Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7
The OG killer enemy. |
That part will never cease to amaze me. |
Well, there is a reason I’m talking about this today,
in my introduction to this review of Undertale: This is, after all, one of
those games where your choices have larger ramifications in the long run. Your
first actions will radically alter the course of the story. Don’t @ me about
“But spoilers!” The game’s almost three years old now, and the fanbase has
spoiled it all to Hell and back. To say that Undertale has multiple paths, the
most prominent two being an all-pacifist option and an all-murderous one, is
about as much a spoiler now as Vader being Luke’s dad or Rosebud being the name
of a winter sled. Although, Undertale is more like one Pacifist route,
one No Mercy route, and enough possible neutral paths between the two to fill
an 8X8 grid, possibly even more.
But still, here’s my fair warning. If you haven’t
played Undertale yet, or do not wish to read spoilers about the game, then you
might want to skip this review. Come back in four weeks or so. Because I’m
going in deep, and I will be revealing just about everything.
You’re staying? Good! Welcome to Planned All Along’s
fifth year anniversary review, in which I am reviewing a Steam indie game! Felt
like I needed to do something else than a Nintendo game for once, for the
occasion.
It always makes me happy to see a crowdfunded game become so popular. |
And so the game was released, stunning everyone and
becoming the source of hundreds of memes. So beloved and praised that many
folks got sick of it – but that’s never stopped me from ever reviewing a game everyone
had heard of, right? Good ol’ me, swinging the bat one more time after
everybody’s gotten sick of beating the dead horse! Heh. Hopefully this entire review
doesn’t become a long-winded jab at myself.
This game is officially described as an RPG, and it
is, but it’s also a puzzle game and a Bullet Hell. It’s another of those
instances where a fusion of genres leads to a truly unique gameplay. This, my
friends, is Undertale.
But no instances of "The Beauty and the Beast"-like relationships were ever recorded. As far as we know. |
Cue the title screen and the closest chiptune can get
to the Inception horn.
From there, we can start the game. Let’s name the save
file! As one of many, many, MANY Easter Eggs in the game, if you try to name
the six-character file after most of the major characters in the game, you
won’t be allowed to (exceptions are made for some different spellings of character names, like PAPYRU). I can't use NICOLAS, not enough room. Let's just do NICO.
And so the game starts with the protagonist waking up
on a bed of flowers. Walking towards the only door in the area, they come
across a flower with a face, which presents itself as Flowey – and it shows how
things work down here, in the Underground.
I'm already a lot less afraid! Thanks! |
The video game equivalent of covering the child in styrofoam to make sure they never get hurt, ever, ever. |
Avoiding bullets is important (considering how few HP
you have at the beginning), but you also need to know the other combat options.
First is FIGHT: A horizontal area will appear on-screen, with a moving vertical
bar. You stop it with the Z button, and the closer to the center the bar is when you stop it,
the more damage you’ll do. If you want to fight, that is. Instead, you can ACT,
which first opens a menu where you pick the enemy you want to interact with,
then one of some possible actions. That frog, you can either give it a
compliment or threaten it. Some actions will change an opponent’s opinion of you,
often leading it to accept your option to spare it. There’s the usual ITEM
option, to use healing objects or such. Then there’s MERCY, which can be used
after successfully befriending an opponent. It ends the fight, you get no EXP,
but you will get some Gold. It’s easy to find out when an enemy is ready for
Mercy, its name becomes yellow (most of the time). Alright, what do I do now… FIGHT, or ACT… Let’s
go with FAICGTHT
Wait, what?
No! I pick AFICGHTT! No! I choose FIAGCHTT!
No!
I CHOOSE ACT I CHOOSE FIGHT
Whoa whoa! What is what is
Wwhhaatt iiss ggooiinngg oonn
WWHHOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Well... that was weird. Well, now with ACT picked, I
choose to Compliment the Froggit, but it doesn’t understand me, it just leaves when Toriel gives it the death glare.
Hopefully that thing that just happened won’t affect
me too much.
I'll admit I'm surprised too. I normally don't call a goat my mom. |
More puzzles follow, along with new enemies. If you
gathered enough money by sparing enemies, you can buy food from a spider bake
sale, and continue on your way up to a path of leaves taking you deeper into
the Ruins. Near that entrance, there’s also a secondary path leading to a large
view of a faraway city. With a toy knife on the floor. Hm, wonder if I should…
I'm so sorry Toriel... I can't stay. I hope you understand... |
She’s found downstairs, where she menaces to blow up the
exit of the Ruins, the only exit leading outside. Toriel explains that every
child who left her died out there, at the hands of a certain Asgore. You know
he’s evil, his name’s in red in the dialogue box. Still, the child refuses to
listen and follows Toriel, who realizes there’s no way to change your mind. The
first proper boss battle ensues, and there’s no fleeing her.
I always wondered why those green squares were there, around the opponent. |
Maybe if I just keep on asking nicely she’ll move
away… surely that’s the solution… Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy… her dialogue
isn’t changing all that much… is it really the solution? Maybe there’s a
different way? No, let’s keep trying. Eventually she doesn’t fight back at all,
and your clicks of Mercy bring her to accept that you want to leave and she
cannot stop you. I’m sorry, Toriel. I don’t want to hurt you, but… I still need
to find my way home.
Still, thanks for everything, Toriel.
On the way out, the child meets with Flowey again, who
laughs off the fact that there were no kills just yet. Hey, if I have the
option to hurt no one, I will try. Flowey blabs about a much darker plan
incoming, but then leaves, allowing the child to step out of the Ruins… in Part2.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
Well! That was weird. Well, now with FIGHT picked, I
set the cursor near the center and punch the Froggit, which dissipates into
dust.
Hopefully that thing that just happened won’t affect
me too much.
I am not being cute, I am being flirty! Stop it! |
More puzzles follow, along with new enemies. Best to
defeat them all and gather cash and EXP for what’s coming. If you gathered
enough money by beating enemies, you can buy food from a spider bake sale, and continue
on your way up to a path of leaves taking you deeper into the Ruins. Near that
entrance, there’s also a secondary path leading to a large view of a faraway
city. With a toy knife on the floor! Awesome!
That pie will be useful, I'll need the calories if I want to get out of this Underworld alive. |
She’s found downstairs, where she menaces to blow up
the exit of the Ruins, the only exit leading outside. Toriel explains that
every child who left her died out there, at the hands of a certain Asgore. He
must be some jackass monster if his name’s in red in the box. Still, the child
refuses to listen and follows Toriel, who realizes there’s no way to change
your mind. The first proper boss battle ensues, and there’s no fleeing her.
Do I attack, or do I try something? Her stats say 80
ATK 80 DEF. Holy Hell, that’s tough. Goatmom is badass. And there’s nothing to
say to her, either, so no talking. Here’s the first proper challenge, the one
that makes it or breaks it for the child. But she’s been so nice, I feel awful
attacking her… I must prove I am tough enough for the outside world! Once the
child’s health is low enough, she stops trying to hit you in her Bullet Hell
box. Clearly she doesn’t want to beat you.
Well I just felt my heart split as well. |
I’m sorry… I didn’t want to get to this…
On the way out, the child meets with Flowey again, who
declares his desire to become even more powerful than the child… whom he
addresses by the name we used on the save file. And from there, he disappears
and we leave the ruins… in Part 2.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
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