears, and your heart. Be patient because befriending a bunch of nervous monsters isn’t always going to be easy. Slow down and enjoy the experience so that you may finally understand why everyone wants to hug the goat.
