some games entertain you, and others quietly rewire something in your brain. undertale is the second kind. on the surface, it looks like a low-budget rpg made by one person in a 2009 game engine — and it is exactly that. but what toby fox built in those two and a half years is something that the biggest studios with the biggest budgets have never managed to replicate: a game that genuinely responds to who you are as a player, and isn't shy about calling you out on it.
the thing that gets people is the combat system. every random encounter gives you a choice — fight, or find another way. talk to the monster, spare it, figure out what it needs. it sounds simple until the game starts to make you feel the weight of every decision you never thought twice about in every other rpg you've ever played. undertale doesn't just let you be kind. it makes kindness feel like it actually means something.
the characters are one of the most important parts of any game, and toby fox nailed it. my brother papyrus is the greatest character easily, but he can’t handle my rib-tickling puns. tori is sweet and one of the kindest people ever. undyne… she is her own kind of good… we love her though, despite her chaotic tendencies. alphys, oh where do i start with her? nervous wreck on the outside, traumatized sweetheart on the inside. she’ll never talus her secrets. mettaton… what can i say about him that you don’t already know? he’s the star of his own shows, movies, and musicals, but despite how high in the stars he is, he cares about the small guys (like his cousin napstablook). i guess that last part isn’t very well known. lastly, our king, asgore. he lost everything… first his two children on the same day… then his wife immediately after due to him declaring war on humanity out of a blind rage of them killing his son. despite this, he’s just a joyous old man that would take anyone under his wing. i think this sums up everyone important except for gerson. anything else is tibiadetermined.
and then there's the music. toby fox composed the entire soundtrack himself, and it's one of the most remarkable things in game history — themes that evolve, callback, and hit you in completely different ways depending on what you've done and where you are in the story. megalovania alone has lived rent-free in the internet's head for a decade.
if you've never played it, nothing i say will prepare you for it — go in as blind as you can. and if you have, i want to know: who's your favorite character, and which route hit you the hardest?
