About a week or two ago, I got Undertale! I owe a big thanks to a friend of mine, who was the one who gifted me the game on Steam. It’s a really fun game. I’ve played nonstop for quite a few days now, while recording myself playing, I think it was within the first half an hour of the game that I decided to do a review of the game. Mom suggested not to, since I didn’t know much of the game back then and I'd probably use false info, and she was right.

 But now that I’ve gotten past the date with Papyrus (Those who flirted with him in the game should know what I mean) I believe I have enough info about the game to do a review about it that’s not as long as some of my others.With that said, let’s begin the review for a game that will Falcon Punch you in the feelings when you least expect it!

Graphics – 9

The graphics are very retro; sort of like the NES generation of games, like, for example, Mega Man 3, or even the original Super Mario Brothers game, if you want to go really far back in time. While it is retro, it doesn’t stray from the fact that this is one of the best games in 2015 and 2016. The graphics give you this nostalgic feeling if you played NES games as a kid, or even a bunch of them now, since they’re on Vizzed!

The graphics are very reminiscent of a game called Earthbound, which is actually the game that Toby Fox, creator of Undertale, was inspired by. When he made a hack of Earthbound, he got the idea for the game and a bunch of the songs in the game, like the ever-amazing Megalovania. Speaking of the soundtrack…

Sound – 10 (Can I please give this one an 11?)

Short version: The music will never be outdone by any other game in the history of games.

Long version: The soundtrack is, by far, once of the best that I’ve ever heard. While it’s probably computer generated, it doesn’t feel like it is, and for each scene, the song that it comes with fits in perfectly with the scene.

The music in the Snowdin Forest is peaceful and quiet, which is should be. Snowdin Forest is a large, roaming forest, filled with snow. Snow gives off the feeling of a somewhat eerie serenity if done right. For another example, Bonetrousle, which is the leitmotif of a skeleton named Papyrus, who thinks he’s so cool, is upbeat and actually sounds somewhat haughty if you listen to it closely. It’s perfect for a skeleton like Papyrus.

The best part was that the music was composed all by Toby Fox himself! He didn’t have a professional compose the music for him to put in the game; it was all made on his own free time, with the help of a Kickstarter campaign to put features in the game, which probably includes the great soundtrack. You also have the possibility to buy the soundtrack for ten dollars, but why do that when you can just pirate it off YouTube?

Addictiveness – 10

This is a very addictive game. There are three routes that you can go, which adds to the replayability: Pacifist, Neutral, and the Genocide Route.The Pacifist Route does exactly what it sounds like: To finish the game on this route, you can’t kill any monster, no matter how hard you want to. If you do, you’ll abort the Pacifist Route and go Neutral.

For the Neutral Route, all you have to do to get out of the Pacifist Route and go to this route is to kill one monster. You’ll be in between Pacifist and Genocide Route. There’s not really a lot to say about this route, other than “OH MY GOODNESS THAT FINAL BOSS IS TERRIFYING!” In order to do the final route, the Genocide Route, you have to, starting from the beginning of the game until the very end, kill all the monsters you encounter, including all of the boss monsters. The final boss is extremely hard. It’s recommended to do this route last.

Story – 10                        

The story always begins one way, you, the main character, fall into the Underground and have to find a way home. However, depending on your actions in the game, the ending will change. There are so many endings, and I’ve only seen one. Because the spoilers are so shocking and will probably completely ruin the Pacifist/Neutral route for you, I won’t talk about it, so unfortunately, this section is pretty short, unlike with most of my other reviews.

Depth – 8  

There is a lot to do in this game. First of all, the two main things in this game are fighting monsters and exploring the environment, trying to find solutions and ways out of the puzzles.In the fighting scenes, you have four choices: Fight, Act, Item, and Mercy. For the Fight choice, you do exactly that. There is a white blade that goes across the lower half of the screen. In the center is where, if you can land the blade at the right time, can deal the most damage. It is not recommended to use this often if going the Pacifist Route, but a necessity for the Genocide Route.

The Act choice gives you multiple things to do, depending on what kind of monster you’re fighting. If you’re fighting a dog related monster you have the option to pet them, and so on. It’s recommended to use this often if going the Pacifist Route. The Item choice lets you eat healing items you have. That’s it. This is a necessity for all the routes. Finally, the Mercy option lets you either spare a monster or flee from the battle. You cannot flee if fighting a boss, however. This is a necessity for the Pacifist Route, but must not be used in the Genocide Route.

Difficulty – 7

Despite what I’ve talked about earlier, which makes the game seem like it’s easy, at least half of it are puzzles. What do these puzzles have to do with the difficulty, you ask? Well, at least 75% of the puzzles are difficult. There is one puzzle with a bunch of blue Xs on the ground, modified to sort of look like Papyrus’s face. The goal of the puzzle was to step on all the Xs and turn them into Os and then press a button at the beginning of the puzzle.

The problem was that if you stepped on an O, it would turn into a triangle. The puzzle doesn’t accept triangles, and if you step on the button when all of the Xs aren’t Os, it will reset the puzzle. So far, that’s the hardest puzzle I’ve come across in the game. If there are any other harder puzzles, I don’t know of them yet. There is a cheat/solution to the puzzle where you can instantly turn all the Xs into Os with the flick of a switch, but I won’t spoil it to anyone who’s new to the game. You will have to find that little secret out yourself.

Also, two more words: Annoying Dog. Enough said.

Overall – 9

First of all, this actually might be the highest overall rating that I’ve ever given a game so far! My recommendation for this game is: Buy it. It’s worth the ten dollars. Just buy it, no matter what, and play it. You’ll absolutely love everything about it. Also, this review is an assignment for my homeschooling. I'd like if I could get some feedback on it before I submit it to my Mom.