The computer game Undertale has been overly hyped but is still worth playing.
By Jordan Ryder
After it took the Internet by storm and was recommended by a friend, I picked up Undertale. I can see why people liked it; it definitely has charm and soul. I do think this game was overly hyped, though. My patience began to wear thin a few hours in. But there’s enough creativity here to be enjoyed.
You play as a young child who fell down a pit, entering a magical world called Underground. Underground is populated by monsters that have been hiding from humans for thousands of years, from comedic skeletons to demonic flowers.
Undertale is a role-playing adventure in which the player can be merciful to every enemy encountered, creating a “Pacifist Route,” or kill everything they encounter in a “Genocide Route.” (I played as a pacifist under my friend’s suggestion, because he knew I would eliminate any character that got annoying.) In terms of dealing with normal enemies, it doesn’t make much difference, but if you choose to be merciful, you never gain experience and never raise your level as the game progresses, which makes the second half of the game harder.
The battle system is atypical. The players control their sprite, dodging around attacks while retaliating or trying to talk opponents out of battling. It brings an active element to the tradition RPG turn-based formula.
That being said, screw boss battles. The difficulty curve in the second half of the game ramps up, and every boss encountered was an exercise in frustration. They each have their own cool mechanics that make their fights different, but they’re absurdly difficult. Pro tip: Always carry a bunch of healing items at all times. It was the only way I made it through most of the fights.
In addition to a large number of boss battles, the game’s second half didn’t have nearly the same charm as the beginning. In the beginning, I was smiling at most of the characters; by the end, I was sighing and mashing buttons to get through (often repeated) dialogue.
One cool idea that felt underused was that a handful of characters would know if the game had been reset, like if you accidentally killed a character and reloaded your game. At least in my play through, this didn’t come up a lot, but the few times it did was awesome and horrifying. (I got called out for basically being a killer that couldn’t live with himself by an evil flower. It was strange.)
In the end, I was surprised by Undertale, by some of the depth in the characters and writing. I don’t think it’s the monument the internet has made it, but it was a worthwhile play, especially for the dramatically different story branches.
7/10
