Undertale Review

Undertale is a game that became popular instantly in the same year as its release. In the same year, as well as the subsequent one, Undertale was nominated and won many awards ranging from Game of the Year to Best Story award.

If you try to talk it down, its loyal fanbase will rush to defend it, zealously might I add. But is Undertale really worthy of all this praise, or was this all a fluke?

This review will be split into storyline, gameplay, visuals and personal thoughts. Without further ado:

Storyline

Undertale’s main selling point is definitely its story and foe a good reason. I am always a story fan on any game that has one and Undertale really blew my mind. As it says on its Steam page, Undertale is the game where you don’t have to kill anyone.

This gives the storytelling plenty of options. I will not give it away too much as Undertale is best experienced without any knowledge firsthand, and it really is so much better this way and that’s coming from someone who loves spoilers.

The main premise is that long ago, humans and monsters lived together in harmony. At some point, a war broke out, and it ended with the humans victorious. So, they banished the monsters deep within a mountain and sealed them off with a magic barrier that only humans can pass due to their determination.

You are a child that travels up that mountain, and falls down to the Underground, where the monsters live. Now you must find a way to return back to your home.

As mentioned, Undertale won the best story award as proof of its good storytelling. The story will make you have the feels, both good and bad ones. The way the story is delivered makes you feel like you are the one actually living the story.

The game has multiple endings as well, so there really are no ends to the positives of the story. The characters are very lovable and unique in their own way. Plus every character has his own theme music! But we’ll get to that later.

Gameplay

The gameplay is nothing extraordinary, it’s actually the classic bullet hell kind of game. There are of course certain boss fights that are nigh impossible, but you can get used to everything in the end.

The main point of interest is the aforementioned “good vs bad” choice you can make, but it doesn’t alter the gameplay at all…

Some of the bosses have a surprising twist to them, and it’s directly tied with their characteristics.

Some will make hinder you with gravity, and another one will allow you to shoot at some projectiles. There are also RPG tropes where you level up and gain stats by defeating enemies. There are also some items you can find that boos your attack or defense.

The SFX of the game is another huge bonus. Undertale was nominated for Excellence in Audio award. Toby Fox is a self-taught musician who composed the entirety of the game’s music on his own. And he was hugely successful in doing so.

The music is amazing and delivers everything you expect from any given area or encounter. It really conveys what you would feel if you were actually in the game.

Many appraise Toby Fox for remixing several leitmotifs into different themes and songs, again with huge success. The music is so good, you will want to keep listening to it even after you’re finished with the game.

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Visuals

The game is based on pixel art graphics making it an indie game. Which means it’s nothing special. It also means that Undertale can run on any console without a problem. Many of the overworld characters look like a kindergarten child drew them.

That was done in part intentionally as Toby Fox (the creator of Undertale) worked alone for the biggest part of the game, with only a few artists helping him in the end. Another reason is that Undertale is not a serious game, it’s meant to lighten you up, as a pleasant way to pass the time. They wanted to reflect that with the funny-looking characters.

Moreover, the game has extremely good uses of the 7 primary colors that are this game’s theme around each character and personality.

Personal Thoughts

Undertale is truly a unique game. The combination of storytelling, feeling delivering and music make for a very strong combo. It really isn’t an exaggeration to say that it’s one of the best games of all time.

Its numerous awards and nominations, as well as its fiercely loyal fanbase, are proof of that claim. But, words alone cannot deliver how much of a masterpiece this game is. So I urge you to play this game and find out yourself.

Of course, this game has some people opposing it, and that’s ok. There can exist nothing that is universally accepted. The people who don’t want to play the game are gamers who like their games to have AAA graphics. But, even to you, I suggest you try this out. If you have anything to add, please do so in the comments.

Final Verdict

Storyline: 10

Gameplay: 8

Visuals: 6

General Rating: 8/10

If you have anything to add, please do so in the comments. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

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The images I used are from the following websites:

www.igdb.com