4/5 ★ – Fernofai's review of Undertale.

The store page of Undertale listed this feature: "Killing is unnecessary: negotiate out of danger using the unique battle system." So I decided I would play this game without killing anyone. And it works! This is a great feature and stands out against all the other games in which you won't get around killing at least some evil slimes or thirsty demons. Apparently the whole game is more or less built around this mechanic and depending on how many enemies you kill in your walkthrough there will be different endings. You don't play this game. It plays you. It remembers and predicts what you do and thats mindblowing. In the first town there was a shop with a chest in front of it where I had stored some items I didn't need anymore. So of course - and the game knew that! - I took all that items to the shop to sell them when the shop keeper said: "Does this look like a pawn shop? I don't know how it works where you come from... but... If I started spending money on old branches and used bandages, I'd be out of business in a jiffy!". This kind of stuff happens all the time. Which is cool, but in some cases also a bit mean because you don't know wether the game wants you to click the same button 20 times in a row to proceed. The story is cool and the unique main characters will all grow to your heart. There is a good balance of cute and funny - for me sometimes a bit cringy - and very deep and emotional moments. Gameplay-wise the game is very linear. Most of the time you walk or have dialogue with characters. There were many situations in which I thought I could interact with something but couldn't. Also most of the not-main characters have only one line of dialogue and one sprite. It would be cool if you could get a hot dog for the dude who wants a hot dog, but that's not possible. The other two main mechanics are fighting and puzzles, but many of them end up as setup for a joke thus there are not many real puzzles. The battle system is indeed very unique and fun. After each action of yours you can dodge the enemies attack in different mini games. And every monster has its own set of individual dodging games! The game is so retro it doesn't even has the option for 'normal' controls. You need to use shift and control for opening menues and stuff, holding down escape will instantly quit the game and there is no mouse support at all. It's not a huge problem, but I needed to figure it out again everytime I started a new session instead of being able to jump right in. In the end I would say this game is 1/3 a game and 2/3 an interactive meta-experience so if you are only interested in the game part, go play Earthbound or Final Fantasy instead. In any other case Undertale will be more than worth your time!