UNDERTALE (PS4)

 

One of the most prominent recent “indie darlings”, Undertale was praised as a contender for the GotY award back in 2016. Based on the videos I watched I wasn´t that hot for it so I passed. Thanks to Steam sales I got a PC copy and played a couple of hours, but again not super fan

Recently it was put on sale again but on PS4. I have a tendency to favor console versions because I am an achievement hunter, and somehow suspect they´ll be more permanent if obtained in a console. Just finished it and… well, my opinion certainly improved, but I´m still not convinced the game is that historical cornerstone as it was sold to me back in the day

Overall it´s a great indie game. You expect them to be risk-taking, unconventional and rule-breakers, and Undertale certainly is (but not a lot, I´d say). The fresher aspect of it is the possibility of finishing the game either by killing all enemies or sparing them. I wasn´t aware when I started that the ending would be so vastly different depending on that choice (being the “pacifist” run way more complete in terms of content) so I just killed my way through the game… to find out a slightly bitter end. The game mechanics are simple but imaginative - and you cannot expect much more from just one developer. The story has some interesting characters and the level design offers more variety than you can expect, wisely taking premises to a quick end instead of cloning ideas for the sake of cheap content. There is also a lot of unexpected details that shows caring for the project and the will to always surprise the user. You definitively feel the creators really wanted to go the extra mile to keep your jaws open

On the other side – and we might be entering subjective territory here – I didn´t feel engaged by the setting (a monster-ruled dungeon. Wow, never heard of that), the story is not that hilarious as the creator probably thinks it is, the monster roster is too hectic to have logic for my taste, and not a huge fan of the old Final Fantasy “Stop and fight, you just got attacked by an invisible pack of enemies” approach

Anyway, I strongly recommend the game especially if you´re looking beyond the mainstream experiences that most AAA games offer. It has its own flavor, charm and does try to do something different. Few devs do these days. Respect