Undertale is not a perfect game. But it does a lot right. The music is great, and it ties in very neatly with the story and themes that the game presents. Likewise, the story and writing are top-notch. The characters, while archetypical, are endearing to the point that it's one of few games that made me do a pacifist run out of empathy rather than as challenge run or for the sake of a gameplay benefit. The game does its best to make you not want to hurt anyone, and it does it well. The meta elements are also well-executed, adding to the story as it plays out.
That said, I didn't didn't find this game quite as revolutionary as a lot of people make it out to be. For all the talk about your choices matter, ultimately your decision boils down to "kill nothing", "kill some things", and "kill everything". The only real differences in who you kill or don't kill are a few bits of changed dialogue. It executes the examination of that choice better than 99% of other games that tackle it, but it isn't the first time that a game has tackled the question of "but what if you didn't have to kill anything?" (see Iji, for example).
Similarly, the game's mechanic of dodging attacks is interesting, but there isn't an enormous amount of depth to the system. Most random encounters can be solved in two or three turns, and they get a bit repetitive. The boss battles are definitely the high point of gameplay, as that's when the mechanics start getting expanded, but even in these cases, each new mechanic typically only gets used once and never shows up again. The only exceptions are mechanics that get reused by the Bonus Boss fights. It feels like the game only scratches the surface of what the gameplay could be like.
There are a few other minor flaws as well: The graphics top out at "functional" and aren't anything to write home about until the endgame hits. Sometimes the jokes really get dragged out too long (Alpys, seriously, stop calling me). The puzzles (at least the ones that aren't played for comedy) are generally pretty "meh".
Thing is, despite the flaws, I was drawn into this game in a way that many other games can't manage. From an analytical perspective, it has its fair share of issues, but it has heart, which goes a really long way if you're willing to give it a chance.
A Flawed Gem
Undertale is not a perfect game. But it does a lot right. The music is great, and it ties in very neatly with the story and themes that the game presents. Likewise, the story and writing are top-notch. The characters, while archetypical, are endearing to the point that it's one of few games that made me do a pacifist run out of empathy rather than as challenge run or for the sake of a gameplay benefit. The game does its best to make you not want to hurt anyone, and it does it well. The meta elements are also well-executed, adding to the story as it plays out.
That said, I didn't didn't find this game quite as revolutionary as a lot of people make it out to be. For all the talk about your choices matter, ultimately your decision boils down to "kill nothing", "kill some things", and "kill everything". The only real differences in who you kill or don't kill are a few bits of changed dialogue. It executes the examination of that choice better than 99% of other games that tackle it, but it isn't the first time that a game has tackled the question of "but what if you didn't have to kill anything?" (see Iji, for example).
Similarly, the game's mechanic of dodging attacks is interesting, but there isn't an enormous amount of depth to the system. Most random encounters can be solved in two or three turns, and they get a bit repetitive. The boss battles are definitely the high point of gameplay, as that's when the mechanics start getting expanded, but even in these cases, each new mechanic typically only gets used once and never shows up again. The only exceptions are mechanics that get reused by the Bonus Boss fights. It feels like the game only scratches the surface of what the gameplay could be like.
There are a few other minor flaws as well: The graphics top out at "functional" and aren't anything to write home about until the endgame hits. Sometimes the jokes really get dragged out too long (Alpys, seriously, stop calling me). The puzzles (at least the ones that aren't played for comedy) are generally pretty "meh".
Thing is, despite the flaws, I was drawn into this game in a way that many other games can't manage. From an analytical perspective, it has its fair share of issues, but it has heart, which goes a really long way if you're willing to give it a chance.