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

So, I have a weird relationship with this game, so the structure of this review might reflect that. In my younger years, when the game was really popular, I wasn't the nicest to this game. It mostly stemmed from the fandom, and I let that deter my initial playing all those years ago. It wasn't until I listened to the soundtrack that it gave me the motivation to give the game a fair shot. Needless to say, I'm glad I did. I played the pacifist route first, and that got me invested in the game from the outset. This game is by no means without its flaws, so I'll start with those first. The dialogue is very hit or miss, it can be a bit too much on the xD randem humor and some bits just don't land well, especially during Alyphis' sections (at first). Hotland as an area was pretty hit or miss, but these are the only big dampeners of the game. All right, idk if Toby Fox was going through it when making this, but he sure did tear my heart apart in some moments, especially the ending hours of the pacifist route. The game tackles themes that really hit close to home, and I feel it is executed very well. Coupling that with the absolutely superb soundtrack and my eyes start watering for the last like two hours of the game. Gameplay wise, it's a very nice shake-up on the turn based rpg formula, with the bullet hell sections being very engaging, not many bad hitboxes too, so difficultly was pretty fair. Especially in pacifist where you cannot level up. Despite the fandom drawing a stigma to this game, despite some of the dialogue and jokes not landing, despite all the negative feelings I had for it, it's good. It felt like a lot of heart was put into this, almost in a vulnerable way. Completion probably requires the genocide route, so I might have an addendum latched on to this at some point, but I just recommend people experience the game itself. Ignoring any outside forces, I feel as though it deserves a fair shot. Post genocide run: Yeah, that got me fucked up. Why the fuck is the encounter rate of "But nobody came" higher than the normal enemy encounters? Also, I died to Sans like 30 times.