Two weeks back, February 28th, I completed the last of my Four in February games. This was Undertale, a game that was so huge a few years ago; if you are interested in games, which I assume you are, you probably heard of it. I actually saw it on the Steam store before I had heard anything about it, and I thought it looked cool. I don't remember actually reading the description about it for some reason, just looking at the eerie but cute artwork. I quickly heard my classmates at Bradford School talking about Undertale in the next few weeks, but other than hearing that it had bullethell elements to it, that there was a morality system, and the names of some of the characters, I was able to stay away from any spoilers until I played the game this year. I will do the same for you, dear readers, but I do intend to touch on the game's odd world (not Oddworld) in the future and go more in-depth into the story.
Undertale was released on September 15th, 2015. It got a ton of acclaim for being designed and developed almost entirely by 23-year-old Toby Fox. After the initial Steam release, Undertale was later released on PS4 and Vita on August 15th, 2017 and Nintendo Switch on September 18th, 2018. A related game, Deltarune, took the internet by storm starting on Halloween of last year.
What struck me right away with Undertale, is its unassuming nature. The original, digital cover art, so to speak, is just the title on a black background. This is a game about a child who is lost in a strange underground world ruled by odd monsters with quirky ways. Mystery works in favor of this story.
The Underground is quite a place to visit. There's a cool color scheme of blues, magentas, and purples to this world. The battle sequences use a more limited palette of, often, only white. Everything also looks a lot like Earthbound. It's a nice look.
The soundtrack of The Underground is similarly a cool and cavernous sequence of songs. These songs are perfect; they have that wonderful crystal sound that I have spoken of before on Skull Valley. Even going from sad to hopeful to calm or scary, the soundtrack is able to retain a degree of character that makes it stand on its own. Combined with the simple sound effects, often wacky in their own way, it's all very excellent.
Undertale plays kind of like a Japanese RPG. You move your character about, talk to NPCs, buy items, equip weapons and armor, and eventually encounter enemies that may try to hurt you. In Undertale, the battle system does not work as you might expect. It's mostly a lot of dodging projectiles as you might do in Ikaruga or Donpachi; unlike Dragon Quest, reflexes are involved. This kept me on my toes the whole time. Even attacking, which you don't really ever have to do, uses a little power bar akin to a golf video game.
Of course, as I said, you don't really have to attack anybody. Like Shin Megami Tensei one can talk to the strange beings of the world, even in the midst of battle. Unlike Shin Megami Tensei, you can't recruit any demons to join you, but you may be able to persuade them to stand down. And in battle or just walking about, everyone, and even many things, have something to say in their own little ways. Jack Frost from the Shin Megami Tensei series would probably respond with a, "hee ho!" The characters are like friends from a dream, and that dream is quite a dream indeed.
Though I won't get into what happens, I will say that the story of Undertale gets more and more interesting, curiouser and curiouser, the further one gets. The story goes from just a lost kid to something more as the mysterious underground world unravels itself each step to a truth and another mystery. There's even more to do once you complete the game, though I haven't seen it yet. My partner tells me that there is still much to experience though. Undertale is one of her favorite games. I liked it a lot too.
Undertale receives a Good (9).
Undertale was released on September 15th, 2015. It got a ton of acclaim for being designed and developed almost entirely by 23-year-old Toby Fox. After the initial Steam release, Undertale was later released on PS4 and Vita on August 15th, 2017 and Nintendo Switch on September 18th, 2018. A related game, Deltarune, took the internet by storm starting on Halloween of last year.
What struck me right away with Undertale, is its unassuming nature. The original, digital cover art, so to speak, is just the title on a black background. This is a game about a child who is lost in a strange underground world ruled by odd monsters with quirky ways. Mystery works in favor of this story.
The Underground is quite a place to visit. There's a cool color scheme of blues, magentas, and purples to this world. The battle sequences use a more limited palette of, often, only white. Everything also looks a lot like Earthbound. It's a nice look.
The soundtrack of The Underground is similarly a cool and cavernous sequence of songs. These songs are perfect; they have that wonderful crystal sound that I have spoken of before on Skull Valley. Even going from sad to hopeful to calm or scary, the soundtrack is able to retain a degree of character that makes it stand on its own. Combined with the simple sound effects, often wacky in their own way, it's all very excellent.
Undertale plays kind of like a Japanese RPG. You move your character about, talk to NPCs, buy items, equip weapons and armor, and eventually encounter enemies that may try to hurt you. In Undertale, the battle system does not work as you might expect. It's mostly a lot of dodging projectiles as you might do in Ikaruga or Donpachi; unlike Dragon Quest, reflexes are involved. This kept me on my toes the whole time. Even attacking, which you don't really ever have to do, uses a little power bar akin to a golf video game.
Of course, as I said, you don't really have to attack anybody. Like Shin Megami Tensei one can talk to the strange beings of the world, even in the midst of battle. Unlike Shin Megami Tensei, you can't recruit any demons to join you, but you may be able to persuade them to stand down. And in battle or just walking about, everyone, and even many things, have something to say in their own little ways. Jack Frost from the Shin Megami Tensei series would probably respond with a, "hee ho!" The characters are like friends from a dream, and that dream is quite a dream indeed.
Though I won't get into what happens, I will say that the story of Undertale gets more and more interesting, curiouser and curiouser, the further one gets. The story goes from just a lost kid to something more as the mysterious underground world unravels itself each step to a truth and another mystery. There's even more to do once you complete the game, though I haven't seen it yet. My partner tells me that there is still much to experience though. Undertale is one of her favorite games. I liked it a lot too.
Undertale receives a Good (9).
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