4.5/5 ★ – steamFunke's review of Undertale.

Undertale is a game I have heard many, many things about. Honestly, going into the game, I wasn't sure there would be anything hadn't seen. I was pleasantly surprised that I had, in fact, only scratched the surface of this game. [Spoilers Ahead] This game is very unassuming on the outside. I was so late to playing the game because it seemed like it wouldn't scratch the itch I felt for most Indie games. It seemed like another forgettable "save the world" RPG. I was aware of its community and some of its content, and after being recommended it by a friend, I finally decided to play it. All I knew at this point was that you could kill or save anyone and that Sans was the final boss. I could not have been more wrong. First of all, obviously, Sans is not the final boss (usually). I assumed he was due to his overwhelming fan base, brutal difficulty and the fact that he was the only thing I actually knew about from this game. Second of all, this is not a normal RPG. The way the game uses fourth wall breaking characteristics, in the gameplay and story, are very intriguing. While it has its fair share of 4th wall breaks, that is not the limit. Later on in a Neutral run of the game, the actual final boss of the run, the time-looping soulless flower, Flowey, uses the idea of a Save Point against you. He constantly saves the game and loads it, using this as a chance to attack you while you are still disoriented. Later on in a Genocide run (where you kill absolutely everyone), Sans the Skeleton fights you, and constantly makes comments on how much you have died, instead of just forgetting about it when you reload the save. This is very unsettling, which can be difficult to do for a Meta narrative. Doki Doki Literature Club, another fourth wall breaking game, didn't seal the deal for me when it came to the meta aspect of the storyline. It seemed counter intuitive and confused me immensely, leaving me unsatisfied at the ending of the game. It felt to me like it was trying to hard to be scary, but it felt a bit childish and obvious, similar to Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear. Just reading data from my computer doesn't seal the deal for me. But, while Undertale's meta aspect is probably easier to do for the developers, it caught me off guard. It might just be the fact that I had no idea what I was up for, but one of the greatest experiences in gaming I have had in my life was when I killed Toriel at the start of the game. I felt so bad that I closed the game and reopened it to spare her. And Flowey knew... "You killed her, and you regretted it" I was speechless. This has basically set the standard for how 4th wall breaking games should be made. Lastly, the writing in the game (while a little bit outdated) is extremely witty and caters to my sense of humour almost perfectly. Just the outlandishness of the jokes, the cringy-ness of Alphys, the snide remarks from Sans, the passion of Papyrus. It's all so filled with heart and love from the creators. I cannot wait for Deltarune to come out for the same reason. The gameplay is very much RPG-ish, although it catered to me really well with the bullet hell characteristic, saving me from the monotony of turn-based combat, which is usually a turn off from other RPG games for me. Undertale is a humorous adventure through an unknown land, filled with charm, funny characters, deep questions and a fulfilling resolution in 2/3 paths you can take.