STEAMPUNK - Undertale

well, this took me a while to do. half because i needed to complete the game before writing this, half because it's kind of hard to really describe this game to newfolk without spoiling a great deal.

hoo boy

hoooooooo boy

back in 2013, word about a demo for an RPG by the name of Undertale came about. a bloke i knew recommended it to me, saying it seemed like something i'd like since i liked cute monsters and such. i'm not one to turn down anything with cute monsters, so i took a look at the demo. and hoo boy, in that hour-long span, i didn't think i'd end up feeling so much over a demo.

i wasn't able to help fund the kickstarter for Undertale when it came out the same year (i had no idea how to use a credit card until 2014 ok), but i kept watch on the game via twitter and Steam Greenlight and such so i could buy the game when it came out. two years later, just last month, Undertale finally saw release on Steam. and what did i do when i saw it available for purchase?

well okay i actually held off on buying it since i already spent a lot on a copy of Soul Nomad that month, but a pal of mine was kind enough to buy me a copy as their half of an art trade. kudos and shout-out to you, Muno. you're a rad pal. <3

so i guess now i should actually talk about what Undertale actually is, right? developed almost entirely by indie musician Toby "Radiation" Fox, Undertale is a charming role-playing game about a young human kid who falls down a hole while exploring a mysterious mountain. this hole leads to the Underground, where monsters have been trapped following the aftermath of a terrible war between the humans and monsters. what follows is a tale of... well, many feelings. happiness, sadness, fear, love, friendship... and maybe a bit of "what the hell just happened" at points.

i think it goes without saying that i seriously recommend that you grab it off Steam right now if you have the ten bucks to spare or try out the demo for a taste of what to expect. though, it wouldn't be that much of a rec if i didn't explain why i love this game so much, right?

well, if the 98% positive reviews or 97/100 metascore don't convince you, read on. or read on anyway if they do convince you, i dunno. don't worry, this review is spoiler free, and all screencaps used for the review are from the game site page and steam page.

Undertale is definitely an oddity amongst the RPG genre. even upon playing the demo for the first time, i wasn't too sure what to expect outside of cute monster designs. a lot of people have compared this game to rpgs like Earthbound and Shin Megami Tensei partially due to the front-view fights. the humor has also been compared to Earthbound, but i haven't played it, so don't expect me to comment about it a lot. despite those similarities, Undertale's battle system in particular is quite unique amongst the usual rpg fare.

while battles are pretty much "walk around map, random enemy encounter, kill enemy, gain XP, raise LV" like usual, it's the way of doing it that makes Undertale stand out. when you attack, you have to time your attack right to get the best damage. when an enemy attacks, you have to dodge their attacks. yep, dodge them. by moving your soul around (the red heart in the screenshot), you can dodge your foe's attacks like how you would in a shmup like Touhou and DoDonPachi. don't worry, the bullet patterns aren't that level of hard.

each monster you encounter has their own unique bullet patterns. even the bosses have their own fanciful patterns and gimmicks, and some may affect your soul's playstyle, so you'll have to adapt to each of them if you want victory.

"but gen, doesn't the steam page say 'you don't have to destroy anyone?'" well, yeah. you don't have to kill everyone you meet. if you happen to run into danger, you don't have to simply run away if you want to avoid conflict. instead of FIGHTing, you can ACT in battle to interact with your foes. each monster has their own set of options for ACTing. you can tell a joke to a snowdrake, compliment a frog, give a deer a present, and even pet dogs.

you can also spare your foes via the MERCY menu if they don't wish to fight anymore, which can happen if you hurt them badly or ACT with them in a certain manner. you won't get XP from this, though. however, it's entirely possible to beat the game without killing a single enemy.

even with going the pacifist route of ACTing with every enemy instead of FIGHTing them, you'll still have to dodge their attacks. there's even times where simply ACTing won't be an option. if that happens... well uh, you're on your own with that.

admittedly the battle system may be a bit confusing to someone totally new to Undertale, especially if you don't play shmups or aren't used to SMT-esque negotiation. though, if you can get used to these aspects of the game, you'll have a smoother time getting through battles non-violently.

throughout your underground adventure you'll encounter various puzzles. pictured above is not one of those puzzles. the actual puzzles range from operating switches, constructing bridges from flowers, navigating mazes of jump tiles, and a few others i can't bother to remember since i'm not terribly big on puzzles because i'm bad at them.

that being said, the puzzles are pretty easy. there's a few deceptively easy ones, but even the ones that seemed to be hard were doable with enough mucking around. this is from my personal experience, though. if you're the kind of person who likes straining their brain on Zelda dungeon puzzles, you're probably going to be a tad disappointed.

graphics-wise, Undertale is pretty damn good in that regard. at first glance, it might seem like an RPGMaker game, but it's actually developed in Game Maker from scratch, so there's some nice graphics work going on than what RPGMaker engines can muster. heck, it's also the reason why the battle system isn't typical rpg fare, buuut i've covered that already.

through quiet ruins, snowy forests, rushing waterfalls, and whatever else you stumble across on your journey, each of these locales are represented pretty well. the level design isn't terribly impressive imo, but the graphics fit the style and atmosphere of the game. a fair lot of people compare the graphic style to Mother 3 and Yume Nikki, but really, i personally think Undertale has it's own style going on. and it definitely works.

each of the monsters in-battle have their own funky designs and animations going on. some designed by Toby, some by Tuyoki, and even some by Magnolia Porter! overworld NPCs and shopkeepers also have their own unique designs and personality. even if you don't know anyone by name, you can easily tell who they are just by looks.

the music is fantastic. Toby's a musician, and it definitely shows in the music. it's kinda hard for me to really describe this sort of thing accurately, but hey, listen to some of the demo music for yourself. characters and bosses have themes that fit their personality, and music for particular areas capture the 'feel' of said area very well. if you buy the game, i highly reccommend you buy the OST for the full game as well. it's really lovely.

there's a lot of things i can say about this game. a lot of good things, i should mention. the only 'major' flaw i could find is initially getting into the battle system, but even that isn't terribly bad. but why is it that so many people, myself included, love this game so much?

the writing. without spoiling, this is easily one of the best-written games i've come across in years.

the premise of escaping a world of monsters isn't really one to shake a stick at, but it's the journey and what happens on said journey that really matters in the long run. the major characters you meet aren't just simple foils, there's some definite character behind them. this is another thing that's hard to describe for me, but these characters felt real. depending on your actions, particularly with who you spare or destroy, major and even minor blokes will react differently to your presence. kill too much, and villages will be evacuated in fear. spare a boss early on, and you may encounter them later for friendly conversation. or dating. really, it depends. point is, there's depth to these characters, and it really shows.

the pace of the story is well-done, especially considering its length. i've gotten the true ending to this game in around 11 hours, and lemme tell you, those 11 hours were filled with a lot of feelings, most of which were crying. and the occasional snickering. and wondering about stuff. while it's easy to make me cry, especially if cute monsters are involved, it's even harder to make me laugh or be scared of anything in a game. with what heartwarming and heartrending stuff there is over the course of the story, there were also some moments that had me chuckling a whole lot. it's all paced well as to not ham-fist something at a wrong point, or drag on a joke or too long.

Undertale also loves to play around with the fourth wall, if not utterly smash it into pieces. but again, it's not forced all the time, and more prevalent during fights as opposed to character dialouge, though there are quips of that here and there on occasion. Idea Factory, take note. this is how you do metahumor right.

i could say more on the story and writing and lore and junk like that, but i'll leave you to discover that stuff on your own. again, spoiler-free review.

whether Undertale is a good game or not is up for debate, but as a story, it's arguably one of the best i've seen in an RPG. there's a lot of personality present, even among things as 'little' as the random monster encounters and NPCs. you're going to feel something over at least one of these characters, and you're very likely going to cry and/or chuckle at least once over the course of the game. unless if you're going to kill everyone. theeeen you're probably going to have a bad time.

as much as i got this game for essentially free, i'd say it's definitely worth the asking price of ten bucks on steam. though, if you want to pick it up during a sale, that's fine, too. whatever price it goes for, it's well worth the experience. as i've said before, there's also a demo if you want to know what you're in for before buying.

if you plan on buying it, i highly recommend you don't spoil yourself on the story. even if you know some aspects of the story or cast through tumblr or twitter or what-have-you, you really need to play the game yourself to get the full experience firsthand.

you will laugh.
you will cry.
you will wonder.
you will fear.
you will pet dogs.
you will want to pummel the nearest flower with a weedwhacker.
you may even love.

whatever emotions you feel over the adventure, you'll likely love this game in some aspect or another.

if for some reason you have absolutely no interest in buying the game (which i respect, but really, why not), a couple of people have done playthroughs of the game on Youtube. i'd suggest either Joel's of Vinesauce fame or ManlyBadassHero's LPs of them. you can also watch them if you've already beaten the game, whiiiich i recommend doing before you watch these.

anyhow, with all that over and done with, let's see if i can arse myself into actually working on more article content stuff on the site now that i've gotten the busier stuff over with. iiiiincluding finally working on part 3 of the Disgaea manga readthrough.

... okay, don't hold your breath on that one.

anyhow, till next time. best of luck, stay rad, and most importantly of all: stay determined!