LogFAQs > #932425319

<b>#3: Undertale
Released on 9/15/2015
Steam</b>
(written in 2017)

Behold, the best game ever according to Tumblr. Sorry GameFAQs -- geeettttttt dunked on!!!

Some of you were in my playthrough topic when I beat Undertale over a year ago, and Im still reeling from selling my soul on Halloween night. Ill share some lingering thoughts since then.

Flowey > Sans > Undyne > Papyrus > Toriel >= Asgore > Muffet = Mettaton > the turtle when he says he wouldnt buy your chitzy garbage at knifepoint >> Alphys

Games that accuse their players of being murderers are becoming more common, but the brilliant thing Toby Fox did was give you the option NOT to kill. There is no Pacifist option in LISA the Painful, Hotline Miami, Spec Ops: The Line...as great as they are, they are also prepared to condemn you no matter how you want to play. Other games that offer some freedom not to kill like Metal Gear Solid still often feel limited and less enjoyable from a gameplay perspective, plus you still have those pesky bosses that need to be physically taken down somehow.

In Undertale, there is no false guilt -- you literally chose to kill for reasons other than just reaching the ending. The game even advertises itself as a game where you dont have to kill, just hoping you won't actually hurt these characters. Undertale wants you to befriend the creatures of this world; the cast is super-charming and its easy to argue over whos the best from the game.

Its also more enjoyable thematically and mechanically to be kind in Undertale (with the exception of two awesome Genocide fights). Games dont always need a nice moral lesson and some deliver a lesson well enough, but Undertale gives you lessons from both sides of the moral coin. Not only that, the game absolutely nails its endings either way the coin lands. Toby Fox knows how to tell a story with great characterization of both its cast and you.

Mechanically, I think a smart choice made here was that the foundation of every fight is based on defense instead of offense. Your choices are split between the actions of hurting and helping, and you can only do one per turn as you try to survive and make your next choice. Attacking was tempting a whole bunch of times, and you could get away with some attacks in self defense...but if you never wanted to kill, you knew to draw a line and work it out.

The game remembering actions I didnt save is such a great idea. Flowey caught me off-guard early; I accidentally killed Toriel when she leaned into my punch, so I restarted and tried to keep her alive. When the game accused me of looking at her like a ghost -- wondering if I should tell her I watched her die -- that set up the rest of the game in such a fascinating perspective for me. Whether its Flowey deleting your save to repeatedly kill you or Frisk becoming soulless in future playthroughs, the game plays with your expectations of its awareness.

How about that OST? Megalovania steals the show, but I find myself still humming along to its soundtrack and enjoying how the songs tie back into each other sometimes. I heard Toby Fox was a music composer before this, and it shows.

Undertale has heart. It doesnt just want you to be the protagonist or be the hero -- it wants you to be good and well-meaning. To do this in such an exciting and touching way deserves nothing less than #1 on my list.

Undertale: the best game Ive played in the past two years.

NOW IN 2020: few games will ever land that emotional impact of Undertale. Brilliant characters and smart decision-based path-planning with an incredible musical score makes it unforgettable; I hummed and whistled this game's soundtrack all the way through making and preparing this topic. The WarioWare-like defense system is an exciting new system for RPGs that keeps the game constantly engaging, too.

If I could make one change to my character rankings above, I'd put the turtle when he says he wouldnt buy your chitzy garbage at knifepoint higher.

I hope Deltarune can hit these highs or even exceed them...I dunno, time will tell. I didn't love its first episode per say, but I thought it was pretty solid and Toby Fox has my faith. I'll be staying tuned for Deltarune like I was throughout Undertale and like I bet I will for its eventual anagram'd sequel Adelnertu.

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O P E R A T I O N O U S T : Nominate SHEIK!
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